More remote display problems

[avidscavenger]

Hello,

I am having problems getting the remote display working, and no previous discussion that I have found seems to resolve them. My setup is as follows:

Host system: Debian/sid
Guest system: Windows 7
Virtualbox version: 5.0.12 r104815
Virtualbox Extension pack version: 5.0.12r104815
Virtualbox Guest additions version: 5.0.12r104815

The Virtualbox Manager GUI indicate that the remote desktop server is running (currently on port 13389) but 'rdesktop -a 16 -N 127.0.0.1:13389' produces 'ERROR: 127.0.0.1: unable to connect' and 'netstat -ntlp' indicates that port 13389 is not open. I've tried enabling, disabling and changing port through the GUI, both while the guest is running and while it is not running, all of which makes no difference. More suspiciously, 'VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows 7" --vrde on' produces:

VBoxManage: error: The machine 'Windows 7' is already locked for a session (or being unlocked)
VBoxManage: error: Details: code VBOX_E_INVALID_OBJECT_STATE (0x80bb0007), component MachineWrap, interface IMachine, callee nsISupports
VBoxManage: error: Context: "LockMachine(a->session, LockType_Write)" at line 493 of file VBoxManageModifyVM.cpp

I've tried rebooting both guest and host, none of which seems to make any difference.

I might also mention that when I began I was running VirtualBox from the Debian repositories, which didn't work either but had the different symptoms:

netstat did reveal that the port was open
VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows 7" --vrde on' caused the Virtualbox machine to crash

When I read on the forums that only versions hosted on the VB repository were supported I moved to the version I am currently running.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Perryg]

Post the guests log file ( as an attachment ). Right click on the guest in the Main Manager then click show log. Save and post as an attachment. Compress if it is too large to post.

Plus

From the hosts terminal type VBoxManage showvminfo <VM Name> --details and post here. Replace <VM Name> with the actual name of the VM. Use " " if the name has a space in it.

[avidscavenger]

Thanks for the reply. Here is the information you requested. Cheers.

[Perryg]

Code: Select all

00:00:00.306350 VRDE: VirtualBox Remote Desktop Extension is not available.

This usually means that something else is using the port you have selected. Try using a different port number and see if it helps.

[avidscavenger]

I can confirm that the problem occurs no matter which port number I select. I have also used a simple python script to open and connect to the very port that Virtualbox has failed to open, so there is apparently no problem with the port being unavailable.

[Perryg]

Unless you are port forwarding to the guest the 127.0.0.1 probably will not work. This is a local loop-back that every PC has and is used to test the local network stack.
Other than that you might try removing and installing the extension pack again.

[avidscavenger]

I've also tried using my IP on my local LAN (192.168.178.20) and that made no difference.

I tried uninstalling the extension pack and received the following error:

Failed to uninstall the Extension Pack Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack.

The installer failed with exit code 1: **

ERROR:pkexec.c:138:pam_conversation_function: code should not be reached.

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: ExtPackManagerWrap
Interface: IExtPackManager {edba9d10-45d8-b440-1712-46ac0c9bc4c5}

[Perryg]

VBoxManage extpack uninstall <name>

Use VBoxManage list extpacks to fine the <name>

[avidscavenger]

$ VBoxManage extpack uninstall "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack"
0%...
Progress state: NS_ERROR_FAILURE
VBoxManage: error: Failed to uninstall "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack"
VBoxManage: error: The installer failed with exit code 1: **
VBoxManage: error: ERROR:pkexec.c:138:pam_conversation_function: code should not be reached
VBoxManage: error: Details: code NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005), component ExtPackManagerWrap, interface IExtPackManager
VBoxManage: error: Context: "RTEXITCODE handleExtPack(HandlerArg*)" at line 1199 of file VBoxManageMisc.cpp

[Perryg]

Ummm, I thought you would know to use sudo, guess I was wrong. Add sudo to the front of the line I gave you or su to root

[avidscavenger]

A more informative error message might have pointed me to my mistake. But no matter, I have now uninstalled and reinstalled the extension pack, and the behaviour appears to be unchanged.

[Perryg]

Do you still see the "00:00:00.306350 VRDE: VirtualBox Remote Desktop Extension is not available" at the top of the log?
Is your user name in the vboxusers group ?

[avidscavenger]

To take your questions in the reverse order:

My username was not in the vboxusers group. So I put it in there, and to be sure that very part of VirtualBox was aware of this change, I rebooted both host and guest.

And the line you mention does still appear near the top of the log, even after fixing the group issue and rebooting.

[Perryg]

If the message still appears then there is something on the host that is preventing this from working. I don't really use development OSes as host ( sid ) so I can't really tell you what you need to do maybe someone else here does and can. You can raise a ticket at bugtracker


Note: you can start the guest from the command line and sometimes this will show more information in the terminal. It should actually show that it is listening on a specific port when working.
You can also look at the host dmesg and syslog as they will sometimes point to the problem.

[avidscavenger]

Thanks for the help - I'll see what I can dig up. One question - how do I use the command line to get additional information? I've tried starting using both VBoxControl and VBoxHeadless, and in both cases receive no information beyond the basic Oracle copyright information.