Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
Teufelchen
Posts: 3
Joined: 25. Dec 2018, 20:16

Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by Teufelchen »

Hi
I use virtual box the first time. I installed Win10 and then the guest extensions. Grafik RAM 256 MB and 2D and 3D enabled. The problem is, that most of the written text is not readable, because of the text is double in big font, black lines and more.
Last edited by socratis on 25. Dec 2018, 20:30, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Changed title to something more appropriate.
socratis
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Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
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Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by socratis »

I changed the title from "not readable" to something that better describes the situation.

You didn't give us too much information to go on, but if you're on a Mac with HiDPI, you should go to the VirtualBox Preferences » Display » set the Scale Factor to 200%.
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Teufelchen
Posts: 3
Joined: 25. Dec 2018, 20:16

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by Teufelchen »

I tried a lot of scale, but nothing works. In the att., there is the startmenu as an example.
Attachments
2018-12-27_09h08_43.jpg
2018-12-27_09h08_43.jpg (55.59 KiB) Viewed 10080 times
Teufelchen
Posts: 3
Joined: 25. Dec 2018, 20:16

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by Teufelchen »

It seems, that the video driver in Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions 6.0.0 sucks. After deinstalling, the text ist OK. So I hope for a new working driver.
socratis
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Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by socratis »

Can you try switching the Graphics controller from the "VBoxSVGA" to the "VBoxVGA" one (no S)? With the VM shutdown of course, that's all the change needed.

If that doesn't work, 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.
PS: For screenshots, it's better if you use the PNG file type, instead of JPG/GIF/other.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
helgeb
Posts: 3
Joined: 27. Dec 2018, 18:52
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows 10
Location: Neuss, Germany

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by helgeb »

Same effect for me: with 3D unreadable, without unusable slow on MacBook Pro 2018.

Changing the video driver to 'VBoxVGA' (without 'S') works perfect: Not artifacts, readable text, good response time.

So thanks for solving my problem.
Helge
socratis
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Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by socratis »

Thanks @helgeb for confirming. Unfortunately I can't mark this as [Solved] because it's not your thread, I'd like to wait for the thread's owner.

Funny thing is that my Win10 guests (32- and 64-bit) work just fine with either vGPU option; VBoxVGA or VBoxSVGA. That's where a log comes in handy...
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
helgeb
Posts: 3
Joined: 27. Dec 2018, 18:52
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows 10
Location: Neuss, Germany

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by helgeb »

This is what I have done:
  1. Changed my display controller to VBoxSVGA
  2. Started my Windows 10
  3. Logged in (text distortion even on the login panel!)
  4. Opened Start menu (display like screenshot of @teufelchen)
  5. Shut down
Hope the log helps.
Attachments
Win10-2018-12-28-08-43-43.log.zip
text not readable on Win 10
(33.66 KiB) Downloaded 132 times
AntonioDL
Posts: 12
Joined: 19. Jul 2017, 09:44
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Ubuntu, Suse
Location: Germany

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by AntonioDL »

I experience the very same problem when using the VBoxSVGA. Using VBoxVGA (without S) still show a few artefacts here and there, but is alright.

It seems to affect only Direct3D. Aero stuff (like the Win 10 menus, dedicated apps like Settings) will show it especially as the window refreshes, or mouse hover over, like a screen refresh problem where pixels are not "cleaned". Windows programs like the File Explorer is not affected.

I'm running on macOS Mojave 10.14.2 in a MacBook Pro 15-inch 2018 with the AMD Radeon Pro 560X. Can upload logs/picture/screen recording if needed.

As already reported by other users, disabling 3D in the VM solves it (but the VM response is completely unresponsive).
helgeb
Posts: 3
Joined: 27. Dec 2018, 18:52
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows 10
Location: Neuss, Germany

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by helgeb »

The problems still occur with VB 6.0.2
AntonioDL
Posts: 12
Joined: 19. Jul 2017, 09:44
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Ubuntu, Suse
Location: Germany

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by AntonioDL »

helgeb wrote:The problems still occur with VB 6.0.2
I can only confirm that. 6.0.2 have not solved the issue. (and before someone asks, I've updated not only the host, but the guest additions as well. I could verify that the Oracle VirtualBox display driver was 6.0.2.0). VBoxVGA is still the only viable choice, at least on macOS hosts.
AntonioDL
Posts: 12
Joined: 19. Jul 2017, 09:44
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Ubuntu, Suse
Location: Germany

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by AntonioDL »

Issue still exists with 6.0.6.
SirMoony
Posts: 3
Joined: 30. Apr 2019, 03:58

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by SirMoony »

Hello, I running Windows 10 Guest on

Model: MacBook Pro 2018 15,1
CPU: Intel Core i7 6 X 2.6 GHz
Mem: 16 Go
Video: Radeon Pro 560X 4Go

With VirtualBox Version 6.0.6 r130049 + extension pack 6.0.6

I see the same glitches as the others whenever I select VBoxVGA or VBoxSVGA.
The only thing that make the glitches stop is to uncheck use 3D hardware acceleration.
So I get poor 3D video I guess, is there something I can do?

Christian
socratis
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Location: Greece

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by socratis »

SirMoony wrote:whenever I select VBoxVGA or VBoxSVGA
I only see the glitches with the VBoxSVGA, the new VirtualBox 6.x option. Are you sure?

Switch to VBoxVGA. 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.
Image
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
SirMoony
Posts: 3
Joined: 30. Apr 2019, 03:58

Re: Text is not readable in a Win10 guest

Post by SirMoony »

The glitches are not the same or same but there is still glitches occurring in both modes. I've attached two zip files. One for the VBoxVGA mode and the other VBoxSVGA mode. I included the log file and screen shots in each zip files to show you.

Best regards,
Christian
Attachments
VBoxSVGA.zip
(90.44 KiB) Downloaded 43 times
VBoxVGA.zip
(91.48 KiB) Downloaded 36 times
Last edited by socratis on 1. May 2019, 16:58, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Removed unnecessary verbatim quote of the whole previous message.
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