I advise everyone running any Linux distro as a guest to be wary of updating to Linux kernel versions beyond 6.10.3 until further notice. This applies to x86_64 and aarch64 architectures on Fusion and also Workstation.
I'm finding that the system console goes blank shortly after boot with any Linux kernel after 6.10.3 - no login prompt or ability to log in. This can be worked around by enabling 3D support in the VM settings (this works both on Fusion, and Workstation as well).
I found the same problem on Linux VMs running on Fusion 13.6 (Apple Silicon) and Workstation 17.0.2- so it's not tied to architecture or VMware product version. The problem was found on Fedora 40 Server, but I also just encountered it on Debian "trixie"/sid after updated itself a newer kernel.
Checking the kernel change logs on kernel.org, someone from VMware/Broadcom has been making changes to the vmwgfx and drm drivers since 6.10.3. (I will not name this person publicly). Whatever they've done has broken the vmwgfx driver for VMware desktop hypervisor products. I suspect that there will be problems for vSphere as well.
There look to be more changes checked into 6.10.8, and I'll see if they fix the issue once this version hits the distros.
@Michael Roy - can you look into this?
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- Paul (technogeezer)
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