Discuss VirtualBox 3.0.8 release

[Perryg]

I believe these are Windows errors and not VirtualBox.
The first one can be elimated by setting the guest up to use Host-Only mode if you are going to use it without a network connected.
The second one is telling you that the guest has the same name as the host. Change the Guests name to something else and the nag screen will stop.

[Etepetete]

Thanks for your input. I solved the first one in that I completely removed the bridged network adapter after discovering that internet access works fine over nat.

As for the second one, thanks again, I should have figured it out myself, the error message was quite clear about that. I think I've been sitting here too long. It's Saturday and I think it's time to go get a beer, or two, or three...

Well all I have to add to this discussion, is that 3.0.8 works great. The VMs run so fast that while viewing in full screen mode I have to check twice to be sure im in the VM and not the host

[reagle]

I'm still with 2.2.4 since the 3* series does a poor job on low-latency audio recording (via USB), but everytime I use it I get an upgrade nag. Is there a way to disable this?

[Sasquatch]

I'm still with 2.2.4 since the 3* series does a poor job on low-latency audio recording (via USB), but everytime I use it I get an upgrade nag. Is there a way to disable this?

File > Preferences > Updates. Remove the tick there and it will no longer check for new versions.

[Etepetete]

Sometimes I feel not knowing what I should expect from VirtualBox, flattens my learning curve. (Is a particular behavior a bug or feature?) I have done some preliminary testing of version 3.0.8 and here are the results:

VM operates at a comparable performance to a standard non-virtualized environment. Boot-up and shutdown take about a minute each. Responsiveness of programs such as windows explorer, copy and paste functions, most installed software do not respond with any noticeable delay when compared to running on a standard non-virtualized environment. (Exceptions listed below.) My wireless mouse works consistently in both environments.

• -Have uninstalled, installed software within the VM, changed the VM's desktop wallpaper. - no problems.
  
  -Have run system utilities such as file defragment utility (MyDefrag), Eraser within the VM - no problems.
  
  -Created and Restored (restored the MBR after the following tests) a copy of the VM's MBR (from within the VM) using MbrFix - no problems.
  
  -Have copied file content from editors within the VM and copied and pasted these contents into the same editors running on the host (and vice versa) - no problems.
  
  -Have tested access to the shared folders and exchanged files between VM and Host. Also created, moved, deleted files in the shared folder from within the Guest - no problems.
  
  -Successfully performed standard file operations on a USB Flash Drive from within the VM. The device filter worked as expected, i.e. while VM was running, attached USB Flash Drive to host machine, VM detected new hardware, installed drivers and the USB Flash Drive was available to VM OS. At the same time, the host OS did not detect the device nor display it in Windows Explorer. Detaching device in VM as expected and host did not detect it thereafter allowing the USB Flash Drive to be physically detached from the host machine. (See Note below.) - no problems.
  
  -As stated in previous post, NAT networking allows barrier free Internet connection to guest. No noticeable lag while downloading files.
  
  -Installed latest version of OutpostFreeFirewall on both host and guest. On host - no problems / On guest, executables such as autoruns abort during start or the VM exits with a blue screen. The Commodo Firewall runs in Host and Guest (in its familiar way) - no problem.

Exceptions:

• -Executing scripts (i.e. double clicking on a .cmd file) in the Guest is noticeably slower than when running on a standard non-virtualized environment
  
  -When running in the Guest, some programs take a moment longer to build their GUI (CCleaner, FreeCommander), otherwise performance of these programs is comparable to running on the host. I would think this has more to do with the way these programs have implemented their GUI and not necessarily to do with VirtualBox. FreeCommander also exhibits other anomalies. I can view and copy files from and to the shared folder using this file manager. I only noticed a slight delay in opening the shared folder; above all it was impossible to access the file context menu within the shared folder. Using Windows Explorer, I also experience a slight delay when opening the shared folder, but only the first time. Subsequent views in Windows Explorer are then displayed quicker. Context menu has full functionality in the shared folder.
  
  -The VM runs with a resolution of 1152 x 864 with no problem. As long as the Host window is not maximized, the VM boots with this resolution and window size every time. Running the VM in a maximized host window is also a great experience. It is not noticeably different than a non-virtualized environment. Yet, if I shut down the VM in this mode, upon the next boot the VM will start with the Host window maximized, yet the VM is displayed at the standard resolution. (There's a lot of free space surrounding the VM's display.) The screen resolution settings have to be reset.
  
  -Starting with th VM closed, I activated a device filter for USB support. I started the VM. I then attached the USB Flash drive to the host machine. The host machine then required the driver for the VB USB support to be installed. After confirming installation, nothing happened. The USB Flash Drive was visible to neither host nor guest. I shut down the VM, Closed VB and powered off the host machine. After the USB Flash Drive had been powered off, I removed it. I powered on the host machine, started the VM, and attached the USB Flash Drive and the results are posted above.
  
  -The bi-directional clipboard is proven to work when contents are transfered from within applications running on guest and host system. Yet it is impossible to directly copy and paste files between host and guest via the clipboard. For example, using the context menu to copy a file in the windows explorer window of the VM and then pasting it into a windows explorer window of the host (or vice versa) doesn't work. If you run the NirSoft clipbordic tool in both the VM and the Host, you can watch the contents being transferred in (more or less) real time between the clipboards of Host and guest, when working with applications (see previous), when working directly between OSes, clipboardic will show the contents of the source clipboard as expected, the other clipboard only gets updated with some 4 kb entry but no data.
  
  -I created a snaphot while the VM was not running and after starting it, it showed considerable reduction of performance! Duration of boot and shut down increased to 6 min respectively. The whole system was sluggish, unresponsive until it finally froze (well I wasn't willing to wait for long to observe, if it would thaw with time). Deleting the snapshot and discarding the last state functioned properly. The VM performed the same as when prior to making the snap shot.

My first impression (now that I have successfully implemented VirtualBox) is exuberantly positive. Without previous experience with virtualization, I came to VirtualBox after researching the internet and taking a look at the various offerings. Then I read the manual before I installed the software for the first time. After installation it was necessary to consult the forum for information and help. I have only recently discovered, that the .chm file is more up-to-date and contains additional information not contained in the manual. (Murphy is everywhere...) VirtualBox opens up new horizons. Use it; you will enjoy the stunning experience. Searching the forum is very tedious and time consuming. (By the way, the "site:forums.virtualbo.org" filter works with various search providers.) Thank you to all you forum members for your courteous help.

[MarkCranness]

...Yet, if I shut down the VM in this (Fullscreen) mode, upon the next boot the VM will start with the Host window maximized, yet the VM is displayed at the standard resolution.

Make sure the 'Auto-resize Guest Display' option is set (exit Fullscreen mode, on the Machine menu, Host+G).

...Yet it is impossible to directly copy and paste files between host and guest via the clipboard. For example, using the context menu to copy a file in the windows explorer window of the VM and then pasting it into a windows explorer window of the host (or vice versa) doesn't work. ... when working directly between OSes, clipboardic will show the contents of the source clipboard as expected, the other clipboard only gets updated with some 4 kb entry but no data.

This is to be expected and is because of how Copy/Paste works in Explorer.
When you Copy or Cut a file, the clipboard is updated with the info: "The user has selected (file) and Copied it". (The actual file data is not copied: imagine if it was a 10GB file, it wouldn't fit in the clipboard!)
Upon Paste, Explorer reads the clipboard info and knows what file(s) to Copy or Move.
Even if that info was transferred between the guest and host, it would refer to files in the local filesystem (for eg "C:\filename.txt"), and the 'other' Explorer wouldn't know what to copy, because it does not have that same file in the same place.

-I created a snaphot while the VM was not running and after starting it, it showed considerable reduction of performance! Duration of boot and shut down increased to 6 min respectively. The whole system was sluggish, unresponsive until it finally froze ...

Snapshots have some performance overhead, but I wouldn't have thought that much of a difference.
Is your hard disk OK? (do a surface check)

The USB behaviour when no VM is running sounds like a bug.

[Etepetete]

Make sure the 'Auto-resize Guest Display' option is set (exit Fullscreen mode, on the Machine menu, Host+G).

Thanks! That did the trick.
Is there any way to change the icon set?. I find it difficult to distinguish between active and inactive ones. (Maybe I need new glasses?)

The USB behaviour when no VM is running sounds like a bug.

Actually, I hadn't tested how the USB support functions, when the VM is shut down (until now, more below). I don't consider the USB support to have a bug. I tested it in the expected way I would use it. I don't plug in a USB Flash Drive to my host machine before powering on. And so it is with my virtual machine, I start it and then I attach a USB Flash drive. As posted, this works like a charm. What I described in my note was more of a bug in XP. One promoted feature of this OS is the ability to "install and go", i.e. a re-boot isn't necessary after each and every installation. Experience has shown, this is not always true, as in the case of the installation of the host driver for USB support. Maybe it would be helpful to have VirtualBox request installation of these drivers on the host automatically with initial install or when activated in the USB tab of the VM for the first time.

The USB support is better than I expected. I inserted the Flash drive bevor starting the VM. Host picked it up. I started the VM, Flash drive was automatically detached from host and guest OS picked it up. Successfully detached Flash drive in guest (without physically removing Flash drive), shut down guest, flash drive was re-attached to the host. Works like a charm.

Is your hard disk OK? (do a surface check)

Performed chkdsk on physical HD (all partitions), everything okay.

Have created a new snapshot as previously described, the snapshot is now running smoothly. Although boot times are relatively long again (ca. 10 min). Otherwise the system is very responsive. The programs that had slight difficulties in the VM prior to the snapshot, seem to have an even tougher time running in the snapshot.

More Observations:

• -Performed VBoxManage modifyhd --compact on VDI: A reduction in size from 23739993 KB to 18347609 KB (ca. 5 GB less physical size) The command required ca. 25 min to complete. At first it looked as if nothing was happening, just a blinking cursor until 10% done was displayed. Yet, as soon as it hit the free space, it zipped through the conversion process.
  
  -In VM, Comodo has detected a network zone with IP: 169.254.185.137 mask: 255.255.0.0. Is this a remnant of having the Bridged Network Adapter previously attached?

This is to be expected and is because of how Copy/Paste works in Explorer.

Thanks for shedding light on the subject of explorer and clipboard. You've made me smarter.

[Sasquatch]

Is there any way to change the icon set?. I find it difficult to distinguish between active and inactive ones. (Maybe I need new glasses?)

There is a small distinction in the icon. It has a box that's empty when disabled, but ticked when enabled. It's not easy to see on higher resolutions, because everything becomes smaller.

-In VM, Comodo has detected a network zone with IP: 169.254.185.137 mask: 255.255.0.0. Is this a remnant of having the Bridged Network Adapter previously attached?

That address range is when the system can't obtain an IP address from DHCP in time and the DHCP request times out. You can safely remove that network from the detected networks. Just be sure that you set everything to what it needs on the different network modes.

[AntiMatter]

High CPU usage: about 30% when the VM is idle.

Host: Win XP SP3, Guest Win2003 Std 32 bits (1 CPU). The Guest OS is idle, however, the CPU usage is high in the host (around 30%), CPU fan spins permanently. If VM is shutdown, CPU % and fan noise stop.

Has anyone experienced the same CPU issue with 3.08?

[Perryg]

I had that when I had Karmic installed as host, but after putting Jaunty back on it settled down. After it boots and the virus scanner stops it usually idles around 3% to 8%
The VM is XPpro 32, 1 cpu, 1024 meg, not SMP, used for Oracle 10g VBox 3.0.8 on 64 bit Jaunty Hardware-v enabled on system but not enabled on guest.
It usually runs lower than 8% when idle if I stop the Oracle services. Snapshot below: (virus scanner still going at it).

[SSCBrian]

High CPU usage: about 30% when the VM is idle.

Host: Win XP SP3, Guest Win2003 Std 32 bits (1 CPU). The Guest OS is idle, however, the CPU usage is high in the host (around 30%), CPU fan spins permanently. If VM is shutdown, CPU % and fan noise stop.

Has anyone experienced the same CPU issue with 3.08?

Not with my Vista x64 host.

[Etepetete]

Doing some more tests with version 3.0.8, I have installed Slackware 13.0. Here are some observations:

• -Initially had problems with the system responding very slowly, worked through the forum trying to find a solution. Nothing worked. I tried changing IDE-controller, disabling 3D acceleration to no avail. Also implementing the soft link trick didn't change anything.
  
  -Implemented the shared folder, it works like it's supposed to.
  
  -I decided to up the RAM from 256 to 512. Now it works as I would expect, very responsive, USB, full screen mode, etc. work great as with my windows guest.

I have also experienced other problems such as Akonadi server not getting registered at D-Bus (the Internet only supplies a solution in conjunction with apparmor, which does not apply to my situation) as well as the KPackage manager saying it won't work unless smart is installed (I installed smart and still receive this message). These problems I will have to solve as with any "normal" installation (but that is one reason I installed VirtualBox. The last time I had a dual boot with Linux was when Slackware 10 came out, I need to get back to Linux, or loose it.)

One interesting thing I've noticed:

• -When I look into KDE Info Center I see under Memory, that the Swap Space is "Not available". When I look under Partitions, it is listed as follows:
  Mount point=none, Label=<Empty>", Type=swap, Total Size=1.0 GiB, Free Size=<Empty>", Used Size=unknown.

For me, this is the reason why my Slackware installation was so sluggish until I doubled the available RAM, it was constantly caching to disk. Is this VirtualBox or did I do something wrong with the installation?

[Etepetete]

Not having a physical machine to compare to my VM (Slack0), I I have created a second VM (Slack1). This time I allocated 512 MB prior to installation of Slack1 instead of 256 MB as in the installation of Slack0. Otherwise they have same settings for video (64 MB), sound, USB, 3D-Accelleration activated, Added a new user to both installations, etc. How they differ is listed below.

• Slack0:
  Linux 2.6
  IDE-Controller : PIIX4
  Serial port deactivated.
  Swap file created at end of disk (as described in Slackware-HOWTO).
  MySQL does not start at boot time.
  Full install, all packages except KDEI.
  
  Slack1:
  Other Linux
  IDE-Controller : PIIX4 SATA (AHCI)
  Serial port activated.
  Swap file created at beginning of disk.
  MySQL start at boot time.
  Full install, all packages including KDEI.

Observations.

• -New user in Slack1 does not incur Akonadi D-Bus error, still occurs for root. Same behavior in Slack0.
  
  -KPackage error also in Slack1
  
  -Slack1 displays in KDE Info Center 'Free Swap 100%. Slack0 as described above, ('Not available'). After comparing /etc/fstab I noticed that in Slack0 the entry for the swap file was missing. I corrected this and that fixed that problem. I think the Slackware installation routine failed (it is menu driven, so difficult to screw up). But why? Did it need 512 MB memory during setup, did it not like the linux version 2.6? Is the setup routine flaky? (Didn't like the author's suggestion to place swap file at end of disk?)
  
  -Slack0 and Slack1 display the same information in KDE Info Center for partitions as described above.
  
  -When adding a shared folder, I've noticed that a different window is opened, depending on whether one adds the shared folder during runtime or via VirtualBox (clicking on change button while VM is shut down). While running, one is offered to attach it permanently, a choice not offerered otherwise. I've read in the manual and understand that at runtime one may add transient shares. But looking at the two windows, transient and persistent are characteristics you have to keep in mind, the difference is not clearly indicated (intuitively recognizable) in the windows. Maybe adding text to the window (VM-Down) such as "All shared folders created here are persistent, to attached transient folders, access the device menu while the VM is running!" would make it more obvious.

SharedFolder_VM-Running.png (8.42 KiB) Viewed 9573 times

The attachment SharedFolder_VM-Down.png is no longer available

Boot message from Slack0

• Starting VirtualBox Additions ...done.
  Starting VirtualBox Guest Addition service vboxadd-service: Started. Verbose level = 0
  ...done.

Boot message from Slack1 (vary somewhat with each new boot)

• Starting VirtualBox Additions ...done.
  Starting VirtualBox Guest Addition service nohup: redirecting stderr to stdout
  vboxadd-service: Started. Verbose level = 0
  Starting mysql daemon with databases from /var/lib/mysql
  ...done.
  
  Or
  
  Starting VirtualBox Additionsnohup: redirecting stderr to stdout
  Starting mysql daemon with databases from /var/lib/mysql
  ...done.
  Starting VirtualBox Guest Addition service vboxadd-service: Started. Verbose level = 0
  ...done.
  
  
  Or
  
  Starting VirtualBox Additionsnohup: redirecting stderr to stdout
  Starting VirtualBox Guest Addition service Starting mysql daemon with databases from /var/lib/mysql
  vboxadd-service: Started. Verbose level = 0
  ...done.

SharedFolder_VM-Down.png (8.21 KiB) Viewed 9572 times

[Etepetete]

I have tried to reproduce the error I got with Slack0 and did an installation with the same parameters as with the original installation, i.e. Linux version 2.6, 256 MB ram. The results turned out negative, i.e. Swap partition was active and working, so I guess I screwed up the initial installation (It's supposed to have happened to the best.)

Regarding my Linux guest, the system seems to be more responsive after installing Guest Additions.

I've noticed that my mouse pointer is a bit off in my windows XP guest. If you are familiar with MyDefrag, it shows unmovable files in red (for example $Bitmap). These often occupy only a thin line. If the cross-hairs of my mouse pointer line up exactly with the unmovable file, the file name is other than expected. If I lower the mouse pointer slightly, the file name matches accordingly. The mouse pointer also seems to be off sideways, i.e. the mouse pointer has to be slightly right of the file. Is this a known problem? (I didn't find anything in the forum.)

Regarding shared folders:

• Maybe it would be advisable to add a text to the settings window while the VM is running (SharedFolder_VM-Running.png) similar to "This will attach a transient shared folder unless you select the check-box 'make persistent'."

P.S. VirtualBox is addicting

[pete_21]

Hi!
I'm having the following issue:
I have Windows 7 x64, and Virtualbox is installed with Networking. On my host, if i connect to internet (PPPoE), the dial up time, is kind of high (7-8 secs), but if i disconnect, the following connection time is ok, its about 1-2 secs. So the problem only appears, at the first connection after a restart. But its really annoying. I tried to disable the 'Host-only network', but there was no change. I tried to install Virtualbox without 'Networking', but in this case, i don't have internet access on the VMs.
Could somebody help me, how could I handle this problem?
Thanks in advance!