[SOLVED] Win10 host but no KB or Mouse on Linux Mint Cinnamon VM

[Navy_Bill]

I have a running VM or Ubuntu Linux on VB 6.1.32r149290. Keyboard and mouse integrated just fine.

Today, I installed Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.3. The KB and mouse worked fine during the install until I removed the install DVD and tried rebooting. Mint came up fine, gave me the logon screen, but the KB wouldn't work for the password and the mouse pointer disappeared as soon as I clicked on the login screen. I tried many search terms to see if I could find any similar posts, but found none, so excuse me if I am repeating a post.

During the install, the VB icons at the bottom showed mouse integration the whole while. As soon as I tried to boot the VM the first time, the mouse icon went gray and so did the Mouse Integrations in the drop-down. I can't find a way to get it back.

Running Windows 10 with an up-to-date build and all the patches installed. VB is the latest version and, as I said, my Ubuntu VM works just fine. I realize Ubuntu and Mint are different distros, so I suspect I have something set wrong in the Settings for the Mint VM.

Could someone give me a hand?

Bill

[mpack]

This usually means that you added a broadly defined USB filter, which grabs ownership of the mouse and keyboard and assigns it to the guest OS.

Just in case this isn't clear: you do NOT assign the host keyboard and mouse to any VM.

To recover, delete any USB filters you created. Integration is obtained by installing the Guest Additions.

USB Basics and Troubleshooting.

[Navy_Bill]

Guest Additions has already been installed. They work with the other VM I created. Do they have to be installed individually for each VM? I thought they were part of the VirtualBox.

By USB filters, you mean what shows up when you go to the USB tab? If so, there is nothing in the box. I know what you mean about attaching, though. I tried putting my USB mouse and USB keyboard in as a filter and lost the use of both in the host. Had a heck of a time getting them back.

I have an external USB drive. In the Ubuntu VM, it shows up (without a check in the box) as a filter. When I start the Ubuntu VM, I can go to the top menu, choose Devices, drop to USB, and check the drive. It gets removed from the host and attached to the Ubuntu VM.

The mouse and keyboard worked when I installed the new guest right up to the point where I was instructed to remove the DVD and reboot. After that, no mouse or keyboard. Wouldn't that indicate the mouse and keyboard were attached properly by the Linux Live DVD?

Bill

[Navy_Bill]

I see now in Tools -- Preferences -- Extensions that Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension pack (with matching version number to the software) is installed and has a green check mark on it.

I watched the startup process of the new guest carefully. The instant the window appears, the tiny Mouse icon at the bottom goes gray. Right-clicking shows a grayed-out "Mouse Extensions." The pointer moves about the screen easily, but the instant I click inside the guest window, the pointer goes away. At that point, the keyboard becomes unresponsive as well.

Since this is a totally new installation, I could probably take the time to re-install and choose "User doesn't have to log in" as the login option. This would get me past the Login screen. But, I'm pretty sure the keyboard and mouse would stop working anyway.

Bill

[Navy_Bill]

Found the problem!

On the Ubuntu guest, I used "Hyper-V" as system acceleration. This apparently didn't work for Cinnamon Mint. I changed it to "KVM" and it allowed mouse/KB operation. All the other settings were the same as for Ubuntu (except the VHD, of course).

Now all I have to do is get the screen size to 1920x1080. I'll fiddle with the settings for this as the Guest doesn't show this as an option.

Sometimes it helps just to explain the problem somewhere other than inside your head. Is there a way to mark this solved?

Bill

[mpack]

Guest Additions has already been installed. They work with the other VM I created. Do they have to be installed individually for each VM? I thought they were part of the VirtualBox.

The extension pack is installed on the host.

Guest Additions, as the name implies, are installed in each guest to improve performance and integration of that guest with the host.

Mouse and keyboard integration is implemented by the Guest Additions, as I already said. It is not normally implemented by the Hypervisor API though there may well be some primitive feature there. The hypervisor API allows a hypervisor-aware OS to communicate with the host hypervisor app, e.g. to maintain accurate time sync. The hypervisor API presented by VirtualBox should of course be one recognized by the guest OS. So Hyper-v if it's a modern (Win8 or later) Windows guest, or KVM for Linux guests.

[Navy_Bill]

Thanks very much for the explanation, Mpack. In my last post, I said I'd changed to KVM and the mouse/KB began working. I also changed it for my Ubuntu guest as it was set to Hyper-V. It worked, before, but now that I know it's for newer Windows guests, I made it KVM as well.

My Cinnamon Mint is working properly now.

For some reason, I'm not getting notification emails about responses to this thread. I double-checked it was correct in my Oracle account, so I'm at a loss as to why. But that's another thing for another time.

Thanks again.

Bill

[mpack]

For some reason, I'm not getting notification emails about responses to this thread.

It's not a feature I use because I read every post whether I'm involved in the topic or not. But, if you look at the bottom of the page you'll see a link to "Subscribe topic" Ignore the misleading checkbox beside the link as that is a static icon, not an indication that you are already subscribed. The link will change to "Unsubscribe topic" if you are subscribed.