Windows 8.1 under Linux - which distro for 3-D support

jimbo45

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Hi there
Anybody running a Windows 8.1 Virtual machine from a LINUX host with 3-D support working. If so what distro are you using. (VMware player / workstation).

I've tried SUSE and DEBIAN - the VM runs perfectly except I can't get 3-D support or hardware graphics acceleration.

Under Windows as host (W7) no problem !!.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Hi Jimbo,

You should try installing the certified drivers for the graphics card from Nvidia or AMD instead of standard installed ones, for some distro's use limited opensource versions like the nouveau driver.

Also see specific VMware info about what you need:
https://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/ws_vidsound_d3d_enabling_host.html
That's for a host,
It says WS5.5, but should still apply on newer releases, use the mentioned tools to get info about the graphic drivers.

For a guest, W8, check to see if 3D is on in the VMX file itself:
https://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/ws_vidsound_d3d_enabling_vm.html


some example for Ubuntu drivers or install procedures:
How to install Nvidia drivers in Ubuntu 13.04

Debian:
https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

Although I'm not familiar with AMD/ATI cards, similar packages should exist:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver

Official binary releases, which are recommemded, also exist on the official sites, Nvidia, AMD.

For Intel I'm not sure what for driver will be used, I've seen something reported as Tungsten which provided pretty good basic acceleration a while back.

So in the end you'll need to install the latest official graphic driver you can get for your distro, then see That OpenGL is running well (run glxinfo and glxgears + some other benchmarking tools* are nice to see).

*System profiler and benchmark:
hardinfo.png

Good luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
Hi there

The problem doesn't appear with running 3-D / hardware acceleration on the HOST Linux system itself but getting the VM to be able to use it. Running on a HOST windows system - no problem.

It's not a major show stopper -- but am just curious as to why I can't get the VM to use 3-D / hardware accelerated graphics.

I'm probably going to see if using ZEN works any better - although VMWARE is easy and the VM's usually perform flawlessly.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Was just trying to see what driver you must be running there. Intel? Nvidia? ATI?

We all know that on Windows hosts you get pretty decent drivers but it's not always the case on linux where some distros will install open source drivers by default and it's in those particular cases that VMware won't be always able to detect 3D capabilities.

But I'm sure your gfx is ok since you're not the only one out there dealing with that issue.

Do you get a message warning at VM startup?
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/446284

I'm also curious how XEN will do on the same system.

But before we jump to conclusions, this is worth trying:
[SOLVED] Enable 3D acceleration(if supported) in Vmware

It's a (patented) missing texture compression:
Driconf: enabling S3 texture compression on Linux - Codemadness

Cheers
Hopachi
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
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