Intermittent Black Screen Win 8 on MacBook Air

[Consultant]

Hi,

I'm getting an intermittent black screen when running Windows 8 (64bit) on MacBook Air.

Typically the VB is run in "windowed mode" (i.e. so I can still see/use mac), but this also occurs in full screen mode.

The screen goes black and stays black for a while, and then the machine will 'wake up' to the Win8 login screen. It stays on the login screen for a few seconds (enough to enter 2/3 password characters) and then goes black again.

VBox version is 4.3.12 r933733
2D and 3D Acceleration are disabled
128Mb video memory
VT-x/AMD-V enabled
2 processors

I've searched the forums, but can't find a known fix. What's the best way to diagnose and fix?

Thanks

[loukingjr]

I run Win 7 and Win 8.1 guests on my iMac. I also ran Win 7 on my Macbook Air. Ran fine with 4.3.12 and 4.3.14. 3D and 2D are enabled on mine. Are the guest additions installed?

[Consultant]

Yes, guess additions were installed.
Is there a way to check the guest additions are working/installed correctly?

[loukingjr]

if you can run the guest in full screen they are working.

[Consultant]

Hi,

Yes even when the screen is black I can switch between fullscreen and windowed

[loukingjr]

well, shutdown the guest, enable 2D and 3D and see if that helps.

[Consultant]

Have now installed latest version of VB, installed the latest guest additions, and enabled 2D/3D.

Are there any log files to review?

[loukingjr]

You can attach the compressed vbox.log file here. In the VB GUI, right click on the guest in the left panel and choose show log. save it, compress it, then attach it to a post.

[ChipMcK]

I'm getting an intermittent black screen when running Windows 8 (64bit) on MacBook Air.
The screen goes black and stays black for a while, and then the machine will 'wake up' to the Win8 login screen.

Typical cause is the Guest's power management component, which includes Screen Saver support.
Try disabling the Screen Saver in your Guest.