VM freezes after drag-and-drop error

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mhobijn
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Joined: 21. Mar 2023, 13:15

VM freezes after drag-and-drop error

Post by mhobijn »

VirtualBox 7.0.6 r155176 (Qt5.15.2)
Runs a VM with Lubuntu 20.04. On this some command-boxes, a web-browser (Firefox) and Eclipse.
I click on the taskbar. A popup comes up stating that drag-and-drop between host and client failed. I can close the popup, but after that the VM does not react to any input. Typing, mouse movement, mouse-click. No reaction at all. It looks like the VM lost all input-connections. I have to kill it (menu 'sent a shut-down signal'). All open edits are lost. I have this some times per day. When I freshly start the VM, I can move the icons on the taskbar. After a while this is a very dangerous action. Even a fast click can be fatal.
How can I solve this?
scottgus1
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Re: VM freezes after drag-and-drop error

Post by scottgus1 »

Drag-n-drop can get iffy some times. Best to stop using it, disable it. Use real or Virtualbox Shared Folders instead.
fth0
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Re: VM freezes after drag-and-drop error

Post by fth0 »

In addition to what scottgus1 wrote, you can find other known workarounds starting from my post in Re: Mouse click lost after a while.
mhobijn
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Joined: 21. Mar 2023, 13:15

Re: VM freezes after drag-and-drop error

Post by mhobijn »

Thanks for the help! Good to know its a known problem.
fth0, in your topic you state that the problem is independend of DnD being disabled or not. I should kill VirtualBox DnD processes. Where can I find information on how to do that? And do I have to do it ones or in every session again?
fth0
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Re: VM freezes after drag-and-drop error

Post by fth0 »

mhobijn wrote:I should kill VirtualBox DnD processes. Where can I find information on how to do that?
If you had followed the links in my other post, you could have found your answer. ;)

The VirtualBox DnD processes (VBoxClient --dragandrop) are running inside the guest OS. Most people with comparable mouse problems don't have keyboard problems at the same time, so they can simply kill the processes. Of course, that requires the ancient art and wisdom of using a computer with a keyboard alone. ;)

Seriously, you might try one of the following commands (inside the guest OS):

Code: Select all

sudo pkill -fx "/usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop"
sudo pkill -fx "/usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop" && /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
mhobijn wrote:And do I have to do it ones or in every session again?
You'd have to do that every time the issue occurs, so it would make sense to create a shell script for that. When using the first command, once in a session would be enough, but you couldn't use DnD in this session afterwards.

Additionally, you could try and find out which of your mouse gestures creates the issue and cease doing them.
mhobijn
Posts: 3
Joined: 21. Mar 2023, 13:15

Re: VM freezes after drag-and-drop error

Post by mhobijn »

Thanks fth0,
I found your answer in your links. But there is one difference between my case and the case discussed there: in my case the VM is completely blocked, not just the mouse. I can't enter any command at all. Is this killing to free the VM again or to prevent is from getting blocked? If it is to free the VM its not a solution for me as I cant enter the commands.
fth0
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Re: VM freezes after drag-and-drop error

Post by fth0 »

The first command line only kills the process(es), the second command line kills and restarts the process(es). In consequence, you'd use the first command line before the issue happens. If that doesn't prevent the issue, you have another type of problem.

Note that you cannot use DnD at all then. Also note that copy and paste is completely independent of DnD and should still work as expected.
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