Mouse not responding - Ubuntu 18.04 guest

[mroguljic]

Hello,

Win10 is my host machine and I'm using it to run the Ubuntu 18.04 guest for work. Yesterday, I tried enabling shared clipboard. Setting the clipboard to bi-directional didn't work out of the box, but I managed to find a solution, just had to run "sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-x11" from my guest machine and it worked. The reason I'm mentioning this is that I suspect this caused the issue for me.

After rebooting the machine, I found out I'm unable to control the mouse. I figured there is a problem with mouse integration, so I disabled it, however, even when I successfully capture the mouse, it doesn't move in the guest. Furthermore, I'm stuck at the "enter password to unlock keyring" prompt and since the mouse is not working, I cannot click on the input field so I am stuck in this state.

I tried changing the input device from USB tablet to PS2/mouse, but that doesn't help. The only difference I notice between the two is that in the tablet mode, there is no cursor and there is one in the PS2/mouse mode.

Is there a way to undo the changes I did without the use of mouse? Or does anyone know how I might regain control of the pointer? Thank you.

[scottgus1]

It could be possible that the "sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-x11" messed things up. That command does not show up in a search of the manual. Where did you get it?

Many OS's allow the 'tab ' key as a way to bounce from one control object (text box, button, menu, etc.) to another. Try tabbing until you get to your password box. Then you will need to tab/arrow-key/etc. around the desktop to get to a terminal and hopefully undo that command. Google for using tab in your guest OS or running the OS without a mouse.

You might also install the whole Guest Additions from the guest's Virtualbox window, Devices menu, Insert Guest Additions CD Image, then run the installer from your guest OS's CD drive. This might undo the command and get the mouse working again.

[mroguljic]

It could be possible that the "sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-x11" messed things up. That command does not show up in a search of the manual. Where did you get it?

I found it here https://askubuntu.com/questions/63420/h ... st-machine

Also, I managed to solve the problem by entering recovery mode boot and then following these instructions - https://askubuntu.com/questions/958366/ ... -guest-x11

apt-get remove virtualbox-guest-x11
apt-get remove xserver-xorg-core
apt-get install xorg

[SaigneurDucon]

Hello, definite newbie here.
I've experienced the same issue, after installing the infamous "virtualbox-guest-x11" and other junk like "xserver-xorg-core" (I think) : now my mouse and keyboard can't interact with Ubuntu, and I also can't figure out a way to access Terminal to undo what I did.
Any way out of this mess ?

[scottgus1]

mroguljic, Thanks for the info! I have since learned that sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-x11 is the install command for the forked version of Guest Additions provided by the Linux OS repositories, not the official Virtualbox GAs coming on the ISO bundled with official Virtualbox.

SaigneurDucon, I wouldn't know myself, but mroguljic got the guest to boot in "recovery mode boot" to make the changes. See if you can web-search this in your guest OS's help channels.

[SaigneurDucon]

@ Scottgus1 :
Yes I went in "recovery boot mode" but then didn't know how to access terminal... althought on retry, before entering my user password I clicked the cog (for "settings" I guess) next to the [Sign in] button, then I clicked "Ubuntu on Wayland", and weirdly that did it for me : mouse and keyboard were working.
Then I accessed the terminal and entered these commands :

$ apt-get remove virtualbox-guest-x11
$ apt-get remove xserver-xorg-core

... and tried rebooting in normal Ubuntu (not Wayland) mode, but then I couldn't log in : no error message just the same orange prompt poping back up, asking for credentials.
Anyway... THAT'S how savvy I am at this stuff... Ridicule aside, I though these observations could help someone, so there you go. Enjoy.

PS : Ubuntu on Wayland still works.

[scottgus1]

What is the ISO you're trying?

[SaigneurDucon]

I'm using this file to install Ubuntu, if that's what you're asking :

ubuntu-18.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso