virtualbox.org

Hi
I have VirtualBox 4.2.4 r81684 Running on an intel MAC with 2 GB ram

I have an XP VM with 512 base memory

when typing in ms word in the xp vm, the keys will repeat while typing from time to time. Say I wanted to type hello and I will get heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooo

once it starts doing it, it does not stop even if I quit out of the vm

I have found some threads from 2009 saying something about checking the repeat key setting, but I do not know how to do that.

Any help here would be great

Thanks in advance
Dean-O

rockie12_us wrote:I have found some threads from 2009 saying something about checking the repeat key setting, but I do not know how to do that.

That would be the keyboard repeat rate. There should be a keyboard icon in the guests Control Panel.

Did you install the guest additions?

mpack wrote:Did you install the guest additions?

The Guest Additions are irrelevant to keyboard input.

Where do I see guest additions?

In this version 4.2.4 I did not get promoted for guest additions. How do I check for them? How do I fix this painful repeating key situation?

Pull down the "Devices" menu of the VM window, select the "Install Guest Additions" menu item. This causes a virtual CD to be attached to the VM, which usually causes the GAs to autorun. If it doesn't auto-run then browse to the CD drive inside the guest and double click the "VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe" file. Remember to unmount the virtual CD when you're done.

Also, read chapter 4 of the user manual, Guest Additions.

After doing this, will chapter 4 have the instructions for fixing this key repeating?

No, it will have answers to questions such as how to install the GAs, which was the question you asked last.

You could try turning off key repeat on your Mac. System Preferences>Keyboard.

Installing the Guest Additions does NOT affect guest keyboard input.

I assume it's a variation on the known problem of missing a key-up event, in which case anything that reduces latency inside the guest is probably good, hence install the GAs. Enabling VT-x may help too, and look at any other significant I/O or CPU burden the the guest might be carrying.

mpack wrote:I assume it's a variation on the known problem of missing a key-up event, in which case anything that reduces latency inside the guest is probably good, hence install the GAs.

That's nonsense. Losing key-up events (if that's what it really is) is unrelated to the guest load. Everything is queued/latched and even though it might take longer for the guest to react, the events can't be lost because the guest is working hard.

Yes, installing the GAs might in some cases shift things around sufficiently to hide some bugs related to keyboard input or make them harder to reproduce, but it won't fix them. That said, the information (not) provided so far makes it impossible to form a coherent picture of what's really going on.

Well, perhaps you would care to suggest something useful to the OP, instead of sniping at others attempts.

mpack wrote:Well, perhaps you would care to suggest something useful to the OP, instead of sniping at others attempts.

I'm just pointing out that the advice you're giving is unfortunately highly unlikely to have any effect. I suppose I could keep that to myself and let folks discover that on their own

What I'd suggest instead is a) update VirtualBox and b) provide VBox.log if the problem persists.

I am using an external USB keyboard. Would that matter?

I loaded the Guest Additions too