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

Solution 1

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

Solution 2

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.

Solution 3

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

Solution 4

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

Solution 5

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.

View more solutions

Comments

[7wonders]

I also had to use the patch here ubuntuforums.org/… With the changes mentioned here ubuntuforums.org/…

[Braiam]

Could you add instead an answer with the content of "RESOLUTION" section?

[Pavel]

Solved for Ubuntu 19: rglinuxtech.com/?p=2522#comment-55900 gist.github.com/PiN73/7a890b21f2d2dd22bdc0219b0eebc00e

[Qasim]

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 )

[Reuben L.]

this did the trick.

[Halsafar]

This got it running again. Combine that with the patch to fix the vmnnet component. Then I ran sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all.

[virushuo]

If You still have issues try to download and install vmware again: itsfoss.com/install-vmware-player-ubuntu-1310

[zoran jeremic]

This solved the problem for me on Ubuntu 17.10

[ntc2]

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.

[christianbueno.1]

yes , I think the same way, they are for virtual machines.