[WorksForMe] Copy/paste not working on Windows 10 VM

[Larry Menard]

Folks,

I have a Windows 10 VM in which Copy/Paste is not working. When I first created the Guest (a year or two ago) it was working, then one day many months ago it stopped working. If I recall correctly, it stopped working after I ran Windows Update on the Guest one day.

Since then I have tried a few times to resolve it myself... reinstalled Guest Additions a number of times, restarted VBoxTray, etc. Nothing makes any difference.

Both the host and guest are Windows 10 64-bit, and both are fully up-to-date in terms of Windows Updates. VirtualBox version is "5.2.8 r121009 (Qt5.6.2)", Guest Additions version is "5.2.8". The Guest has been allocated 4 Gb of RAM, 128 Mb of Video Memory, and Display resolution is 1024 x 768. Nothing fancy, mostly default. And yes I have set Shared Clipboard to "Bidirectional".

On the same Host I have several other Guests (including a Windows 7 64-bit Guest) in which I can copy/paste perfectly. Only this one Guest is problematic.

I am attaching the "VBox.log" from the host and the "install_drivers.log" from the Guest. I don't see anything in them that looks obviously like a problem, but I don't know VBox internals.

I'd appreciate any help getting this working, as I am relying more and more on my Windows 10 Guest every day.

Please let me kow if you need any more info.

Thanks.

[socratis]

it stopped working after I ran Windows Update on the Guest one day.

You need to update to 5.2.10, and re-install the Guest Additions (GAs) on the guest.

[Larry Menard]

Done. Still not working.

Attaching fresh logs. Note that I have increased the display resolution from 1024 x 768 to 1280 x 960.

[Larry Menard]

I took another shot at trying to figure this out myself. I compared the Settings for the Windows 10 Guest and Windows 7 Guest in VirtualBox Manager, and noticed a few differences:

Video Memory:

Windows 10: 128 MB
Windows 7: 27 MB

Paravirtualization Interface:

Windows 10: "Default"
Windows 7: "Legacy"

Remote Display Enable Server:

Windows 10: checked
Windows 7: unchecked

I made all of these on Windows 10 the same as on Windows 7, but no difference.

And FYI, I checked the Drag & Drop, and it also is not working on the Windows 10. (I've never used Drag & Drop to/from a Guest, but thought I would just see if it was the same as the Copy & Paste.)

[Larry Menard]

More analysis:

I am comparing the logs from two of my Guests (Windows 10 in which copy/paste is not working, and Windows 7 in which copy/paste is working), and I see what I think is a significant difference:

>grep "Guest Additions capability report" "Windows 10 Pro 64-bit #1-2018-05-03-17-32-10.log"
00:00:09.030745 VMMDev: Guest Additions capability report: (0x0 -> 0x0) seamless: no, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: no
00:00:13.843351 VMMDev: Guest Additions capability report: (0x0 -> 0x0) seamless: no, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: no

>grep "Guest Additions capability report" "Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit #1-2018-05-03-17-39-43.log"
00:00:12.683869 VMMDev: Guest Additions capability report: (0x0 -> 0x0) seamless: no, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: no
00:01:37.512203 VMMDev: Guest Additions capability report: (0x0 -> 0x1) seamless: yes, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: no
00:01:37.541159 VMMDev: Guest Additions capability report: (0x1 -> 0x5) seamless: yes, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: yes

Note how the Windows 10 never achieves "seamless: yes, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: yes".

[Larry Menard]

And in the Windows 10 log:

00:00:13.843323 VMMDev: Guest Log: VBoxMP::VBoxMpCrCtlConConnectHgcm: WARNING! :vboxCrCtlConConnect failed, rc (-2900)
00:00:13.843351 VMMDev: Guest Additions capability report: (0x0 -> 0x0) seamless: no, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: no
00:00:13.843452 VMMDev: Guest Log: VBoxMP::VBoxMpCrCtlConInit: VBoxMpCrCtlConConnectHgcm failed with rc(-2900), 3D not supported!
00:00:13.843486 GUI: UISession::sltAdditionsChange: GA state change event came, notifying listeners.
00:00:13.843500 VMMDev: Guest Log: VBoxMP::DriverEntry: 3D is NOT supported by the host, falling back to display-only mode..

Nowhere have I enabled 3D.

I went back into the Guest's Acceleration settings in VirtualBox Manager and set the Paravirtualization Interface to "None", and unchecked the "Enable Nested Paging" option. (I am unable to uncheck the "Enable VT-x/AMD-V" option, because when I do so the dialog box displays error message "Invalid settings detected". If I save that configuration that option is automatically re-enabled.

Still can't copy/paste.

When I google "VBoxMpCrCtlConConnectHgcm -2900" I see some similar problems reported over the years (though not with -2900), but no resolutions.

[socratis]

Option 1: You get a Win10 ISO from Microsoft. You create a Win10 VM, install using the downloaded ISO. Try it.

Option 2: You download a pre-made Win10 VM from Microsoft (saves you the installation time), and I believe it has a longer time-to-die contract, but you can't activate it, it will simply die. You can activate one with the ISO method, that's why I suggested that one first.

There are two kinds of VMs, if you choose to go down that road:

• The Development VMs: 15.9 GB, build 201712 (as of this writing).
• The Internet Explorer compatibility VMs: 4.3 GB, build 17.17134 (as of this writing).

Now, I highly doubt that C/P is going to fail in any of these options, after you've installed the GAs that is. So, I strongly suspect that there's something gone bad with your guest, I simply can't possibly know what.

[Larry Menard]

I have already started creating a new VM using an ISO that I already had. I've installed the system and applied all Windows Updates, and copy/paste is working fine. So yes there must be something whacked in my first VM.

On my broken VM I even uninstalled Guest Additions, removed its directory in "Program Files", and re-installed. Didn't help.

So I guess I am getting a brand new VM out of it.

Thanks for your help. Have a great weekend.

[socratis]

Sometimes if something goes out of whack on the guest, it's really difficult to find the exact cause. At least, as you said, you got a brand new, shiny VM!

I'm going to mark this as [WorksForMe], because we didn't prove that it was a VirtualBox problem, it was something funky with that particular VM.

Have a good weekend you too!