New Linux Mint Mate VM install flickers anytime screen changes

[montaguecd]

And as you might imagine, the screen changes a LOT. So it's constantly flickering pretty much no matter what's going on. Very annoying, but super functional otherwise! I think the issue comes down to Mint not recognizing my graphics card setup, which on my very-late model MacBook Pro is:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

Here's what I get from terminal when I run inxi -Gx:

Graphics:
Device-1: InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH VirtualBox Graphics Adapter
driver: vboxvideo v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: vboxvideo resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7 256 bits)
v: 4.5 Mesa 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 direct render: Yes

and when I run dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia:

ii nvidia-prime-applet 1.3.9 all An applet for NVIDIA Prime

Now I'm a total Linux newbie, but I don't see nvidia mentioned in there at all. I've poked around these forums and attempted to follow other pathways, without success thusfar. Is this just something small that I'm missing due to my inexperience with Linux / Mint?

Thanks in advance for any replies, I will attempt to respond as soon as possible.

Best,

Chris

[SMG]

And as you might imagine, the screen changes a LOT. So it's constantly flickering pretty much no matter what's going on. Very annoying, but super functional otherwise! I think the issue comes down to Mint not recognizing my graphics card setup, which on my very-late model MacBook Pro is:

Welcome to the forum, Chris.

The issue is you are running Linux Mint in a VM. I will move your topic to the Virtual Machines forum because issues with VMs are not the same as they are when running on bare metal.

I don't know what options VBox has for passing through GPUs.

[montaguecd]

Thanks, I clearly did not consider that piece of things. Appreciate you shoving me in the right direction!

[Reddog1]

You might get more help if you tell us what Virtual Machine Manager you are using.

I run VirtualBox on a couple of Apples with macOS and it's the only one I've used, though. Never had any problems with the video/screen rendering.

[SMG]

You might get more help if you tell us what Virtual Machine Manager you are using.

I run VirtualBox on a couple of Apples with macOS. I've only used VirtualBox for mac, though.

The drivers in the graphics output the OP listed say vboxvideo. Is that what yours say?

[montaguecd]

I'm using this version: Version 5.2.18 r124319 (Qt5.6.3)

It runs an older Windows 7 box flawlessly (I need it for a certain legacy application) but does not seem to enjoy virtualizing Mint.

I've attempted adding memory, increasing disk space, playing with 3d acceleration, and a few other tricks I've found on various forums. The Mint virtual machine appears to work smoothly, it just flickers every time there's a change on the monitor. An example of this: I installed Signal on it, and when someone is typing, it shows the blurb indicating that - perhaps every second the blurb remains on the screen (and it moves) the screen flashes.

It feels like an issue somehow with the GPU that exists in Mint but not Windows. Wish I could kill this off on my own, but it appears to be beyond my troubleshooting prowess.

Let me know what you need from me and I'll push it back as soon as I can!

[Reddog1]

mine, running virtualbox 6.1 on a 2015 macbook air with Monterey. Don't know if it helps, but I'm having no problems running Mint 20.2 as a guest.

Running inxi in Mint's terminal:

inxi -Gx
Graphics:
Device-1: VMware SVGA II Adapter driver: vmwgfx v: 2.15.0.0
bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: vmware
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1152x616~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: SVGA3D; build v: 2.1 Mesa 21.2.6 direct render: Yes

[powerhouse]

inxi -Gx
Graphics:
Device-1: VMware SVGA II Adapter driver: vmwgfx v: 2.15.0.0
bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: vmware
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1152x616~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: SVGA3D; build v: 2.1 Mesa 21.2.6 direct render: Yes

It seems you are running a totally different graphics driver from the OP, as well as a different OpenGL renderer.

I'm not familiar with Vbox but that would be a place to start looking in the Vbox configuration.

[montaguecd]

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the posts - wanted to let you know that after some more tinkering, I managed to get it working without the flickering, which is really nice! Appreciate all the suggestions!

[powerhouse]

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the posts - wanted to let you know that after some more tinkering, I managed to get it working without the flickering, which is really nice! Appreciate all the suggestions!

How did you manage? What's the secret?

[montaguecd]

I didn't post what I did because....I'm not sure. Embarrassing.

I got frustrated and fiddled with the memory, the disk size, and a few other things. I then tried to install the nVidia driver directly in Mint, which didn't seem to do much at all.

After screwing around with it a bunch, I turned the machine off and uttered a choice expletive (integral to the process, I believe) and walked away.

Rebooted to a setup screen (Linux version of safe mode, I believe) which I poked about in for a bit but didn't really see much I could do. Rebooted from there, and BOOM no more flickering.

Here's my output now:

Graphics:
Device-1: InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH VirtualBox Graphics Adapter
driver: N/A bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: vesa
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting gpu: N/A resolution: 1024x768
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7 256 bits)
v: 4.5 Mesa 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 direct render: Yes

Here's my old output:

Graphics:
Device-1: InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH VirtualBox Graphics Adapter
driver: vboxvideo v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: vboxvideo resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7 256 bits)
v: 4.5 Mesa 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 direct render: Yes

The most obvious difference is the driver, but I'm not sure how I managed to change it.

Sorry, I'm a bit useless....wish I knew exactly what I did so I could pass the knowledge along. Maybe with your help I can tease out the solution?

[SMG]

Here's my output now:

Graphics:
Device-1: InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH VirtualBox Graphics Adapter
driver: N/A bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: vesa
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting gpu: N/A resolution: 1024x768
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7 256 bits)
v: 4.5 Mesa 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 direct render: Yes

The most obvious difference is the driver, but I'm not sure how I managed to change it.

N/A means not available and llvmpipe is software rendering. You no longer have a driver loaded and the system has dropped back to a very basic display driver vesa.

I then tried to install the nVidia driver directly in Mint, which didn't seem to do much at all.

What method did you use? The Nvidia driver usually requires seeing Nvidia hardware or it cannot be installed (nor will it load). Your output shows the device as InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH VirtualBox Graphics Adapter and not Nvidia.

[linux-rox]

I'm using this version: Version 5.2.18 r124319 (Qt5.6.3)

Bear in mind, this version went out-of-support almost four years ago. And the graphics drivers were in flux and buggy during the transition to 6.x.

[Reddog1]

I think we may have gotten our wires crossed.

I posted an inxi -Gx of a VirtualBox Mint guest system, running on Apple hardware, with a linux host.

This is an inxi -Gx of a VirtualBox Mint guest system, with VB installed on macOS as the host. This is a fully working Mint VM. The host machine is a macbook pro retina with dual gpus running macOS Ventura. VirtualBox is version 7.0.14 for macOS.

$ inxi -Gx
Graphics:
Device-1: VMware SVGA II Adapter driver: vmwgfx v: 2.19.0.0 bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: vmware
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa gpu: vmwgfx resolution: 1920x1028~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7 256 bits)
v: 4.5 Mesa 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 direct render: Yes

Are you running a macOS HOST, with VB installed, and running Mint as a guest?

What is your HOST system?

What Virtual Machine Manager are you using? If it is actual VB 5.x -- you need to update it.

If you are using VirtualBox, you CANNOT switch between the on-board and the discrete GPU of the HOST in the VM.

And, as for Apple hardware that is dual GPUs, It is designed to switch automagically when the load on the integrated gpu increases to the point that the machine needs more calculating power. There is a way to run the system with just the Nvidia gpu, but it will significantly increase the load on the battery and significantly decrease the time you can run between charges. I do not recommend it.

With apple hardware running linux, I see no reason at all to install the Nvidia driver because it has no noticeable advantage over running with the open-source 'nouveau' driver for the nvidia gpu. With the system running the way apple designed, the intel gpu will be the one doing almost all of the work.

Running on the integrated intel i915, the open gl will still be handled with the Nvidia.

[Reddog1]

OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7 256 bits)

That just means that 3D acceleration is not enabled in VBoxManager>Settings>Display (it's a checkmark in a box)

My guess is that the version of VirtualBox (if it is VB) is before VMSVGA was available as a fully working virtual display driver. That happened sometime in version 6 of VBox, if I remember correctly.

Updating VirtualBox to 7.0.14 will probably fix this......

Be sure to install the Extension Pack on the HOST system, and then install the Guest Additions on the Mint GUEST