Latest Ubuntu & 3D acceleration

[FrancoisD]

After wandering quite a bit on various forums, I finally decided to post here.

I'm running VirtualBox 5.1.28 r117968 (Qt5.6.2) on OS X El Capitan.

I have a clean install of Ubuntu 14.04LTS with 3D acceleration working quite fine (though not very fast but no matter : it *does* work).

I wanted to test a new Linux disturb, Linux Mint, but had a lot of troubles with 3D acceleration and found that it is built upon the latest Ubuntu releases, Trusty and Xenial.

So I tried to set up a box with Ubuntu Xenial (16.04) and have a lot of problems setting up OpenGL :

the output from glxinfo seems OK with :

OpenGL vendor string: Humper
OpenGL renderer string: Chromium
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Chromium 1.9
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.20


and the "/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p" command returns correctly :

OpenGL vendor string: Humper
OpenGL renderer string: Chromium
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Chromium 1.9

Not software rendered: yes
Not blacklisted: yes
GLX fbconfig: yes
GLX texture from pixmap: yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program: yes
GL fragment program: yes
GL vertex buffer object: yes
GL framebuffer object: yes
GL version is 1.4+: yes

Unity 3D supported: yes

All looks OK.

But as soon as I try to run *any* 3D program (i.e. glxgears), the windowing system hangs and eats up al CPU time (although glxgears shows correctly its output but with a very poor frame rendering, around 350FPS).

It seems strongly related to the OpenGL (mesa ?) version Ubuntu is now using, but I don't know what to investigate to go further. I had a very quick look at the current sources of the linux guest additions implementation but it looked a little bit... weird to me - no offense here, it's just my first impression. But if I could give a hand to investigate further on the issue, I can give time (my C practice is a little bit old but I've been programming for years, being my job), I just need some help...
the implementation and it sound to me quite... weird

[socratis]

A couple of things. First and most important of all, lately all major distros come with their own version of Guest Additions (GAs). Did you delete/remove/purge/kill them and installed the ones that come with VirtualBox?

And second, there is call for help from the developers for end-users to pitch in helping with this. 3D support for X11 guests.

Just to summarise the situation: we do not currently have free developer time (as in developers with the required skills who are not already taken up with other work) to investigate this bug, much as we understand that it is annoying to the people affected. This situation might change, but that is not something we can promise. Of course, I quite understand that if this means that something else fits any individual's requirements better than VirtualBox then it is a sensible solution to use that instead.

However, the fact that VirtualBox is open source means that users who are interested have another option to get changes made, by doing the work themselves or crowd-sourcing the work. If you go this way of course, please communicate with us before starting and while doing the work, as we hate to see work go to waste due to misunderstandings like mismatches with our development style. Though this is more a fix than a feature, so likely to be easier to integrate.

See also the X11 guest 3D wiki page. Windows guest 3D is not user-maintained, but we are still rather limited in what we can do.

I would kindly request that as of now people do not add unneeded information to this ticket, such as that this is still not fixed or does not work for a given person. However, if you would like to subscribe to the ticket please add a "me too" comment, and we will delete the comment and add your nickname to the "CC" list.

[FrancoisD]

Thanks, Socratis !

Yes, I removed/deleted/purged the already installed Guest Additions and reinstalled them from the latest VirtualBox the 5.1.28 I downloaded.

And thanks for the excerpt from the 13653 Ticket : I'd really like to communicate with the current developers - I have time to give -, but don't know how and where...

As of 13653 Ticket, the problems I get seem much more bigger than just "flickering" or annoying : it eats up most of the VM process CPU and seems to partially corrupt it. Event the userspace seems corrupted somewhere some times... so I need to investigate furthermore : I like fixing things

[socratis]

I'd really like to communicate with the current developers - I have time to give -, but don't know how and where...

Well, you could either talk to someone over IRC or send a mail to the developer's mailing list. For more information, see How to contribute for general contributor information and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) for a quick (or not) talk/chat with the developers and Mailing lists for the developer list.

As of 13653 Ticket, the problems I get seem much more bigger than just "flickering" or annoying

The reason that I included that quote is not that it is related to your specific problem, it was simply because the state of affairs is explained.

BTW, I realized that this topic was posted on "OSX Guests". Well, you have an OSX host and a Linux question, so I moved it to "Linux Guests".

[FrancoisD]

Oooops sorry : I thought I posted in an OSX *host* section... but in fact, it is related to Linux guests (but maybe specific to OS X hosts, as I cannot see any thread about 3D acceleration on the list and that most users seem to be widowers... I don't know, I've never run a Windows system in my whole live and have no more Linux box available now ).

[JiF_Brodeur]

mee too

[FrancoisD]

So, a simple question :

Does anyone running Ubuntu Xenial guest under, let's say a Windows 10 host, experiences problems running OpenGL applications ?
For example, does glxgears (from mesa-utils package) run smoothly ?

Just to try to know if it is a host problem or a guest one ?

Thanks in advance.

[socratis]

Host: OSX 10.11.6: ~62 frames/s
Host: Win10 1607: ~190 frames/s
Guest: Ubuntu 16.04.1 (The same exactly image on both hosts. And I mean bit-per-bit the same)

<PersonalRant>
The funny thing is that my Win10 system is a 2005 dual Pentium D 3.2 GHz with an ATI Radeon 4850, and my Mac is a 2015 MBPr quad i7 2.5 GHz with an AMD Radeon R9. And the old fart beat it hands down! I mean, it took my Ubuntu 3.5 min to reboot on the PC for crying out loud and just 15 sec on the Mac. It took 20 min just to update the GAs on the PC and 30 sec on the Mac. I #%^ hate Windows optimizations.... SAD!
</PersonalRant>

[FrancoisD]

And mesa-utils (i.e. glxgears) don't lock your VM on OS X ? So the Intel Graphic chipset could be the problem if yours is AMD Radeon (my MBP being a late 2012 with an Intel HD 4000)...

[socratis]

my MBP being a late 2012 with an Intel HD 4000

What MBP would that be? That doesn't sound right. Are you sure you're not talking about the *second* GPU?

[FrancoisD]

I'm talking about my MacBook Pro (MBP), which is an "old" late 2012 model.

Interestingly, I found warnings in the VM log exactly when I run glxgears (I compiled/linked my own version of glxgears which doesn't loop indefinitely but stops after 1000 itérations of the main loop, so it gives me back control over the console) but no errors :

00:06:45.458798 GUI: UIDesktopWidgetWatchdog::sltHandleHostScreenWorkAreaResized: Screen 0 work area is formally resized to: 0x0 x 1280x796
00:06:48.004594 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.021997 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.070401 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.087075 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.103698 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.121260 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.138539 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.175012 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.188354 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.304940 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.322539 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.372800 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.375705 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.422335 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:48.439207 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:49.642184 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:49.660169 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:49.708663 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:49.710929 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:49.759356 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:49.775739 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:49.835037 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:49.842591 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:51.091090 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:06:51.098566 OpenGL Warning: Trying to switch contexts when the attribute stacks weren't empty. Currently, this is not supported.
00:07:04.031848 GUI: UIDesktopWidgetWatchdog::sltHandleHostScreenWorkAreaResized: Screen 0 work area is formally resized to: 0x23 x 1280x773

[socratis]

FrancoisD, I asked you for the specific model. I used to have an early 2011 MBP (MacBookPro8,3) and it had an AMD Radeon HD 6750M plus an Intel 3000. That's why I'm asking you. There's no way in the seven kingdoms that yours has only an Intel GPU. No way. Please give me the exact model...

[FrancoisD]

Here are its complete specs of my MBP (it's a Retina) :

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macb ... specs.html

I see only an HD Graphics 4000 for it's video card...

[socratis]

There's no way in the seven kingdoms that yours has only an Intel GPU. No way.

And now I have been exiled from the seven kingdoms
(damn you Apple )

[erdeslawe]

The key is 13" MacBook Pro = 1 GPU versus 15" MacBook Pro = 2 GPUs. As you didn't have that information, you may return from your exile.