"Unexpected response from vmware-authd" error when powering on a VM

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to determine the status of VMware host services (services on the Mac) that are required for the correct operation of virtual machines.

Symptoms:

• You cannot power on a virtual machine.
• You see a black screen when connecting to a virtual machine.
• You see the error:
  
  Unexpected response from vmware-authd

Environment

VMware Fusion 2.x
VMware Fusion 10.x
VMware Fusion Pro 10.x
VMware Fusion 3.x
VMware Fusion 5.x
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Fusion 6.x
VMware Fusion 4.x
VMware Fusion 7.x
VMware Fusion 1.x
VMware Fusion Pro 8.x

Resolution

To resolve this issue, determine the status of VMware host services:

1. Log in as a user with Administrator rights or root privileges.
   
   Note: This is to ensure the accuracy of results.
    
2. Navigate to Applications > Utilities and open Terminal. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
3. Run the command:
   
   kextstat | grep vmware
   
   There are five entries, which contain this text:
   
   com.vmware.kext.vmx[86/64]
com.vmware.kext.vmci
com.vmware.kext.vmioplug
com.vmware.kext.vmnet
com.vmware.kext.vsockets (only in Fusion 4.x)
   
   Notes:
   1. If you do not see four entries in the output, reboot the Mac.
   2. If you still do not see the four entries, or are experiencing the original error, proceed to the next step.
       
4. Uninstall and then reinstall Fusion. For details, see Uninstalling, reinstalling, and upgrading VMware Fusion (1014529).
5. Verify that there is nothing wrong with your host operating system. For details, see Verifying the health of an operating system (1003956).

Additional Information

Opening a command or shell prompt
Uninstalling, reinstalling, and upgrading VMware Fusion