Discuss the 4.1.18 release

[frank]

Discuss the 4.1.18 release.
You can download it from here.

[ingo2]

Thanks for the update, all fine here. One question is remaining:

On Squeeze-amd64 host the upgrade went smooth and fast, there are no modules compiled, but afterwards the new 4.1.18 modules are loaded.

However running /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup later removes the newly installed modules without any indication/message saying that the new modules are un-registered with DKMS. Then it is compiling the modules and loading them as usual.
Is this step (compiling and registering with DKMS) become obsolete in Squeeze?

Best regards,
Ingo

[jeffrozar@yahoo.com]

See attached image capture. This is the result of dragging the window. Moving the mouse over anything also generates the artifacts. Only when Aero is enabled and an Aero theme is chosen. The same problem happens on Windows 8 RC and Windows 2012 RC.

Anyone know how to fix this or encounter this too?

aero_artifacts.JPG (123.45 KiB) Viewed 7088 times

[misha]

See attached image capture. This is the result of dragging the window. Moving the mouse over anything also generates the artifacts. Only when Aero is enabled and an Aero theme is chosen. The same problem happens on Windows 8 RC and Windows 2012 RC. Anyone know how to fix this or encounter this too?

Do you have triple-buffering enabled in your card's 3D settings? If so, disabling it should help.

[jeffrozar@yahoo.com]

No, Triple Buffering is set to "Off".

[HCT]

If you have a NVIDIA graphics controller it may help to install the latest beta driver 304.48. For me this solved all those "flickering" problems I also encountered. Especially Win 8 RP guest suffered from this problem. Also disabling 3D acceleration in the Display settings for a given guest is still required to solve these kinds of troubles. However, after installing latest beta driver from NVIDIA at the host machine Win 8 Release Preview guest became really usefull for me the first time without those artifacts/flickering anymore.

Best regards,
Helmut

[jeffrozar@yahoo.com]

I can't disable 3D Acceleration in the settings of the Guest because then Aero won't work.

[Jimmy123]

hct,
thats a very interesting point you're making
i have an nvidia card as well
the problem i have for sometime is that in full resolution the mini toolbar dissapears HOST+HOME als does not work then
this with aero enabled and 2D and 3D also
you think that updating tot 304.45 would help?
Jimmy

[HCT]

There are four things I discovered after installing NVIDIA beta driver and using Win8 Release Preview guest:

1. Aero desktop functions like Peek, Snap, Shake, etc. are still working fine even if I have 3D guest setting disabled (2D still enabled). Default Aero theme design (tulips with transparent window frames) still enabled and also is working fine.

2. Very strange: Win8 Device Manager shows a yellow exclamation mark for my "VirtualBox Graphics Adapter (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)". General property says: "Device driver for this hardware cannot be initialized (Code 37" (or similar; translated from German to English). Device does not use any resources because an error occurred. I don't know what the status of this was before updating NVIDIA and before updating VirtualBox to 4.1.18.

3. Guest Additions 4.1.18 installed without any trouble.

4. With Windows 7 guests and 3D disabled Aero functions cannot be used. If 3D is enabled flickering/artifacts are shown. In device manager properties of Graphics card is as expected.

(Host: Win 7 Ultimate, 6 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 280M, Aero enabled)

[neoruwata]

I've installed the Guest Additions 4.1.18 on Fedora 16. It has 2 troubles alert with "/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGL.so" and "/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so"

Code: Select all

SELinux is preventing /usr/libexec/gnome-session-check-accelerated-helper from execute access on the file /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so.

*****  Plugin restorecon (94.8 confidence) suggests  *************************

If you want to fix the label. 
/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so default label should be textrel_shlib_t.
Then you can run restorecon.
Do
# /sbin/restorecon -v /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so

*****  Plugin catchall_labels (5.21 confidence) suggests  ********************

If you want to allow gnome-session-check-accelerated-helper to have execute access on the VBoxOGLcrutil.so file
Then you need to change the label on /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so
Do
# semanage fcontext -a -t textrel_shlib_t '/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so'
*** semanage fcontext -a -t FILE_TYPE '/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so'
where FILE_TYPE is one of the following: updpwd_exec_t, xdm_tmp_t, lib_t, chkpwd_exec_t, ld_so_t, hostname_exec_t, abrt_helper_exec_t, gkeyringd_exec_t, init_exec_t, shutdown_exec_t, textrel_shlib_t, alsa_exec_t, consoletype_exec_t, policykit_auth_exec_t, xdm_exec_t, pam_console_exec_t, bin_t, lib_t, etc_t, xserver_exec_t, dbusd_exec_t, loadkeys_exec_t, plymouth_exec_t, xauth_exec_t, ssh_agent_exec_t, mount_exec_t, shell_exec_t, rpm_exec_t, oddjob_mkhomedir_exec_t, pulseaudio_exec_t, systemd_systemctl_exec_t, pam_exec_t, fusermount_exec_t, xsession_exec_t, systemd_systemctl_exec_t. 
Then execute: 
restorecon -v '/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so'


*****  Plugin catchall (1.44 confidence) suggests  ***************************

If you believe that gnome-session-check-accelerated-helper should be allowed execute access on the VBoxOGLcrutil.so file by default.
Then you should report this as a bug.
You can generate a local policy module to allow this access.
Do
allow this access for now by executing:
# grep gnome-session-c /var/log/audit/audit.log | audit2allow -M mypol
# semodule -i mypol.pp

Additional Information:
Source Context                system_u:system_r:xdm_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
Target Context                unconfined_u:object_r:usr_t:s0
Target Objects                /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.s
                              o [ file ]
Source                        gnome-session-c
Source Path                   /usr/libexec/gnome-session-check-accelerated-
                              helper
Port                          <Unknown>
Host                          together.co.th
Source RPM Packages           gnome-session-3.2.1-2.fc16.x86_64
Target RPM Packages           
Policy RPM                    selinux-policy-3.10.0-86.fc16.noarch
Selinux Enabled               True
Policy Type                   targeted
Enforcing Mode                Enforcing
Host Name                     together.co.th
Platform                      Linux together.co.th 3.4.2-1.fc16.x86_64 #1 SMP
                              Thu Jun 14 20:17:26 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64
Alert Count                   3
First Seen                    Fri 22 Jun 2012 09:57:38 AM ICT
Last Seen                     Fri 22 Jun 2012 10:07:07 AM ICT
Local ID                      9f1250c8-bbde-47db-8a2c-8bee651ba49c

Raw Audit Messages
type=AVC msg=audit(1340334427.349:45): avc:  denied  { execute } for  pid=1182 comm="gnome-session-c" path="/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-4.1.18/lib/VBoxOGLcrutil.so" dev="dm-1" ino=1966131 scontext=system_u:system_r:xdm_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 tcontext=unconfined_u:object_r:usr_t:s0 tclass=file


type=SYSCALL msg=audit(1340334427.349:45): arch=x86_64 syscall=mmap success=no exit=EACCES a0=0 a1=129740 a2=5 a3=802 items=0 ppid=1181 pid=1182 auid=42 uid=42 gid=42 euid=42 suid=42 fsuid=42 egid=42 sgid=42 fsgid=42 tty=(none) ses=1 comm=gnome-session-c exe=/usr/libexec/gnome-session-check-accelerated-helper subj=system_u:system_r:xdm_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 key=(null)

Hash: gnome-session-c,xdm_t,usr_t,file,execute

audit2allow

#============= xdm_t ==============
allow xdm_t usr_t:file execute;

audit2allow -R

#============= xdm_t ==============
allow xdm_t usr_t:file execute;

How to fix them ?

[Jimmy123]

if i understand correctly is the 3D capability of 4.1.18 more problematic then the previous version ?
i cant remember ever having "flikkering" on a win 7 guest with aero enabled, just no mini toolbar

[misha]

if i understand correctly is the 3D capability of 4.1.18 more problematic then the previous version ?
i cant remember ever having "flikkering" on a win 7 guest with aero enabled, just no mini toolbar

Did you really start seeing flickering since 4.1.18? Perhaps you have updated host 3D drivers?
There was almost no 3D-related changes done to 4.1.18.

[HCT]

I saw more or less screen flickering and artifacts also in all prior versions of VirtualBox since trying to install GA with WDDM 3D driver and 3D enabled. Therefore I disabled 3D settings for all my virtual machines (Win 7, Server 2008 R2) and/or installed standard 3D in safe mode. Windows 8 guest depends on installing the WDDM driver - but enabling/disabling 3D in the display settings did not change anything: dramatic flickering which made using Windows 8 a mess and practically useless. To test Windows 8 I physically installed it in another partition (dual boot) and everything was okay. In the meantime I updated my NVIDIA driver to the latest beta and also updated VBox from version 4.1.16 to 4.1.18. When I started still existing Windows 8 guest to update the GA I noticed no flickering anymore. But I also see that there is still a problem with device manager and VirtualBox Graphics Adapter (see my post above and log file below). The only drawback is that the Window resolution is fixed (choice of 1024 x 768, 1280 x 1024, or 1600 x 1200 dpi) and cannot be resized seamlessly anymore. Screen flickering will come back as soon as 3D option is enabled again. I wonder why Aero functions are still working even if 3D option is disabled. However, the only thing I changed was updating NVIDIA driver which does the trick for me obviously.

Here is an abstract of my current Windows 8 Release Preview guest VBox-log-file (if someone is interested to read):
..
00:00:14.289 Guest Additions information report: Version 4.1.18 r78361 '4.1.18'
00:00:14.289 Guest Additions information report: Interface = 0x00010004 osType = 0x00038100
00:00:14.289 Guest Additions capability report: (0x0) seamless: no, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: no
00:00:14.289 Guest reported fixed hypervisor window at 0x0000000002c00000 (size = 0xc00000, rc = VINF_SUCCESS)
00:00:26.495 Guest Log: VBoxMP::DriverEntry: Built Jun 5 2012 16:14:22
00:00:26.495 Guest Log: VBoxMP::DriverEntry: OsVersion( 6, 2, 8400 )
00:00:26.496 Guest Log: VBoxMP::vboxMpCrCtlConSetVersion: WARNING! vboxCrCtlConCall failed, rc (-3302)
00:00:26.496 Guest Log: VBoxMP::VBoxMpCrCtlConConnect: WARNING! vboxMpCrCtlConSetVersion failed, rc (-3302)
00:00:26.496 Guest Log: VBoxMP::VBoxMpCrCtlConIs3DSupported: VBoxMpCrCtlConConnect failed with rc(0), 3D not supported!
00:00:26.496 Guest Log: VBoxMP::DriverEntry: 3D is NOT supported by the host, but is required for the current guest version..
00:00:26.496 Guest Log: VBoxMP::DriverEntry: Aborting the video driver load due to 3D support missing
00:00:27.310 OHCI: Software reset
00:00:27.310 OHCI: USB Reset
00:00:27.368 OHCI: USB Operational
00:00:27.379 EHCI: Hardware reset
00:00:27.379 EHCI: USB Operational
00:00:32.155 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000009bb0000 w=1280 h=1024 bpp=32 cbLine=0x1400, flags=0x1
00:00:32.683 EHCI: USB Suspended
00:01:14.278 Guest Additions capability report: (0x4) seamless: no, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: yes
00:01:14.279 Guest Additions capability report: (0x5) seamless: yes, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: yes
00:01:42.841 RTC: period=0x80 (128) 256 Hz
00:01:45.649 RTC: period=0x200 (512) 64 Hz
00:01:46.106 RTC: period=0x80 (128) 256 Hz
...

Helmut

[misha]

I saw more or less screen flickering and artifacts also in all prior versions of VirtualBox since trying to install GA with WDDM 3D driver and 3D enabled.

What kind of flikering and artifacts do you see? Any screenshots or whatever?

In the meantime I updated my NVIDIA driver to the latest beta and also updated VBox from version 4.1.16 to 4.1.18. When I started still existing Windows 8 guest to update the GA I noticed no flickering anymore.

With VBox 4.1.8 in case host 3D acceleration is unavailable/disabled for win8 guest, VBox WDDM driver would not load, thus if you have any problems with win8 guest 3D rendering, you could disable the 3D in VM settings and have a default MS-supplied software-based display driver be used in win8 guest. So the reason it now works for you is that either you have disabled 3D acceleration for win8 VM or you do not have a proper opengl support installed on host, which makes 3D disabled automatically for a VM.

..But I also see that there is still a problem with device manager and VirtualBox Graphics Adapter.. The only drawback is that the Window resolution is fixed (choice of 1024 x 768, 1280 x 1024, or 1600 x 1200 dpi) and cannot be resized seamlessly anymore..

This is caused by the above, i.e. once VBox WDDM driver refuses to load, VBox graphics device would have an exclamation point mark on it in dev manager, and autoresize would not work since it requires VBox WDDM video driver.

.. Screen flickering will come back as soon as 3D option is enabled again.

See all the above.. I'd really like to resolve this issue, so please attach here a complete VBox log file, some screenshots(if possible) and detailed description for your flikering & other 3D issues for "3D enabled" case.

I wonder why Aero functions are still working even if 3D option is disabled.

In that case default MS-supplied software-based 3D driver is being used for win8.

However, the only thing I changed was updating NVIDIA driver which does the trick for me obviously.

I still don't get how updating host graphics driver improved the situation for you.. From what you're saying above it seems like you still have a flikering and other problems with it, and the only thing which helps is disabling the 3D acceleration for a VM, but the latter has nothing to do with the host video driver update.

[HCT]

Thanks for the answers. All I can say is that I tried every possible combination of 3D and other settings to get Windows 8 guest running smoothly - but failed. That was the reason to install it physically onto another drive. After updating NVIDIA driver AND VirtualBox to version 4.1.18 (maybe that was the trick) and re-starting Windows 8 guest with 3D disabled from sessions before it runs fine. I see that there is Microsoft 3D WDDM basic driver loaded and this limits the autosize feature.

Attached is a zip file with 2 log files and a small video file demonstrating "flickering". Hope that helps a bit to get the problems solved.

Logs.zip

Log files of Windows 7 and Windows 8 guest

(37.59 KiB) Downloaded 10 times

VBox2.zip

low quality video to demonstrate flickering problem

(493.83 KiB) Downloaded 27 times

Regards,
Helmut