Index: /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_BasicConcepts.xml =================================================================== --- /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_BasicConcepts.xml (revision 35064) +++ /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_BasicConcepts.xml (revision 35065) @@ -7,5 +7,5 @@ Whereas gave you a quick introduction to VirtualBox and how to get your first virtual machine running, the - following chapter describe in detail how to configure virtual + following chapter describes in detail how to configure virtual machines. @@ -227,7 +227,8 @@ upon explicit request. - On 64-bit hosts, 64-bit guest support is always enabled, so - you can simply install a 64-bit operating system in the - guest. + On 64-bit hosts (which typically come with hardware + virtualization support), 64-bit guest operating systems are always + supported regardless of settings, so you can simply install a + 64-bit operating system in the guest. @@ -352,5 +353,10 @@ installed in the VM. This is the same setting that was specified in the "New Virtual Machine" wizard, as described in . + linkend="gui-createvm" />. + + Whereas the default settings of a newly created VM depend on + the selected operating system type, changing the type later has no + effect on VM settings; this value is then purely informational and + decorative. @@ -377,11 +383,15 @@ - If the virtual machine has Guest Additions installed, you - can select here whether the clipboard of the guest operating - system should be shared with that of your host. If you select - "Bidirectional", then VirtualBox will always make sure that both - clipboards contain the same data. If you select "Host to guest" - or "Guest to host", then VirtualBox will only ever copy - clipboard data in one direction. + You can select here whether the clipboard of the guest + operating system should be shared with that of your host. If you + select "Bidirectional", then VirtualBox will always make sure + that both clipboards contain the same data. If you select "Host + to guest" or "Guest to host", then VirtualBox will only ever + copy clipboard data in one direction. + + Clipboard sharing requires that the VirtualBox Guest + Additions be installed. As a result, this setting has no effect + otherwise; see for + details. @@ -477,4 +487,21 @@ detail on the command line; please see . + + + + + Chipset + + + Here you can select which chipset will be presented to the + virtual machine. Before VirtualBox 4.0, PIIX3 was the only + available option here. For modern guest operating systems such + as Mac OS X server, that old chipset is no longer well + supported. As a result, VirtualBox 4.0 introduced an emulation + of the more modern ICH9 chipset, which supports PCI express, + three PCI buses, PCI-to-PCI bridges and Message Signalled + Interrupts (MSI). This allows modern operating systems to + address more PCI devices and no longer requires IRQ + sharing. @@ -767,5 +794,5 @@ virtual CD/DVD drive, or change where these items are attached. - In addition to the IDE controller, VirtualBox can also present an + In addition to the IDE controller, VirtualBox can also present a SATA controller and a SCSI controller to the guest, which gives you 30 or 16 additional slots to attach devices to, respectively. This, however, may Index: /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_Glossary.xml =================================================================== --- /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_Glossary.xml (revision 35064) +++ /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_Glossary.xml (revision 35065) @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ +"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd"> @@ -222,4 +222,17 @@ separated by colons, such as 00:17:3A:5E:CB:08. + + + + + MSI + + + Message Signalled Interrupts, as supported by modern chipsets + such as the ICH9; see . As + opposed to traditional pin-based interrupts, with MSI, a small amount + of data can accompany the actual interrupt message. This reduces the + amount of hardware pins required, allows for more interrupts and + better performance. Index: /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_GuestAdditions.xml =================================================================== --- /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_GuestAdditions.xml (revision 35064) +++ /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_GuestAdditions.xml (revision 35065) @@ -387,15 +387,8 @@ Windows Vista networking - Earlier versions of VirtualBox provided a virtual AMD PCNet - Ethernet card to guests by default. Since Microsoft no longer ships a - driver for that card with Windows (starting with Windows Vista), if - you select Windows Vista or newer as the guest operating system for a - virtual machine, VirtualBox will instead present a virtual Intel - network controller to the guest (see ). - - However, if for any reason you have a 32-bit Windows Vista VM - that is configured to use an AMD PCNet card, you will have no - networking in the guest initially. + If, for some reason, you want to use an AMD PCNet card with + Microsoft Windows Vista or later instead of the Intel E1000 card that + VirtualBox provides by default, you will need to install a driver for + that manually (see ). As a convenience, VirtualBox ships with a 32-bit driver for the @@ -410,11 +403,6 @@ subdirectory of the default install directory. - Alternatively, change the Vista guest's VM settings to use an - Intel networking card instead of the default AMD PCNet card; see for details. - Unfortunately, there is no 64-bit driver available for the AMD - PCNet card. So for 64-bit Windows VMs, you should always use the Intel - networking devices. + PCNet card. @@ -1147,6 +1135,6 @@ on the guest OS type: - With Windows guests, any auto-mounted shared folder will - receive its own drive letter (e.g. + With Windows guests, any + auto-mounted shared folder will receive its own drive letter (e.g. E:) depending on the free drive letters remaining in the guest. @@ -1158,11 +1146,11 @@ - With Linux and Solaris guests, auto-mounted shared folders - are mounted into the /media - directory, along with the prefix - sf_. For example, the shared - folder myfiles would be mounted - to /media/sf_myfiles on Linux and - /mnt/sf_myfiles on + With Linux guests, + auto-mounted shared folders are mounted into the + /media directory, along with the + prefix sf_. For example, the + shared folder myfiles would be + mounted to /media/sf_myfiles on + Linux and /mnt/sf_myfiles on Solaris. @@ -1182,15 +1170,14 @@ - The guest property - /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/SharedFolders/MountDir - determines the absolute mount directory that is used for all auto-mounted - Shared Folders. When no value is specified the standard media or mount - directory is used according to the guest OS. - - - - Solaris guests behave like Linux guests except that - /mnt is used for mounting the - shared folders instead of + To change the mount directory to something other than + /media, you can set the guest + property + /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/SharedFolders/MountDir. + + + + Solaris guests behave like + Linux guests except that /mnt is + used as the default mount directory instead of /media. Index: /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_Troubleshooting.xml =================================================================== --- /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_Troubleshooting.xml (revision 35064) +++ /trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_Troubleshooting.xml (revision 35065) @@ -547,21 +547,18 @@ On some hardware platforms and operating systems, virtualization - peformance is negatively affected by host CPU power management. The - symptoms may be choppy audio in the guest or erratic guest clock - behavior. - - - Some of the problems may be caused by firmware and/or host operating - system bugs. Therefore, updating the firmware and applying operating - systems fixes is recommended. - - For optimal virtualization performance, the C1E power state - support in the system's BIOS should be disabled, if such a setting is - available (not all systems support the C1E power state). Disabling - other power management settings may also improve performance. However, - a balance between performance and power consumption must always be - considered. - - + peformance is negatively affected by host CPU power management. The + symptoms may be choppy audio in the guest or erratic guest clock + behavior. + + Some of the problems may be caused by firmware and/or host + operating system bugs. Therefore, updating the firmware and applying + operating systems fixes is recommended. + + For optimal virtualization performance, the C1E power state + support in the system's BIOS should be disabled, if such a setting is + available (not all systems support the C1E power state). Disabling other + power management settings may also improve performance. However, a + balance between performance and power consumption must always be + considered. @@ -570,21 +567,17 @@ To use 2D Video Acceleration within VirtualBox, your host's video - card should support certain OpenGL extensions. - On startup, VirtualBox checks for those extensions, and, if the test - fails, this option is silently grayed out. - - + card should support certain OpenGL extensions. On startup, VirtualBox + checks for those extensions, and, if the test fails, this option is + silently grayed out. + To find out why it has failed, you can manually execute the - following command: - - - VBoxTestOGL --log "log_file_name" --test 2D + following command: + + VBoxTestOGL --log "log_file_name" --test 2D It will list the required OpenGL extensions one by one and will - show you which one failed the test. This usually means that you - are running an outdated or misconfigured OpenGL driver on your host. - It can also mean that your video chip is lacking require functionality. - - + show you which one failed the test. This usually means that you are + running an outdated or misconfigured OpenGL driver on your host. It can + also mean that your video chip is lacking require functionality. @@ -707,13 +700,12 @@ No networking in Windows Vista guests - Unfortunately, with Vista, Microsoft dropped support for the - virtual AMD PCNet card that we are providing to virtual machines. As a - result, after installation, Vista guests initially have no networking. - VirtualBox therefore ships a driver for that card with the Windows Guest + With Windows Vista, Microsoft dropped support for the AMD PCNet + card that VirtualBox used to provide as the default virtual network card + before version 1.6.0. For Windows Vista guests, VirtualBox now uses an + Intel E1000 card by default. + + If, for some reason, you still want to use the AMD card, + VirtualBox ships a 32-bit driver for that card with the Windows Guest Additions; see . - - Starting with version 1.6.0 VirtualBox can emulate an Intel E1000 - network device which is supported by Vista without any third-party - drivers. @@ -929,47 +921,49 @@ running on the host. - + Bridged Networking - In case no Bridge adapters are listed in bridged networking settings UI, - this typically means that Bridged networking driver was not installed properly on your host. - This could be due to any of the following reasons: - - - The maximum allowed filter count is reached on the host. - The MSI log would mention the 0x8004a029 error code returned on NetFlt network component install: - "VBoxNetCfgWinInstallComponent: Install failed, hr (0x8004a029)". - The solution would typically be to increase the maximum filter count under - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network\MaxNumFilters (the maximum number allowed is 14), - reboot and try to re-install the VirtualBox - - - - Inf cache is corrupt. - The %windir%\inf\setupapi.log (for XP) or %windir%\inf\setupapi.dev.log (for Vista+) - would typically mention the failure to find a suitable driver package - for either sun_VBoxNetFlt or sun_VBoxNetFltmp components. - The solution is to uninstall VirtualBox, remove the inf cache (%windir%\inf\INFCACHE.1, - reboot and try to re-install the VirtualBox - - - - - + In case no Bridge adapters are listed in bridged networking + settings UI, this typically means that Bridged networking driver was not + installed properly on your host. This could be due to any of the + following reasons: + + The maximum allowed filter count is reached on the host. The + MSI log would mention the 0x8004a029 error code returned on NetFlt + network component install: "VBoxNetCfgWinInstallComponent: Install + failed, hr (0x8004a029)". The solution would typically be to + increase the maximum filter count under + HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network\MaxNumFilters + (the maximum number allowed is 14), reboot and try to re-install + the VirtualBox + + + + Inf cache is corrupt. The %windir%\inf\setupapi.log (for XP) + or %windir%\inf\setupapi.dev.log (for Vista+) would typically + mention the failure to find a suitable driver package for either + sun_VBoxNetFlt or sun_VBoxNetFltmp components. The solution is to + uninstall VirtualBox, remove the inf cache + (%windir%\inf\INFCACHE.1, reboot and try to re-install the + VirtualBox + + + + Host-Only Networking - Host-Only adapter creation (either via GUI or VBoxManage) may fail due to any of the following reasons: - - - Inf cache is corrupt. - The %windir%\inf\setupapi.log (for XP) or %windir%\inf\setupapi.dev.log (for Vista+) - would typically mention the failure to find a suitable driver package for sun_VBoxNetAdp component. - The solution is to uninstall VirtualBox, remove the inf cache (%windir%\inf\INFCACHE.1, - reboot and try to re-install the VirtualBox - - - + Host-Only adapter creation (either via GUI or VBoxManage) may fail + due to any of the following reasons: + + Inf cache is corrupt. The %windir%\inf\setupapi.log (for XP) + or %windir%\inf\setupapi.dev.log (for Vista+) would typically + mention the failure to find a suitable driver package for + sun_VBoxNetAdp component. The solution is to uninstall VirtualBox, + remove the inf cache (%windir%\inf\INFCACHE.1, reboot and try to + re-install the VirtualBox + + Index: /trunk/doc/manual/user_ChangeLogImpl.xml =================================================================== --- /trunk/doc/manual/user_ChangeLogImpl.xml (revision 35064) +++ /trunk/doc/manual/user_ChangeLogImpl.xml (revision 35065) @@ -54,5 +54,6 @@ - Intel ICH9 chipset with three PCI buses, PCI Express and Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI) + Intel ICH9 chipset with three PCI buses, PCI Express and Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI); + see