Using Windows in a VM, Best Solution?

[dibl]

Ahhh yes, I remember the bad old days of VMWare ver. 2.x, when it was necessary to configure your VM directly by editing that file. It's been years since I had to do that (thankfully). Here's the .vmx file for the Win 7 VM that is represented by the screenshots above -- I don't see a vram setting but possibly it's a line that could be added for a problem situation:

.encoding = "UTF-8"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "7"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsisas1068"
memsize = "2048"
mem.hotadd = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows 7.vmdk"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.fileName = "/dev/sr0"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.connectionType = "bridged"
ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
usb.present = "TRUE"
ehci.present = "TRUE"
sound.present = "TRUE"
sound.fileName = "-1"
sound.autodetect = "TRUE"
mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
serial0.present = "TRUE"
serial0.fileType = "thinprint"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge7.functions = "8"
vmci0.present = "TRUE"
roamingVM.exitBehavior = "go"
displayName = "Windows 7"
guestOS = "windows7"
nvram = "Windows 7.nvram"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
printers.enabled = "TRUE"
gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "FALSE"
extendedConfigFile = "Windows 7.vmxf"
ide1:0.startConnected = "TRUE"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0C:29:12:1B:47"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
uuid.location = "56 4d b2 76 40 ff 9e d5-03 73 3c 0e 53 12 1b 47"
uuid.bios = "56 4d b2 76 40 ff 9e d5-03 73 3c 0e 53 12 1b 47"
cleanShutdown = "TRUE"
replay.supported = "FALSE"
unity.wasCapable = "FALSE"
replay.filename = ""
scsi0:0.redo = ""
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"
pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"
pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"
pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "160"
usb.pciSlotNumber = "32"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "33"
sound.pciSlotNumber = "34"
ehci.pciSlotNumber = "35"
vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "36"
scsi0.sasWWID = "50 05 05 66 40 ff 9e d0"
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "134217728"
usb:1.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
vmci0.id = "-222821397"
usb:1.deviceType = "hub"
ide1:0.autodetect = "FALSE"
usb.autoConnect.device0 = ""
checkpoint.vmState = ""
isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "FALSE"
usb.autoConnect.device1 = ""
ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"
usb:1.speed = "2"
numvcpus = "4"
cpuid.coresPerSocket = "4"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
usb:0.present = "TRUE"
usb:0.deviceType = "mouse"
usb:0.port = "0"
usb:0.parent = "-1"

[SteveRiley]

svga.vramSize="134217728"

will give you 128 MB video RAM. The default is only 16 MB. (Source)

[Fintan]

Ahhh yes, I remember the bad old days of VMWare ver. 2.x, when it was necessary to configure your VM directly by editing that file

Yeah, I remember those days as well. Good riddance, but:

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

works nicely here. Thanks Steve

[Xplorer4x4]

Awesome guys! Thanks! I threw my back out so my pc time is very limited atm. I am going to assume I should probably allocate les then the full vram amount? Off hand my 4890 packs 1GB of vram, so I should probably leave some headroom for Kubuntu to use?

Sent from my DROID2 Global

[Xplorer4x4]

Well, we can rule out vram. I ran the aero troubleshooter, and got this:

The current video card may support Aero with a driver that is compliant with the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM). Contact the manufacturer of your computer or video card for a WDDM-compatible driver.

I am guessing this pinpoints the driver as the problem.