1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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2 | <!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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3 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd"[
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4 | <!ENTITY % all.entities SYSTEM "all-entities.ent">
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5 | %all.entities;
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6 | ]>
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7 | <chapter id="KnownIssues">
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8 |
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9 | <title>Known Limitations</title>
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10 |
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11 | <sect1 id="ExperimentalFeatures">
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12 |
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13 | <title>Experimental Features</title>
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14 |
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15 | <para>
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16 | Some VirtualBox features are labeled as experimental. Such
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17 | features are provided on an "as-is" basis and are not formally
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18 | supported. However, feedback and suggestions about such features
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19 | are welcome. A comprehensive list of experimental features is as
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20 | follows:
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21 | </para>
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22 |
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23 | <itemizedlist>
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24 |
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25 | <listitem>
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26 | <para>
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27 | Hardware 3D acceleration support for Windows, Linux, and
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28 | Solaris guests
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29 | </para>
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30 | </listitem>
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31 |
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32 | <listitem>
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33 | <para>
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34 | Hardware 2D video playback acceleration support for Windows
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35 | guests
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36 | </para>
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37 | </listitem>
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38 |
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39 | <listitem>
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40 | <para>
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41 | PCI pass-through (Linux hosts only)
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42 | </para>
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43 | </listitem>
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44 |
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45 | <listitem>
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46 | <para>
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47 | Mac OS X guests (Mac OS X hosts only)
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48 | </para>
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49 | </listitem>
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50 |
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51 | <listitem>
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52 | <para>
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53 | ICH9 chipset emulation
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54 | </para>
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55 | </listitem>
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56 |
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57 | <listitem>
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58 | <para>
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59 | EFI firmware
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60 | </para>
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61 | </listitem>
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62 |
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63 | <listitem>
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64 | <para>
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65 | Host CD/DVD drive pass-through
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66 | </para>
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67 | </listitem>
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68 |
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69 | <listitem>
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70 | <para>
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71 | Support of iSCSI via internal networking
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72 | </para>
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73 | </listitem>
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74 |
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75 | </itemizedlist>
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76 |
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77 | </sect1>
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78 |
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79 | <sect1 id="KnownProblems">
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80 |
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81 | <title>Known Issues</title>
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82 |
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83 | <para>
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84 | The following section describes known problems with this release
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85 | of VirtualBox. Unless marked otherwise, these issues are planned
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86 | to be fixed in later releases.
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87 | </para>
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88 |
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89 | <itemizedlist>
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90 |
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91 | <listitem>
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92 | <para>
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93 | The following <emphasis role="bold">Guest SMP (multiprocessor)
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94 | limitations</emphasis> exist:
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95 | </para>
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96 |
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97 | <itemizedlist>
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98 |
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99 | <listitem>
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100 | <para>
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101 | <emphasis role="bold">Poor performance</emphasis> with
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102 | 32-bit guests on AMD CPUs. This affects mainly Windows and
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103 | Solaris guests, but possibly also some Linux kernel
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104 | revisions. Partially solved in 3.0.6 for 32 bits Windows
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105 | NT, 2000, XP and 2003 guests. Requires 3.0.6 or higher
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106 | Guest Additions to be installed.
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107 | </para>
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108 | </listitem>
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109 |
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110 | <listitem>
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111 | <para>
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112 | <emphasis role="bold">Poor performance</emphasis> with
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113 | 32-bit guests on certain Intel CPU models that do not
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114 | include virtual APIC hardware optimization support. This
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115 | affects mainly Windows and Solaris guests, but possibly
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116 | also some Linux kernel revisions. Partially solved in
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117 | 3.0.12 for 32 bits Windows NT, 2000, XP, and 2003 guests.
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118 | Requires 3.0.12 or higher Guest Additions to be installed.
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119 | </para>
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120 | </listitem>
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121 |
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122 | </itemizedlist>
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123 | </listitem>
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124 |
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125 | <listitem>
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126 | <para>
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127 | <emphasis role="bold">NX (no execute, data execution
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128 | prevention)</emphasis> only works for guests running on 64-bit
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129 | hosts or guests running on 32-bit hosts with PAE enabled and
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130 | requires that hardware virtualization be enabled.
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131 | </para>
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132 | </listitem>
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133 |
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134 | <listitem>
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135 | <para>
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136 | For <emphasis role="bold">basic Direct3D support in Windows
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137 | guests</emphasis> to work, the Guest Additions must be
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138 | installed in Windows "safe mode". Press F8 when the Windows
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139 | guest is booting and select "Safe mode", then install the
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140 | Guest Additions. Otherwise the Windows file protection
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141 | mechanism will interfere with the replacement DLLs installed
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142 | by VirtualBox and keep restoring the original Windows system
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143 | DLLs.
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144 |
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145 | <note>
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146 | <para>
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147 | This does <emphasis>not</emphasis> apply to the WDDM
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148 | Direct3D video driver available for Vista and Windows 7
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149 | guests shipped with VirtualBox 4.1.
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150 | </para>
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151 | </note>
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152 | </para>
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153 | </listitem>
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154 |
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155 | <listitem>
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156 | <para>
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157 | <emphasis role="bold">Guest control.</emphasis> On Windows
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158 | guests, a process lauched via the guest control execute
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159 | support will not be able to display a graphical user interface
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160 | <emphasis>unless</emphasis> the user account under which it is
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161 | running is currently logged in and has a desktop session.
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162 | </para>
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163 |
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164 | <para>
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165 | Also, to use accounts without or with an empty password, the
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166 | guest's group policy must be changed. To do so, open the group
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167 | policy editor on the command line by typing
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168 | <computeroutput>gpedit.msc</computeroutput>, open the key
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169 | <emphasis>Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security
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170 | Settings\Local Policies\Security Options</emphasis> and change
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171 | the value of <emphasis>Accounts: Limit local account use of
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172 | blank passwords to console logon only</emphasis> to
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173 | <emphasis>Disabled</emphasis>.
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174 | </para>
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175 | </listitem>
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176 |
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177 | <listitem>
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178 | <para>
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179 | <emphasis role="bold">Compacting virtual disk images is
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180 | limited to VDI files.</emphasis> The <code>VBoxManage modifyhd
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181 | --compact</code> command is currently only implemented for VDI
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182 | files. At the moment the only way to optimize the size of a
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183 | virtual disk images in other formats (VMDK, VHD) is to clone
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184 | the image and then use the cloned image in the VM
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185 | configuration.
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186 | </para>
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187 | </listitem>
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188 |
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189 | <listitem>
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190 | <para>
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191 | <emphasis role="bold">OVF import/export:</emphasis>
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192 | </para>
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193 |
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194 | <itemizedlist>
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195 |
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196 | <listitem>
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197 | <para>
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198 | OVF localization, with multiple languages in a single OVF
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199 | file, is not yet supported.
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200 | </para>
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201 | </listitem>
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202 |
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203 | <listitem>
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204 | <para>
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205 | Some OVF sections like StartupSection,
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206 | DeploymentOptionSection, and InstallSection are ignored.
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207 | </para>
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208 | </listitem>
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209 |
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210 | <listitem>
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211 | <para>
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212 | OVF environment documents, including their property
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213 | sections and appliance configuration with ISO images, are
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214 | not yet supported.
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215 | </para>
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216 | </listitem>
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217 |
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218 | <listitem>
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219 | <para>
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220 | Remote files via HTTP or other mechanisms are not yet
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221 | supported.
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222 | </para>
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223 | </listitem>
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224 |
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225 | </itemizedlist>
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226 | </listitem>
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227 |
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228 | <listitem>
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229 | <para>
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230 | Neither <emphasis role="bold">scale mode</emphasis> nor
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231 | <emphasis
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232 | role="bold">seamless mode</emphasis> work
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233 | correctly with guests using OpenGL 3D features, such as with
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234 | compiz-enabled window managers.
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235 | </para>
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236 | </listitem>
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237 |
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238 | <listitem>
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239 | <para>
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240 | The RDP server in the VirtualBox extension pack supports only
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241 | audio streams in format 22.05kHz stereo 16 bit. If the RDP
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242 | client requests any other audio format there will be no audio.
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243 | </para>
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244 | </listitem>
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245 |
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246 | <listitem>
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247 | <para>
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248 | Preserving the aspect ratio in scale mode works only on
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249 | Windows hosts and on Mac OS X hosts.
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250 | </para>
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251 | </listitem>
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252 |
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253 | <listitem>
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254 | <para>
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255 | On <emphasis role="bold">Mac OS X hosts,</emphasis> the
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256 | following features are not yet implemented:
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257 | </para>
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258 |
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259 | <itemizedlist>
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260 |
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261 | <listitem>
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262 | <para>
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263 | Numlock emulation
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264 | </para>
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265 | </listitem>
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266 |
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267 | <listitem>
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268 | <para>
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269 | CPU frequency metric
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270 | </para>
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271 | </listitem>
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272 |
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273 | <listitem>
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274 | <para>
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275 | Memory ballooning
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276 | </para>
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277 | </listitem>
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278 |
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279 | </itemizedlist>
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280 | </listitem>
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281 |
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282 | <listitem>
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283 | <para>
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284 | <emphasis role="bold">Mac OS X guests:</emphasis>
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285 | </para>
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286 |
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287 | <itemizedlist>
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288 |
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289 | <listitem>
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290 | <para>
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291 | Mac OS X guests can only run on a certain host hardware.
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292 | For details about license and host hardware limitations.
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293 | See <xref linkend="intro-macosxguests" /> and check the
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294 | Apple software license conditions.
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295 | </para>
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296 | </listitem>
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297 |
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298 | <listitem>
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299 | <para>
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300 | VirtualBox does not provide Guest Additions for Mac OS X
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301 | at this time.
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302 | </para>
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303 | </listitem>
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304 |
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305 | <listitem>
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306 | <para>
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307 | The graphics resolution currently defaults to 1024x768 as
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308 | Mac OS X falls back to the built-in EFI display support.
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309 | See <xref linkend="efividmode" /> for more information on
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310 | how to change EFI video modes.
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311 | </para>
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312 | </listitem>
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313 |
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314 | <listitem>
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315 | <para>
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316 | Mac OS X guests only work with one CPU assigned to the VM.
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317 | Support for SMP will be provided in a future release.
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318 | </para>
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319 | </listitem>
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320 |
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321 | <listitem>
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322 | <para>
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323 | Depending on your system and version of Mac OS X, you
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324 | might experience guest hangs after some time. This can be
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325 | fixed by turning off energy saving. Set timeout to "Never"
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326 | in the system preferences.
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327 | </para>
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328 | </listitem>
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329 |
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330 | <listitem>
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331 | <para>
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332 | By default, the VirtualBox EFI enables debug output of the
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333 | Mac OS X kernel to help you diagnose boot problems. Note
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334 | that there is a lot of output and not all errors are
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335 | fatal. They would also show when using a physical Apple
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336 | Macintosh computer. You can turn off these messages by
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337 | issuing this command:
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338 |
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339 | <screen>VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" "VBoxInternal2/EfiBootArgs" " "</screen>
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340 |
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341 | To revert to the previous behavior, use:
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342 |
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343 | <screen>VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" "VBoxInternal2/EfiBootArgs" ""</screen>
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344 | </para>
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345 | </listitem>
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346 |
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347 | <listitem>
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348 | <para>
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349 | It is currently not possible to start a Mac OS X guest in
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350 | safe mode by specifying "-x" option in
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351 | "VBoxInternal2/EfiBootArgs" extradata.
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352 | </para>
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353 | </listitem>
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354 |
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355 | </itemizedlist>
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356 | </listitem>
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357 |
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358 | <listitem>
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359 | <para>
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360 | <emphasis role="bold">Solaris hosts:</emphasis>
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361 | </para>
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362 |
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363 | <itemizedlist>
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364 |
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365 | <listitem>
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366 | <para>
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367 | There is no support for USB devices connected to Solaris
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368 | 10 hosts.
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369 | </para>
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370 | </listitem>
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371 |
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372 | <listitem>
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373 | <para>
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374 | USB support on Solaris hosts requires Solaris 11 version
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375 | snv_124 or higher. Webcams and other isochronous devices
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376 | are known to have poor performance.
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377 | </para>
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378 | </listitem>
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379 |
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380 | <listitem>
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381 | <para>
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382 | Host Webcam passthrough is restricted to 640x480 frames at
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383 | 20 frames per second due to limitations in the Solaris
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384 | V4L2 API. This may be addressed in a future Solaris
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385 | release.
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386 | </para>
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387 | </listitem>
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388 |
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389 | <listitem>
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390 | <para>
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391 | No ACPI information, such as battery status or power
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392 | source, is reported to the guest.
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393 | </para>
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394 | </listitem>
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395 |
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396 | <listitem>
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397 | <para>
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398 | No support for using wireless adapters with bridged
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399 | networking.
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400 | </para>
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401 | </listitem>
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402 |
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403 | <listitem>
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404 | <para>
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405 | Crossbow-based bridged networking on Solaris 11 hosts does
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406 | not work directly with aggregate links. However, you can
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407 | use <computeroutput>dladm</computeroutput> to manually
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408 | create a VNIC over the aggregate link and use that with a
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409 | VM. This limitation does not exist in Solaris 11u1 build
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410 | 17 and newer.
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411 | </para>
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412 | </listitem>
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413 |
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414 | </itemizedlist>
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415 | </listitem>
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416 |
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417 | <listitem>
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418 | <para>
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419 | <emphasis role="bold">Guest Additions of version 4.1, 4.1.2
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420 | and 4.1.4 for Windows.</emphasis> The VirtualBox WDDM Video
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421 | driver may be installed and remain in the guest system when
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422 | Guest additions uninstallation is performed. This is caused by
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423 | a bug in Guest Additions uninstaller.
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424 | </para>
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425 |
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426 | <note>
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427 | <para>
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428 | This does <emphasis>not</emphasis> apply to a Guest
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429 | Additions update. Installing one version of Guest Additions
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430 | on top of another works correctly.
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431 | </para>
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432 | </note>
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433 |
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434 | <para>
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435 | To solve this problem, uninstall the VirtualBox WDDM Video
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436 | driver manually. Open Device Manager, and check whether the
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437 | Display Adapter is named "VirtualBox Graphics Adapter ..". If
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438 | not, there is nothing to be done. If it is, right-click the
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439 | VirtualBox Graphics Adapter in Device Manager, select
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440 | <emphasis role="bold">Uninstall</emphasis>, check
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441 | <emphasis role="bold">Delete the Driver Software for this
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442 | Device</emphasis> and click
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443 | <emphasis role="bold">OK</emphasis>. Once uninstallation is
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444 | done, start Device Manager, go to the Action menu and select
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445 | <emphasis role="bold">Scan for Hardware Change</emphasis>s to
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446 | ensure that the correct Windows default driver be picked up
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447 | for the Graphics adapter.
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448 | </para>
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449 | </listitem>
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450 |
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451 | <listitem>
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452 | <para>
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453 | Neither <emphasis>virtio</emphasis> nor <emphasis>Intel
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454 | PRO/1000 </emphasis> drivers for <emphasis role="bold">Windows
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455 | XP guests</emphasis> support segmentation offloading.
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456 | Therefore Windows XP guests have slower transmission rates
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457 | comparing to other guest types. Refer to MS Knowledge base
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458 | article 842264 for additional information.
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459 | </para>
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460 | </listitem>
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461 |
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462 | <listitem>
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463 | <para>
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464 | <emphasis role="bold">Guest Additions for OS/2.</emphasis>
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465 | Shared folders are not yet supported with OS/2 guests. In
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466 | addition, seamless windows and automatic guest resizing will
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467 | probably never be implemented due to inherent limitations of
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468 | the OS/2 graphics system.
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469 | </para>
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470 | </listitem>
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471 |
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472 | <listitem>
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473 | <para>
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474 | Some guest operating systems predating ATAPI CD-ROMs may
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475 | exhibit long delays or entirely fail to boot in certain
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476 | configurations. This is most likely to happen when an
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477 | IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM exists alone on a primary or secondary IDE
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478 | channel.
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479 | </para>
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480 |
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481 | <para>
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482 | Affected operating systems are MS OS/2 1.21: fails to boot
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483 | with an error message referencing COUNTRY.SYS and MS OS/2 1.3:
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484 | long boot delays. To avoid such problems, disable the emulated
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485 | IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM. The guest OS cannot use this device, anyway.
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486 | </para>
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487 | </listitem>
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488 |
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489 | </itemizedlist>
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490 |
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491 | </sect1>
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492 |
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493 | </chapter>
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