VM power on fails with "Could not initialize plugin 'libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU 'grid_m10-1b'."

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

Unable to power on VM, errors with "Could not initialize plugin 'libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU 'grid_m10-1b'."

Similar entries in vpxa.log

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->          message = "Module 'PCIPluginLate' power on failed. "
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->       },
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->       (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->          key = "msg.vmx.poweron.failed",
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->          arg = <unset>,
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->          message = "Failed to start the virtual machine."
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->       }
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->    ],
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->    reason = "Could not initialize plugin 'libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU 'grid_m10-1b'."
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(163) Vpxa[2104080] -->    msg = "Could not initialize plugin 'libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU 'grid_m10-1b'."

 

Similar entries in vmware.log

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - vmiop_log: (0x0): vGPU manager is running in non-SRIOV mode.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - vmiop_log: (0x0): placement Id: 0xffff
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - vmiop_log: (0x0): vGPU UUID : 1ed8871b-3add-11b2-a670-5430a0eee211
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - vmiop_log: (0x0): Init frame copy engine: syncing...
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(02) vmx - vmiop_log: (0x0): Timed out (6001 ms) trying to sync
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(02) vmx - vmiop_log: (0x0): failed to sync engine
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(02) vmx - vmiop_log: (0x0): Failed to initialize guest FB data for inst 0 with error 7 (Failed to init frame copy engine)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(02) vmx - vmiop_log: (0x0): Initialization: guest FB dependent init failed error 7
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(02) vmx - vmiop_log: display_init failed for inst: 0
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS Er(02) vmx - VMIOP: Plugin vmiop-display initialization failed: 7
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - [msg.vmx.plugin.vmiop.vgpu.failed] Could not initialize plugin 'libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU 'grid_m10-1b'.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - Module 'PCIPluginLate' power on failed.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS No(00) vmx - PowerOnTiming: ALL took 15863078 us

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05)+ vmx - Power on failure messages: Could not initialize plugin 'libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU 'grid_m10-1b'.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05)+ vmx - Module 'PCIPluginLate' power on failed.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05)+ vmx - Failed to start the virtual machine.

Environment

VMware ESXi 8.0 U3

NVIDIA Tesla M10, driver 580.82.02-1OEM.800.1.0.20613240

 

Cause

The NVIDIA plugin libnvidia-vgx.so fails during initialization and reports an error.

This is an error specific to Nvidia plugin.

Resolution

• Update drivers and firmware to latest compatible versions.
• Try disabling display mode using the Display Mode Selector Tool.
• Verify GPU mode is set to "Shared Direct (vGPU)" not "Shared (vSGA)".
• Check for GPU hardware issues via nvidia-smi.
• If none of the above resolve the issue, contact Nvidia for advice.

Additional Information

Related KB Articles:

Error: “Could not initialize plugin '/usr/lib64/vmware/plugin/libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU "<profile_name>"” when powering on VM

VM failed to power on with error "Could not initialize plugin 'libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU 'nvidia_l4-4q'. Failed to start the virtual machine. Module 'PCIPluginLate' power on failed." 

Power-on VM fails with attached vGPU device "nvidia_l40s-24q"