Guest Additions for Linux are breaking X.org in RHEL 3, 4

[Technologov]

Host: Windows XP SP2, Intel Core 2 Q6600, VBox 2.2.2

Installing Guest Additions on RHEL 3 or RHEL 4 are breaking their X.org configuration, resulting in huge virtual resolution, and non-usable desktop.

On RHEL 3,4,5 Dynamic resolution resizing and seamless mode do not work either. But on RHEL 5 additions do not break X.org configuration and normal resolution.

All guests were 32-bit.

Mouse integration working fine.

-Technologov, 18.5.2009.

[Technologov]

Host: Windows 7, 64-bit, VBox 3.0.10, Core 2 Q6600.

Tried v3.0.10. I have similar experience with RHEL 5 guests (32+64-bit), and much worse experience with Fedora 7 guests.

Guest Additions are installed, and they crash the X-server, when trying to dynamically resize.

-Technologov, 06.nov.2009.

[Technologov]

Fedora 7 log.

[Michael Thayer]

Dynamic resizing and seamless should not work on RHEL 3 and 4 (and future versions of the Additions will tell you this when you install them), as X.Org on those systems lacks support for monitor hotplug. Fedora 7 is probably affected by a Gnome bug that can cause a session crash when monitor hotplug occurs. Since the window manager (or the panel or something) crashes too, the X session gets aborted. Don't know about resizing on RHEL 5, I seem to recall that they have X.Org Server 1.3 or later, which should support that.

[Technologov]

OK, but please don't allow to break working OSes.

1. Don't allow RHEL 3,4 to go huge resolution by default. Make sure GA don't break it's X.org conf.

2. Don't allow "seamless" mode button on RHEL 5.

3. Don't allow crashes on Fedora 7 (can we identify buggy GNOME versions somehow ?)

I would feel much better if we simply disallow to install any X11-related additions on problematic guests.

BTW Mouse Integration works fine, so it can be installed safely on RHEL 3/4/5 and Fedora 7.

-Technologov

[kroser]

After installing the guest additions on a Centos 4.8 x86_64 guest (with a Centos 5.4 x86_64 host), then rebooting, X11 would no longer start up. The guest additions essentially rendered X11 unusable. Thank goodness I had a snapshot to revert to.

[Frank Mehnert]

kroser, perhaps you could repeat that installation, reboot and attach the file /var/lib/Xorg.0.log from the guest. This would help us finding the reason why the guest X server wouldn't start.

[Technologov]

works with VBox 3.1.2.

Close as FIXED.

-Technologov