HELP: New Macbook Pro 2012 (USB 3.0) + VCDS + Fusion no longer works

Hi all,

Much to my disappointment, when I got my new computer up and running and powered up my virtual XP machine to use VCDS on my car as I always did on my 2008 Macbook Pro, it no longer recognizes the dongle. I have updated everything I possibly can, uninstalled and reinstalled VCDS, no luck. Has anyone just bought a new macbook and have the same issue? It seems that the USB 3.0 is messing things up, but I can't tell whether it is a VMWare Fusion issue, or whether VCDS does not have the right driver for the USB 3.0 that I have. There are too many things going on with the virtualization, and this is an unsupported use of VCDS since they don't support Macs (and I don't have tech support anyway since it is a used dongle). It still works fine on my old computer, so the dongle is not the problem.

More info from someone with the same issue: http://communities.vmware.com/message/2075363

EDIT: He seems to think it is VMWare and not VCDS.

I'm running Windows 7 Pro on Parallels and VCDS is rock solid at connecting and scanning.

No issues with this combination.

DVB, yes, it seems to work fine on Parallels and Virtualbox. But VMWare needs to get something sorted out it seems.

I run VCDS on a new MB Pro in Boot Camp using Win 7 Ultimate with no problems. The Bentley, however, requires the XP mode.

I can't figure out why anyone would bother with Fusion Ware, Parallels, Virtualbox, or etc. on a Mac when Boot Camp is FREE and works flawlessly. I do 90% of my work in Mac OS, but I need AutoCad for work and it takes me all of a couple of minutes to switch from Mac to Windows and vice-versa. The added benefit to Boot Camp is that Windows runs natively with all of the processor and memory resources at it's command. This = fast and clean.

Boot Camp is the way to go. I run Windows 7 natively on my iMac.

Update: I just installed Windows 7 to bootcamp and all is well there on my 2012. Interestingly, when I power up the same bootcamp partition in Fusion, my VCDS still doesn't work. So, definitely a Fusion issue that I hope they sort out. Bootcamp is great, but it is nice not to have to switch out of your Mac OS at all if you want to work in Windows but have other items open in Mac OS.

I need to run Windows at the same time and bounce between PC and MAC software all the time. Having to reboot to access a PC program isn't an option.

With Parallels its there all the time and anytime I need access to any program PC or MAC.

Drivbiwire said:

I need to run Windows at the same time and bounce between PC and MAC software all the time...

Click to expand...

I don't have that problem, so Boot Camp works fine for me. All that I use Windows for is AutoCad, the Bentley manual and VCDS. AutoCad is on the big Mac desktop machine.

SFHGolfTDI said:

Update: I just installed Windows 7 to bootcamp and all is well there on my 2012. Interestingly, when I power up the same bootcamp partition in Fusion, my VCDS still doesn't work. So, definitely a Fusion issue that I hope they sort out. Bootcamp is great, but it is nice not to have to switch out of your Mac OS at all if you want to work in Windows but have other items open in Mac OS.

Click to expand...

Have you checked Win7 device manager in the USB section to make certain all the devices are there?

Sounds like a Fusion problem with the new MacBook drivers. I too use Parallels and have no problems on an older MacBook.

You also should make sure that your virtual box software has all its tools up to date. With my wife's mac mini, we had some things not work correctly and after an update, parallels behaved much better and dreamweaver finally worked correctly again. This may be similar to the issue that you are experiencing.

The Ross-Tech dongle does appear in the device manager and for all purposes it connects and appears to be working fine. But when I power up VCDS, it does not see the dongle in Fusion (but does in bootcamp). At this point, I'm pretty disappointed in Fusion (which has served me fine for years), and ready to potentially take advantage of the Parallels upgrade offer for Fusion users if their tech support does not come through for me.

Still waiting for an update to resolve the issue... That was my thread started on VMWare Community.

VCDS comes with a diver for the interface hardware, the operating system (or computer manufacturer) provides the USB 3.0 drivers. Therefor VCDS has no influence on any USB 3.0 specific issues.... So your issue is with either VMware or your hardware manufacturer, not with VCDS.

For reference, BootCamp is the best solution right after that are VirtualBox and Parallels based on our experience. VMware hasn't proven to be as ideal for this scenario.

Thanks for your response but we have already come to that conclusion. It's VMware fusion.

amd, that was me responding to you on the VMWare community (emailsfh). I ended up just switching to Parallels and paying for the fusion upgrade deal. VMWare collected lots of information and logs from me and escalated the issue, but I never heard anything more. I'm very happy with Parallels though, which also seems faster.

I too switched from fusion to parallels a while back. Parallels is rock solid running XP and VCDS. Like DBW, I too need to have windows and Mac open together on occasion and for me the main advantage to parallels over boot camp is the ease of backing it up.

amd is the best said:

Thanks for your response but we have already come to that conclusion. It's VMware fusion.

Click to expand...

What was the fix?

I've been running VCDS on my MBP via Fusion 3 (WinXP) with no issues yet....

Issue is only with 2012 MBP, probably something to do with USB 3 and Fusion. We never found a fix, but maybe the new version works. The only fix I found was to switch to Parallels.

SFHGolfTDI said:

Issue is only with 2012 MBP, probably something to do with USB 3 and Fusion. We never found a fix, but maybe the new version works. The only fix I found was to switch to Parallels.

Click to expand...

Hmm. Odd. Well at least you got it working somehow.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

VMWare Fusion 5.0.2 was released last night and VCDS now works again!

I'm surprised there was an issue with VMware and your MBP. I have had trouble in the past with Parallels but VMware always been solid. I run a MacBook Air, but don't have USB 3's on 2's.

Glad you found a workaround.

Vmware Fusion connected to my VCDS decently... But anytime I was trying to accomplish anything in the car, it would bounce me off the connection constantly. Couldn't hold the very-low bitrate apparently. I said screw it, a $200 netbook running Windows XP works just fine for me, and I already had that laying around. I was ready to get one if I didn't have this netbook anyway. Who knows the perils of losing a connection while it is working with locked-down car software anyway, I don't want to take the risk of bricking my ECM.