virtualbox.org

Hi I've been searching for an answer to my problems, but during my troubleshooting, I've upgraded my rig to the point where this needs a fresh thread.

I've been using VBox 3.2.10 on my host:
2.6.35-sabayon #1 SMP Wed Nov 17 18:15:21 UTC 2010 x86_64 AMD Athlon(tm) Dual Core Processor 4850e AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
8GB DDR2-800, gForce GTX 260 896MB

It works fine with a Windows XP 32 guest with 2D/3D accel. I tried a fresh guest install of Vista Ultimate 32, but guest additions error out and perform horribly. I get the famous "Installation failed" error dialog while installing "Mouse filters" though the installer ends successfully. The guest is actually less responsive with guest additions installed: graphics, window dragging, everything appears sluggish. I tried installing guest additions with and without safe mode. Finally I upgraded to the current (12/08/2010) vbox 3.2.12, and upgraded my kernel to 2.6.36 with rebuilt vbox kernel modules. Still my XP guest works fine. In safe mode, I uninstalled and reinstalled guest additions 3.2.12 in Vista, which results in a hung login screen in Vista. The only way around it is to use safe mode and uninstall guest additions. I've disabled all startup applications and cleaned the Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\ registry keys. I've also tried to disable the Guest Additions service, but the only way for Vista to log in is to uninstall guest additions. Again my XP guest still works fine (though I haven't upgraded to 3.2.12 guest additions and I have no intention of breaking my XP guest).

Does anybody have a success story with VirtualBox 3.2.10/3.2.12 amd64 and a VistA 32 guest? I don't want 3D accel for games - I just want responsive graphics for workstation usage and possibly Aero instead of my poor CPU nit picking pixels all the time.
Thanks

Hmmmmrmrmm problem solved after hours and hours. I manually downloaded the 3.2.10 guest additions and re-installed them in safe mode. That didn't help so I uninstalled them again. Then I re-installed 3.2.12 - but left Direct3D support disabled. It's a night and day performance boost, and Direct3D works...
yields "default" whatever that means... Anyway I'm happy with it and I hope someone finds this solution helpful.
Thanks

So like a dummy I uninstalled my working guest additions and tried to repeat the whole ordeal to prove consistency. Now I'm back to square one. The whole problem seems a combination of a shoddy OS and a buggy installer. It's been a sad changelog since Oracle took over the project:

• Oracle logo added.
• Functionality crippled.

As a follow-up note, I finally tried a copy of Windows 7 32 and had no problems with guest additions and/or graphics acceleration. Unfortunately my VPN client is prohibited with Windows 7. I apologize to Oracle/Sun/Vbox - the blame belongs with MS Vista.