slackware 13 guest additions for virtualbox on xp host - process questions
 

new to linux.
read the slackware book. and a bunch of tutorials.
thank yous to all who are developing linux and making it accessible to noobs like me.

pretty comfortable at the command line and in kde.
found 2 'supplementary kernel drivers' for virtualbox at slackbuild (thank you heinz!).
followed the how-to at slackbuild and built and installed both packages, but additions weren't working. (i thought they were standalone)

noticed the 'supplemental' in their description, and so installed the guest additions for linux from vbox site. additions still not working.

at this point i start restarting my slackware vm, and redoing everything in various sequences.

finally, additions work! but i'm not sure why!

could someone please explain the critical pieces and sequence for getting guest additions working once i have slackware installed?

many thanx.

ken

When you run the installer for the guest additions, it copies
the source files that are needed to compile the modules. It
will then compile the modules and (I believe) try to load them.

My guess is that for some reason either the modules didn't get
loaded the first time or the services that use the modules didn't
get restarted. After the last reboot it sounds like everything
was right.

Keep in mind that you will need to recompile the modules if you
install a new kernel. The easy way is to run this:

/etc/init.d/vboxadd setup

You are giving great advice and always keep this advice in mind,thanks for sharing this...

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The installation sequence is

• Execute VirtualBox-4.2.4-81684-Linux_amd64.run
• Start VirtualBox and install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.2.4-81684.vbox-extpack; you only do this once
• Create a new guest and install the guest operating system
• Boot the guest and install the Guest Additions

There's a "trick" with Guest Additions depending upon the guest operating system.

When you install VirtualBox, the manual is in /opt/VirtualBox/UserManual.pdf. Open that with Adobe Reader, Okular or whatever PDF reader you have and get to Section 4, Guest Additions. Scan down to Section 4.2.1.1 Installation.

If your guest operating system is Microsoft Windows, you must boot Windows in Safe Mode (every version of Windows except Vista and Win7 -- but, it doesn't hurt to install the guest additions in Vista or Win7 in Safe Mode [and it might help]). I've had problems on occasion installing Guest Additions in Win7 and I've just found it easier to boot it in Safe Mode for the installation.

Hope this helps some.