Virtual Device Serial0 Will Start Disconnected Jun 2026

Here is a comprehensive guide on why this happens and how to resolve it.

Under the section on the right, change the selection from "Use physical serial port on the host" to one of these alternatives:

Global virtual printing can only be enabled if your Fusion version includes ThinPrint (pre‑13.5). For newer versions, this solution is not applicable and the recommended approach is to remove the thinprint ‑related entries from the .vmx file.

: Newer versions of VMware no longer support the "ThinPrint" technology, which often used to handle virtual printing. Legacy Settings virtual device serial0 will start disconnected

Save the file and reload your VMware application before booting the VM. Summary and Prevention

: If the serial port is configured to connect to a physical host port, a named pipe, or a specific file that is currently unavailable or inaccessible, the VM will power on with the device disconnected to prevent a full boot failure. Resolution Strategies Disable Virtual Printing : The most common fix is to navigate to Edit > Preferences > Devices in VMware Workstation and uncheck "Enable virtual printers" Modify VM Settings : Right-click the affected VM, go to , select the Serial Port device, and uncheck "Connect at power on"

The error message is a common warning that occurs when booting a virtual machine (VM) in hypervisors like VMware Workstation Pro or VMware Fusion. This warning flags that the hypervisor cannot successfully initialize or map the virtual serial port ( serial0 ) assigned to the guest operating system. Here is a comprehensive guide on why this

This alert is triggered by specific hardware mismatches or underlying software configuration updates within the hypervisor infrastructure:

: The VM is set to connect to a physical COM port on your host machine that does not exist or is currently being used by another application.

When building new virtual machines using the custom wizard, you can prevent this issue entirely by auditing the hardware list before finalizing the build. Simply remove default legacy devices—such as serial ports, parallel ports, and floppy drives—if your guest operating system does not strictly require them. : Newer versions of VMware no longer support

. If the printer is not needed, you can remove the device entirely. Edit the .vmx File

When using a physical host serial port:

provides a native patch, though the VM will generally continue to function normally if you simply click "OK" or "X" on the message a VM so you can edit its configuration?

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If the issue persists after these generic fixes, inspect the .vmx file for configuration errors: