[Fixed] VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name (#18428)

Discussions about using Solaris guests in VirtualBox.
rf28723
Posts: 30
Joined: 2. Jan 2019, 12:39
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Oracle Solaris, Oracle Linux
Location: The Netherlands

[Fixed] VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name (#18428)

Post by rf28723 »


ModEdit; related ticket: #18428: VBoxClient --vm-svga fails with "Failed to get kernel name" on Solaris guests
Good day,

It seems that after moving to Virtualbox 6.0, including the matching extention pack and guest additions, all of my Solaris 11.x guest run into the same issue:
2019-01-04 19_42_40-Clipboard.png
2019-01-04 19_42_40-Clipboard.png (16.56 KiB) Viewed 88749 times
This happens once you login to the graphical GNOME environment.
Any ideas where to start ? What data would you need ?

Thanks,
René Fennet
Last edited by socratis on 29. Mar 2019, 11:23, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Marked as [Fixed].
Thanks for your time,
René
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

Hello,

I can reproduce this problem. It looks like it's related to a line in the 1099.vboxclient file:

In

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/opt/VirtualBoxAdditions/1099.vboxclient
and then I remove the line related to "vmsvga-x11" (deleting that line from the file) :

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/opt/VirtualBoxAdditions/1099.vboxclient
>   /usr/bin/VBoxClient --vmsvga-x11  # In case VMSVGA emulation is enabled
After removing this line from 1099.vboxclient the notify-send message about kernel name seems to be gone.

Do you use VMSVGA ? I'm using VBoxVGA under the "Graphics Controller" setting in the "Display" setting of the Solaris guest.

So I think I don't need the line with the --vmsvga-x11 although this is just a guess.

I have tested this on a Solaris 11.4 host with 6.0.0 and with the following guest additions installed:

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$ pkg list virtualbox/*
NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO

virtualbox/guest/gnome                            6.0.0-127566               i--

virtualbox/guest/opengl                           6.0.0-127566               i--

virtualbox/guest/vboxguest                        6.0.0-127566               i--

$ pkg list system/kernel
NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO

system/kernel (solaris)                           11.4-11.4.0.0.1.15.0       i--
In summary, if you can test this, please try removing the VBoxClient line as indicated above and logout and login again.

You could make a backup first of the BE (boot environment) "beadm create -a mytest" and reboot in the "mytest" BE before deleting the line, in case you want to avoid changing your installation ...
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

Also a different approach would be perhaps to change the Screen/Display setting for the Solaris guest to Graphics Controller "VMsvga".

I just tested this, but it does not solve the "VboxClient: Failed to get kernel name" message which seems to be sent by the line VBoxClient --vmsvga-x11 in the GNOME login script.

The good news is however that the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file of the guest indicates the vmware driver seems to work fine for Solaris 11.4 guests as well ...

When running the Solaris guest with "VMsvga" it works and the logfile indicates:

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[   101.750] (II) LoadModule: "vmware"
[   101.750] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vmware_drv.so
[   101.772] (II) Module vmware: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   101.825] (II) vmware: driver for VMware SVGA: vmware0405, vmware0710
[   101.837] (II) vmware(0): Driver was compiled without KMS- and 3D support.
[   101.838] (WW) vmware(0): Disabling 3D support.
[   101.838] (WW) vmware(0): Disabling Render Acceleration.
[   101.838] (WW) vmware(0): Disabling RandR12+ support.
[   101.838] (--) vmware(0): VMware SVGA regs at (0xd000, 0xd001)
..
[   101.877] (II) vmware(0): Initialized VMWARE_CTRL extension version 0.2
[   101.877] (II) vmware(0): vgaHWGetIOBase: hwp->IOBase is 0x03d0
[   101.881] (EE) vmware(0): Hardware cursor initialization failed
However as said, I usually use Display setting VboxVGA which is also the default I think if you create a solaris guest in VirtualBox.
Last edited by socratis on 7. Jan 2019, 20:03, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Enclosed the information in [code] tag for better readability
rf28723
Posts: 30
Joined: 2. Jan 2019, 12:39
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Oracle Solaris, Oracle Linux
Location: The Netherlands

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by rf28723 »

Hi Stes,

Yes, that line is causing the message. I am using the default offered display, VBoxVGA. Having said that, it seems VBoxClient is running /usr/bin/VBoxClient --vmsvga-x11 regardless the type of Graphics controller you select. Should I file a bug somewhere ? Or should thread be moved to "VirtualBox 6.0 Release Candidate 1 released" ?
I'm using Version 6.0.0 r127566 (Qt5.6.2 .
Thanks for your time,
René
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

I don't know whether it is necessary to file a bug report. Perhaps you could do this, but I'm not sure this will help. Also I wonder if you change to VMsvga (in the settings of your guest Display -> Screen -> Graphics Controller) it works well. I tested a Solaris 11.4 guest with VMsvga and it seems to work fine, but I didn't do a lot of testing, in fact most of my Solaris guests are without X11 (without desktop). I guess the main new feature in v6.0.0 is the fact that there is a VMsvga available and some people claim that it is "faster", but I have not much experience with it. In fact my experience is so far that VMsvga does not work with so older Linux guests (screen goes all black for those guests, and I believe there are reports or bug reports about that). If you change to VMsvga and ignore the "Failed to get kernel name" message, does your Solaris desktop in the guest with VMsvga work well or better than with VboxVGA ?
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

Also note that the site moderator has posted a message in the "prelease" forum, he said: "Please don't post on the beta section now that the release is out. " so I think we are allowed to discuss the issue here.

The issue that you observed with the "VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name" mostly points to the *new* functionality of VMsvga (of VirtualBox) so the main question is I think whether VMsvga works well with Solaris guests (it seems to work for me).
rf28723
Posts: 30
Joined: 2. Jan 2019, 12:39
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Oracle Solaris, Oracle Linux
Location: The Netherlands

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by rf28723 »

Hi Stes,

Yes, I can see that too, with graphical-login/gdm disabled, all VT terminals work fine, regardless what Graphics controller you chose for your guest in the settings window of VirtualBox Manager.
When settings Graphics controller for my guest in the settings window of VirtualBox Manager to VMsvga, with graphical-login/gdm enabled the Xserver gets started, and then trips over "No Devices detected":
2019-01-10 19_21_05-Clipboard.png
2019-01-10 19_21_05-Clipboard.png (27.86 KiB) Viewed 88684 times
This happens in both S11.3 and S11.4 , using nvidia 384.111 drivers.
As discussed in viewtopic.php?f=8&t=91124 , just stick with Graphics controller VBoxvga for now ?
Thanks for your time,
René
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

Strange for some reason setting Display Controller to VMSVGA is working for me
(for a Solaris guest) and it seems it is really using / applying the setting because the logfile in the guest indicates:

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$ grep vmware /var/log/Xorg.0.log | head -10
[   104.197] (==) Matched vmware as autoconfigured driver 0
[   104.198] (II) LoadModule: "vmware"
[   104.198] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vmware_drv.so
[   104.215] (II) Module vmware: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   104.226] (II) vmware: driver for VMware SVGA: vmware0405, vmware0710
[   104.239] (II) vmware(0): Driver was compiled without KMS- and 3D support.
[   104.239] (WW) vmware(0): Disabling 3D support.
[   104.239] (WW) vmware(0): Disabling Render Acceleration.
[   104.239] (WW) vmware(0): Disabling RandR12+ support.
[   104.240] (--) vmware(0): VMware SVGA regs at (0xd000, 0xd001)
$ pkg list *vmware*
NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO
x11/server/xorg/driver/xorg-video-vmware (solaris) 13.2.1-11.4.0.0.1.14.0     i--
$ pkg contents xorg-video-vmware | grep vmware_drv
usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vmware_drv.so
I'm not running the VBoxClient --x11vmsvga process by the way, which perhaps is not really required anyway. Apparently it works for me without this process.
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

On my guest both vboxvideo and vmware video are installed:

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NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO
x11/server/xorg/driver/xorg-video-vboxvideo (solaris) 1.0.0-11.4.0.0.1.14.0      i--
x11/server/xorg/driver/xorg-video-vmware (solaris) 13.2.1-11.4.0.0.1.14.0     i--
Also at the HAL (hardware abstraction layer) level of Solaris it detects a VMWare:

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$ lshal | ggrep -10 display
gives me (with VMSVGA set) :

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udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_0_0/display_2_0'
  pci.subsys_vendor = 'VMware'  (string)
  pci.product = 'SVGA II Adapter'  (string)
  info.vendor = 'VMware'  (string)
  pci.vendor = 'VMware'  (string)
  pci.subsys_product_id = 1029  (0x405)  (int)
  pci.subsys_vendor_id = 5549  (0x15ad)  (int)
  pci.product_id = 1029  (0x405)  (int)
  pci.vendor_id = 5549  (0x15ad)  (int)
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

When I switch back to VboxVGA for the guest, HAL (the lshal command) correctly reports:

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udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_0_0/display_2_0'
  pci.product = 'VirtualBox Graphics Adapter'  (string)
  info.vendor = 'InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH'  (string)
  pci.vendor = 'InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH'  (string)
  pci.subsys_product_id = 0  (0x0)  (int)
  pci.subsys_vendor_id = 0  (0x0)  (int)
...
  info.product = 'VirtualBox Graphics Adapter'  (string)
and the X logfile indicates it is then loading the vbox module:

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$ grep video /var/log/Xorg.0.log
[   110.887] (==) Matched vboxvideo as autoconfigured driver 0
[   110.887] (II) LoadModule: "vboxvideo"
[   110.887] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vboxvideo_drv.so
perhaps the vmware video package is not installed on your guest ?
rf28723
Posts: 30
Joined: 2. Jan 2019, 12:39
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Oracle Solaris, Oracle Linux
Location: The Netherlands

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by rf28723 »

Both, latest, drivers are installed:

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NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO
x11/server/xorg/driver/xorg-video-vboxvideo       1.0.0-11.4.0.0.1.14.0      i--
x11/server/xorg/driver/xorg-video-vmware          13.2.1-11.4.0.0.1.14.0     i--
With Graphics adapater VBoxVga:

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root@s11.4-5.1:/var/log# grep video Xorg.0.log 
[    97.985] (II) LoadModule: "vboxvideo"
[    97.986] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vboxvideo_drv.so
[    97.988] (II) Module vboxvideo: vendor="Oracle Corporation"
[    98.011] (II) VBoxVideo(0): VirtualBox guest additions video driver version 5.2
root@s11.4-5.1:/var/log# lshal
....
udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_0_0/display_2_0'
  pci.product = 'VirtualBox Graphics Adapter'  (string)
  info.vendor = 'InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH'  (string)
  pci.vendor = 'InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH'  (string)
  pci.subsys_product_id = 0  (0x0)  (int)
  pci.subsys_vendor_id = 0  (0x0)  (int)
  pci.product_id = 48879  (0xbeef)  (int)
  pci.vendor_id = 33006  (0x80ee)  (int)
  info.subsystem = 'pci'  (string)
  info.solaris.driver = 'vgatext'  (string)
  solaris.devfs_path = '/pci@0,0/display@2'  (string)
  info.product = 'VirtualBox Graphics Adapter'  (string)
  info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_0_0/display_2_0'  (string)
  info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_0_0_0'  (string)
.....
With Graphics adapater VMsvga:

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root@s11.4-5.1:/var/log# grep video Xorg.0.log 
[    83.984] (II) LoadModule: "vboxvideo"
[    83.985] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vboxvideo_drv.so
[    83.986] (II) Module vboxvideo: vendor="Oracle Corporation"
root@s11.4-5.1:/var/log# lshal
....
udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_0_0/display_2_0'
  pci.subsys_vendor = 'VMware'  (string)
  pci.product = 'SVGA II Adapter'  (string)
  info.vendor = 'VMware'  (string)
  pci.vendor = 'VMware'  (string)
  pci.subsys_product_id = 1029  (0x405)  (int)
  pci.subsys_vendor_id = 5549  (0x15ad)  (int)
  pci.product_id = 1029  (0x405)  (int)
  pci.vendor_id = 5549  (0x15ad)  (int)
  info.subsystem = 'pci'  (string)
  info.solaris.driver = 'vgatext'  (string)
  solaris.devfs_path = '/pci@0,0/display@2'  (string)
  info.product = 'SVGA II Adapter'  (string)
  info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_0_0/display_2_0'  (string)
  info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_0_0_0'  (string)
So, something goes wrong in Xorg. Is my chipset of any influence ? Running on a Thinkpad T480 with Intel UHD Graphics 620 chipset.
Any further ideas ? Running with grahpics adapter VboxVGA all works fine.....
Last edited by socratis on 19. Apr 2019, 21:52, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Enclosed the information in [code] tags for better readability.
Thanks for your time,
René
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

Screenshot from 2019-01-12 13-17-36.png
Screenshot from 2019-01-12 13-17-36.png (58.92 KiB) Viewed 88640 times
Perhaps the guest operating system matters not as much as the host operating system.

What is your host operating system ?

In my case, I tested on a Lenovo Thinkpad with Solaris 11.4 and Virtualbox 6.0.0 and setting 'VMSVGA' works fine for me for both Solaris 11.3 guests and Solaris 11.4 guests (running on a host operating system of Solaris 11.4).

On the solaris 11.4 host:

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# pkg list virtualbox/*
NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO
virtualbox/host/vbox (local)                      6.0.0-127566               i--
# scanpci | grep -i Graphics
 Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
and then on the Solaris 11.3 guest with VMSVGA configured as graphics adapter (in VirtualBox) the "ddu" device detection utility reports:

Note the VMware graphics adapter detected in the guest.

Interestingly in the guest (Solaris 11.3) I have no vbox guest additions installed and all works fine.

This is presumably because the vmware video adapter is already a long time in the Solaris OS.

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root@venus:~# pkg list *vmware*
NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO
x11/server/xorg/driver/xorg-video-vmware          13.0.1-0.175.3.0.0.30.1483 i--
root@venus:~# cat /etc/release 
                             Oracle Solaris 11.3 X86
  Copyright (c) 1983, 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.
                            Assembled 06 October 2015
Perhaps the most important difference is the host operating system here ?
rf28723
Posts: 30
Joined: 2. Jan 2019, 12:39
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Oracle Solaris, Oracle Linux
Location: The Netherlands

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by rf28723 »

My HOST is a Lenovo T480 (sporting an Intel UHD Graphics 620 chipset) , running Windows 10 PRO (EN-W10P64-10.0.04.2) version 1803, OS build 17134.472.
Updating the Lenovo Display driver 24.20.100.6223 to the latest Intel driver 25.20.100.6471 does not make any difference.
Running the laptop standone instead of connected to my Thunderbolt 3 dock, no change.

However , removing /etc/X11/xorg.conf on my S11.4 guest, gave me back my graphics X environment, albeight working very flakey, not resizable, garbeld windows, etc.
The DDU in the guest does show VMWware SVFA II Adapter, with driver "vgatext" .
What is the context of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, if any ?

From the guest:

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#scanpci
....
pci bus 0x0000 cardnum 0x02 function 0x00: vendor 0x15ad device 0x0405
 VMware SVGA II Adapter
...


# pkg list 
NAME (PUBLISHER)                                  VERSION                    IFO
...
x11/server/xorg/driver/xorg-video-vboxvideo       1.0.0-11.4.0.0.1.14.0      i--
x11/server/xorg/driver/xorg-video-vmware          13.2.1-11.4.0.0.1.14.0     i--
...
#
Last edited by socratis on 13. Jan 2019, 20:24, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Enclosed the information in [code] tags for better readability.
Thanks for your time,
René
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

I don't have a xorg.conf on the guest(s). Nor on the hosts. That explains it!

I mean that explains (possibly) why it was still loading vbox video when it was presented vmware in your case.

From the manpage Xorg this is the "automatic configuration support for Xorg".
stes
Posts: 154
Joined: 28. Apr 2018, 11:07

Re: VBoxClient: Failed to get kernel name

Post by stes »

By the way this "automatic Xorg configuration" (Xorg without .conf file) is working fine for me on the various desktop environments (hosts and guests).

I don't have flakey, or not resizable, or corrupted windows.

I wouldn't say that VMSVGA works "better" than VboxVGA in my case, it seems (for Solaris guests) to give the same results, and if it were not for the VBoxClient -x11-vmsvga notify message , I wouldn't have noticed in fact ...

But this new functionality seems to be working fine for me.
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