163 replies to this topic

[theshark]

luckman212, on Nov 8 2009, 10:02 PM, said:

I had a 10.6 installed in VMware 7 on a Win7 x64 host, was working just fine.  I installed the new vmsvga driver and my system would no longer boot.  I got a bunch of these errors in my vmware log:

Nov 08 15:51:37.019: vcpu-0| Guest: IOAC: VRAMRealloc(0, 5242880) failed
Nov 08 15:51:37.025: vcpu-0| Guest: IOAC: VRAMRealloc(0, 5242880) failed
Nov 08 15:51:58.112: vcpu-0| Guest: IOAC: VRAMRealloc(0, 5242880) failed
Nov 08 15:51:59.996: vcpu-0| Guest: IOAC: VRAMRealloc(0, 5242880) failed
Nov 08 15:52:13.116: vcpu-0| Guest: IOAC: VRAMRealloc(0, 5242880) failed
Nov 08 15:52:19.437: vcpu-0| Guest: IOAC: VRAMRealloc(0, 5242880) failed

I found a solution, it was to enable the following option:

Is this completely normal?

I had the same problem with guest 10.6 installed on VMware Workstation 7 on WinXP host, and could not boot either right after install. Your workaround did help on boot, thanks! but then I found I could not switch to the native resolution 1440 x 900 that my monitor supports due to the maximum 1280 x1024 restricted by VMware Display setting.

I thought it might be worth to try adding the two lines in vmx file even though my guestOS is configured as darwin10,

svga.enableScreenObject = "TRUE"
svga.enableTracesReg = "TRUE

With the default VMware Display setting, i.e. "Use host setting for monitors" and "Accelerate 3D graphics" under "3D Graphics", the two lines did the trick! I am able to boot again with native solution supported by the monitor!

:-)

EDITED: I was meant to say, thanks very much Zenith432! btw, my first post in this community! :-)


forgot to mention, Preview "Take Screen Shot" still doesn't work for me after 1.2 installed. and Preview could not open either png or jpeg files, but opening pdf files is fine.

[Zenith432]

luckman212, on Nov 8 2009, 11:02 PM, said:

Is this completely normal?

No, it's not.  It's a bug, and a pretty serious one.  Thanks for pointing this out.
This happens if you're using Screen Object and you have less than the maximum amount of guest vram (128MB).

Edit: Bug fixed in VMsvga v1.2.1.

In the meantime you can work around it in two ways

1) Set the amount of guest vram in the VMX file to 128MB

svga.autodetect = "FALSE"
svga.vramSize = "134217728"

2) Disable ScreenObject

svga.enableScreenObject = "FALSE"

This forces the driver to revert back to its 2D mode, which was the default mode before v1.2.0.  In 2D mode, the WindowServer doesn't use guest vram outside the framebuffer during its normal operation, so this bug doesn't happen.

[theshark]

Zenith432, on Nov 9 2009, 01:51 PM, said:

No, it's not.  It's a bug, and a pretty serious one.  Thanks for pointing this out.
This happens if you're using Screen Object and you have less than the maximum amount of guest vram (128MB).

I'll fix this by tomorrow and upload a bugfix.

In the meantime you can work around it in two ways

1) Set the amount of guest vram in the VMX file to 128MB

svga.autodetect = "FALSE"
svga.vramSize = "134217728"

2) Disable ScreenObject

svga.enableScreenObject = "FALSE"

This forces the driver to revert back to its 2D mode, which was the default mode before v1.2.0.  In 2D mode, the WindowServer doesn't use guest vram outside the framebuffer during its normal operation, so this bug doesn't happen.

Zenith432, FYI, I have Nvidia Quadro 135M which does have 128MB GDDR3 RAM as per TechPower-up GPU-Z, and below is my settings in vmx file. Please note, I did not add in line svga.vramSize = "134217728" manually.

svga.autodetect = "TRUE"
svga.vramSize = "134217728"
mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
svga.enableScreenObject = "TRUE"
svga.enableTracesReg = "TRUE"

But I guess my 10.6 VM works in 2D mode as you pointed out. is there any way i could confirm whether it is working in 2D mode or not?

[Zenith432]

I've uploaded installers for VMsvga2 v1.2.1 that fixes the VRAM size bug discussed above (see links in post #1).

Removed VMsvga2 v1.2.0.

System Profiler now shows the correct guest VRAM size (before it always showed 128MB.)

theshark, on Nov 9 2009, 03:18 PM, said:

is there any way i could confirm whether it is working in 2D mode or not?

If Screen Object is on, the vmware.log file should contain the following lines

Guest: IOAC: Screen Object On
Guest: IOAC: SVGA3D On, 3D HWVersion == 2.0

Otherwise, it's using 2D mode.

Your VMX file looks ok.  If you set "svga.autodetect" to true, your "svga.vramSize" setting is ignored.  So if you want the "svga.vramSize" setting to matter, you should set "svga.autodetect" to false.  I don't know how MKS calculates the vram size in auto-detect mode.

The ability to take Screenshots depends on the vram allocator working right, so the vram size problem also prevents that feature from working.  Install v1.2.1 and try taking Screenshots.  If it still doesn't work, increase your guest vram size.

The amount of vram on your host display adapter is not related to the guest vram.  The guest vram is not real vram - it's simulated vram carved out of regular system memory.

[saivert]

Thanks Zenith.. Screenshots now work, but Preview.app still wont display anything because it uses CI/QE I guess to render {censored}.

But you can always just use spacebar to preview images. I think it's better than preview.app anyways (bloatware).

I also installed the vmmouse for PS2 Voodoo that was bundled with the vmsvgaII package, but it didn't fix the issue I'm having with not being able to control certain apps with the mouse.
I guess it's because of the VMWare integration (a usermode app simulating mouse input as opposed to real hardware messages).

EDIT: Currently KeePassX (the binary downloadable from their site) and Vidalia (A GUI for Tor anonymizer network).

PS! Also somehow the audio works better now after the VMsvga2 update. Maybe the new display driver doesn't suck as much resources.


Nov 10 01:11:42.280: vcpu-1| Guest: IOFB: start
Nov 10 01:11:42.288: vcpu-1| Guest: IOAC: start
Nov 10 01:11:42.288: vcpu-1| Guest: IOAC: Screen Object On
Nov 10 01:11:42.288: vcpu-1| Guest: IOAC: SVGA3D On, 3D HWVersion == 2.0
Nov 10 01:11:58.109: vcpu-0| Guest: IOFB: setCursorImage: convertCursorImage() failed 0x0

[theshark]

thanks again Zenith.

Now I have v1.2.1 installed and I am able to take Screenshot with Preview too, but just realized Preview Take Screen Shot might work for me when I had v1.2.0 installed. The problem is Preview could not display the screenshot right after it was taken, so I thought screenshot didnt work. but after I saves it as pdf file, Preview is able to view the image taken. if i saved it as png (or other image format) file, other apps but Preview could view the image. basically same as what Saivert's got.

I have below in vmx, and System Profiler recognized vram as 128MB

svga.autodetect = "TRUE"
svga.vramSize = "134217728"

and vmware.log shows,

Nov 10 21:48:21.546: vcpu-1| Guest: IOAC: Screen Object On
Nov 10 21:48:21.546: vcpu-1| Guest: IOAC: SVGA3D On, 3D HWVersion == 2.0

just for test purpose, i doubled the vram in vmx with autodetect off,

svga.autodetect = "FALSE"
svga.vramSize = "268435456"

vmware.log shows vram size got decreased, and then System Profiler still shows vram as 128MB

Nov 10 21:47:26.265: vmx| Decreasing vramSize to 134217728 (configured size 268435456 too big)

does vmware workstation 7 determine vram size based on the hardware i have?

[g54pcys]

I have 10.6.1 up and running on VMWare 7 / Win7x32. With 1.1 video driver I had the screen auto-fitting automatically without needed to use the guest patches. With 1.2.1 this no longer functions. I tried installing the guest patches and the first time it didn't work upon reboot. I reapplied them and it did work on reboot. The third and subsequent reboots fail to work again. Is there any trick to getting auto-fit working again?

[Zenith432]

g54pcys, on Nov 11 2009, 06:52 AM, said:

I have 10.6.1 up and running on VMWare 7 / Win7x32. With 1.1 video driver I had the screen auto-fitting automatically without needed to use the guest patches.

That can't be right as such.  If you had the tools auto-fitting without patching then you were using VMware's driver, not mine.

Quote

With 1.2.1 this no longer functions. I tried installing the guest patches and the first time it didn't work upon reboot. I reapplied them and it did work on reboot. The third and subsequent reboots fail to work again. Is there any trick to getting auto-fit working again?

It works for me.  I've made no change in that function.  Which version of VMware Tools are you using?  The ones from Fusion 2.0.x or Fusion 3.0?  If you're using Tools from Fusion 3.0, and you replace libresolutionSet.dylib, make sure not to leave the original in the same folder.  I did this initially and it causes the kind of problems you describe.  What happens is that the Tools daemon loads both dylibs, there are conflicts between them, and they mess up.  You should only have one libresolutionSet.dylib in that folder
- The original if you're using VMwareGfx.kext as the video driver
- The patched one if you're using VMsvga2.kext as the video driver


Update on another issue
I've found there are still problems with the "Grab" application
- Grabbing with a selection - the selection graphics is messed up and sometimes it stops selecting by itself even when you don't release the mouse button.
  workwaround: you can still do selection screenshots with hotkeys outside of Grab
- Grabbing a window - the Grab application freezes the system.

I'm going to be looking into these problems.  In the meantime, it's better to do screenshots with hotkeys and not Grab.

[theshark]

Zenith432, on Nov 11 2009, 10:45 AM, said:

Update on another issue
I've found there are still problems with the "Grab" application
- Grabbing with a selection - the selection graphics is messed up and sometimes it stops selecting by itself even when you don't release the mouse button.
  workwaround: you can still do selection screenshots with hotkeys outside of Grab
- Grabbing a window - the Grab application freezes the system.

I'm going to be looking into these problems.  In the meantime, it's better to do screenshots with hotkeys and not Grab.

Found the same problem a couple of days ago. didnt get a chance to report :-) . the window one is annoying as it freeze everything but the mouse. i had to power off the VM. thanks mate for looking into it!

Grab is the one called by Preview to take screenshots, isn't it?

please see hotkeys below in case someone is interested but didn't know it. I am new to Mac too and just found it 10 minutes ago!

command+shift+3 Full screenshot

command+shift+4 Crosshair to allow selection of screenshot area

command+shift+4, then spacebar Camera to capture specific screen object -> this may freeze your VM 10.6.x!

and one more edit :-) , try SnapNDrag (freeware) to take screenshots and it does work for ALL (Full, Selection and Window) whilst Zenith is fixing issues with Grab / Preview.

[g54pcys]

I'm using Fusion 3 tools. Only 1 lib file, I'm guess the -p in cp overwrites the old file? I checked my kext folder and removed the VMwareGfx ones, and also did a chmod 775 (or 755? Can't remember, found a site about installing kexts) on the lib file just incase.

Seems to be working now, probably the VMGfx kexts were to blame. Thanks.

[MSoK]

Zenith432, on Nov 11 2009, 09:45 AM, said:

That can't be right as such. If you had the tools auto-fitting without patching then you were using VMware's driver, not mine.

It works for me. I've made no change in that function. Which version of VMware Tools are you using? The ones from Fusion 2.0.x or Fusion 3.0? If you're using Tools from Fusion 3.0, and you replace libresolutionSet.dylib, make sure not to leave the original in the same folder. I did this initially and it causes the kind of problems you describe. What happens is that the Tools daemon loads both dylibs, there are conflicts between them, and they mess up. You should only have one libresolutionSet.dylib in that folder
- The original if you're using VMwareGfx.kext as the video driver
- The patched one if you're using VMsvga2.kext as the video driver


Update on another issue
I've found there are still problems with the "Grab" application
- Grabbing with a selection - the selection graphics is messed up and sometimes it stops selecting by itself even when you don't release the mouse button.
workwaround: you can still do selection screenshots with hotkeys outside of Grab
- Grabbing a window - the Grab application freezes the system.

I'm going to be looking into these problems. In the meantime, it's better to do screenshots with hotkeys and not Grab.

Zenith432,

Sorry to be asking such a basic question, but can you point me to the relevant location of the .dylib and / or .kext files for doing the changes that have been mentioned. Still getting to grips with OS X at the command line.

Cheers.

[Zenith432]

Mac Son of Knife, on Nov 13 2009, 02:40 PM, said:

Sorry to be asking such a basic question, but can you point me to the relevant location of the .dylib and / or .kext files for doing the changes that have been mentioned. Still getting to grips with OS X at the command line.

I made an installer for the patches so it's not necessary to install them from the command line anymore.

[Zenith432]

VMsvga2 v1.2.2

Changelog from 1.2.1 to 1.2.2

This is a bugfix release related to several apps from OS 10.6.

• Fixed crash in "DVD Player".  It still doesn't work, but exits gracefully with an error message.
  
• Fixed invisible selection frame in the Grab application.
  
• Grabbing a window in Grab freezes the system (same result for a hotkey-based window screenshot).
  
  • This looks like a problem in the WindowServer.  It takes a sequence of steps that lead it into a deadlock.
    
  • I've added ad-hoc code in the driver to prevent the deadlock, but the window-grab feature still doesn't work.  I suggest using selection-grabs instead which work both in the Grab application and with hotkeys.
• Optimized some unnecessary memory allocations in the main code sequence followed by the WindowServer.

There is now a common installer for the Leopard and SnowLeopard versions (see link in Post #1.)

Edit [11/17/2009]: I also added an uninstall script - uninstall.sh in the top folder.

This completes the bugfixes for VMsvga2 release 1.2.x.  Please believe me that not all broken apps in OS 10.6 can be fixed from the display driver.  Some require QE/CI.  Some have issues not related to the display driver.

[theshark]

it's really cool that now I can hear the shutter sounds when i take screenshots with hotkeys!! you fixed both audio and video drivers!!

thanks mate. you are my hero!  

[jawcl]

I installed this on my virtual machine.  Although, it lags a lot, how can I fix this?  I have a Nvidia Geforce 9100 with 256MB of dedicated graphics and iAtkos v7 on VMware Workstation.

[sofakng]

How can I tell if this kext/driver is installed properly?

I think I was using VMwareGfx but just installed this one instead...

Also, does it provide better hardware acceleration?  (should I be using that 3D switch as well?)

[Death Knight (tm)]

Hi.
I downloaded and installed this driver.
But I don't use VMWare, instead using qemu-kvm (from 64 bit linux) with -vga vmware flag.

I can load VMWare Tools for Windows and they work on it.
But On my Virtual Mac installation, It says:
VGA: family specific matching fails
for 5-6 times and after
SVGADev: Init: failed to get memory map BAR2 registers
when I try to start with '-v'

Do you plan to support qemu-kvm too? It only support 2D, no 3D but I think it will not hard to make this run for qemu too since its compatible with windows drivers...

thanks

[Caitanya]

Hi all,

I'd like to thank Zenith for his efford and at the same time I'd like to ask for some guidance. I have Snow Leopard 10.6.2 as guest on Windows 7 7600. I have an Acer Timeline 4810 and it has the Intel 4500MHD chip. Thanks to this driver everything works great, the screen is very responsive and I can even watch videos on Youtube

Here's my request: I've looked all over the web and can't seem to find a way to insert 1366x768 as a custom resolution. It worked before installing this driver (by modifying com.boot.plist), but this driver is so good I ain't going back.  I've tried SwitchResX but it doesn't work in SL, as well as something called newscreen which didn't work either. Can anyone help? It's not that big of an issue, I have set it to 1280x768 and it quite ok except for two black stripes on each side. Can you maybe add this resolution to the driver? Is there something I can do maybe? But be warned, I'm new to OSX, but I'm learning as I go.

Thanks for any help, I'd really appreciate it.

EDIT: tried DisplayConfigX - doesn't work either.

[adamsweeting]

If the driver is working correctly then you should see a list of resolutions in the Display preferences.

[Caitanya]

adamsweeting, on Jan 29 2010, 10:39 AM, said:

If the driver is working correctly then you should see a list of resolutions in the Display preferences.

There is a list, I was asking about the 1366x768 resolution which is not on it. Thanx for the reply though.

Cheers.