Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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abcdefgh
Posts: 77
Joined: 22. Jul 2018, 03:29
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
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Guest OSses: Linux Mint 20.3 Mate

Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by abcdefgh »

Host: Win10-1803
Guest: Linux Mint 18
VBox: 6.0.12 r133076 (Qt5.6.2)

It's hard to imagine that the problem is with VBox, but it didn't start until I updated. I have installed the extensions and rebooted the guest.

1 - My Linux Mint 18 windows are now semi-transparent. I loathe that, and it makes seeing things quite difficult especially when I highlight text or the transparency obscures text box boundaries.
2 - Background windows are responding to mouse-over even though they don't have focus.

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for your assistance.

PS: I also switched display driver to VMSVGA as the VM manager suggested when I first ran the guest following the update.

ADDENDUM:

I've rebooted the guest twice and have gotten "Cinnamon just crashed. You are currently running in Fallback Mode" each time. Suggestion? Go back to VBox 6.0.10 maybe?
I'm actually markfilipak (which somehow became 'markfilipak2', then 'abcdefgh'). I've been here since 15 Jul 2012 but lost my name during the great shift to SSO (single sign-on) during 2017, and have not been able to recover it.
socratis
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Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by socratis »

abcdefgh wrote:I have installed the extensions and rebooted the guest.
I take it that you mean the Guest Additions (GAs), not the extensions, which hints the Extension Pack (which is installed on the host).

Transparent windows, and mouse focused window events sounds like something is going on with your guest, not VirtualBox, these are your guest's window manager properties.
abcdefgh wrote:Go back to VBox 6.0.10 maybe?
Go back to 6.0.10, switch back to VBoxVGA. Both of these are thing that you should try before going on any further. If you get it to "correct" itself, start eliminating parameters/factors. See if it's the VMSVGA or VirtualBox 6.0.12 itself.
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faberd
Posts: 5
Joined: 10. Oct 2019, 14:04

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by faberd »

Hi,

I am experiencing the same issue. I have a Win10 machine running a Debian Linux guest.
After upgrading to 6.0.12 and applying the VMSVGA controller, the terminal shows a transparent center pane. See the attached screenshot for an example.
The terminal application runs in dark theme variant. Other windows have white backgrounds instead of transparent.
Switching back to the VBoxVGA controller made the windows appear as expected.
I downgraded to 6.0.10, including GAs, selected the VMSVGA controller and the same problem reoccurred. After reverting to the VBoxVGA controller windows appeared normal again.

I hope someone can shed some light on this.
Attachments
transparentwindow.jpg
transparentwindow.jpg (46.1 KiB) Viewed 14799 times
socratis
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Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by socratis »

faberd wrote:I hope someone can shed some light on this.
There's no "light" to be shed, it looks like a real issue. I would ask you to wait until Tuesday 2019-10-15 when 6.0.14 will be coming out and test that version, see what you get...
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.
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faberd
Posts: 5
Joined: 10. Oct 2019, 14:04

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by faberd »

Tried the 6.0.14, but no improvements unfortunately.
The problem remains
socratis
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Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by socratis »

faberd wrote:The problem remains
We need to see a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run, where the problem occurs:
  • Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe or recreate the problem / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
  • With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
  • Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response.
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.
faberd
Posts: 5
Joined: 10. Oct 2019, 14:04

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by faberd »

Hi,

The requested logfile is attached.
I set my VM to use the VMSVGA controller, booted up, opened a terminal which shows the problem and shutdown the VM again.
Hope this helps.
Attachments
VIrutalBox_VMSVGA_transparent_display.zip
(32.93 KiB) Downloaded 131 times
faberd
Posts: 5
Joined: 10. Oct 2019, 14:04

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by faberd »

Hi,

The 6.1.0 release also did not solve the problem yet.
Any progress on this issue? Did the logfile provide any clues? Just curious.
Martin
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Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by Martin »

In many cases such symptoms point to the host graphics drivers not doing what Virtualbox expects for the 3D support.
Please verify that your video drivers on the host are current and test also with 3D support disabled.
faberd
Posts: 5
Joined: 10. Oct 2019, 14:04

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by faberd »

Hi Martin,

Thanks for your response. Turned out I did not have the latest version of the graphics driver (Intel HD Graphics 4000 on a Dell Optiplex), so I've updated it.
Enabling the 3D support still leaves the same problem, even with the latest graphics driver.
Disabling the 3D support does seem to resolve the problem of the transparent windows, but then I get the popup that I'm running in software rendering mode which is recommended only for troubleshooting.
Is there some way to have a correct working guest with hardware support for the graphics?
pdp11
Posts: 1
Joined: 22. Sep 2020, 02:59

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by pdp11 »

I know this thread was last updated 8 months ago. But I'm wondering where this issue currently stands? I'm having the exact same issue running 6.1.15, Mint 18 guest, Cinnamon, Windows 10 host, AMD RX5600 GPU, VMSVGA, 3D.

Was there ever an official bug opened on this issue?

Thanks.
LiquidPenguin
Posts: 2
Joined: 4. Jul 2019, 14:18

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by LiquidPenguin »

I've also been wondering about whether this issue is being looked into somewhere official. I've been experiencing this problem for several months now with a Win 10 guest on a Win 10 host. Like a previous reporter of the issue, I also have Intel HD graphics, although my chipset is 530.

It certainly looks like an issue with Vbox because although compositing within the guest is clearly showing up incorrectly, I sometimes see the host through the misrendered portions of the guest.
govage
Posts: 1
Joined: 5. Dec 2020, 21:39

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by govage »

The same issue for VirtualBox 6.1.16 on macOS 10.15.7 host machine and Windows 10 20H2 guest.
multiOS
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Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by multiOS »

Have you tried turning off 'Transparency Effects" in the Windows 10 Guest's Settings?
VirtualIan
Posts: 8
Joined: 17. Apr 2021, 00:53

Re: Guest display transparent & mouse-over problems since update 6.0.12

Post by VirtualIan »

Also getting this with a Ubuntu Linux host / Windows 10 guest, immediately after upgrading Windows 10 1909 to 20H2.

Yes, turning off 'Transparency Effects" in the Windows 10 Guest's Setting works in terms of the background of the Windows menu and the bottom bar stop being completely transparent, but if this affected people not using the VirtualBox video driver, they'd have noticed this.

Ubuntu Linux has an Nvidia GTX 1060 Ti card, using the Nvidia 460 drivers.
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