Corrupted video from Windows guest on Mac OSX

[JonTurner53]

I've been using virtual box on my Mac for several months now without any problem.
Today, for no apparent reason, the window displayed by Windows has become
corrupted. In the auto-scaling mode, it shows up as a short fat window, maybe
100 pixels tall by 1000 wide. When I switch to Scaled Mode, the window changes
size appropriately, but the contents is still the same. That 100 pixel height is
just stretched out over the window real-estate.

I've tried rebooting the VM, shutting down and restarting virtual Box, rebooting the MAC
and installing the latest version of virtual box, but nothing seems to get it unwedged.

I am running version 4.3.8 r92456 of virtual box, version 10.9.1 of Mac OS.
The host has 8 GB of memory and the guest is configured for 2 GB, with 64 MB
of video memory. Both host and guest are 64 bit.

I am attaching a screenshot showing the guest window. Also, the log file.

I see in the session information that the display resolution is listed as 1357x76x32
but don't see a way I can adjust this.

[Perryg]

The guest additions need to be updated, but I doubt this is all the problems. You may need to disable 3D/2D in the guest settings to be able to update the guest additions in normal mode, or try safe mode if you still can not read the display.

Code: Select all

VirtualBox VM 4.3.8 r92456 darwin.amd64 (Feb 25 2014 18:04:29) release log
00:00:07.033870 Guest Additions information report: Version 4.3.2 r90405 '4.3.2'

The way I see it the following is the real issue

Code: Select all

00:00:09.203638 Guest Log: VBoxDisp[0]: VBVA enabled
00:00:09.203661 VBVA_INFO_SCREEN: [0] @0,0 1357x76, line 0x1534, BPP 32, flags 0x1
00:00:09.203943 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000112300000 w=1357 h=76 bpp=32 cbLine=0x1534, flags=0x1
00:00:09.248441 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000112300000 w=1357 h=76 bpp=32 cbLine=0x1534, flags=0x1

Now you say that you have been using VBox for a while with no problems. Does this mean that the guest used to work? If so ask your self what has changed, because these things rarly happen by themselves.

[JonTurner53]

Yes, this guest has been working fine for months.

At this point I can't login to Windows at all. Have tried to install the guest
additions the shortcut in the Devices menu, but can't tell if anything is
happening.

The only thing I can think of that has happened recently, is that I was
forced to do a hard reboot of the Mac (by powering down) yesterday.
I suppose that could have left the VM configuration in an inconsistent
state.

Is there any way to force it to re-initialize and get rid of the bogus
configuration data? Or should I just setup a new VM and start over?

[Perryg]

Zip ( compress )and post the .vbox file for the guest.

[mpack]

This seems to be the same problem as this other thread.

My guess: the VM was shut down while minimized - I've seen something like this before. The trick is to force Windows to resize the display.

[JonTurner53]

Thanks for looking at this. Here is the .vbox file.
I did notice the following line, which I am guessing may be responsible for the problem.

<ExtraDataItem name="GUI/LastGuestSizeHint" value="1357,76"/>

I assume the 76 is the display height in pixels. Can this item be modified using
vboxManage?

Jon

[JonTurner53]

After poking around, it looks like this might do the trick.

vboxManage controlvm "windows vm" setvideomodehint 1000 600 24

The last argument to setvideomodehint is listed in the manual as bpp.
I assume that's bits-per-pixel and that 24 is the appropriate value.

Is this an appropriate thing to try?

Jon

[Perryg]

You really should click the link mpack posted above. They solved their issue.

[JonTurner53]

I did try that link, but it just took me back to the same thread.
Not sure what's up with that.

Jon

[Perryg]

Yup, you're right. Don't know how that happened but no harm. Here is the proper link. Scroll to the end.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=60538

[JonTurner53]

Ok, making progress. I see that the steps are

-Boot in safe mode
-Deinstall Guest editions in safe mode and reboot in normal mode to finish the desintallation
-Reboot
-Change screen resolution
-Drag window to different size
-Shutdown + Start
-Delete C:\Program Files\Oracle
-Delete %TEMP%
-Installing the Guest editions and reboot

I was able to boot in safe mode and have a command prompt, but am not
sure how to de-install the guest additions.

Also, not clear to me what %TEMP% refers to in the penultimate step.

[mpack]

I've corrected the link in my message.

As always with Windows, to deinstall an app you go to Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs.

I'm not sure it was necessary, but the guy in the other thread added the step of deleting the "\Program Files\Oracle" folder inside the guest. You don't need to worry about the %TEMP% thing - I have no idea what that even means, unless perhaps he meant to empty the Windows temp folder, which is harmless but should be unnecessary.

[JonTurner53]

That's done it. Thanks for all your help (and patience).