Help! Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop is Incompatible with VirtualBox Graphics Adapter!

[Teo En Ming]

Dear Ubuntu Users,

I am running Ubuntu Linux as a VirtualBox virtual machine. My host
operating system is Windows 10 Home x64 Final Release.

Initially, my Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS Linux virtual machine is running fine
under Oracle VM VirtualBox 5.0.0 in Windows 10 Home host operating
system.

Then I upgraded my Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS Linux virtual machine to Ubuntu
14.10, which has stopped receiving updates and support from Canonical
Ltd. But my Ubuntu 14.10 Linux virtual machine is running fine under
Oracle VM VirtualBox 5.0.0 as well.

Thinking that my upgrade was smooth so far, I upgraded my Ubuntu 14.10
Linux virtual machine to Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop. Here comes the trouble!
Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop is incompatible with VirtualBox graphics adapter!
It says so in a random dialog box pop up. I tried to login with my
username and password at the lightdm display manager, but it keeps
kicking me out and returning me to the login screen.

I went to the VirtualBox 5.0.0 download page and it says:

"VirtualBox 5.0 for Windows hosts  x86/amd64
Please be aware that Windows 10 is not yet officially supported! There
are known problems with VirtualBox 5.0 on Windows 10 hosts and with
Windows 10 guests. Some of the problems are fixed in the most recent
test build which can be found here."

So I downloaded and installed VirtualBox 5.0.1 for Windows 10 test
build. But I still encounter the same problem! Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop is
still incompatible with VirtualBox Graphics Adapter. Every time I
tried to login to my Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop virtual machine, it kicks me
out and returns me to the login screen!

Thinking that Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop may be incompatible with VirtualBox
5.0 series, I uninstalled VirtualBox 5.0.1 test build and installed
VirtualBox 4.3.30. But Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop is still incompatible with
VirtualBox Graphics Adapter! Every time I tried to login to Ubuntu
15.04 Desktop virtual machine, it kicks me out and returns me to the
login screen!

In essence, X.org Window Server and the Unity Desktop Environment in
Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop virtual machine are unable to start successfully.

Since I am unable to resolve the issue, I rolled back to VirtualBox
5.0.1 test build. This time, instead of setting 4 Virtual CPUs (I have
an Intel Core i5 4430 Quad Core Processor) for the Ubuntu 15.04
Desktop virtual machine, I set it to ONE Virtual CPU. This time, I am
able to login to Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop virtual machine, but with
*partial* success. There is no left-sided task bar and all it gives me
is a totally blank desktop wallpaper.


But fortunately, I am able to right click and start the X terminal.
>From the X terminal, I could execute /usr/bin/thunderbird and start
Mozilla Thunderbird email client successfully. This time round, the
folder pane in Thunderbird appeared successfully. The reason why I
wanted to upgrade my Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS virtual machine is because of
the missing folder pane in Thunderbird. The missing folder pane in
Thunderbird could either be due to file corruption or a bug. I had
tried deleting session.json and folderTree.json in the thunderbird
email profile, and restarting Thunderbird as suggested by the Mozilla
knowledge base, but without avail. This is the reason why I chose to
upgrade my Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS to Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop, to see if the
missing folder pane problem in Thunderbird would resolve. And it did
with Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop.


Although I can login to Ubuntu 15.04 virtual machine now, there is no
task bar on the left and it shows me a completely blank desktop
wallpaper. All I can do is right click and a menu shows up. I can
right click and start a X terminal.

Now, the question is: How can I roll back to Ubuntu 14.10 or Ubuntu
14.04.1 LTS? Or should I wait for a new release of Ubuntu Linux to see
if it is compatible with VirtualBox Graphics Adapter? The wait could
be six months. Are there Beta versions of Ubuntu Linux newer than
15.04 currently in development? I hope newer versions of Ubuntu Linux
would be compatible with VirtualBox Graphics Adapter.


Thank you very much.

Yours sincerely,

Topic: Singapore Government Hackers Love to Hack Teo En Ming's
Computers, Smartphones, and Internet Online Accounts
Link: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-users/2015-August/281923.html

Mr. Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)
Singapore Citizen
9th August 2015 Sunday 2.01 PM Singapore Time