[SOLVED] Broken Current VM, Almost Fixed

(I puzzled over whether to post this to the Virtualization forum or the Slackware forum, and eventually settled on the latter. If I erred, please correct me.)

A couple of weeks ago--I failed to note the exact date--an update to my VM of Slackware--Current broke, well, almost everything. When I started the VM, the terminal opened and I could type commands, but the VM did not obtain an ip address, the mouse didn't work. and, if I issued the startx command, the resulting GUI would start, but was completely unresponsive. Unfortunately, I can't pinpoint the date at which this happened, other than that it was a couple of weeks ago.

After letting this simmer in my brainpan for a while, last night I booted the Slackware VM to the install *.iso of v. 14.2. After boot, I went to Setup-->Configure Your Install (I think the actual wording was "Reconfigure Your Install" and re-ran it). I followed the steps, rebooted, and my install was working again. I was able to connect to the Big Wide World, install pending updates, etc.

The only remaining issue (that I know of) is that the display seems stuck at 800x600. When I try to change it in KDE System Settings, the change does not take effect.

In the VirtualBox settings for the VM, I am using the VMSVGA display setting. When I try the other VB display settings, the "invalid setting detected" message occurs.

With one hand, I'm patting myself on the back for getting this working again. With the other hand, I'm scratching my head about what to do next to restore full functionality.

Any pointers in a direction to explore would be welcome.

All I can think of is installing/reinstalling the Guest Additions.

There were a couple versions of virtualbox that had that issue. It does run fine with that warning. Currently I am using 6.1.17 and don't have that issue any more.

Don

So you all think it's a VB problem, as opposed to something related to the Slackware update that broke my VM? That did not occur to me. I'll look into it and report back.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I removed and reinstalled VB Guest Additions. No change. When I try to change the screen resolution, it changes for an instant, and then reverts back to 800x600.

I'll dig into it some more when I have the time.

Realize this is not a big deal for me. After all, it's only a VM. But I would like to figure it out, as I like to solve problems, because that's how I learn stuff. But I do appreciate your trying to help.

I haven't used VBox for ages, since I lost interest in trying other distros. So I can only make one more suggestion: enough video memory allocated?

I had something similar to this where I couldn't get a 1920x1080 resolution on a guest (Windows or Slackware guests)--when I reset the virtual video adapter to VBoxVGA (I believe that is the old one--I'm away from my machine ATM), everything was fine! Of course, I received a little warning in the VirtualBox configure screen, but I didn't really care about that.

Best,
Lumpy

Originally Posted by frankbell I removed and reinstalled VB Guest Additions. No change. When I try to change the screen resolution, it changes for an instant, and then reverts back to 800x600. I'll dig into it some more when I have the time. Realize this is not a big deal for me. After all, it's only a VM. But I would like to figure it out, as I like to solve problems, because that's how I learn stuff. But I do appreciate your trying to help.

I don't think it's the slackware update, maybe VB/hardware related?
FWIW, just upgraded an old VB guest to the latest -current, didn't run into any issues when changing the guest resolution.
By the way I'm using XFCE, and the xfce display settings drop-down has 18 resolutions to choose from, tried a few and they all worked.
VB guest is configured with a VMSVGA controller and no guest additions (X session fails to start with VBoxVGA/SVGA).

I got another VM running xfce and an up-to-date -current that I run in qemu, again no issues with resolutions except the list of available
resolutions in the drop-down is shorter, but if I append a video=<resolution> in lilo that resolution ends up being available
inside the VM's X session, ex. video=1440x900

A couple tests that may be worth trying:
-run same VB VM in qemu to see if it makes a difference
-try adding video parameter to kernel boot parms

Originally Posted by frankbell When I try the other VB display settings, the "invalid setting detected" message occurs.

As it seems a new slackware is imminent, that is "when it's ready", I decided to install 14.1 to follow UPGRADE.TXT to 14.2 as I don't have very much practice with that.

When I got 14.1 installed and rebooted, graphics card VMSVGA was a mess. I started with that as it was needed for a current vm. I changed it to VBoxVGA got the "invalid setting detected" message but the graphics actually worked on reboot.

Haven't had time to check see what startx does yet.

Originally Posted by frankbell (I puzzled over whether to post this to the Virtualization forum or the Slackware forum, and eventually settled on the latter. If I erred, please correct me.) A couple of weeks ago--I failed to note the exact date--an update to my VM of Slackware--Current broke, well, almost everything. When I started the VM, the terminal opened and I could type commands, but the VM did not obtain an ip address, the mouse didn't work. and, if I issued the startx command, the resulting GUI would start, but was completely unresponsive. Unfortunately, I can't pinpoint the date at which this happened, other than that it was a couple of weeks ago. After letting this simmer in my brainpan for a while, last night I booted the Slackware VM to the install *.iso of v. 14.2. After boot, I went to Setup-->Configure Your Install (I think the actual wording was "Reconfigure Your Install" and re-ran it). I followed the steps, rebooted, and my install was working again. I was able to connect to the Big Wide World, install pending updates, etc. The only remaining issue (that I know of) is that the display seems stuck at 800x600. When I try to change it in KDE System Settings, the change does not take effect. In the VirtualBox settings for the VM, I am using the VMSVGA display setting. When I try the other VB display settings, the "invalid setting detected" message occurs. With one hand, I'm patting myself on the back for getting this working again. With the other hand, I'm scratching my head about what to do next to restore full functionality. Any pointers in a direction to explore would be welcome.

I don't have any problems with Slackware VM client:
Slackware-current-64 VM host runs kernel 5.10.9 and Virtualbox 6.1.18
Slackware-current-64 VM client runs kernel 5.4.91 and VBox client 6.1.18

Resolution requires VBoxSVGA to run full screen
vboxsf works and copy/paste between host/client or clien/client works too

None of virtualbox client versions (until now) can handle kernel 5.10.x

This in fact (that VB is still not compatible with 5.10.x client) does not matter because VirtualBox offered hardware is quite limited so 5.4.x is fine.

Some good questions. Here's what I've found in the interim.

I have other VMs that I use on this system, and all of them are fine; the issue is unique to the Slackware VM.

My VBox was updated today as part of a normal Mageia update. I've also updated to the latest version of Guest Additions.

No change to the Slackware VM.

I'll keep poking at this when I get the time and update if I find anything.

Inside the VM, in a terminal / CLI, you can try changing the resolution with the command: xrandr. (man xrandr)

Since your kde system settings are failing to get it changed, xrandr will probably fail too--but, being on the CLI, it will give more output and perhaps a clue as to why.

The command will vary depending on the name of the display you want to affect, but the man page example has:

xrandr --output VGA --mode 1024x768

Originally Posted by frankbell Some good questions. Here's what I've found in the interim. I have other VMs that I use on this system, and all of them are fine; the issue is unique to the Slackware VM. My VBox was updated today as part of a normal Mageia update. I've also updated to the latest version of Guest Additions. No change to the Slackware VM. I'll keep poking at this when I get the time and update if I find anything.

To run VB client full screen you don't need to install VBclientAdditions: I have OpenBSD (that does not have VB at all) running full screen.

The Guest Additions reinstall was a side-effect of the VBox version upgrade, but I thought it worth mentioning.

slac-in-the-box, I'll give that command a try, after researching a bit how to fine tune it.

The next thing I'll probably look at is the Xorg settings, but, quite frankly, I've been hoping not to have to go there, because it's been so long I'll pretty much have to relearn it from scratch.

"Solved" is not the right word. More like this thread is now moot.

Yesterday and today's updates broke my Slackware VM beyond repair, and I'm now reinstalling from the latest --Current image.