Win XP guest lost screen resolution even after GA reinstall

[HockeyBum27]

Ubu 12.04 64-bit host
VB 4.3.14
Win XP SP3 guest

I have had this VM working well for a year or so, then yesterday when shut down the vm and re-started it, the resolution was awful (Windows display shows 4-bit color and 640 x 480). Auto resize does not work.

When I uninstall GA, the resolution getst much better (though auto-resize still does not work -If I try to resize, the frame expands but the desktop stays the same) - but of course I lose shared folders etc.

When I re-install GA (4.3.14), it reduces the display back to the awful settings. Not sure what caused this (I think there was an VB update including GA the past week or so, but I use this VM religiously and only noticed it yesterday). And more importantly - how to fix it.

Thanks in advance.

[Perryg]

Revert to version 4.3.12 including the guest additions and see if it works. If so stay there until the next release.

[HockeyBum27]

Perry, many thanks for the quick response!
Where do I find the version you mention (I deleted the .iso of the previous one)?
Is this is a known issue?

[Perryg]

http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.12/

"Is this is a known issue?"
Unknown at this point.

[HockeyBum27]

Perry,

No luck - installing 4.3.12 has the same effect (reverting to 4-bit color etc.). Really at a loss here...

[Perryg]

Post the guests log file ( as an attachment )

[HockeyBum27]

Perry,

See attached -thanks for your continued effort on this.

[loukingjr]

forget what I said... erase, erase, erase.

[Perryg]

Code: Select all

VirtualBox VM 4.3.14 r95030 linux.amd64 (Jul 15 2014 17:48:43) release log
Guest Additions information report: Version 4.3.12 r93733 '4.3.12'

Perhaps I was unclear. You need to also revert the version of VirtualBox, not just the guest additions.

In the mean time I assume this used to work properly. Can you tell me what you changed between the time it worked and now?

[HockeyBum27]

Perry,

I apologize - I will try that (going to VB 4.3.12, not just GA) and see how that goes....the only thing I know that changed was that VB was updated recently (within the past week or so), but this issue just happened yesterday (7/22). In fact, I was running the VM fine yesterday, I closed it, then later I re-opened, and this occurred.

If there are logs that I can look at or post that might provide useful info (or if there is anything telling in what I posted), please let me know.

Thanks,
Chuck

[HockeyBum27]

Perry,

Same result after going to 4.3.12 (which was the previous version I was on). I honestly don't recall changing anything on this VM in forever - the only 'change' I've done is to create a new VM for Win7, but that should not have caused any issues. FYI both my other VMS (Win7 32-bit and Win7 64-bit) have not experienced any issues. I'm posting the log again just in case it is helpful.

[Perryg]

Everything now suggests that VirtualBox is a happy camper. Look at the guest for issues. I would first look at the display settings and see if it has reverted to a low resolution.

[HockeyBum27]

Perry,
Still set at 6x4 resolution and 4 bit; if I select 32-bit and 12x9, it acts as if it changed it (i.e., it asks if I want to keep or revert), but when I go back in to display settings, it's back to 6x4 and 4-bit.
What do you mean 'look at the now for issues'?
FYI - looking at the video driver in WIndows shows nothign awry either:
Adapter tab:
VirtualBox Graphics Adapter (Chip Type: VBOX; DAC Typ: Integrated RAMDAC; Memory 27MB (yes I tried increasing this even though it's always been 27MB); BIOS Version )xB0c2 or later
List All Modes: Correctly shows all modes

Graphics Adapter Properties/Driver:
Driver Details: c:\windows\system32\drivers\VBoxVideo.sys, c:\windows\system32\VBoxDisp.dll

[Perryg]

Sorry my typing was faster than my brain I guess. I meant guest not now.

Something inside the guest is causing this. Remove the guest additions and reboot the guest than try installing the proper additions and reboot.

[HockeyBum27]

Perry,

No worries - thanks for the clarification. I uninstalled GA before I 'downgraded' to 4.3.12 (I saw that tip from you on aonther thread about downgrading, as a matter of fact). So after installing 4.3.12, I booted up the VM and installed GA 4.3.12. That sounds like what you are recommending, but I am trying just in case.

Results:
* uninstall GA; elected to overwrite all target files (see below for explanation)
* reboot - display is much better (1152 x 864, 32-bit)- but of course GA is not installed
* reboot again (just in case anything was hung/cleaned up after reboot)
* select GA 4.3.12 (mount in CD device), select auto play
* accept defaults ( VB GA, but no Direct3D support)
* screen flickers, I get prompt to reboot (a check of the display properties here shows 800x600 and 8-bit, but the display does not reflect that - it appease the same as above - that is, 'good')
* after I select reboot, it comes back up in low-res.


One thing that is odd (to me) is when I do an uninstall of GA, I get warning messages that state the target (c:\windows\system32\...\xxx.xxx) is newer than the source - overwrite the new file? This happens for several files:
VBoxVideo.sys
VBoxDisp.dll
VBoxGuest.sys
VBoxTray.exe
VBoxControl.exe

If I select no (to keep what is there), my display is still messed up; if I say yes (overwriting with an older file), then my display is much better (though with out GA installed, I don't have shared folders, auto-size display, etc). I wonder if I should just overwrite the video stuff (to get that back) and keep the other?
UPDATE: tried just overwriting video stuff but that did not work - currently have GA uninstalled (which gets me ok res but no resize and no shared folders)