VMWare Fusion BootCamp loading - solved

[haralds]

I was able to load BootCamp installations on VMware Fusion under Mojave and earlier versions of Catalina by giving VMware Fusion full disk access. That does not seem to be working any longer.
VMware can unmount but not access the disk.

Has anybody seen this and found a work around?

 

[rumormiller]

If you're not running the latest version of Fusion, install a trial of the latest version of Fusion and try to run bootcamp. It should trigger the permissions. Then you can uninstall it. That's how most people get around permission issues with older versions of Fusion.

Also check out https://communities.vmware.com/comm...atus[published]~objecttype~objecttype[thread]

 

[haralds]

If you're not running the latest version of Fusion, install a trial of the latest version of Fusion and try to run bootcamp. It should trigger the permissions. Then you can uninstall it. That's how most people get around permission issues with older versions of Fusion.

Also check out https://communities.vmware.com/comm...atus[published]~objecttype~objecttype[thread]

I am running the latest. It worked in B3 or B4. It is working on some of my systems, but not others.

 

[haralds]

Solved. I am using SIP. A long ago I fixed the issue under High Sierra.
But it looks like the AFPS creates slightly different disk reports.
The solutions:
1. Turn off SIP
2. Regenerate the BootCamp VM
3. Edit the VMDK file according to this KB: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2151780
4. Turn on SIP
A complication for me is that my BootCamp is on its own disk. Since the /dev/diskn changes with every boot, I have a startup daemon that fixes the file.

--> Catalina still has a problem with full disk access on external drives with Full Disk Permissions for VMWare enable.
--> VMware uses a PrivilegedHelperTool. It is copied form the bundle on launching the app and removed after - really funky. It cannot be added to the Privacy Full Disk permissions. This is likely the issue.
This works when BootCamp is not the whole disk.

 

[haralds]

Beta 7 solved the issue for Catalina.
But you have to use the method outlined in the KB.