Drag and Drop doesn't work

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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Ken355
Posts: 10
Joined: 8. Sep 2021, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: Mint; Ubuntu

Drag and Drop doesn't work

Post by Ken355 »

I'm a brand new user of VirtualBox.

I have a Windows 10 64 bit host machine. Guest is Linux Mint 20.2 Cinnamon. I also have Ubuntu 20.04 set up as a second guest machine. The problem is that copy and paste, and drag and drop, doesn't work on either guest machine. I have "bidirectional" selected on both guest machines.

Also, should drag and drop work between two guest machine, if both are open at the same time?
I need to be able to share files between these machines. I can't even get these machines to see each other on the network either.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Drag and Drop doesn't work

Post by mpack »

Most common answers:
  1. The Guest Additions are not installed (just mounting the CD is usually not enough).
  2. You are trying to copy/paste illegal objects (e.g. files).
  3. The drag/drop process has locked up (it often does after a few uses).
No, AFAIK, drag and drop should not work between VMs. It connects host to guest.

Shared Folders would be far simpler and more reliable.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Drag and Drop doesn't work

Post by scottgus1 »

Adding onto Mpack's thoughts, there are prerequisites for Linux VM's before GAs are installed, see https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02. ... nux-prereq. The linux headers are the usual prerequisite that needs to be installed. Often, all the other prereq's are present, but you should check them.

To double-check that the GAs are installed, right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show Log, and look at the far left tab's log. Search the log for the last instance of the words:

Guest Additions information report:

That line should show the installed GAs. If it does not show the same as the version of Virtualbox you are running on the host, the GAs did not install correctly.

After you get the prereq's and GAs installed, try the clipboard and drag-n-drop again. If these functions don't work, please save the far left tab's log, zip the log file, and post the zip file, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.
Ken355
Posts: 10
Joined: 8. Sep 2021, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: Mint; Ubuntu

Re: Drag and Drop doesn't work

Post by Ken355 »

Thanks for your help efforts.

I have attached zipped log files from both my Linux Mint guest, and my Ubuntu guest. I'm not sure how to interpret them.

And yes, I would like to be able to create a simple shared folder, but I'm not sure about the information it is asking about. Example: "Folder path". Is that on the host or guest machine? And "Mount Point"; I'm not sure what to put there. My attempts were met with error messages about "Failed to save the settings". And:
Result Code:
E_INVALIDARG (0x80070057)
Attachments
Ubuntu-log.zip
(20.68 KiB) Downloaded 36 times
Mint-log.zip
(36.39 KiB) Downloaded 15 times
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Drag and Drop doesn't work

Post by mpack »

"Folder path" is on the host, i.e. you have to indicate which folder you want to share with the guest.

The next thing it needs is a "share name". Objects in a windows network (which this feature emulates) are given a name to identify them. This doesn't have to be the actual folder name, which is good because you need to keep the share name simple for compatibility reasons, i.e. no spaces, no non-alphabetic (English) characters, and capitalize the first letter only, or all. E.g. "Shared", "Downloads" etc. Keep the name quite short as well. 5-20 characters is good.

Incidentally, it has no bearing on your current problem, but Mint is a repackaging of Ubuntu, so you should be using the Ubuntu template with Mint rather than a generic "Linux (64 bit)" one.
Ken355
Posts: 10
Joined: 8. Sep 2021, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: Mint; Ubuntu

Re: Drag and Drop doesn't work

Post by Ken355 »

Drag and Drop, and Copy and Paste, is now working. I don't know what changed to get it working, but now it does. I did shut down and restart a few times, but that's the only thing I can think of. Doing that didn't previously work.
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