Unable to start VMWare Workstation after upgrade to 13.04

Question

After upgrading to 13.04 I am unable to start VMWorkstation. I get the following message:

Before you can run VMware, several modules must be compiled and loaded into the running kernel.

Kernel Headers 3.8.0-19-generic

Kernel headers for version 3.8.0-19-generic were not found. If you have installed them in a non-default path you can specify the path below.

Does anyone have any idea what to do next?

Ubuntu 13.04 64bit

If I direct the path to:

/usr/src/linux-headers-3.8.0-19-generic

I get the following message:

C header files matching your running kernel were not found.

Thanks

Additional:

As suggested I run this in terminal:

cd /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build/include/linux 

sudo ln -s ../generated/utsrelease.h 

sudo ln -s ../generated/autoconf.h 

sudo ln -s ../generated/uapi/linux/version.h

However, now I get the following:

Before you can run VMware, several modules must be compiled and loaded into the kernel CANCEL / INSTALL

I INSTALL, the window closes and nothing happens.... Any ideas?

ADDITIONAL:

I installed this:

sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-dev open-vm-dkms open-vm-toolbox open-vm-tools-dev

And it all launched...

Many thanks for the suggestions and help... This is what I love about Ubuntu... it has a great helpful community... !

Note: Also found this which may help others too: HERE

ADDITIONAL ERROR:

Could not open /dev/vmmon: Is a directory. Please make sure that the kernel module `vmmon' is loaded.

Failed to initialize monitor device.

Monitor settings all greyed out

RESOLUTION:

Re-installation of Nvidia Drivers

I also had to use the patch here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2107900&p=12522784#post12522784
With the changes mentioned here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2107900&p=12544708#post12544708 — 7wonders, May 10 '13 at 12:05
Could you add instead an answer with the content of "RESOLUTION" section? — Braiam, Sep 15 '13 at 01:16
Solved for Ubuntu 19: http://rglinuxtech.com/?p=2522#comment-55900 https://gist.github.com/PiN73/7a890b21f2d2dd22bdc0219b0eebc00e — Pavel, May 17 '19 at 20:51

score 23 · Accepted Answer · edited May 21 '13 at 13:32

23

Hit same problem here with Ubuntu 13.04 last month. At the time, upgrading to VMWare player 5.0.2 build-1031769 solved the problem. Fast forward a month, hit a new problem today after recent 13.04 updates, again VMWare would not start. Latest VM player version is still 5.0.2. Google lead me to this explanation:

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/446490?start=0&tstart=0

Running the following vmware command with root privs solved the problem for me:

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

HTH

edited May 21 '13 at 13:32

guntbert

13,134

answered May 21 '13 at 12:56

chrisinmtown

398
1
8

this did the trick. – Reuben L. Jun 17 '13 at 21:14
1

If You still have issues try to download and install vmware again: http://itsfoss.com/install-vmware-player-ubuntu-1310/ – czerasz Jun 14 '14 at 10:23
This solved the problem for me on Ubuntu 17.10 – zoran jeremic Dec 11 '17 at 18:12

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered May 25 '13 at 23:20

11

This worked for me:

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r) open-vm-dkms
sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/generated/uapi/linux/version.h /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/linux/version.h

then

sudo vmware-config-tools.pl

... and you are done.

answered May 25 '13 at 23:20

DinGODzilla

391

This got it running again. Combine that with the patch to fix the vmnnet component. Then I ran sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all. – Halsafar Sep 06 '13 at 17:47

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered May 13 '13 at 23:55

3

I installed the suggested packages as above, but it still gave me the same error. Installing the latest VMWare Player solved the problem.

answered May 13 '13 at 23:55

Ethan Brown

161

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 03 '13 at 10:31

2

I already had the latest VMWare Player installed with the exact same problem. Simply reinstalling did help, i.e. uninstalling first and then installing again:

sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-player
sudo bash ~/Downloads/VMware-Player-5.0.2-1031769.x86_64.txt

answered Jul 03 '13 at 10:31

jfrantzius

49
2

This worked for me. I chose to keep my config files when uninstalling, so after reinstall everything is as before (e.g. all my VMs are still there), and the whole thing only took 3 minute. – ntc2 Feb 22 '18 at 22:05

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered May 17 '13 at 15:33

1

I tried all of the solutions above including a fresh install and it still would not start. It still said, "Before you can run VMware, several modules must be compiled and loaded into the kernel CANCEL / INSTALL"

After much research, what I had to do is this: I opened a terminal and then entered:

sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-dev open-vm-dkms open-vm-toolbox open-vm-tools-dev

and then:

sudo apt-get install gcc

and then:

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all --appname="VMware Player" --icon="vmware-player"

It started right up after that. I hope this helps.

answered May 17 '13 at 15:33

Joshie

11
1

2

why you are installing " open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-dev open-vm-dkms open-vm-toolbox open-vm-tools-dev " on a host machine on which vmware workstation is going to installed ? they are meant to be install in Virtual machine ( guest os of vmware ) – Qasim May 17 '13 at 15:36
yes , I think the same way, they are for virtual machines. – christianbueno.1 Mar 16 '18 at 21:00

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered May 17 '13 at 19:33

1

Per the Ubuntu VMWare Player install page, use

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)

to install the headers. Then, you can either let it install or you can uninstall and reinstall vmware player.

answered May 17 '13 at 19:33

Sam King

719

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Apr 07 '14 at 16:59

1

It looks like the main issue with vmware workstation on 13.04 is compiling modules like vmci.ko. The easiest way to get these is to do apt-get install open-vm-dkms. This installs vmci.ko, and friends.

edited Apr 07 '14 at 16:59

jobin

27,708

answered May 17 '13 at 21:18

Samuel Silbory

106
3

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

YMMV, but if you have trouble with vmci-related errors (in Linux Kernel 3.8.*), this bash script posted by vincent may work. Use it after uninstalling the VMWare product first and then installing again:

#!/bin/bash
if [[ $UID != 0 ]]; then
    echo "Please run this script with sudo:"
    echo "sudo $0 $*"
    exit 1
fi

sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/generated/uapi/linux/version.h /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/linux/version.h

cd /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source
sudo tar -xf vmci.tar
cd vmci-only/linux
sudo sed '127s/.*/   .remove = vmci_remove_device,/' driver.c > driver.c.tmp
mv driver.c.tmp driver.c
sudo sed '1753s/.*/static int/' driver.c > driver.c.tmp
mv driver.c.tmp driver.c
sudo sed '1981s/.*/static void/' driver.c > driver.c.tmp
mv driver.c.tmp driver.c
cd ../..
sudo tar -cf vmci.tar vmci-only/
sudo rm vmci-only/ -Rf
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
sudo rm /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/linux/version.h
echo "Done"

Also keep an eye for VMware article in Arch Linux's wiki. This article is mainly for Arch Linux but most of patches/tricks/workarounds can be applied for Ubuntu too.

score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Oct 30 '19 at 09:33

0

First, uninstall VMWare workstation using the command

sudo vmware-installer --uninstall-product vmware-workstation

then install the following dependencies dpkg-dev, g++, gcc, lib6-dev, libc-dev, make using the command below

sudo apt install build-essential
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
sudo apt update
sudo reboot

Finally, reinstall VMWare workstation.

edited Oct 30 '19 at 09:33

Kulfy

17,696

answered Oct 30 '19 at 09:30

Binyam

29

Unable to start VMWare Workstation after upgrade to 13.04

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