[Solved] No hardware acceleration on Windows 7 guest system even if enabled?

[ChrisM243]

Hi,

since the EOL for Windows 7 is nearing I've decided to keep Windows 7 for my parents (both almost 70 years old) in a virtual environment. Both are used to their accustomed Windows standard games. Both of them are quite stubborn when it comes to "new stuff that looks different". Not hrlpless when it comes to "ho to operate things" but very stubborn.

So I've decided to do both of them a favour in getting a stable OS (Ubuntu18.04) as base for surfing ad emails, and run a Windows 7 VM on top so they can simply enable it via few clicks and get to their "beloved" environment.


So far so good - Ubuntu AMD drivers and Virtualbox 6.0 (including expansion package on guest) installed, VM created, guest additions including 3D drivers (iirc v. 6.0) installed.

Now the problem: even if HW acceleration is enabled in both 2D and 3D in Virtualbox, there is none active in the VM itself. after I tried to start Solitaire (one of their favorites) there was a message in Windows that HW accceleration is missing and everything might not run smoothly. (HW Acceleration is also enabled in bios).

Hardware: Sony Vaio SVE1711X1EB laptop with 8GB RAM, Core i7-3612QM, and as graphics card a AMD Radeon HD 7650M. I know it's not the fastest hardware in town anymore, but if it should only run Solitaire and the likes (and nothing more demanding in hardware) it should be enough.

Any idea, how I can enable the HW acceleration?


Best regards
Chris

[socratis]

including expansion package on guest

First of all, a small correction. You've got to be careful with the terminology. There are two distinct things:

• The Extension Pack (ExtPack) gets installed on the host and it has to match the VirtualBox version. It provides functionality such as USB2-3, Webcam, VRDP, PXE, PCI passthrough on Linux hosts, VDI Encryption. You have to download it and install it separately from the main VirtualBox program, due to its license.
• The Guest Additions (GAs) get installed on the guest and it would be good to match the VirtualBox version, for anything other than enhanced graphics support. It provides functionality such as shared folders, shared clipboard, drag and drop, pointer sharing (for PS/2 mice), enhanced graphics support. You do not have to download it separately from the main VirtualBox program, since it comes bundled with it.

On the graphics... Virtual machines will never be as powerful as the host, especially on the video side. They use after all a virtual graphics card, not your host's real graphics card. The virtual GPU itself is from around 1995-2000 in terms of capabilities. Applications that have high requirements on the GPU (drawing, 3D, games, video) are expected to not work as good as on the real hardware, if they work at all.

Having said that, we need to see a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run, where the problem occurs:

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe problem / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.

[ChrisM243]

Hi,

thank you for the quick reply.

ExtPack is installed on the Linux host and the GAs installed on the Wondows guest. I know that emulated graphics will never reach the level of the original OS, but some minor things like a game of Solitaire which only uses 2D should work.

At the moment I have no access to the laptop (since in use), I've included the last available log I prepared from today (I switch the SSD once I continue working on the topic. Since I can plug the SSD simply in my Windows PC I can provide the most recent log). In case that is not showing any incidents I'll have to make a new log tomorrow. In the log, I've changed the complete name of the user with a "w" in the directories.

[socratis]

00:00:01.590575   NumCPUs           <integer> = 0x0000000000000004 (4)
00:00:01.804963 CPUM: Physical host cores: 4
00:00:01.805377 Full Name: "Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3612QM CPU @ 2.10GHz"

You have assigned all your CPUs to the VM. The host is going to run low on resources, since VirtualBox cares about physical processors (cores), not logical ones (threads). Check the link for your CPU above and look at the "?" next to the Cores/Threads...

00:00:01.590812 Path <string>  = "/home/w/Schreibtisch/VBoxGuestAdditions_6.0.0_RC1.iso" (cb=58)

Why did you download the GAs separately? You don't have to, you shouldn't. Don't do it again, unless specifically instructed to. The GAs are included with each and every main VirtualBox installation.

If you want to install the GAs, then with the VM window having the focus, go to the host's menu "Devices" » "Insert Guest Additions CD Image...". That will insert the appropriate version CD in the guest where you can finish the installation. And don't forget to eject the CD once you're done with the installation.

00:00:01.591176   VMSVGAEnabled    <integer> = 0x0000000000000001 (1)

You have the VBoxSVGA option as your Graphics Controller. You may find that you have better results if you switch by going to the VM Settings » Display » Screen, and changing the Graphics controller from "VBoxSVGA" to "VBoxVGA".

00:00:01.415846 [/USB/HidMouse/] (level 2)

That line is missing from your log, which means that you're using the PS/2 mouse. You will have a better integration if you switch to USB Tablet in the VM Settings » System » Motherboard.

00:00:09.024376 VMMDev: Guest Additions information report: Version 6.0.0 r127378 '6.0.0_RC1'

And that's where the manual download of the GAs ISO came to bite you. As I said, eject what you have in the CD and do a proper GAs installation.

Enjoy your Solitaire...

[ChrisM243]

Hi,

I' ve downloaded the GAs separately since nothing happened when I tried to install them via the usualy way. I clicked on the mentionned button and nothing happened, that's why I downloaded the .iso manually and mounted it in a virtual CD drive.

Tomorrow I'll try reinstalling it with just two cores if the VM can't use the virtual (HT) cores. I'll change the input controller too if needed. I thought PS2/2 mouse was the matching device so I changed it.

[socratis]

I clicked on the mentionned button and nothing happened

1. Again, to not get confused, please use the correct terminology; it's a menu item, not a button.
2. Something did happen; the CD got inserted in the guest. If the autorun was disabled, then yes, nothing more than that would have happened. You'd have to manually run "<CDdrive>\VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe".

[ChrisM243]

Ok, I've deleted and recreated the VM, now it works with installing the GAs in the regular way.

Thank you very much for your help and time.

[socratis]

Glad you got it going. Marking as [Solved].