virtualbox.org

I'm running Ubuntu 10.4 under Virtual Box 3.2.0 on Windows 7 Eneterprise all running on a Samsung N110.

Since installing the Guest additions in Virtual Box, every time an application is launched, the application will be displayed for a couple of seconds and then the view jumps back to the home screen. I'm trying to ascertain what is causing the issue.

If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it.

You are going to need to describe this a little better. I am trying to figure out what you mean but home screen does not ring any bells.

Ok so on the netbook remix of Ubuntu there is basically a home screen which is similar (but not the same) as a traditional desktop.

It's something about the guest additions that have caused this behaviour.

Basically the application loads and is displayed but then the screen jumps back to the home screen. You can click back on the application and it is displayed once more but after a couple of seconds the screen and therefore focus jumps back to the home screen. I can't even keep the terminal open long enough to un-install the guest additions! I can type maybe 4 letters before the screen jumps back!

Well if it is anything like the full version of Ubuntu you should be able to hold the left shit key down at boot (escape key on older versions) and get to a grub menu and select single user or what ever the recovery mode is and then drop to the console and do what ever you need to do. Not so familiar with the netbook remix so can't be sure.
You may need to ask the Ubuntu people about what the problem could be. It may not have all the necessary files to do this and you need some dependencies fixed.

If the boot to recovery fails, you can always use the combination Host+F2 and log on to the TTY that appears.

Running Ubuntu 10.04 32-bit Netbook Remix as a guest in VBox 3.2.2 PUEL on an Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit host I can confirm the odd behaviour of the ubuntu netbook desktop.

Any application will almost immediately be minimzed to the panel without any user action. Thus even logout, shutdown or closing the programs are almost impossible. The issue started the minute I had installed the guest additions. Before that everything worked fine, as expected.

A conventional GNOME-Session on the same machine (selecting "GNOME" or "Netbook Remix" is possible at logon) runs nicely.

Therefore I believe it is some issue of the GA that won't harmonize with the ubunutu netbook remix desktop.

I tested this in a VM, and surely, it minimizes the application. You can alt+tab back to it, only to see it going to the background a second later. I was trying a few things and removed the 'video' module with 'sudo dkms remove -m vboxvideo -v 3.2.2 --all', then reboot and voilà, no more minimizing. The automatic resizing still works, seamless mouse too. Don't know about 3D, but then again, why would you need that on a netbook that's not even powerful enough to paint a few flames .
Note that the module 'vboxvideo' will come back if you install the GA again, so before you reboot, you can already remove the module with the dkms command. Blacklisting does NOT work.

Removing vboxvideo works fine here, thank you!

In 3.2.6 disabling 3D in the display settings does the job as well, then GA can be installed without any further problems.