Skip to content

Commit e770d6f

Browse files
authored
Add article: VirtualBox Black Screen on Threadripper (#1256)
Nested paging must be disabled on some Threadripper and Threadripper Pro products in order for VirtualBox guests to display properly. I compressed the larger screenshots with WebP, but left the smaller ones as optimized PNG because the compression looks bad when they're scaled up.
1 parent 3e4f15f commit e770d6f

6 files changed

+54
-0
lines changed

content/virtualbox-threadripper.md

Lines changed: 54 additions & 0 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
1+
---
2+
title: VirtualBox Black Screen on Threadripper Platforms (Solution)
3+
description: >
4+
How to enable video output in VirtualBox guests on hosts using Threadripper or Threadripper Pro CPUs.
5+
keywords:
6+
- VirtualBox
7+
- Threadripper
8+
- Threadripper Pro
9+
- black screen
10+
- blank screen
11+
- no video
12+
- virtual machine
13+
- settings
14+
15+
facebookImage: /_social/article
16+
twitterImage: /_social/article
17+
18+
hidden: false
19+
section: software-troubleshooting
20+
tableOfContents: true
21+
---
22+
23+
On some products using AMD Threadripper or Threadripper Pro processors, VirtualBox guests may display a blank screen as seen below:
24+
25+
![VirtualBox guest showing a blank screen](/images/virtualbox-threadripper/virtual-machine-black-screen.webp)
26+
27+
On systems affected with this issue, checking `VBox.log` while the virtual machine is running will show the following log line every second:
28+
29+
```
30+
ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_VM_ERROR (0x80bb0003) aIID={4680b2de-8690-11e9-b83d-5719e53cf1de} aComponent={DisplayWrap} aText={Could not take a screenshot (VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED)}, preserve=false aResultDetail=-37
31+
```
32+
33+
Affected System76 models include:
34+
35+
- Thelio Major R5
36+
- Thelio Mega R3
37+
38+
## Solution: Disable Nested Paging
39+
40+
In order to allow VirtualBox guests to properly show their displays, ensure the virtual machine is not running, then open the virtual machine's settings.
41+
42+
![Virtual machine settings button](/images/virtualbox-threadripper/vm-settings-button.png)
43+
44+
Navigate to the `System` page, then to the `Acceleration` tab.
45+
46+
![Virtual machine System/Acceleration settings section](/images/virtualbox-threadripper/vm-system-acceleration-settings.png)
47+
48+
Uncheck the checkbox labeled `Enable Nested Paging`.
49+
50+
![VirtualBox nested paging setting](/images/virtualbox-threadripper/vm-disable-nested-paging.png)
51+
52+
Select `OK` to save the settings, then start the virtual machine again. The display will output successfully.
53+
54+
![VirtualBox guest showing a working screen](/images/virtualbox-threadripper/virtual-machine-working-screen.webp)
Binary file not shown.
Binary file not shown.
Loading
Loading
Loading

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)