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Linux guest display does not resize on fullscreen toggle in VMware Workstation 25.x

  • 1.  Linux guest display does not resize on fullscreen toggle in VMware Workstation 25.x

    Posted 12 days ago

    Product

    VMware Workstation Pro

    Version

    25.0.0.24995812 (25h2)

    Host Operating System

    Windows 10 / Windows 11 (issue reproduced on Windows host)

    Guest Operating System

    Kali Linux Rolling (XFCE, Xorg)

    Guest Graphics Stack

    • Kernel driver: vmwgfx

    • Xorg driver: modesetting

    • Desktop environment: XFCE

    • VMware tools: open-vm-tools + open-vm-tools-desktop

    Problem Description

    Linux guests running on VMware Workstation 25.x do not correctly handle dynamic display resizing (fullscreen ↔ windowed). The guest display resolution becomes locked to the boot-time framebuffer size, and subsequent fullscreen or window resize events are ignored.

    This issue does not occur on VMware Workstation 17.x and does not affect Windows guests.

    Observed Symptoms

    • Display resolution dropdown is empty in the guest OS

    • Guest does not resize when entering fullscreen

    • Exiting fullscreen leaves scrollbars (desktop larger than viewport)

    • Resolution remains fixed to the size detected at login

    • Issue depends on whether the VM is started windowed or fullscreen

    • Running xrandr --auto inside the guest immediately fixes the issue

    Steps to Reproduce

    1. On a Windows host, create a new Linux VM using VMware Workstation Pro 25.x

    2. Install Kali Linux (XFCE, Xorg)

    3. Ensure open-vm-tools and open-vm-tools-desktop are installed

    4. Start the VM (especially if started directly in fullscreen)

    5. Toggle fullscreen on/off after login

    Expected Result

    • Guest resolution dynamically resizes when entering/exiting fullscreen

    • Display settings show valid resolutions

    • No scrollbars after exiting fullscreen

    Actual Result

    • Guest resolution remains locked to initial framebuffer size

    • Fullscreen toggle does not trigger resolution change

    • Display settings show no available resolutions

    • Scrollbars appear when exiting fullscreen

    Diagnostics / Evidence

    • vmwgfx kernel module is loaded correctly

    • DRM stack is healthy

    • No errors in Xorg logs related to driver loading

    • XFCE displays.xml remains empty until xrandr --auto is executed

    • Issue is resolved instantly by manually forcing xrandr --auto

    • Windows guests do not exhibit this behavior

    • Same Linux guest behaves correctly on VMware Workstation 17.x

    Regression Information

    • ❌ Broken in VMware Workstation 25.x

    • ✅ Works correctly in VMware Workstation 17.x

    • ❌ Linux guests affected

    • ✅ Windows guests unaffected

    Suspected Root Cause

    Initial EDID / resize event is not reliably delivered to Linux guests at login or fullscreen toggle in VMware Workstation 25.x on Windows hosts. As a result, Xorg/XRandR never receives valid display modes and caches an invalid framebuffer state.

    Workarounds (Not Ideal)

    • Disable 3D acceleration

    • Force windowed boot

    • Run xrandr --auto on every login

    • Add custom Xorg modesetting configuration

    These mitigate the issue but do not resolve the root cause.

    Impact

    This significantly degrades usability of Linux guests and breaks normal fullscreen workflows. It affects Kali Linux, and similar reports exist for other Linux distributions.



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