Changing display adapter

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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sTeamTraen
Posts: 8
Joined: 1. Feb 2021, 00:56

Changing display adapter

Post by sTeamTraen »

This seems like it might be a very basic question, so I apologise if it's been asked before.

I'm running Ubuntu 21.04 on VirtualBox Version 6.1.22 r144080 (Qt5.6.2) on Windows 10 Pro version 20H2 build 19042.985. The Ubuntu installation includes the latest version of VirtualBox Guest Additions.

When Ubuntu boots, I get an error message (twice) about "Failed to send host log message". Some searching suggests that this is a problem with the VMSVGA display adapter and I should use VBoxSVGA instead. However, I am unable to find how to do this. When I right-click on the Ubuntu machine and choose Settings/Display I get the dialog box shown here, in which everything is greyed out.

Any tips would be gratefully received. Thanks!
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scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Changing display adapter

Post by scottgus1 »

That error message, which comes from using the VMSVGA adapter, can be ignored. It happens on my Linux VMs too, and they boot properly. The message has been tracked to a bug in the Linux OS drivers that get used when a VMSVGA-style adapter is used, and apparently happens in at least one other hypervisor's VMs too.

Everything being greyed out suggests the VM may be running or save-stated. Hardware changes cannot happen while a VM is running or save-stated.
sTeamTraen
Posts: 8
Joined: 1. Feb 2021, 00:56

Re: Changing display adapter

Post by sTeamTraen »

scottgus1 wrote:That error message, which comes from using the VMSVGA adapter, can be ignored. It happens on my Linux VMs too, and they boot properly. The message has been tracked to a bug in the Linux OS drivers that get used when a VMSVGA-style adapter is used, and apparently happens in at least one other hypervisor's VMs too.

Everything being greyed out suggests the VM may be running or save-stated. Hardware changes cannot happen while a VM is running or save-stated.
I'd worked out that the error isn't breaking anything, but it had become an "intellectual curiosity" issue and I wanted to know how to change my display adapter anyway. I cleared the saved state and now it works. Thanks!
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