Be wary of Linux kernels after 6.10.3!

[Technogeezer]

I advise everyone running any Linux distro as a guest to be wary of updating it 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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[John Burnham]

Does this apply to linux host systems as well?  I immediately noted issues on my system when upgrading to 17.6.  I am running a 6.8 kernel.

[Technogeezer]

AFAIK, no. It only applies to Linux guests and I should have made that clear in my post.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[Ian Forbes]

This has been resolved upstream. https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?h=v6.10.9&id=c45558414b8f2e0b9dc34eb8f9d4e8359b887681 in 6.10.9.

[John Austin]

I have just used
https://github.com/bytium/vm-host-modules/
to get WS working on F40 host.
VMware-Workstation-Full-17.6.0-24238078.x86_64.bundle
kernel 6.10.8-200.fc40.x86_64
Tested with W11 VM (not fully updated)

All well so far!


On Mon, 2024-09-09 at 14:04 +0000, Ian Forbes via Broadcom wrote:
> This has been resolved upstream.
> https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?h=v6.10.9&id=c45558414b8f2e0b9dc34eb8f9d4e8359b887681
>  in 6.10.9.
> -------------------------------------------
> Original Message:
> Sent: Sep 06, 2024 01:31 PM
> From: Technogeezer
> Subject: Be wary of Linux kernels after 6.10.3!
>
>
> I advise everyone running any Linux distro 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 <https: community.broadcom.com/people/michael-roy=""> - can you look into this?
>
>
> ------------------------------
> - Paul (technogeezer)
> ------------------------------
>
>
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[Technogeezer]

Thanks @Ian Forbes. I can verify that this looks to be addressed in the latest Fedora Rawhide update - which includes kernel 6.11.0 rc6. Looking over the kernel change logs it also appears that changes noted were checked into 6.10.8. I'll see if 6.10.8 and 6.10.9 fix the problem once the distros start pushing them out.  

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[Technogeezer]

Fedora just released kernel 6.10.8. The issue looks to be resolved with this kernel - I can now run the VM with 3D support disabled.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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