Hi,
I have created a review that updates the section to fix the issue you
described.
https://reviews.freebsd.org/D57693
My guess is we can finish this review and get it committed in good time.
Thank you for posting this detailed description of the issue.
Best regards,
Benedict
Am 07.06.26 um 16:52 schrieb Takashi Shimizu:
Hi,
I would like to suggest an addition to the VirtualBox guest section of
the Handbook:
https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/virtualization/#virtualization-guest-virtualbox
Problem
-------
When running FreeBSD as a VirtualBox guest, the default graphics
controller (VMSVGA) causes X to fail with a black screen. The Xorg log
shows:
(WW) Warning, couldn't open module vmware
(EE) Failed to load module "vmware" (module does not exist, 0)
Changing the graphics controller to VBoxSVGA resolves the issue.
With VBoxSVGA, Xorg correctly loads the vboxvideo driver provided by
the VirtualBox Guest Additions.
VirtualBox displays an "invalid settings" warning when VBoxSVGA is
selected for a non-Windows guest, which is likely to confuse users into
reverting to VMSVGA.
Background
----------
The two controllers correspond to different driver stacks:
VMSVGA -> vmwgfx (VMware's DRM driver)
VBoxSVGA -> vboxvideo (Oracle's driver, VirtualBox Guest Additions)
VMSVGA emulates VMware graphics hardware. FreeBSD has no vmwgfx,
so Xorg cannot find the vmware DDX driver and fails entirely.
Suggested addition
------------------
The section should instruct users to select VBoxSVGA under
Display > Screen before installing the Guest Additions, and ideally
explain why: VMSVGA targets VMware guests and is not usable on FreeBSD.
This issue has been discussed repeatedly on the FreeBSD Forums and
elsewehere since at least 2020, yet the Handbook does not mention it.
Without this note, users following the Handbook will hit a black screen
with no indication of the cause.
Thanks,
Takashi Shimizu
