Known issues using an XFree86 4.x X server 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 then automatically detects and uses 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 earlier versions of VMware GSX Server.

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. VMware GSX Server is 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.