WORKSTATION 17.6.2HAS MANY PROBLEMS INCLUDE BSOD

[David Baum]

I have been using VMWare Workstation since the product was created, and 17.6 (including 17.6.2) has more problems that any prior version.

Specifically, is is not stable and locks up, eventually leading to BSOD and Reboot; and, it ignores Power Settings which are set to never shutdow, never hibernate, and neve blank screen, thus not allowing for an action to be completed and having lockup and reboot occur.

My host environment is as follows (and is documented on screenshots attached):
x64 based 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P, 2100 MHz, 12 Cores, 16 logical processors
64 GB RAM
Windows 11 Enterprise Version 23H2 Build 22631.4602

No active applications except Workstation Pro 17.6.2 build 24409262

My sole VMWare Guest is:
8GB RAM
4 processors
256GB HD, 100GB HD, 128GB HD, 100GB HD
Bridged Network Adaptor
TPM present
All files encrypted
Windows 11 Enterprise Version 23H2 Build 22631.4602

The Guest system is running one application - Microsoft Outlook 365, Version 2412 Build 16.0.18324.20092m 64 Bit

The Guest system locks up randomly, then goes to BSOD, then Reboots.

I have tried:
Reinstalling VMWorkstation on Host|
Rebuilding Guest Workstation
Reinstalling MS Office 365
Increasing and decreasing number of processors
Increasing and decreasing memory
Disabling all but primary HD on Guest

NONE OF THESE HAS ABATED OR REDUCED THE NUMBER OF FAILURES.

FAILURES ALSO OCCUR WHEN ANY SINGLE OFFICE 365 APPLICATION OR NOTEPAD IS RUNNING.

THIS IS INTOLERABLE

Attachment(s)

VMWare BSOD and Reboot.docx   236 KB 1 version

[louyo]

Event log entries for host/guest?

So far, so good for .2, but I run  linux hosts.

[David Baum]

Post Crash Event Logs from Workstation

Attachment(s)

2024-12-30 - VMWare Guest Post Crash Logs.zip   2.51 MB 1 version

[Dhairya Tomar]

David Baum Once the BSOD happens again, suspend the vm, go to the VM directory,locate the files with extension .vmss and .vmem and share them here.

Also please share the support bundle of the affected VM using Help->Support->Collect Support Data

[David Baum]

1. The Suspend Guest function does not work.  SUSPEND FAILED message appears and Guest reboots.
2. After examining the Guest workstation directory, I observed there are no files with vmss or vmem extensions.
3. Now it appears that when two Virtual Machines are open, and one reboots, they both reboot.  This host machine is unaffected.

Attachment(s)

vmsupport-2025-01-02-12-08.zip   7.12 MB 1 version

[Dhairya Tomar]

David Baum Ticket has been raised, relevant team will look into the same.

[David Baum]

Ticket number please

[Doug Covelli]

A suspended VM won't be useful as the VM is encrypted.  Windows should have created a memory dump after the BSOD though - can you find and upload that?

[David Baum]

Here are the Minidump files from C:\Windows\Minidum on the Guest Machine

Attachment(s)

010225-18406-01.zip   422 KB 1 version

[Matt Wang]

Hi David, from vmware.log we can see there are always some direct file write errors about timeout:

2024-12-31T20:31:19.787Z In(05) vmx nvme0:0: Command WRITE(10) took 95.465 seconds (ok)
2024-12-31T20:31:19.787Z No(00) vcpu-0 UNUSUAL: Successful write to 'D:\VMs\V11-ADMIN\vmware.log' took 87.307172 seconds. <-- Here
2024-12-31T20:31:19.787Z In(05) vcpu-0 nvme0:0: Command WRITE(10) took 95.465 seconds (ok)
2024-12-31T20:31:19.787Z In(05) vcpu-0 nvme0:0: Command WRITE(10) took 94.075 seconds (ok)
2024-12-31T20:31:19.787Z In(05) vcpu-0 nvme0:0: Command WRITE(10) took 95.465 seconds (ok)
2024-12-31T20:31:19.787Z In(05) vcpu-0 nvme0:0: Command WRITE(10) took 95.800 seconds (ok)

It's more like a D:\ drive issue. Could you help to check if your D:\ drive works well? Please also help to confirm if your worked VirtualBox VMs are on D:\ drive.
I would suggest to use SCSI controllers to see if the issue persists if you can confirm your D:\ drive is fine. Thanks.

Regards,

Matt

[David Baum]

D drive replaced with new drive months before VMware update. Worked fine until then. Virtual Box on D drive

Sent by David Baum. Please excuse any typos. This message was prepared by dictation.

[David Baum]

I responded to your comment Znd you never got mack to me.  I have replaced D with yet a second new drive, configured as you indicated.  The Host system upgraded to 24H2 and it has NO BSOD issues.  Guest upgraded to 24H2 and it stillo has the BSOD issues with ew driver.  All drivers current, and all HOST and Guest settings as requested.  ALL guests have this problem including newly build GUESTS.  This is infuriating since I paid for Workstation produict before Broadcom takeover and now we get NO MEANINGFUL SUPPORT.,

[kasper]

Suggestions:  Update BIOS.   Update drivers, in particular video and USB.  Update to Windows 24H2.   Make sure you have updated VMWare tools on the guest.   And maybe you need to do a TRIM?

[David Baum]

Thank you for suggestions.  Please note:

1. BIOS and drivers and VMWare Tools are all current versions
2. I always maintain same version of OS and  OS Release in Guests as is in the host. Windows 11 24H2 has known BSOD problems and therefor I will not upgrade all machines until that is fixed.

It's also important to note that Oracle VirtualBox does NOT have this problem.

[kasper]

Your response says it all: 'Windows 11 24h2 has BSOD problems'.   Maybe the issue is with Windows 11 23h2 and your setup?   Looks like you tried VirtualBox.   And it works for you.   Go with that.   You will love the USB and video support in Virtualbox.