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Enhancing video in a guest Linux operating system running off a dual-boot raw disk

Early distributions of the XFree86 4.x X server were not shipped with an SVGA driver for the virtual video adapter used in VMware products. Unless you install a driver created for the virtual video card, you will only be able to use a Linux virtual machine in VGA mode.

Unless you install a driver created for the virtual video card, you will only be able to use a Linux virtual machine in VGA mode.

Follow the instructions below to download and install a driver specifically designed for the VMware virtual video adapter.

To use XFree86 4.x in a Linux Virtual Machine:

  1. Obtain a video driver module for VMware SVGA (vmware_drv.o). You can find this file at http://www.vmware.com/download/downloadxserver.html
  2. Log in to your guest operating system as root using the following command in a terminal window:
    su
  3. Copy the module into place.
    cp vmware_drv.o /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/vmware_drv.o
  4. Modify the XF86Config file. This is likely located in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. You will need to add a "Device" section similar to the following:

    Section "Device"
    Identifier "VMware SVGA"
    Driver "vmware"
    BusID "PCI:0:15:0"
    EndSection

  5. Make sure that your "Screen" sections specify Device "VMware SVGA"
  6. Run X normally and you should have SVGA support.

Known issues using an XFree86 4.x X server in a guest operating system

The following table describes some known problems with using XFree86 in a guest operating system.

Problem

Description

An error message appears about the color depth that looks similar to the following:

Given depth (<x>) is not supported by this driver (<y> is required)
Currently unavailable depth of <x> requested. [...]

The X server in the guest operating system must run at the same color depth as the host operating system. The XFree86 4.x server gives precedence to the default set in its configuration file (in contrast to XFree86 3.x, which allows the driver to override the setting in the configuration file).

To resolve the problem, edit your XF86Config file. (Check the documentation for your Linux distribution for the location. It can usually be found in /etc or /etc/X11.) Delete or comment out any "DefaultDepth" lines. The VMware-supplied driver will then automatically detect and use a compatible color depth.

The version of XFree86 shipped with Red Hat Linux 7.0 exits with a segmentation violation and core dump when run under 2.0.x versions of VMware Workstation.

This is a bug in XFree86 version 4.0.1a when it is run in the presence of an ISA video card. You can download updated X servers from the XFree86 Project. You should be able to download the pre-built X server and copy it to /usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86 to upgrade.

As it starts, X prints "(WW) VMWARE: No Matching Device Section for instance (BusID PCI:0:15:0) found." and then "(EE) No devices detected".

This happens because the VMware SVGA adapter is detected as a secondary display controller (secondary to a separate ISA VGA card). You need to be sure to include the BusID line in the "Device" section when you modify XF86Config.

Using another type of X server (other than XFree86), virtual machines cannot run in full-screen SVGA mode.

X servers other than XFree86 do not support the DGA protocol. Workstation will not be able to run in full-screen SVGA mode. Window-mode SVGA can be considerably slower than full-screen mode. Full-screen VGA is still available.

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