lima-vm/lima · error

unexpected video display %#q

Error message

unexpected video display %#q

What it means

attachDisplay switches on inst.Config.Video.Display and only knows a fixed set of values for the vz driver (e.g. "vz"/"default" and "none"); any other string hits the default case. The configured display mode is not implemented by the vz driver.

Source

Thrown at pkg/driver/vz/vm_darwin.go:660

			graphicsDeviceConfiguration, err = vz.NewVirtioGraphicsDeviceConfiguration()
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}
			scanoutConfiguration, err := vz.NewVirtioGraphicsScanoutConfiguration(1920, 1200)
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}
			graphicsDeviceConfiguration.(*vz.VirtioGraphicsDeviceConfiguration).SetScanouts(scanoutConfiguration)
		}

		vmConfig.SetGraphicsDevicesVirtualMachineConfiguration([]vz.GraphicsDeviceConfiguration{
			graphicsDeviceConfiguration,
		})
		return nil
	case "none":
		return nil
	default:
		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected video display %#q", *inst.Config.Video.Display)
	}
}

func directorySharingDevicesGeneric(origMounts []limatype.Mount) ([]vz.DirectorySharingDeviceConfiguration, error) {
	var mounts []vz.DirectorySharingDeviceConfiguration
	for _, mount := range origMounts {
		if _, err := os.Stat(mount.Location); errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
			err := os.MkdirAll(mount.Location, 0o750)
			if err != nil {
				return nil, err
			}
		}

		directory, err := vz.NewSharedDirectory(mount.Location, !*mount.Writable)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		share, err := vz.NewSingleDirectoryShare(directory)

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Set video.display to a vz-supported value ("vz"/"default" or "none") in lima.yaml
2. Remove the video.display override to use the driver default
3. Use the qemu driver if the desired display backend (e.g. sdl/gtk) is required

Example fix

// before
video:
  display: "cocoa"
// after
video:
  display: "vz"   # or "none" / omit

vzDisplays := map[string]bool{"vz": true, "default": true, "none": true}
if cfg.Video != nil && cfg.Video.Display != nil && !vzDisplays[*cfg.Video.Display] {
    return fmt.Errorf("display %q is not supported by the vz driver", *cfg.Video.Display)
}

if err := startInstance(cfg); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unexpected video display") {
        // switch display to "vz"/"none" or use the qemu driver
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: lima.yaml sets `video.display:` to a value valid for another driver (e.g. qemu's "cocoa", "sdl", "gtk") but started with the vz driver.

Common situations: Sharing one lima.yaml between qemu and vz setups; copying examples that use qemu-specific display names; typos in the display value.

Related errors

• errors inspecting instance: %+v
• unknown provision mode %#q
• invalid network spec %+v
• field `mountType` must be %#q or %#q for krunkit driver, got
• field `tpm` is not supported in krunkit driver

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e8851cb8eea97b7b. Report an issue: GitHub.