[WorksForMe] Missing 3D accel in Ubuntu 18 and 19

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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Don Reba
Posts: 3
Joined: 27. Jun 2019, 04:46

[WorksForMe] Missing 3D accel in Ubuntu 18 and 19

Post by Don Reba »

Running VirtualBox 6.0.8 on a Windows 10 host with an Ubuntu 19 client, both 64-bit. The host has 64 GB RAM, the client gets half of it. I have guest additions installed and working. Except that it is using software rendering. 3d acceleration is enabled in settings, with VBoxSVGA as the graphics controller.

I have looked at a number of other posts, and nothing seems to match. I don't have nux-tools installed or the /etc/X11/Xsession.d/50_check_unity_support file present. LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE is set to 1 at startup; simply unsetting it does not help.

Code: Select all

$ glxinfo | grep OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: VMware, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: llvmpipe (LLVM 8.0, 128 bits)

$ echo $LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE
1
Attachments
VirtualBox log.zip
(24.97 KiB) Downloaded 17 times
Last edited by socratis on 27. Jun 2019, 16:35, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Marked as [WorksForMe].
socratis
Site Moderator
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
Location: Greece

Re: Missing 3D accel in Ubuntu 18 and 19

Post by socratis »

Don Reba wrote:with VBoxSVGA as the graphics controller
That's the wrong vGPU for a Linux guest. You should be using the VMSVGA one. The VBoxSVGA is for Windows guests, not Linux guests.
00:00:02.882590 [/Devices/lsilogicscsi/0/LUN#0/AttachedDriver/Config/Parent/Parent/] (level 8)
00:00:02.882592   Format <string>  = "VDI" (cb=4)
00:00:02.882592   Path   <string>  = "C:\VirtualBox VMs\Aeolus Docker\aeolus_03_15_17_u1606_64bit.vdi" (cb=64)
This is an imported VM, isn't it? You didn't create it from scratch...
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
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Don Reba
Posts: 3
Joined: 27. Jun 2019, 04:46

Re: Missing 3D accel in Ubuntu 18 and 19

Post by Don Reba »

Thanks for taking a look. Yes, it is a 2-year-old VM imported with Ubuntu 16 under VirtualBox 5, if not 4.3. Started having performance problems after upgrading to Ubuntu 18 and VirtualBox 6.

Ah, I misread the documentation and did not realize VBoxSVGA was for Windows guests. But changing to VMSVGA does not help — the renderer is still llvmpipe and LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE is 1. Reinstalled Guest Additions, just in case, even.
Don Reba
Posts: 3
Joined: 27. Jun 2019, 04:46

Re: Missing 3D accel in Ubuntu 18 and 19

Post by Don Reba »

Mystery solved.

I added LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE to .bashrc ages ago because 3d was glitchy and software rendering was fast enough. But it stopped being fast enough after upgrading.
socratis
Site Moderator
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
Location: Greece

Re: Missing 3D accel in Ubuntu 18 and 19

Post by socratis »

Great, thanks for letting us know. Marking as [WorksForMe].
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.
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