[SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

ragno · 2024-12-20 11:16:06

Yesterday I tried booting up my arch vm after something like 2-3 weeks of not doing it and after selecting the booting option it just gave a black screen with the prompt line on top left corner, I logged in on tty with ctrl-alt-f2 and from there I could execute commands, I tried updating everything with sudo pacman -Syu, then I checked if gdm was working properly and the service says its enabled, but inactive, in fact when I start it the same black prompt screen as before appears. I tried twitching around with the answers to similar problems I found online, now when I boot arch it doesnt boot to the black screen, it boots directly to tty1 session, also looking at journalctl logs I found that vmwfgx produces many errors which are:
vmwgfx [drm] *ERROR* vmwgfx seems to be running on an unsupported hypervisor.

vmwgfx [drm] *ERROR* This configuration is likely broken

vmwgfx [drm] *ERROR* Please switch to a supported graphics device to avoid problems

also producing some error related to failing to create a channel, I tried searching for this specific error, but the only thing I found about this was a comment of a package manager saying its kernel regression, what do you guys think?

Last edited by ragno (2025-01-02 14:23:03)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2024-12-20 11:35:33

Is this VirtualBox? VMWare? Do you have the latest guest additions?

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2024-12-20 11:35:43)

ragno · 2024-12-20 14:16:22

This is in virtualbox, I updated it to the latest version, installed latest extension pack and I installed on arch basically every package required for guest additions, it still doesnt work and boot up to tty

Head_on_a_Stick · 2024-12-21 11:04:05

I don't use VirtualBox[1] but the error message suggests you should check the graphics card configuration. Perhaps the wrong switch has been toggled in the GUI or something.

[1] Debian says it's crap and they've just removed it from the testing repositories because it isn't good enough for the stable release.

ragno · 2024-12-22 22:03:57

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

the error message suggests you should check the graphics card configuration..

I tried looking at the graphics card configuration and it looks like the default module for graphics drivers is this vfgx, I've tried changing it to amdgpu with the steps listed on the wiki but I think I'm failing at the step of compiling another kernel, after the compile I dont see any headers file unlike the wiki says and I cant go on from there.

For the virtual box part, I installed vmware and imported the vm on there but the error is the same so I dont think that virtual box could've been the issue.

PhiLinux · 2024-12-31 20:58:35

I had the exact same error message in journalctl when I set up an Arch Linux installation in VirtualBox the other day.

I could fix the problem in the VM Settings in VirtualBox disabling 3D acceleration under "Display > Extended Features > Enable 3D Acceleration"

Maybe this will help you too.

ragno · 2025-01-02 14:21:54

I remember trying disabling 3d acceleration before, but it didnt work for me, in the end, switching from gdm to lightdm did the job as now things went back to normal, but still the question on why gdm doesnt work whereas lightdm does remains unsolved.

Last edited by ragno (2025-01-02 14:23:43)

pulse7013 · 2025-01-04 10:44:17

Hey there! It seems like your issue is related to graphics drivers (vmwgfx for VMware) or kernel regression. Here's a troubleshooting guide for both VMware and VirtualBox. I’m not entirely sure if this will fix your issue, but it might help:
For VMware:

Update VMware Tools:
Ensure open-vm-tools is installed and running:

sudo pacman -Syu open-vm-tools
sudo systemctl enable --now vmtoolsd.service
sudo systemctl enable --now vmware-vmblock-fuse.service

Switch to the LTS Kernel:
Regressions in the mainline kernel might be causing the issue. Try the linux-lts kernel:

sudo pacman -S linux-lts linux-lts-headers
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Reboot and select the LTS kernel.

Disable vmwgfx (Optional):
If vmwgfx errors persist, blacklist it:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-vmwgfx.conf

Add the following:

blacklist vmwgfx

Regenerate initramfs and reboot:

sudo mkinitcpio -P

For VirtualBox:

Update VirtualBox Guest Additions:
Install or update virtualbox-guest-utils:

sudo pacman -Syu virtualbox-guest-utils

Start and enable the required services:

sudo systemctl enable --now vboxservice.service

Reconfigure Display Settings:

Check your VM settings and enable 3D acceleration (or disable it if it’s already enabled).
Increase the allocated video memory in VirtualBox settings (e.g., 128MB or higher).

Switch to the LTS Kernel:
Like with VMware, the linux-lts kernel is a good fallback for stability:

sudo pacman -S linux-lts linux-lts-headers
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

General Steps for Both:

Reinstall Display Manager:
If gdm is inactive, try reinstalling it:

sudo pacman -S gdm
sudo systemctl enable gdm.service
sudo systemctl start gdm.service

If it still doesn’t work, try switching to lightdm:

sudo pacman -S lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter
sudo systemctl enable lightdm.service
sudo systemctl start lightdm.service

Fallback to TTY:
If the graphical interface doesn’t work, you can test with startx or a lightweight desktop like XFCE:

sudo pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies
startxfce4

Notes:

If you’re using VMware, the vmwgfx errors might indicate a kernel regression. Switching to the LTS kernel could resolve this.
For VirtualBox, ensure you have the correct Guest Additions version that matches your VirtualBox version.

I’m not 100% sure this will solve your issue,

Lone_Wolf · 2025-01-04 12:06:17

Thank you for trying to help, but you might want to read the thread more thoroughly before posting.

The vmwgfx kernel module is maintained in the linux kernel and used by virtualbox, vmware and can also be used by qemu and probably some more.
Blacklisting it should only be used as a troubleshooting step.

A kernel regression is a possibility, but very unlikely as switching display manager from lightdm to gdm solved this.

Also don't assume everyone uses grub.

Ragno : display managers have many quirks, often require specific tuning and tricky to troubleshoot.
If you want to investigate further, we need to see logs from the guest of a boot where lightdm failed.

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2025-01-04 12:06:49)

Arch Linux

#1 2024-12-20 11:16:06

[SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

#2 2024-12-20 11:35:33

Re: [SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

#3 2024-12-20 14:16:22

Re: [SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

#4 2024-12-21 11:04:05

Re: [SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

#5 2024-12-22 22:03:57

Re: [SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

#6 2024-12-31 20:58:35

Re: [SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

#7 2025-01-02 14:21:54

Re: [SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

#8 2025-01-04 10:44:17

Re: [SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

#9 2025-01-04 12:06:17

Re: [SOLVED] Arch vm on vbox boots to black screen with prompt

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