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generalzod
Contributor
Contributor

3D support broken in VMWare Player 16.2.x on Windows 8.1 host

3D support was working fine with VMWare Player 16.1.2 on fully patched Windows 8.1 x64 host, across multiple guest VMs, from Windows XP to Windows 10.  Then I installed 16.2.4 to solve a crash when trying to edit the guest settings.

After installing 16.2.4, all guest VMs now report that the host has no available 3D support, and Indeed that's correct - on my Windows 7 guest, I can no longer use the emulated graphics card to play Midtown Madness.

There are multiple posts reporting this problem, but none have any indication that VMWare Corp. is going to fix it.  Windows 8.1 is supported until Jan 2023 so they shouldn't have broken it.  My system is fully patched with the latest updates, and has DX11.1 installed.  CPU is Coffee Lake, and GPU is GTX 1650.

I can't revert to the earlier version, as that had other issues (mentioned).  I'm aware of the workaround of disabling mks, but that weakens security, right?  The sandboxing of mks, as I understand, is a security feature.

So, VMWare Corp., please fix this.

P.S.  Not sure why you can only do an actual bug report if you have paid support.  Seems like having a bunch of free testers would be useful to a company.

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wyxchari
Contributor
Contributor

With Windows 10 updated, the last version of VMWare that worked for me with 3D acceleration was 15.5.7. Since then none have worked for me. Not even 16.2.4.

I use VMWare on laptops. I think VMWare 3D has dropped support for older graphics and only supports modern ones.

It would not be a problem with the operating system but with the computer's graphics hardware.

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generalzod
Contributor
Contributor

Older? The GTX 1650 was released in 2019. That's too old?
wyxchari
Contributor
Contributor

You're right. I must have expressed myself wrong. I was referring to the fact that in my case it must be because of my laptop graphics cards (Intel HD 4600) that do not support VMWare 3D and in your case because of the operating system.
Sorry for my English. It is through a translator.

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wyxchari
Contributor
Contributor

I fixed my problem with VMWare 3D by adding these 2 lines to the file " C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\settings.ini". After editing the file, it does not allow saving it in the original folder. You have to save it to another and then move it to its original location.

mks.requireISBRenderer = "FALSE"
mks.enableISBRenderer = "FALSE"

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generalzod
Contributor
Contributor


@wyxchari wrote:

I fixed my problem with VMWare 3D by adding these 2 lines to the file " C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\settings.ini". After editing the file, it does not allow saving it in the original folder. You have to save it to another and then move it to its original location.

mks.requireISBRenderer = "FALSE"
mks.enableISBRenderer = "FALSE"


Yes, I'm aware of that workaround.  Did you read this part of my original post?


I'm aware of the workaround of disabling mks, but that weakens security, right?  The sandboxing of mks, as I understand, is a security feature.

Your workaround compromises the security of VMware. So that's why I'm reporting the bug.  So we can get a real fix.

 

 

 

 

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