Sun Microsystems VERSION 3.1.0_BETA2 User Manual
11 Troubleshooting
VBoxClient --clipboard
VBoxClient --display
VBoxClient --seamless
when your X11 user session is started if you are using a common desktop environ-
ment (Gnome, KDE and others). If a particular desktop service is not working correctly,
it is worth checking whether the process which should provide it is running.
it is worth checking whether the process which should provide it is running.
The VBoxClient processes create files in the user’s home directory with names of
the form .vboxclient-*.pid when they are running in order to prevent a given
service from being started twice. It can happen due to misconfiguration that these files
are created owned by root and not deleted when the services are stopped, which will
prevent them from being started in future sessions. If the services cannot be started,
you may wish to check whether these files still exist.
service from being started twice. It can happen due to misconfiguration that these files
are created owned by root and not deleted when the services are stopped, which will
prevent them from being started in future sessions. If the services cannot be started,
you may wish to check whether these files still exist.
11.4 Windows hosts
11.4.1 VBoxSVC out-of-process COM server issues
VirtualBox makes use of the Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) for inter- and
intra-process communication. This allows VirtualBox to share a common configuration
among different virtual machine processes and provide several user interface options
based on a common architecture. All global status information and configuration is
maintained by the process VBoxSVC.exe, which is an out-of-process COM server.
Whenever a VirtualBox process is started, it requests access to the COM server and
Windows automatically starts the process. Note that it should never be started by the
end user.
intra-process communication. This allows VirtualBox to share a common configuration
among different virtual machine processes and provide several user interface options
based on a common architecture. All global status information and configuration is
maintained by the process VBoxSVC.exe, which is an out-of-process COM server.
Whenever a VirtualBox process is started, it requests access to the COM server and
Windows automatically starts the process. Note that it should never be started by the
end user.
When the last process disconnects from the COM server, it will terminate itself after
some seconds. The VirtualBox configuration (XML files) is maintained and owned by
the COM server and the files are locked whenever the server runs.
the COM server and the files are locked whenever the server runs.
In some cases - such as when a virtual machine is terminated unexpectedly - the
COM server will not notice that the client is disconnected and stay active for a longer
period (10 minutes or so) keeping the configuration files locked. In other rare cases
the COM server might experience an internal error and subsequently other processes
fail to initialize it. In these situations, it is recommended to use the Windows task
manager to kill the process VBoxSVC.exe.
period (10 minutes or so) keeping the configuration files locked. In other rare cases
the COM server might experience an internal error and subsequently other processes
fail to initialize it. In these situations, it is recommended to use the Windows task
manager to kill the process VBoxSVC.exe.
11.4.2 CD/DVD changes not recognized
In case you have assigned a physical CD/DVD drive to a guest and the guest does
not notice when the medium changes, make sure that the Windows media change
notification (MCN) feature is not turned off. This is represented by the following key
in the Windows registry:
not notice when the medium changes, make sure that the Windows media change
notification (MCN) feature is not turned off. This is represented by the following key
in the Windows registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom\Autorun
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