Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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mingle
Posts: 63
Joined: 6. Jun 2015, 07:55

Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mingle »

Hi Guys,

This one has been driving me nuts for at least 6 months.

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit host, VirtualBox 6.1.22 running in Full-screen Mode (latest Guest Additions installed), Linux Mint 19.2, 19.3 & 20.0 guests.

My host machine is running a native screen mode of 1920 x 1080, but the guests are all set to a display resolution of 1440x900, as they are also used on another system with a lower host resolution.

Most times (usually after reboot of the guest machine), the screen resolution of the guest automatically changes to match that of the host machine (1920 x 1080). I then have to manually go into the display settings in the guest OS to change the resolution back to 1440 x 900. If I do not do that, then shut-down the guest and restart, the guest Linux login screen appears and I can log-in, as normal, however the desktop display never appears, there is just a black screen, although I can see the mouse-pointer and the guest system is still 'alive'.

One workaround is to shutdown the guest, then change the graphics controllers setting in VirtualBox to "VBoxSVGA"and restart the guest. The Linux desktop appears and everything works fine.

Another 'workaround' which I only discovered this evening is (once I'm presented with the black-screen after logging into the guest OS), switch the "View" setting in VirtualBox to "Seamless Mode", then switch it straight back to "Full-screen Mode", then desktop then appears as expected.

I've seen similar reports of this issue on various forums, but none seem to have occurred as a result of the same set of circumstances as mine...

Hopefully someone can offer an explanation and suggestion for a fix?

Cheers,

Mike.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mpack »

Sounds like a duplicate of: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=102050.
mingle
Posts: 63
Joined: 6. Jun 2015, 07:55

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mingle »

Hi mpack,

Thanks for the quick response...

Similar, to my issue, but I do not have/never have had 3D acceleration enabled in any of my guest systems...

Is there anything in the logfiles that would help diagnose the cause?

Cheers,

Mike.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mpack »

mingle wrote: Is there anything in the logfiles that would help diagnose the cause?
It would be easier to answer that if log files had been provided.
mingle
Posts: 63
Joined: 6. Jun 2015, 07:55

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mingle »

I have two logfiles : one of a 'normal' boot, one of the 'black-screen', please find attached...

Cheers,

Mike.
Attachments
VBox_black_screen.7z
(25.09 KiB) Downloaded 92 times
VBox_normal_boot.7z
(25.94 KiB) Downloaded 21 times
mingle
Posts: 63
Joined: 6. Jun 2015, 07:55

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mingle »

Another logfile...

This time, booting into 'black-scrren', then flip into 'View>Scaled-mode", then Host+F to jump back to full-screen mode - desktop is now visible...

(works the same when I hop into seamless or scaled-display mode, then back into full-screen mode)

Cheers,

Mike.
Attachments
VBox_scaled-mode_to_fullscreen-mode.7z
(26.01 KiB) Downloaded 21 times
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mpack »

I see no sign of a problem in the VM, and if you think about it - if the problem was in the VM then anyone creating a similar VM would have the same problem, regardless of the guest OS.

What happens if you enable 3D acceleration? It's a bit of an ask to be trying fullHD resolution without hardware assistance.
fth0
Volunteer
Posts: 5668
Joined: 14. Feb 2019, 03:06
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, Windows 10, ...
Location: Germany

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by fth0 »

Your issue has been reported a few times in the past, but was never resolved AFAICS. The commonality was starting a Linux guest in fullscreen mode, and the easiest workaround was to leave and re-enter fullscreen mode by pressing Host+F twice.
mingle
Posts: 63
Joined: 6. Jun 2015, 07:55

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mingle »

Thanks for the replies chaps...

@mpack: With 3D enabled, no difference is noted.

@fth0: Yes, there seems to be an ongoing issue for a few people. The short-term 'fix' (Host+F) certainly seems to do the trick.

The problem seems to be related to this issue, reported over on the Linux Mint forums and solved using VBoxmanage:

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic. ... 5#p1870155

I'm not able to try this fix at the moment, but will give it a go and report back any findings.

Thanks for everyone's input, it is much appreciated!

Cheers,

Mike.
fth0
Volunteer
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Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by fth0 »

Just to clarify a few things:

The "Host+F twice" fix is for starting the VM in fullscreen mode and getting a blank screen.

The "Use VBoxManage to create the LastGuestSizeHint setting" fix is for enabling VirtualBox to save the guest windows size of the previous VM run.

The latter is not an "official solution from Oracle" (contrary to the statement in the Linux Mint forum), but a solution from me, and I'm not affiliated with Oracle or the VirtualBox development.
arQon
Posts: 228
Joined: 1. Jan 2017, 09:16
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Ubuntu 16.04 x64, W7

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by arQon »

fth0 wrote:Your issue has been reported a few times in the past, but was never resolved AFAICS. The commonality was starting a Linux guest in fullscreen mode, and the easiest workaround was to leave and re-enter fullscreen mode by pressing Host+F twice.
If so, the really-easiest workaround would be the xrandr hack I posted a while back, neh?
fth0
Volunteer
Posts: 5668
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Location: Germany

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by fth0 »

Maybe yes, maybe not. ;)
mingle
Posts: 63
Joined: 6. Jun 2015, 07:55

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by mingle »

Hi again fellas,

I've just created a clean VirtualBox client installation of Linux Mint 20.2 xfce 64-bit under my Windows 10 Host and the issue (blank screen after login) persists.

Interestingly, if I uninstall the Guest Additions from the Linux Mint 20.2 guest, the issue disappears - I am, however, left without all the benefits of the Guest Additions!

This does tend to suggest and issue with the guest additions?

The issue isn't there if I install Linux on the host-hardware itself, (which I also did today), only when using VirtualBox...

Cheers,

Mike.
simon_eff
Posts: 1
Joined: 13. Jul 2021, 11:22

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by simon_eff »

Had the same issue. For me, deactivating the fullscreen mode (Host + f) solved the problem.
fth0
Volunteer
Posts: 5668
Joined: 14. Feb 2019, 03:06
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, Windows 10, ...
Location: Germany

Re: Black screen after login - only using VMSVGA graphics controller setting...

Post by fth0 »

mingle wrote:This does tend to suggest and issue with the guest additions?
The VirtualBox guest video driver is part of the GA, so that doesn't come as a surprise.
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