Shared Clipboard doesn't work -- sometimes

[Orthoducks-bis]

I'm running VBox 4.2.16 with Windows 7 as host and CentOS 6.4 as guest.

When I first configured it, I enabled bidirectional clipboard sharing. When I tested it, it did not work.

A few days later I found this forum and tried clipboard sharing again before posting a request for help. It worked, so I posted nothing.

Now a couple of more days have passed and it has stopped working again (in both directions). I checked the machine's settings; they say bidirectional sharing is still enabled. What could be happening here, and how can I fix it?

[noteirak]

Please read Minimum information needed for assistance.

[Orthoducks-tri]

I am the person who started this thread. When I tried to post a reply the system told me I have to specify a nickname (again), and wouldn't accept my previous one unless I entered my email address, which it also wouldn't accept. I'll deal with that if I ever find time.

Responding to your request:

Have I installed guest additions? Yes. Is it still installed and working? Unclear. I tried to reinstall it but the installer appeared to hang, then crash.

Since the original post I've discovered the my shared directory is not working either.

[Perryg]

This log does not show that the guest additions are in fact installed.
This should help Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Use the fedora example.

[Orthoducks-tri]

Thank you for your advice. I tried to follow it but ran into a problem. I tried to post a description of the problem here but I got the message, "You must be a member for 1 days and have 1 posts before you can post urls."

I've been a member for several days, I have made posts, and my message contains no URLs. What can I do???

[Perryg]

You changed your login so the time starts over on urls.
You can't post anything that has http or link information but you can always put the information in a text file and attach it.

[Orthoducks-tri]

I think I was not sufficiently clear. My message does not contain URLs -- the site just thinks it does. I don't know what set it off, so I don't know what to change.

If the site continues forcing me to change my nickname every few days, this is going to happen over and over.

I can put everything I write in an attachment, but that seems like a grotesque way to deal with the problem -- very inconvenient for me and everyone who reads my messages. Isn't there anyone who can straighten this out?

I'm attaching my "objectionable" message this time, for the sake of moving forward.

[Perryg]

Thank you for your advice. I'm trying to follow the procedure in that link but I'm having difficulty.

The link lists about ten dependencies that have to be installed. I used rpm to check for them and found that all of them are already installed except dkms and libgroup. I tried to install those two with yum, following the example in the link:
# yum install dkms
# yum install libgroup
yum says that neither package is available. For example:
# yum install dkms
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, refresh-packagekit, security
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: mirror.tocici.com
* extras: centos.mirror.freedomvoice.com
* updates: mirror.web-ster.com
base | 3.7 kB 00:00
extras | 3.4 kb 00:00
updates | 3.4 kB 00:00
Setting up Install Process
No package dkms available.
Error: Nothing to do
#
I wondered whether I had lost my Internet connection, but I checked and found that I had not.
Then I wondered if my yum was somehow broken, so I entered the command
# yum search httpd
to see what it would do. It produced sensible results, so it is at least partly functioning.
I can look for other ways to install the two missing packages, but as a Linux newbie I'm cautious about trying to fix things that aren't supposed to be broken in the first place. I'd appreciate your advice before I go further.

As to your no urls I have highlighted them. So yes there were some.
Now to address your issues about what needs to be installed.
This should help Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Use the Fedora example

[Orthoducks-tri]

Perryg: I'm sorry I didn't understand what you meant by URLs. I assumed you meant links -- not plain text that constitutes, or happens to look like, a URL. This is a bizarre restriction, but as long as I understand it I can work around it.

Regarding the link you gave me -- that's the page I was trying to follow when I encountered the problem I reported. I don't see anything on it that tells me what to do when I try to run "yum install dkms" and yum tells me that dkms is not available. Have I missed something? I reread the instructions but I didn't find anything new.

[Perryg]

64 bit guest run the following in a terminal as su/sudo

Code: Select all

yum install dkms binutils gcc make patch libgomp glibc-headers glibc-devel kernel-headers kernel-devel

32 bit guest run the following in a terminal as su/sudo

Code: Select all

yum install dkms binutils gcc make patch libgomp glibc-headers glibc-devel kernel-headers kernel-pae-devel

You should be able to add dkms if you have rpmfusion added to your repository or you can install it manually from the the following location:
http://linux.dell.com/dkms/

In any case you don't have to install dkms but it will make your life much easier if you do.

[Orthoducks-tri]

I found instructions for adding rpmfusion to my list of repos and I got dkms installed. However, I still cannot install libgroup. I assume it's in yet another repo that I don't have yet.

[Perryg]

I have no idea about libgroup or why you are talking about it. Just copy the line that matches your build from one of the two I posted.

[Orthoducks-tri]

libgroup should have been libgomp, one of the dependencies that the instructions listed for Fedora. Sorry, I got the wrong name from a source I was using before I started posting here, and I didn't notice the error until you called me on it.

I finished reinstalling Guest Additions, and Shared Clipboard and Shared Folders work again, but I noticed a few things that warrant mention.

1. When I got past installing the dependencies I realized that the instructions you referred me to were effectively the same as the ones I followed the first time I installed Guest Additions. That gives me some concern that since Guest Additions ceased working once, it may do so again. Time will tell.

2. When I ran the installer in Linux it displayed the following (with red highlighting for items I'm referring to):

# sh VBoxLinuxAdditions.run
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 4.2.16 Guest Additions for Linux............
VirtualBox Guest Additions installer
Removing installed version 4.2.16 of VirtualBox Guest Additions...
Copying additional installer modules ...
Installing additional modules ...
Removing existing VirtualBox DKMS kernel modules [ OK ]
Removing existing VirtualBox non-DKMS kernel modules [ OK ]
Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel modules [ OK ]
Doing non-kernel setup of the Guest Additions [ OK ]
You should restart your guest to make sure the new modules are actually used

Installing the Window System drivers
Installing X.Org Server 1.13 modules [ OK ]
Setting up the Window System to use the Guest Additions [ OK ]
You may need to restart the hal service and the Window System (or just restart
the guest system) to enable the Guest Additions.

Installing graphics libraries and desktop services componen[ OK ]
#

3. One of the first things the installer did was "Removing installed version 4.2.16 of VirtualBox Guest Additions." That indicates that Guest Additions was installed, whatever the log file said. Perhaps the creator of the log file thought it wasn't installed because it wasn't working.

4. A later step was "Removing existing VirtualBox DKMS kernel modules." Unless I misunderstand what the installer is saying, that appears to make the installation of DKMS, which caused me so much difficulty, moot.

5. When I restarted CentOS I got a warning that "A problem in the virt-who package has been detected." It appeared in a balloon in the upper right corner of the desktop, then went away after a few seconds. I was concerned that the problem, whatever it is, might interfere with Guest Additions, but so far it does not appear to have done so.

Thanks for your assistance. I should be able to proceed with my work now, provided Guest Additions behaves itself this time!

[Orthoducks-tri]

This is my first occasion to use Linux since my previous post. I find that I'm right back where I started: shared folders and shared clipboard are nonfunctional.

I assume that if I repeat the procedure above I will recover the functionality, but that's not a solution. Once I get them to work I want them to stay working.