Error initializing SDL on Virtual Machine

[Mr_SMT]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to setup RetroPie on Ubuntu Server 16.04 running on Parallels on my MacBook Air.
The Installation went smoothly but now when I try to run EmulationStation I get the error:

lvl10:     Error initializing SDL!
                No available video device
lvl10:     Renderer failed to initialize!
lvl10:     Window failed to initialize!

if I run "lspci | grep VGA" I get:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Parallels, Inc. Accelerated Virtual Video Adapter"

and the output for "glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"" is:

Error: unable to open display

I already installed Xorg and openbox but somehow I still don't have a graphics environment.

has anybody installed Retropie on Parallels?

[mitu]

@mr_smt Why are you installing the server version and not the regular desktop version ? Emulationstation needs an X desktop environment to run, so you need to sort this out first. Start openbox first via startx openbox and then launch Emulationstation.

[Mr_SMT]

@mitu I thought ubuntu server will run smoother than the desktop version.
if I start openbox the VM crashes, I think I don't have any other option than to install the desktop version and try again.
Thank you for your reply!

[Mr_SMT]

@mitu I installed the desktop version and everything is working well!
The only thing is that all n64 emulators are not working, they are all writing the same error in the logs.

libeEGL warning: DRI2: failed to authenticate

[mitu]

@mr_smt That seems to look like a warning, but it might indicate that your installation does not have hardware accelerated graphics (maybe due to running in a vm) and the emulator needs it in order to run.

I'd suggest to use something that's native to your os (macOS) like OpenEmu or RetroArch. You could also use AttractMode as a frontend, in combination with RetroArch, if the default RetroArch interface is not enough.