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Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 17. Apr 2019, 10:20
by Beans3
I am struggling to get rid of the 'running in software rendering mode' message. Would anyone be able to help me get rid of it please?

I am using Linux Mint 19.1 on OS X Mojave 10.14.2.

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ls /opt
tells me that GuestAdditions version 6.0.4
Graphics controller VBoxVGA
Video memory 128mb
Enable 3D Acceleration is ticked

I've attached a log. I'd be super grateful for some advice.

Many thanks,

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 17. Apr 2019, 11:24
by socratis
00:00:21.437463 VMMDev: Guest Log: VBoxService 5.2.18_Ubuntu r123745 (verbosity: 0) linux.amd64 (Mar  8 2019 18:10:38) release log
Not only you have the old (5.2.18) GAs installed, but you have the forked ones (_Ubuntu). You need to update the GAs in the guest, and keep them updated every time you update VirtualBox.

PS. For future reference you should ZIP your logs. It helps you, it helps us, it helps the server, it helps save a (virtual) tree or two... ;)

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 17. Apr 2019, 21:38
by Beans3
Thanks for the advice, Socratis.

Point noted about the zip files.

When I am in my Linux VM and I use 'ls /opt' command in the terminal it states that I have VBGuestAdditions 6.0.4 installed. Even when I reinstall VBGuestAdditions it reinstalls the 6.0.4 version. Am I not installing GAs correctly or is 'ls /opt' reporting something else?

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 17. Apr 2019, 22:06
by socratis
  1. You shouldn't be looking at that, you should be looking at the VBox.log (I gave you the details), or in the output of:
    • 
      VBoxControl -version
  2. How are you installing the GAs exactly? There's only one official way and that is the User Manual, ch 4.2. Installing and Maintaining Guest Additions. Did you follow that?

    With the VM window having the focus, go to the host's menu "Devices" » "Insert Guest Additions CD Image...". If not prompted by auto-run, run "VBoxLinuxAdditions.run" from the CD. Make sure there are no errors or suggestions during the install. You can safely ignore the "modprobe vboxsf" one.

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 17. Apr 2019, 22:27
by Beans3
OK, it sounds like I've been confusing myself with the 'ls /opt' command then.

When I run the 'VBoxControl -version' command I get '5.2.18_Ubuntur123745'

Yes, I have updated GAs following the standard guidance, ie

/Devices/ Insert Guest Additions CD Image /Run the software automatically (VBox_GAs_6.0.4')

It then uninstalls the existing GA (version 6.0.4) and reinstalls the same GA (version 6.0.4)

VBoxControl -version still reports '5.2.18_Ubuntur123745'

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 17. Apr 2019, 22:31
by socratis
You're not doing it right then. You need to uninstall the GAs and clean/purge your guest from anything VirtualB*, VBox*. Then follow the procedure, and pay attention to the output of the installation! Something is not working!

BTW, moving to "Linux Guests" from "OSX Hosts". The problem is in your guest.

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 17. Apr 2019, 22:33
by socratis
Forgot to mention, 6.0.6 is out, update!

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 18. Apr 2019, 00:00
by Beans3
OK, I upgraded to VB 6.0.6 and installed the Extension pack.

I ran uninstall as per ch 4.2. Installing and Maintaining Guest Additionsand received this output:
beans7@beans7-VirtualBox:/media/beans7/VBox_GAs_6.0.6$ sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run uninstall
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 6.0.6 Guest Additions for Linux........
This program must be run with administrator privileges.  Aborting

beans7@beans7-VirtualBox:/media/beans7/VBox_GAs_6.0.6$ sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run uninstall
[sudo] password for beans7:          
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 6.0.6 Guest Additions for Linux........
VirtualBox Guest Additions installer
Removing installed version 6.0.6 of VirtualBox Guest Additions...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-47-generic

beans7@beans7-VirtualBox:/media/beans7/VBox_GAs_6.0.6$
I then installed GuestAdditions 6.0.6 with the following output:
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 6.0.6 Guest Additions for Linux........
VirtualBox Guest Additions installer
Copying additional installer modules ...
Installing additional modules ...
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Starting.
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel 
modules.  This may take a while.
VirtualBox Guest Additions: To build modules for other installed kernels, run
VirtualBox Guest Additions:   /sbin/rcvboxadd quicksetup <version>
VirtualBox Guest Additions: or
VirtualBox Guest Additions:   /sbin/rcvboxadd quicksetup all
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the modules for kernel 4.15.0-47-generic.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-47-generic
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Running kernel modules will not be replaced until 
the system is restarted
Press Return to close this window...
Then rebooted.

When I run the 'VBoxControl -version' command I get '5.2.18_Ubuntur123745'

But the log [see attached] does not show '5.2.18_Ubuntur123745'. It shows newly installed GA version 6.0.6

However the 'running in software rendering mode' message has gone (hurrah!) so presenting problem appears to be solved.

Just odd how the 'VBoxControl -version' command still returns the old version of GA.

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 18. Apr 2019, 00:09
by socratis
I told you to purge the old GAs, you may have missed that point. Did you try "dkpg", "apt-get" or "Synaptic"? Do that...

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 18. Apr 2019, 00:37
by Beans3
Yes, I missed the purge bit of the advice.

I can run these commands:
sudo aptitude remove 5.2.18_Ubuntur123745
sudo apt-get remove package 5.2.18_Ubuntur123745
but how do I know the paths?

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 18. Apr 2019, 02:19
by socratis
What paths? Maybe you need to do a:
man apt-get

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 22. Apr 2019, 14:57
by srv1973
Hi all,

Don't know if it's appropriate to piggy-back on this topic, but I'm having the same issue after upgrade to 6.0.6 (from 6.0.4 if I recall correctly). With VBox 6.0.4 on Windows 10 with a Mint guest, Cinnamon was using hardware acceleration. With 6.0.6 it doesn't.
  • VMSVGA adapter selected for VM
  • 128M Video RAM allocated
  • 3D Acceleration selected
  • No "virtualbox" or "box" related packages installed (dpkg -l output)
  • Up-to-date Linux Mint 19.1
  • VBoxControl -version says 6.0.6r130049
Any suggestions on what to look at next?

UPDATE
I just updated another laptop from 6.0.4, where 3D acceleration with VMSVGA was working, to 6.0.6r130049, and it exhibits the same issue: no 3D acceleration anymore. Same guest (Mint 19.1, fully up-to-date).

Seems to me something is broken in the 6.0.6 release?

SOLVED
Seems doing just a reboot of the Guest (sudo reboot) was not enough. After I shut down the guest, exited VirtualBox, opened VirtualBox again, booted the guest, I get acceleration in Cinnamon again. I've actually verified that on both systems where I had observed this issue.

Maarten

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 22. Apr 2019, 18:19
by socratis
@srv1973
Can't reproduce on two hosts, with VBoxVGA or VMSVGA and 6.0.6 GAs installed:
socratis@VB-Mint-19:~$ uname -a
Linux VB-Mint-19 4.15.0-42-generic #45-Ubuntu SMP Thu Nov 15 19:32:57 UTC 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

socratis@VB-Mint-19:~$ cat /etc/*-release
DISTRIB_ID=LinuxMint
DISTRIB_RELEASE=19
DISTRIB_CODENAME=tara
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Linux Mint 19 Tara"
NAME="Linux Mint"
VERSION="19 (Tara)"
ID=linuxmint
ID_LIKE=ubuntu
PRETTY_NAME="Linux Mint 19"
VERSION_ID="19"
HOME_URL="https://www.linuxmint.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://forums.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide. ... en/latest/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.linuxmint.com/"
VERSION_CODENAME=tara
UBUNTU_CODENAME=bionic
cat: /etc/upstream-release: Is a directory
I think I'd like to see the output of your GAs installation... and a ZIPPED VBox.log.

Re: Linux mint guest - running in software rendering mode problem

Posted: 9. May 2019, 15:09
by Francesco Galgani
Linux Mint 19 includes the VirtualBox Guest Additions for VirtualBox 5.2.18.

As suggested, it's necessary to remove these additions before installing the new ones, provided by VirtualBox itself with the host's menu "Devices" » "Insert Guest Additions CD Image..."

To remove them, use this command:

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sudo apt-get remove virtualbox-guest*
The same operation cannot be done using Synaptic (I don't know exactly why, it seems that Synaptic and apt-get have differences in the dependencies management).

At the end of the execution of that command, you should see:

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Removing original_module from DKMS tree for kernel 4.15.0-48-generic (x86_64)

DKMS: uninstall completed.

------------------------------
Deleting module version: 5.2.18
completely from the DKMS tree.
------------------------------
Done.
After that,

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VBoxControl -version
is not more available.

Reboot.

After the reboot, the old VirtualBox Additions are not more loaded in the running kernel. It's now possible to install the new VirtualBox additions, with a command similar to the following:

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sudo /media/francesco/VBox_GAs_6.0.4/autorun.sh
Note that I use the 6.0.4 version instead of the last 6.0.6 because the bugged behaviour of mouse pointer since 6.0.6 (as reported in other tickets).

At the end of the installation of VirtualBox Addition 6.0.x, reboot.

After the reboot, the output of

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VBoxControl -version
should be:

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6.0.4r128413
(or 6.0.6rxxxxxx if you are using that).