Ubuntu, VirtualBox and VNC: black screen even locally!

[macben]

Hello,

I install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS in VirtualBox 3.2.8 in order to host services accessible from the outside.

Eeverything works well, SSH, Apache, Squid (via SSH tunnel) etc..

I also try to get VNC SSH tunnel.

For this I used VNCServer installed by default and then x11vnc server.

Or for the two that I connect through the tunnel or from my host machine Windows7 or another machine on the LAN under XP.

VNCServer is configured to take only localhost connections (and thus by ssh), X11 all connections.

Short in all cases, regardless of the server, the client, I manage to log in, I see the mouse but the screen stays black!

I also have the same problem if I take the viewer remote desktop ubuntu and I log in 127.0.0.1:1 (or: 0 or: 5900 or: 5901 or nothing). The screen stays black.

Any idea?

Thank you!

PS : I just tried with TeamViewer on Ubuntu and I connect with a host, same result

Perhaps the VirtualBox that prevents that?

[Perryg]

Windows XP host. Are you certain that you are using the OSE version of VirtualBox? Did you compile it yourself?
The PUEL version does not support VNC it has its own RDP server called VRDP.
It is possible to use VNC but not through the host:port as you indicated. It would be to the guest IP address.

[macben]

My Host is Windows7 64 bits (I will update my profile).

[Sasquatch]

And what do you see when you just start the VM from the GUI without all the remove control stuff?
Post your VM settings too.

[macben]

And what do you see when you just start the VM from the GUI without all the remove control stuff?

How can I do that ?

[Sasquatch]

Well, I am assuming you have X on the machine and have a monitor attached to it, so you start it from there perhaps?

[macben]

Well, I was convinced I had installed the add on guests, but after doing, it works!

Thx for your answers !

[deesto]

I'm having a similar problem with a Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit guest VM on a Windows 7 64-bit host: I can SSH to the guest, run GUI windows through SSH, etc.., but I can't open a useful Remote Desktop session, RDP, VNC, etc., to the Ubuntu host: most of these simply fail, and if I open a VNC session from another host, I get a window with the desktop wallpaper from the guest VM and a useless mouse pointer, and that's it, no menus, no icons, etc. The same happens if I connect to the VM from my local network.

Following along with this topic: http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=15679 , I already have the build-essential and linux-headers-generic packages installed. I don't have an xorg.conf, but from the same topic:
"Note 2: The Guest Additions no longer need the xorg.conf configuration with recent VB versions and distributions."
Regardless, I have the same issue after adding the recommended xorg.conf, so I don't think X is the problem.

VB guest additions are installed via apt:

Code: Select all

$ aptitude search ~ivirtualbox
i   virtualbox-guest-additions                                - guest additions iso image for VirtualBox                            
i A virtualbox-ose                                            - x86 virtualization solution - base binaries                         
i A virtualbox-ose-dkms                                       - x86 virtualization solution - kernel module sources for dkms        
i A virtualbox-ose-guest-utils                                - x86 virtualization solution - non-X11 guest utilities               
i   virtualbox-ose-guest-x11                                  - x86 virtualization solution - X11 guest utilities                   
i A virtualbox-ose-qt                                         - x86 virtualization solution - Qt based user interface     

[Sasquatch]

I'm having a similar problem with a Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit guest VM on a Windows 7 64-bit host: I can SSH to the guest, run GUI windows through SSH, etc.., but I can't open a useful Remote Desktop session, RDP, VNC, etc., to the Ubuntu host: most of these simply fail, and if I open a VNC session from another host, I get a window with the desktop wallpaper from the guest VM and a useless mouse pointer, and that's it, no menus, no icons, etc. The same happens if I connect to the VM from my local network.

VB guest additions are installed via apt:

Code: Select all

$ aptitude search ~ivirtualbox
i   virtualbox-guest-additions                                - guest additions iso image for VirtualBox                            
i A virtualbox-ose                                            - x86 virtualization solution - base binaries                         
i A virtualbox-ose-dkms                                       - x86 virtualization solution - kernel module sources for dkms        
i A virtualbox-ose-guest-utils                                - x86 virtualization solution - non-X11 guest utilities               
i   virtualbox-ose-guest-x11                                  - x86 virtualization solution - X11 guest utilities                   
i A virtualbox-ose-qt                                         - x86 virtualization solution - Qt based user interface     

And that's the problem. You did not install the correct Guest Additions. As stated before, installing the GA from the repo while you run the PUEL edition is a disaster waiting to happen. My howto specifically show how to install the GA that are shipped with the VB installation. You even got the ENTIRE VB set installed (Host and Guest side packages), so that will give even more problems.

[deesto]

Hi Sasquatch,

And that's the problem. You did not install the correct Guest Additions. As stated before, installing the GA from the repo while you run the PUEL edition is a disaster waiting to happen. My howto specifically show how to install the GA that are shipped with the VB installation. You even got the ENTIRE VB set installed (Host and Guest side packages), so that will give even more problems.

Thanks. I'm afraid it's not quite that simple: I previously had the guest additions "disc" version installed, and removed it and tried the Ubuntu repository packages instead, including all the packages I'd reported above, in hopes of solving the problem. And doing this actually helped a bit: after a few VM reboots (for whatever reason) I was able to connect remotely and get a full controllable desktop, though so slow as to be useless, which I assume has something to do with bandwidth but just as much or more to do with the low amount of graphics memory available to the VM (maxed at 128 MB).

But just to be sure, I have just now installed the guest additions "disc" version that came with VB 3.2.10. The results: VNC client sessions have now reverted to the condition I reported above, where I get a desktop with wallpaper and no icons or menus. The Ubuntu VM Remote Desktop preferences have not been changed and report confirmed connectivity. So I think I'm right back where I started.

Possibly related but not quite sure: RDP connections (though enabled on the VM) don't work from any client, and Windows Remote Desktop connection attempts to the VNC port report "a protocol error detected at the client (code 0x1104)".

By the way: why would having host and guest packages installed within the VM have an effect on remote visibility?

[Sasquatch]

Disable 3D setting if enabled. That might improve things.

Having the Host based software installed in a VM can cause all kinds of strange things and it's known that the OSE modules can cause problems on a PUEL installation.

As for the RDP connection, are you sure you set a different port than the default 3398? The default setting can already be used by Windows' own RDP server (available on Pro and above).
RDP and VNC use different protocols, so of course that won't work.

[deesto]

Hi Sasquatch,

Disable 3D setting if enabled. That might improve things.

Yes, thanks; I think that may have helped indeed.

Having the Host based software installed in a VM can cause all kinds of strange things and it's known that the OSE modules can cause problems on a PUEL installation.

I see. But installing the shipped guest additions didn't seem to help remote connectivity. I decided to start from scratch in this respect: disabled 3D as you'd suggested, removed _all_ installed *virtualbox* packages and guest additions within the VM, reboot, installed _only_ `virtualbox-ose-guest-x11`, which in turn installed `virtualbox-ose-guest-dkms` and `virtualbox-ose-guest-utils` as deps, rebooted the VM (several times; not sure why this is necessary but it was), and I'm now connected remotely via VNC with a full desktop session. It's slow as molasses, but it's a functional desktop.

As for the RDP connection, are you sure you set a different port than the default 3398? The default setting can already be used by Windows' own RDP server (available on Pro and above).
RDP and VNC use different protocols, so of course that won't work.

Right. I'm running W7 64-bit as a host, and I have an XP Pro guest I can try this on.

BTW, apologies to macben, as I seem to have hijacked this thread with a related but not precisely similar problem.