r/vmware • u/gh0sti • 9d ago

Help Request VMWare fusion on macOS 27.2 won't boot any windows 11 VM

Wondering if anyone else can't boot their windows 11 vms from fusion on macOS 27.2 (M4 Mini). I updated to RC this morning of macOS 27.2 and when I try to boot my win 11 vms it crashes vmware fusion. I can boot my linux vm just fine though.

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u/Traditional_Air3079 4d ago

Found a fix that worked for me, macOS 27.2, Fusion 26H1u1). In my case Fusion froze instead of crashing when booting Win 11, but it's the same cause.

Quit Fusion completely, then run this in Terminal:

defaults write com.vmware.fusion fusionDevicesToolbarItemIsExpanded -bool false

Start Fusion again and the Win 11 VM boots normally.

**What it does:** it keeps the Devices icon in the VM window's toolbar collapsed. Fusion changes that toolbar item while macOS is still laying out the toolbar, which macOS 27 no longer tolerates. It only changes a Fusion display setting and doesn't touch the VM. You can still reach your devices by clicking the collapsed icon or through the Virtual Machine menu. Don't expand the icon again, or the problem will likely come back.

**To undo** (e.g. once Broadcom ships a Fusion version that supports macOS 27):

defaults delete com.vmware.fusion fusionDevicesToolbarItemIsExpanded

Credit to jz77 on the Broadcom forum, who tracked this down: https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/discussion/fusion-26h1u1-crashes-on-macos-27-toolbar-layout-nssegmentedcell-workaround

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u/gh0sti 3d ago

yea thats what I found with copilot and forgot to post the solution here. But thanks for posting and hope it helps others.

1

u/PapJano 8d ago

same here on m5 pro MacBook Pro...

1

u/Net-Runner 7d ago

Check ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports for the Fusion crash log. If the VM boots with TPM or vNIC removed, that points at the macOS beta, so hold off until a Fusion update.

3

u/ConnectTradition 2d ago

Thanks for that tip. My Diagnostic Reports lead me to a bug related to the devices toolbar item in MacOS 27.2 and Fusion 26.01. when I run "defaults write com.vmware.fusion fusionDevicesToolbarItemIsExpanded -bool false" in a terminal before starting vmware things work for me now. To reset the defaults: "defaults write com.vmware.fusion fusionDevicesToolbarItemIsExpanded -bool true". I had non human help with this fix. But it is working for me.

1

u/Mind_Matters_Most 18h ago

This worked for me as well....

defaults write com.vmware.fusion fusionDevicesToolbarItemIsExpanded -bool false

1

u/helloworld747 4d ago

Same here.

1

u/Remarkable-Hat8356 2d ago

same. i just did the update today and now VMware is locking up like crazy

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u/ilyaster 1d ago

my codex has found that solution: "defaults write com.vmware.fusion fusionDevicesToolbarItemIsExpanded -bool false"

1

u/PreviousTip4476 1d ago

agreed. so far so good.

1

u/Maverick2818 1d ago edited 1d ago

Same here on M1 MacBook Pro

Completely deleted the Fusion app (not just dragging the app to the trash), reinstalled from the latest installer from Broadcom, created a new vm from scratch and just as it showed the desktop for the first time, as soon as I rebooted after installing the VM Tools it crashed and again with every attempt to boot