Blank screen when running Windows 8 x64 DevPreview guest with (4096MB RAM)

[dmurillo]

I created a VM to run Windows 8 x64 Dev Preview and ran into a showstopper after installing the VMWare Tools on the guest.

Once the tools are installed, the screen goes blank and I cannot see the new Metro interface anymore.

Second try, I deleted the VM and re-installed, same problem.

Third try, re-installed, Win8 working ok, but before installing the tools I check the machine settings and had a luck... I goofed and accidentally changed the allocated memory to 2048mb instead of 4096mb.  Installed the tools and everything went fine.

So, I shut down the guest to allocate 4096mb.  Restart the guest and bam... problem's back.  Shut down the guest, put back 2048mb and everything is fine.

I know Win8 is not "officially" supported by Workstation but does anybody else see this behaviour?

TIA

[RandomJoe]

Had the same issue, I ended up simply not installing the video driver from the VMware Tools.  Had the issue on both x86 and x64 version of Win8 Preview.

I also could not get the network adapter to be recognized by Win8 either... 

[Statler6]

I have a similar issue: I also have x64, I can see the Metro surface, but when I click an application with Metro UI nothing happens. When I click an application with the standard UI, like Windows Explorer, or Visual Studio 11 Express, the standard desktop appears, and the application starts normally. I'll have to try without VMware tools yet.

[Statler6]

I've uninstalled VMware tools from DevPreview and after the restart it works as expected.

I've even gone so far to re-install the tools but using a custom install I've not installed the SVGA driver and everything looks ok now.

[jeffdgr8]

I had the same problem. With 4096 MB RAM it freezes somewhere in between the "Windows Developer Preview" loading screen and the lock screen. Sometimes the lock screen is faintly visible as it's just starting to load. Sometimes VMware also gives an error "The display driver is not sychronized with the current virtual machine display hardware. Press Alt-Tab to switch back to the desktop and exit the 3D application. Then upgrade VMware Tools." (And yes, synchronized is spelled wrong.) It seems the magic amount of RAM is right around 3980 MB. When using this amount of RAM or less, you can often reach the desktop, but the closer you are to this amount, the quicker and more likely you are to get graphical artifacts and eventually freeze. 3984 MB or more causes it to freeze at load time. So the graphic artifacts and VMware error lead to believe it's a problem with the 3D video driver. Seeing as both VMware Workstation 8 and Windows 8 are both just released and Windows 8 is still pre-beta, it's not surprising. Looking forward to newer releases getting this working!

[dmurillo]

Surprisingly, I first intalled de 32-bit version of Win8 Dev Preview with 4096MB RAM and it all ran fine.  Even the network adapter worked but I chose "Bridged mode".

Nice to know I'm not alone

[Carl1942]

Hello,

my metro desktop has gone black after I installed the vmware tools.

Funnily enough, some programs are displayed : the Ctrl Alt Suppr screen, the taskmanaager, the charms (accessible via windows+W).

But alas, no explorer, no classic desktop, no metro UI.

I wish the tutorials mentionned this issue !

(On a side note, in virtualbox world, the guest addons cannot be installed at all.

Is there a way to uninstall the vmware tools without havint to reinstall the system ?

By executing a command that would run the uninstaller in a quiet mode or something...

If not, is there a way to boot into safe mode ?

Cheers,

Carl

[dmurillo]

Hi Carl,

I experienced the same with some windows appearing while the Metro interface was blank.

If you have multi monitors, try switching into "full screen" and toggle the multi monitors feature.  When in multi-monitor mode, the windows desktop should be visible, if you launch the VMWare Tools installer, it should appear on one of the monitors, if you don't see it, there's a button to send the Metro UI on another monitor, you should then be able to remove the SVGA driver.

[Xenon2000]

Yup. Press F8 when you see the VMware loading bar, to go into Recovery Mode. Be quick.

Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> System Restore

If you somehow get a black screen here, whcih I have seen, click click around with your mouse randomly and you will likely get the next screen to restore.

And finally you can start the process to restore. Since the VMware tools install causes Windows 8 to automatically create a restore point. I was able to restore before the tools were installed and for future testing, I then made a snapshot so I can quickly get back to my fresh install.

I mostly want the NIC and USB drivers of the tools. So I will try the 2GB of ram and see how that works out for me.

[kokuchin]

I use the previous VMware Tools ver.8.4.6. ( Workstation ver.7.1.4 contains it.) Workstation is the newest.

I think everything is fine with 4096MB RAM.

If you do so, you need VMware Tools Updates to manually ( do nothing ) by VM Setting Options.

And the video memory is less than current version VMware Tools.

[bottkars]

Just change the Graphic Setting of the Virtual Machine to 3d Acceleration Enabled.

Do that from your Fusion // Workstation     Virtual Machine --> Settings Menu.

Metro should run than like charme, no blck screen any more.

No need to mess around with F8 or uninstall . . . .

[jdav007]

bottkars Thanks!!!  Resolved!!!

[AndreR2]

Hey there,

I have tried this, but while installing the tools when the acceleration is turned on, the screen freezes (while the mouse still reacts pretty well and changes it's cursor). I have also tested to install the tools first and turn the acceleration on afterwards with the same result, that the screen freezes while loading the "Welcome" screen.

Is there any workaround for that issue?

Thanks

Andre

[continuum]

there is some voodoo involved here ...
for a few guys Windows 8 works with installed vmware-tools
for others it just does not work

so if you get a black screen after installing the VMware toools just start from scratch and dont install the vmware-tools