Arch Linux

krafczyk

Member

Registered: 2015-09-08

Posts: 37

[SOLVED] vmware won't start

For a while now, vmware has been refusing to start.

no error text is given and nothing happens.
Even using strace on the vmware-modconfig executable which is installed in /usr/lib/vmware/bin doesn't point to anything that I can tell.

Here's an example:

matthew on Wagner [23:01:46]
~/Sources/vmware/12
○ vmware

matthew on Wagner [23:05:09]
~/Sources/vmware/12
○

It's especially baffling because when vmware used to work fine.

Does anybody know what might be the problem?

Last edited by krafczyk (2016-03-14 18:58:50)

x33a

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2009-08-15

Posts: 4,587

Re: [SOLVED] vmware won't start

Which vmware package and version are you using? Where did you install it from?

krafczyk

Member

Registered: 2015-09-08

Posts: 37

Re: [SOLVED] vmware won't start

I'm using vmware workstation pro 12. Specifically, 12.0.0-2985596

I installed it from the bundle file with

sudo bash VMware-Workstation-Full-12.0.0-2985596.x86_64.bundle

The installation seemed to go well, and when I try to reinstall it, I get the GUI message

"The system is up to date. Nothing has been modified."

x33a

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2009-08-15

Posts: 4,587

Re: [SOLVED] vmware won't start

Well, since you have the pro version, perhaps you should contact vmware support.

krafczyk

Member

Registered: 2015-09-08

Posts: 37

Re: [SOLVED] vmware won't start

I have now solved this issue.

For others who encounter this problem, the issue is mentioned on the VMware arch page in the trouble shooting section under the heading "GUI doesn't show after upgrade" I'll repeat what it says here.

The following affects VMware Workstation and Player versions before 12.1.0. After upgrading to kernel 4.2 an existing installation of VMware does not start any of its GUI applications. This is because the LD library path no longer points to a compatible library. To fix this set your LD_LIBRARY_PATH in a terminal from which you run VMware.

$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libglibmm-2.4.so.1/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

After getting VMware and my VM to run again, my network wasn't working, and my screen was shifted for some reason.
To fix the network, I used the microsoft automatically fix network connection thing.
To fix my screen, I changed the resolution, shutdown the VM, shutdown VMware, and restarted vmware and my VM. After this, the screen was normal again.