[Solved] VirtualBox 5.1.28 - 3d acceleration does not work [v5.1.26 is solution]
Posted: 24. Sep 2017, 08:28
Long story short, I uninstalled 5.1.28 and re-installed v5.1.26. This is the only thing I found that got 3d acceleration going for me again. Details of my learning experience are given below if you feel inclined to explore the trials of my errors.
Desktop Host System:
OS: Win 7 x64 Ult
RAM: 32 GB
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti (3 GB) - using latest driver as of this post (ver 385.69, 64-bit, for Win7)
Direct3D: 11.0
Guest OS:
Win7 x64 Ult
RAM: 4096 MB
Processors: 2
Graphics Memory: 256 MB
Network: NAT
I was running VirtualBox 5.1.26 with 3D acceleration enabled. No problems, it worked nicely. I uninstalled v5.1.26. I then installed VirtualBox 5.1.28, removed old extension pack, installed new extension pack for v5.1.28. Started vbox instance & installed guest additions with 3d acceleration enabled. Clicked 'No' for installing Direct3D, then installed guest additions. Reason for using 3D acceleration was to test software that uses OpenGL in its interface. Changed instance of VirtualBox (Win7 x64) graphics memory to 256 MB, set processors to 2, RAM at 4096. Started up Vbox, but it would not enable Aero. I tried different settings, like changing RAM back to 128 MB, using just 1 processor, etc. I always kept RAM at 4096. No success. Each time I booted the guest os, it would also display an error box as soon as the desktop came up: "Windows Desktop Manager has stopped working". If I disabled 3d acceleration for the guest os, no error. Reenabling 3d acceleration brought the error back every time, no exception.
Got frustrated and tired of trying to figure it out after several hours of tweaking and twerking - well, maybe not twerking, but you get the point. Anyhow, I continued digging thru this forum and found similar issues from several years back (2009 & 2011, to be exact), all before version 5. I tried some vboxmanage command ideas I found elsewhere online for tweaking stuff like clock sync, but nothing worked, nothing helped - was just shooting in the dark at this point. I also tried running "sfc /scannow", but no issues with system drivers were found.
Finally came across a post that suggested just stepping back to an earlier version. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this was the only thing that actually worked for me. I uninstalled v5.1.28 and reinstalled v5.1.26 (including related extension pack and corresponding guest additions). 3d acceleration worked, Aero worked again, and I successfully tested the OpenGL software I was checking. So, for now, until 3d acceleration is un-broken in v5.1.28, it would appear (from my experience only) that v5.1.26 is the short & sweet solution.
Desktop Host System:
OS: Win 7 x64 Ult
RAM: 32 GB
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti (3 GB) - using latest driver as of this post (ver 385.69, 64-bit, for Win7)
Direct3D: 11.0
Guest OS:
Win7 x64 Ult
RAM: 4096 MB
Processors: 2
Graphics Memory: 256 MB
Network: NAT
I was running VirtualBox 5.1.26 with 3D acceleration enabled. No problems, it worked nicely. I uninstalled v5.1.26. I then installed VirtualBox 5.1.28, removed old extension pack, installed new extension pack for v5.1.28. Started vbox instance & installed guest additions with 3d acceleration enabled. Clicked 'No' for installing Direct3D, then installed guest additions. Reason for using 3D acceleration was to test software that uses OpenGL in its interface. Changed instance of VirtualBox (Win7 x64) graphics memory to 256 MB, set processors to 2, RAM at 4096. Started up Vbox, but it would not enable Aero. I tried different settings, like changing RAM back to 128 MB, using just 1 processor, etc. I always kept RAM at 4096. No success. Each time I booted the guest os, it would also display an error box as soon as the desktop came up: "Windows Desktop Manager has stopped working". If I disabled 3d acceleration for the guest os, no error. Reenabling 3d acceleration brought the error back every time, no exception.
Got frustrated and tired of trying to figure it out after several hours of tweaking and twerking - well, maybe not twerking, but you get the point. Anyhow, I continued digging thru this forum and found similar issues from several years back (2009 & 2011, to be exact), all before version 5. I tried some vboxmanage command ideas I found elsewhere online for tweaking stuff like clock sync, but nothing worked, nothing helped - was just shooting in the dark at this point. I also tried running "sfc /scannow", but no issues with system drivers were found.
Finally came across a post that suggested just stepping back to an earlier version. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this was the only thing that actually worked for me. I uninstalled v5.1.28 and reinstalled v5.1.26 (including related extension pack and corresponding guest additions). 3d acceleration worked, Aero worked again, and I successfully tested the OpenGL software I was checking. So, for now, until 3d acceleration is un-broken in v5.1.28, it would appear (from my experience only) that v5.1.26 is the short & sweet solution.