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Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 4. Dec 2014, 10:35
by bluegroper
Hi Forum
I'm using VirtualBox 4.3.20 on Centos 6.6 Host.
Have installed Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.3.20-96996.vbox-extpack
Using WinXP as Guest
Have installed GuestAdditions 4.3.20r96996
Rebooted guest and host.
Shared Clipboard set to Bidirectional
NOT using any special clipboard manager/s.

Cut 'n paste only works from guest to host :) , BUT NOT from host to guest. :(
Greatly appreciate any tips or clues to get this working as intended.

Edit. Log file now attached.
I did notice this line "fHMForced=true - 64-bit guest", BUT the Settings show "Windows XP (32 bit).

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 4. Dec 2014, 12:37
by bluegroper
I'm experimenting with a different Host hardware setup, but same host OS and Guest OS.
Is it possible that Bidirectional clipboard needs 3D Acceleration enabled ??
Slightly counter intuitive. :?

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 4. Dec 2014, 13:10
by mpack
Why would a background software construct care about the type of graphics driver the display is using? It doesn't.

It's probably being called a 64bit guest because you gave the guest > 2GB, which btw an XP guest doesn't need. The sweet spot for XP is around 512MB, so 1GB is way more than enough. In any case there are other reasons why VT-x is forced, e.g. you allocated more than one CPU.

As to your issue, this is an area I'm ignorant about. Windows is a unified operating system with a single GUI standard, those standards particularly covering the format of text and graphics placed on the clipboard. That is what ensures that the clipboard data will be acceptable when moved from one Windows app to another, and probably also ensures the success of Windows --> Linux. Does whatever you're using on the Linux host do the same?

And just to clarify, you are only transferring text and images right? Not files containing text or images or anything else.

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 4. Dec 2014, 13:46
by loukingjr
Shared clipboard works in either direction with Mac OSX hosts, Windows XP SP3 guests. As mpack alluded to, with plain text or graphics clippings. What are you trying to copy and paste? From what program to what program?

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 5. Dec 2014, 00:57
by bluegroper
Only trying to transfer some small amounts of text. Not files or any images.

Microsoft taught us to enable absolutely everything, to make everything work. Sure, that philosophy might be sub-optimal, but any debate belongs elsewhere.
I'd be grateful for any suggestions to get this Bidirectional clipboard working as intended.
I have it working correctly on one hardware box, but not another. Finding the differences is mysterious.
TIA's for any tips or clues.

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 5. Dec 2014, 01:45
by loukingjr
Because I do have a Linux box with Ubuntu 14.10 on it and I had a trial of Windows 7 available I thought I would test the shared clipboard from Linux>Windows. I copied text from both gedit and LibreOffice Writer and pasted both without a problem into Notepad on Windows 7.

Seeing you say you have a separate machine that works, I would say there is something wrong with the Gentoo install, the VirtualBox install, or the Windows install. Which I can't say. But it's obvious since it works for me with both Mac and Linux hosts > Windows, and it works for you in a different machine, about all you can do is try reinstalling the various bits on the machine that doesn't work.

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 5. Dec 2014, 02:16
by bluegroper
loukingjr
Thanks for your thoughts.
I agree with your conclusions, especially since :
- I have CentOS host and Windoze XP guest working with Bidirectional clipboard on another box.
- I have CentOS host and Windoze 2000 guest working with Bidirectional clipboard on same host thats borked with WinXP.

Rather than reinstall windoze XP, (which is a total PITA), I'll try exporting the WinXP VM from the working box, and import to the non-working box.
Whatever the outcome, this is already irritating.

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 5. Dec 2014, 02:19
by loukingjr
Welcome.
I can imagine it's irritating. The next easiest step would be to reinstall VirtualBox.

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 5. Dec 2014, 02:23
by loukingjr
I know you said you didn't have any special clipboard managers installed but some distros come with Parcelite pre-installed.

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 5. Dec 2014, 07:42
by socratis
bluegroper wrote:Rather than reinstall windoze XP, (which is a total PITA), I'll try exporting the WinXP VM from the working box, and import to the non-working box.
Another simpler thing to try before you do any of the above, is to uninstall the Guest Additions, shut down the guest, restart it, make sure there are no signs of the GA and finally re-install the GA. There might be a small chance that something went wrong in there...

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 12. Dec 2014, 02:36
by bluegroper
This problem is proving very difficult to fix.
I've imported another WinXP VM, and initially the bi-directional was working as expected.
But now, its broken. Clipboard only from guest to host, NOT vice versa.
Tried removing and reinstalling guest additions, but no joy.
Reinstallation of windoze from scratch is such a PITA. And the endless updates, reboots, .....
Any other suggestions will be gratefully received and considered.
(Maybe I just go back to using Win2K, since its small, light and fast. And the clipboard works too.)

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 20. Jan 2015, 00:53
by bluegroper
Latest testing indicates that these problem/s *might* be caused by KDE clipboard tool called "klipper".

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 20. Jan 2015, 01:19
by loukingjr
bluegroper wrote:Latest testing indicates that these problem/s *might* be caused by KDE clipboard tool called "klipper".
I suppose it could be a "klipper" problem on the host side. I have two guests with KDE & klipper installed, OpenMandriva 4.1 and Kubuntu Plasma 5 and the bidirectional clipboard works fine.

You could always try uninstalling or disabling klipper.

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 27. Jan 2015, 16:45
by hmickler
I encountered the same problem and could identify the circumstances when this happens for me.

See my bugreport: Ticket #13792

Regards,
Holger

Re: Bidirectional clipboard not working

Posted: 27. Jan 2015, 16:55
by mpack
Re your ticket speculation "Obviously, the clipboard seems to be cleared when the VM started ". I would have guessed something different, i.e. that the Guest Additions in the VM cannot process a "new clipboard data" signal from the host when the GAs are not running.