Issue Overview
After upgrading our Nutanix cluster from AOS 6.10 to AOS 7, we encountered a significant issue affecting Windows 11 VDI instances with NVIDIA vGPU. Specifically, the GPU device in the Windows 11 virtual machines failed to start, showing the following error in Device Manager:
“Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)”
System Configuration
- Hardware: HPE Nodes (but the problem is not related to HPE)
- CPU: AMD
- GPU: NVIDIA L4
- Operating System: Windows 11 VDI
- Hypervisor: AHV (AOS 7.0)
Observed Symptoms
- The vGPU appears in Device Manager but is accompanied by a warning and the Code 43 error.
- This issue only appeared after upgrading to AOS 7, which was done to enable VM migration support with vGPU.
Root Cause (According to Nutanix Support)
After opening a support ticket with Nutanix, we received the following analysis:
The NVIDIA GPU device fails to start with the Code 43 error if all of the following conditions are true:
- AHV 10.0 or newer is installed
- AMD CPU is used
- Host driver version: all versions
- Guest OS: Windows 11 or Windows Server 2025
Temporary Workaround
To restore functionality, we downgraded the cluster back to AOS 6.10. This resolved the issue, and the VDIs functioned correctly again.
Alternatively, Nutanix suggested that disabling Secure Boot in the VM settings might allow the NVIDIA driver to load successfully. However, this workaround may not be viable in all environments since Windows 11 needs secure boot to be enabled.
Update from Nutanix (03.06.2025)
Nutanix has now published a Knowledge Base article (https://portal.nutanix.com/kb/19111) with more details and guidance on this issue.