VMware Player: No 3d support available from the host

vmwp-no3d-avail.md

VMware Player: "No 3d support is available from the host"

Facts: VMware Player on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with the standard Gnome desktop running an AMD WX-2100 graphics card. Both glxinfo and glxgears show 3d acceleration is enabled and working on the host. In addition to VMware Player, the host is also running the qemu-kvm/libvirtd stack from Ubuntu's official repositories. My use case for 3d accelerated graphics in a Windows guest is to occasionally play a Windows-only game.

Issue: Player barks this warning during installation of... anything.

Solution: This askubuntu post, Powered by StackExchange[TM], provides the solution:

1. Make sure 3d graphics is enabled in the guest settings and VMware Tools installed in it.

2. Shut down the Windows VM and exit Player.

3. Edit ~/.vmware/preferences to add...

mks.gl.allowBlacklistedDrivers = "TRUE"

4. Start up the guest VM in Player.

NOTES:

1. Why not use qemu-kvm instead of VMware Player? Because there isn't a working Windows driver for virtual 3d accelerated graphics. The virGL project had this as a goal around five years ago (back when I went all-in on qemu-kvm myself), but has yet to deliver for Windows guests.

2. Why not PCI (VFIO) pass-through? Too expensive for me, and I suspect for most ordinary users. If you need 3d graphics on Windows, it's probably justifiable. But then you could put the same money into a second workstation running Windows on bare metal. There's still a frustratingly high learning curve for getting pass-through graphics up and running, and the premium hardware required is very expensive (high-end motherboard and two graphics cards, as well as a spare monitor or a pro KVM switch -- like a Blackbox for reliability and durability).

3. You can't run a VMware and a qemu-kvm guest at the same time, each virtualization system wants exclusive access to the kernel. For desktop use that shouldn't be a problem, but if the host doubles as a virtual lab (as mine does) you're going to have to shut down all your qemu-kvm guests before launching a guest in Player. It's an annoyance, but manageable for me. Note that you do not have to shut down or recycle libvirtd before or after using VMware Player.

Thank you! 👍

I'm running a Windows guest in vmware Wokrstation Pro 17.5.2 on a Framework 16 with a Ubuntu Host (24.04.1) AMD Ryzen™ 7 7840HS and Radeon™ 780M Grafik (no expansion GPU).

The proposed adaption caused the guest session to start without a warnings.
From all what I can sees 3D acceleration is activated on guest and host system.
The performance gain is unimpressive.

Furmark Donut 1080p

• on guest with 3D acceleration:13 FPS
• on guest w/o 3D acceleration: no chance
• Host System (all resources): 14 FPS

Yes. "Virtual" 3d graphics have remained disappointing. Personally, I gave up trying.

you should use older version of VMware or ( lite version) It will solve the problem.

you should use older version of VMware or ( lite version) It will solve the problem.

I wished that you didn't necro this thread. Downgrading to a older version of VMware will not always solve problems.