Accessing a virtual machine with O/S Windows 2008 or Windows 7 displays a blank console

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

If you are using the WDDM or the XPDM video driver in a virtual machine, you may experience these symptoms:

• Windows 2008, 2008 R2, or 7 displays a blank console after being powered on
• Windows Terminal Services (RDP) can connect to the virtual machine
• You see the virtual machine post
• Windows Safe Mode will show the console

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x

Cause

This issue may occur if your video device does not have enough memory. For more information on the amount of memory to allocate to the video device, see WDDM and XPDM graphics driver support with WDDM and XPDM graphics driver support with ESX, ESXi, Workstation and Fusion (1016770).

Resolution

To resolve this issue, allow your video card to use all of the memory allocated to it:

1. Right-click on the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
2. Click Video Card.
3. Click the radio button for Auto-detect video settings.

To override the automatic settings, you can also adjust the values manually:

1. Power off the virtual machine.
2. Right-click on the virtual machine and select Edit Settings.
3. Click Video Card.
4. Select Enter total video RAM.
5. Increase the amount of RAM for the video device to the desired amount.

Note: Ensure that you are using the appropriate driver inside your virtual machine as per WDDM and XPDM graphics driver support with WDDM and XPDM graphics driver support with ESX, ESXi, Workstation and Fusion (1016770).
For more troubleshooting information, see Troubleshooting SVGA drivers installed with VMware Tools on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 running on ESXi/ESX 4.x/5.x (1011709).

Additional Information

Troubleshooting SVGA drivers installed with VMware Tools on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 running on ESXi/ESX 4.x/5.x
WDDM and XPDM graphics driver support with WDDM and XPDM graphics driver support with ESX, ESXi, Workstation and Fusion