Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
jimnms
Posts: 24
Joined: 7. Mar 2012, 23:01

Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by jimnms »

Like the other posts, the desktop crashes or fails to load on Mint 18.2 Cinnamon. It doesn't crash with the old 5.1.30 extensions installed, but it is slow. After installing the 5.2.1 extensions (I've tried the alternate 5.2.1 extensions on the download page), I get a black screen and high CPU usage. If I remove the extensions and run the built in extensions supplied by the distro, it too works (except it is lacking features like mounting shares).
And_or
Posts: 1
Joined: 26. Oct 2017, 11:29

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by And_or »

Same here... also found many post with the same problems dating back at least 1 year... Machine displays "software rendering mode" and no way to get rid of it.
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by Perryg »

Mint ships the OS with their own set of guest additions (OSE) which lack some features. Installing the official full feature additions over the OSE one will create a conflict and cause these issues. You must first remove the OS versions completely before installing the official ones. As for software rendering, the usual cause is the user forgot to enable 3D acceleration or the guest additions install failed as stated above.

Note: some distros ship with wayland enabled and VirtualBox does not support wayland yet. Be sure to choose Xorg.
halcyonwild
Posts: 8
Joined: 10. Aug 2016, 14:07

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by halcyonwild »

+1

Installing Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2 on Virtualbox host 5.2 on Win10 host.
After guest additions installation, the guest does not restart and uses high CPU with a blank screen.

Update: After uninstalling VBoxAdditions and then installing, it still does not work:

Code: Select all

/media/<username>/VBox_GAs_5.2.1 $ sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run uninstall
/media/<username>/VBox_GAs_5.2.1 $ sudo apt-get purge virtualbox*
/media/<username>/VBox_GAs_5.2.1 $ sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run install
alankeny
Posts: 7
Joined: 20. Dec 2010, 19:44
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows XP and 7

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by alankeny »

A variation of your instructions worked for me. I started with a recent install of Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2 on Virtualbox 5.2 on a MacOS host. I had the 5.2.1-118452 guest additions installed from my previous attempts, and the guest was configured with 3D disabled, because that's the only way I could get it to work.

I followed your first two steps:

Code: Select all

/media/<username>/VBox_GAs_5.2.1 $ sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run uninstall
/media/<username>/VBox_GAs_5.2.1 $ sudo apt-get purge virtualbox*
Earlier I had noticed that this didn't completely remove all of the files, so I also ran:

Code: Select all

sudo find /lib/modules -iname vbox*
and I removed all of the vbox files the find returned. After that I shutdown the guest completely, turned 3D back on, and booted the machine back up. Finally I installed the guest additions for 5.1.30 and rebooted:

Code: Select all

/media/<username>/VBox_GAs_5.1.30 $ sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run install
3D acceleration is enabled in the settings, the extensions are working, and I can login without getting a black screen and high CPU utilization. I think the accelerated video is working properly, because I don't get the warning about software rendering any more.
puxasaku
Posts: 4
Joined: 3. May 2017, 21:08

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by puxasaku »

with windows 10 and 5.2 guest adds no way to work here too... :(
black screen...
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by socratis »

@puxasaku
Did you try the workaround suggested by 'alankeny'?
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
puxasaku
Posts: 4
Joined: 3. May 2017, 21:08

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by puxasaku »

@socratis, i'm back in 5.1.30 and everything working fine including 3D acceleration.
Do you think i should try to upgrade to 5.2 and verify if it work well with the 5.1.30 guest tools?
I'm with windows 10 as host and the other case it's a mac...

thanks
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by socratis »

5.2 has had some issues with the Linux GAs so I'm not sure what to think or suggest at this point. I was simply pointing out that the method used by 'alankeny' might also work for you. As a workaround until things get resolved...
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by Perryg »

I believe that the alankeny work around ( which is basically what I said without the actual steps ) stemmed from the fact that Mint and now Ubuntu package their own version of the guest additions by default and removal is the key because the installs conflict. What makes this even worse is Ubuntu 17.10 packages the kernel modules (*.ko) and not the complete guest additions package which allows for the minimum amount of support like vboxvideo and shared folders. A manual purge is necessary in Mint and one must actually remove the (*.ko) files in Ubuntu 17.10 since there is no removal mechanism for those that I can find. The Distros had been warned in the past about this but the final decision is of course theirs. I know for a fact that the DEVs are trying to make this easier but since these packages are butting heads and use totally different approaches it may be a while before this all gets sorted out.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by socratis »

But isn't Mint 18 based on Ubuntu 16.04? According to them it is (last line of the page). Did they switch to the .ko approach as well?
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by Perryg »

socratis wrote:But isn't Mint 18 based on Ubuntu 16.04? According to them it is (last line of the page). Did they switch to the .ko approach as well?
No just 17.10 uses the *.ko files only. Mint 18 just packages their version of the guest additions, or rather the Ubuntu version of the package. I tried to make that distinction above but guess it was a swing and a miss.
puxasaku
Posts: 4
Joined: 3. May 2017, 21:08

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by puxasaku »

Now i'm working with windows 10 host, with VBox5.2 and guest adds 5.1.3
It's working! I will NOT try the new iso from 3/11.
And will be affraid of the new versions! :)

The only bad thing is the usual strange beahviour of the network. In same cases bridge don't work, in other networks mint can't use dhcp, etc... When bridge don't work, nat work, but in some specific cases isn't the best option. :?
Sundroid
Posts: 1
Joined: 4. Nov 2017, 20:57

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by Sundroid »

So I've been trying out stuff all day. And now I only registered for this post^^ (Also because you explicitly requested feedback on the newly posted guest-additions-iso (5.2.1-118918)

So I'm on a Win10 Host and a Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2 Guest, and those are the things I tried:
- 5.2.0 Host with the included additions
- 5.2.0 Host with the newly posted additions (as of 4. nov), which leads to a freeze right after login, same behaviour with the included additions.
- 5.2.0 Host with the 5.1.30 additons (which works, but usually crashes/freezes after some use and also feels very sluggish in use).
- 5.1.30 Host with the 5.1.30 additions which (surprisingly to me) results in the same behaviour as with the 5.2.0/5.1.30 combo.

Also I was working with the two different Linux kernels (4.8 and 4.10), which didn't make any difference either.

Ofc I read this whole thread and made sure, I completely removed the previous guest additions before trying another one (with the steps posted above).
Unless anyone else has got some other trick, I guess I'm stuck with the preinstalled additions which come with Linux mint 18.2, but unfortunately (but unsurprisingly) don't support USB Bridging nor a shared clipboard nor anything else (which also makes it kinda hard to use KeePass :( )
TMcGill
Posts: 1
Joined: 22. Nov 2017, 21:10

Re: Linux-Mint Cinnamon 18.2 and Virtualbox 5.2

Post by TMcGill »

Sundroid wrote:nor a shared clipboard nor anything else (which also makes it kinda hard to use KeePass :( )
I'm having similar trouble. Mint 18.2 is essentially unusable inside a VirtualBox VM for me at this point. Slow, software rendering only, and no clear path for fixing this. (The above solution resulted for me in a pure black screen upon login.)

However, on the specific topic of KeePass, the clipboard isn't the best way to use it anyway. Auto-type will work here. Just make sure where you want to type in the VM console has focus, then switch directly to KeePass without clicking anything else in between, select the entry you want, and hit Ctrl-V. It will switch back to the other window and type your password rather than pasting it. Oh, but you do need to have checked the auto-type sequence in KeePass to be sure that it does what you actually want. For instance, if you're using it to type your Linux password whenever you sudo or something, you probably just want {PASSWORD}{ENTER} rather than the default of {USERNAME}{TAB}{PASSWORD}{ENTER}.
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