Dual monitor set-up not working anymore since upgrading to VBox 6.0.10 (#18872)

[tsela]

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ModEdit; related ticket: #18872: I cannot enable second monitor

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tl;dr: Running Ubuntu VM in dual monitor mode in fullscreen used to work with VBox 6.0.8, does not anymore since upgrading to VBox 6.0.10.

Long issue description:

Setup:
Host: Windows 10 Enterprise 10.0.16299
Guest: Ubuntu 18.04.2 with Guest additions for VBox 6.0.10 installed
VBox: 6.0.10 with Extensions Pack 6.0.10 installed
VM display setup: Video memory 128MB, Screens 2, Graphics controller VMSVGA, Acceleration 3D

When I was running VBox 6.0.8, I had no problem running my Ubuntu VM in fullscreen on both my physical monitors. When starting up the VM I would need to switch temporarily to windowed mode for the second virtual screen to appear, but afterwards going fullscreen with Host+F would work fine and I'd have my Ubuntu VM running in dual monitor mode on both my physical screens.

Since upgrading this morning to VBox 6.0.10 however, this does not work anymore. When starting up the VM in windowed mode the two virtual screens still appear, but when switching to fullscreen the second virtual screen disappears and the VM only appears on one physical monitor. Within the VM, Ubuntu can also only detect 1 display, despite the VM being set up with 2.

Any idea what is causing the issue? The only thing I did was updating VBox, the extensions pack and the guest-additions. I haven't changed the settings of the VM at all.

[socratis]

We need to see a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run, where the problem occurs:

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe problem / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.

We would also like to see the "recipe" of the VM, the ".vbox" file:

1. Right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager. Select "Show in Finder/Explorer/Whatever".
2. ZIP the selected ".vbox" file and attach it to your response.

[tsela]

Here is the log of a full run of the VM from cold start to shutdown, where I got two virtual screens in windowed mode, then lost one when I went fullscreen with Host+F.

[tsela]

And here is the VM recipe. Hopefully someone can make sense of that problem, it's nearly impossible for me to work with a single monitor .

[DeinAbi]

Hi,

I have a fresh Ubuntu 19.04 installation with guest additions installed. VirtualBox 6.0.10, Windows 10 host.

If I select VMSVGA as graphics controller and assign 2 monitors to the VM, the VM never shows 2 monitors, only one.

If I klick on View->Virtual Screen 2 I can select "Enable" (even though it should already be enabled). If I select enable, nothing changes. If I go to that menu again, nothing changed too and I can click on "Enable".

With VBoxSVGA/VBoxVGA it shows 2 monitors correctly.

In the VM, xrandr reports following:

Code: Select all

~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 1 x 1, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 8192 x 8192
Virtual1 connected primary 1920x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1920x1200     60.00*+  59.88  
   2560x1600     59.99  
   1920x1440     60.00  
   1856x1392     60.00  
   1792x1344     60.00  
   1600x1200     60.00  
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1400x1050     59.98  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1360x768      60.02  
   1280x800      59.81  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1280x768      59.87  
   1024x768      60.00  
   800x600       60.32  
   640x480       59.94  
Virtual2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual6 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual7 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual8 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

I have attached the Logs of a session in which I was trying to enable the second monitor.

Thanks in advance

[DeinAbi]

Apparently this issue ha something to do with the fullscreen mode.

Maybe it was the case from the start (probably I started the VM in fullscreen mode) but if I start the VM in window mode I do see 2 monitors. After switching to fullscreen the second one vanishes and the situation is the same as described in the previous post.

Here are the logs from this session if relevant.

ps: I did also change some settings like more CPUs/VRam (maybe you see that in the logs) but that does not affect the problem.

[tsela]

I've got the exact same issue (as described in the post entitled: 'Dual monitor set-up not working anymore since upgrading to VBox 6.0.10 '. I can't post URLs yet). This has started since I updated VBox to 6.0.10. It used to work fine with VBox 6.0.8. I'll try to switch to VBoxSVGA/VBoxVGA and see what happens. Is there a reason to prefer to use VMSVGA rather than the other two options?

Anyway, hopefully someone will find a solution to this problem.

[andyp73]

Is there a reason to prefer to use VMSVGA rather than the other two options?

VBoxVGA is the old vGPU that is, by the devs description, a nightmare to maintain. It is likely that at some point in the future it will be removed.

VboxSVGA and VMSVGA are new vGPU that were introduced (to the VirtualBox Manager GUI at least) in v6.0.0. The former is intended for Windows guests, the latter for Linux guests.

-Andy.

[DeinAbi]

Is the VMSVGA driver actually the same one that VMware is using in VMware player 15? I am asking because I always found the GPU performance in VirtualBoxto be bad compared to VMware and was hoping that with VirtualBox 6 and the new vGPU it would be on par with VMware, but sadly it is not.

Currently I have two identical (as in installed OS(Ubuntu)/Software) VMs for Java development and although I have been and still like using VirtualBox more, the VMware player VM is performing better. Switching between windows, tabs, etc., there is always a small lag. In VMware VM it is like working on the host almost.

Not trying to bash VirtualBox here, just wondering if it should not have the same performance with the VMSVGA vGPU.

[TheLord45]

VBoxVGA is the old vGPU that is, by the devs description, a nightmare to maintain. It is likely that at some point in the future it will be removed.

While this is true, it solved my problem with dual screen. I'm running Windows 7 as host and Debian testing as guest on VirtualBox 6.0.10. With 6.0.8 I used VMSVGA and it worked when I pressed HOST+F to disable full screen and pressing HOST+F again to switch back to full screen. The only problem left was that it insisted to have the second screen on the right of the main screen, while in real it is on the left. But I could live with this. VirtualBox ignored the settings of Windows.

Because with 6.0.10 the second screen doesn't work at all, exactly as described by others, I tried VBoxVGA and now it works as expected and even better. The second screen appears at the moment VirtualBox starts and during booting of the guest I've already 2 mirrored screens. After logging in, KDE recognizes the screen and uses the screens as set in the settings. I could even select 3D acceleration and it seems to work. So this is a good work around for me.

[mike_urbangro]

Same issue for me. I was forced to downgrade back to 6.0.8. Please let me know if additional logs/configurations would help to diagnose.

Mike

[kjwein]

I ran into the same issue today. My 2nd screen would disappear when I went full screen. However, I got both monitors to work by changing the graphics controller to 'VBoxVGA' rather than VMSVGA. I hope that helps!

[andyp73]

However, I got both monitors to work by changing the graphics controller to 'VBoxVGA' rather than VMSVGA. I hope that helps!

It may help in the short (and possibly medium term) but the VBoxVGA vGPU will at some point be removed.

The VirtualBox devs need the feedback, logs, etc. on the new vGPU devices to get all the bugs and wrinkles ironed out. If you still have the log files from 6.0.10 and VMSVGA then please attach them.

-Andy.

[socratis]

See also: Second display not working with VMSVGA graphics contoller. I wonder if I should merge the threads...

Threads now merged.

[tsela]

Good idea to merge the threads, since they refer to the exact same issue.

In the meantime, I switched to the VBoxVGA controller, and my second monitor is working again. Thanks for pointing this workaround out. I'll keep using it until I hear the issue with the VMSVGA controller has been solved.

I've made my logs available, hopefully the devs will find them useful.