VLC causes rdesktop-vrdp to blank screen

[Stefan Ritter]

When running a video with VLC (perhaps other software) in a Windows guest, deattach the rdesktop and reattach it again, the screen appears black. When restarting the machine with "controlvm foo reset", the screensize change (while booting vbox splash -> windows splash -> windows), but the screen keeps black.

[Mark Himsley]

I am getting exactly the same effect.

For me the host OS is Ubuntu 8.04, the guest OS is Windows 2000, and if it makes any difference the PC I'm running the Remote Desktop client on is Windows XP.

This is all I get when I run VBoxHeadless.

$ uname -a
Linux bedroom 2.6.24-19-generic #1 SMP Wed Aug 20 22:56:21 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

$ VBoxHeadless -startvm temp_Windows_2000_Pro
VirtualBox Headless Interface 1.6.4
(C) 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All rights reserved

Listening on port 3389

That's it... Nothing seems to go wrong, but a disconnect/reconnect of the RDP client makes the remote screen go black.

So, instead, I have to run the virtual machine in VirtualBox GUI and RDP connect to that.

[Bastian Lotz]

Same happens to me, but it hasn't anything to do with vlc or something.

Version: 2.02

Host: Ubuntu 8.04

Host: W2k

[sunlover]

Should be fixed in 2.1.2. Please reopen if the problem persists.

[Stefan Ritter]

I'm sorry, but i must reopen this ticket because the problem persists.

rdesktop-vrdp open, vlc in guest, rdesktop close and reopen, screen is black.

A "VBoxManage controlvm $guest poweroff" needs ~1 minute to poweroff the guest.

[sunlover]

xeno, thanks for feedback. You are right, the fix in 2.1.2 was not correct. Which host OS do you use (64 or 32 bit, which linux distribution)? I'd like to send you a fixed version of VBoxVRDP for testing.

[Stefan Ritter]

Hi,

i am using a 64bit Debian Lenny machine.

[sunlover]

Sent you an email.

[Stefan Ritter]

The file you sent me is 1.8megs in size as a zip file and ~4megs unpacked. The old VBoxVRDP.so is just ~170kb. If I replace the old file with the new, I can't start the guests anymore. Did you sent me the correct file?

[sunlover]

The file was larger because it contained the debug information. It turned out that the binary was indeed not suitable for Debian Lenny. I'll attach a new binary for it (without debug info).

[sunlover]

VBoxVRDP.so for VBox 2.1.2. Host: Debian Lenny 64 bit.

[Stefan Ritter]

I'm happy to report, that this bug seems to be fixed in 2.1.3. I think this ticket can be closed :)

[Frank Mehnert]

Thanks for the feedback! The fix will be included in the upcoming maintenance release.

[Frank Mehnert]

Fixed in 2.1.4

[John Talarico]

I'm seeing this same behavior now in 3.0.8, Mac Snow Leopard host with Windows 7 guest OS. Initial connection works fine but after a dropped connection and reconnect, it's always black.

I've configured the VM to allow multiple connections since a single connection doesn't allow a reconnect after a dropped connection.