Opinions were found recent time that VBoxSVGA graphic controller is recommended if Manjaro is used in virtual machine powered by VirtualBox. It contradicts with opinion given by VirtualBox - VBoxSVGA to be invalid configuration for this v. m. - but I understand that Manjaro can know more details regarding its operation.
In course of some problem troubleshooting the graphic controller has been switched from VMSVGA to VBoxSVGA which results in flickering of screen. Latter one happens mainly when mouse pointer is moved over the screen, however not only that. Screen flickering doesn’t happen if desktop is free of open windows. Screen seems to be calm also if only shell terminal is open.
In this particular case VirtualBox version is 6.1.50 and guest additions are installed from virtualbox 6.1.50 Guest Addtitions ISO rather than Manjaro package management. This is the only virtual machine affected. Other virtual machines don’t house Manjaro. Also no problems with graphics the host level. Before the switch to VBoxSVGA it was the Manjaro side which made a popup on start of every user session with notification to switch to VBoxSVGA.
$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=“ManjaroLinux”
DISTRIB_RELEASE=“24.0.5”
DISTRIB_CODENAME=“Wynsdey”
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION=“Manjaro Linux”
$ uname --all
Linux maczinu 6.1.100-1-MANJARO #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Jul 19 14:51:57 UTC 2024 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$
$ inxi -zv8
System:
Kernel: 6.1.100-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.1.1
clocksource: tsc avail: kvm-clock,hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1-x86_64
root=UUID=faa32b82-f503-456b-a174-68decd0843af rw quiet
udev.log_priority=3
Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.43 wm: xfwm4 v: 4.18.0
with: xfce4-panel tools: xfce4-screensaver avail: light-locker vt: 7
dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Virtualbox System: innotek GmbH product: VirtualBox v: 1.2
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: Oracle Corporation type: 1
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: Oracle model: VirtualBox v: 1.2 serial: <superuser required>
uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: innotek GmbH v: VirtualBox date: 12/01/2006
Memory:
System RAM: total: 6.88 GiB available: 6.52 GiB used: 1.89 GiB (29.1%)
RAM Report: message: No RAM data found using udevadm.
PCI Slots:
Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-4570 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Haswell gen: core 4
level: v2 built: 2013-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6 model-id: 0x3C (60)
stepping: 3 microcode: N/A
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 128 KiB
desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 12 MiB
desc: 2x6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 3193 min/max: N/A cores: 1: 3193 2: 3193 bogomips: 12774
Flags: abm aes apic avx avx2 clflush cmov constant_tsc cpuid cx16 cx8 de
flush_l1d fpu fsgsbase fxsr ht hypervisor invpcid invpcid_single lahf_lm
lm mca mce md_clear mmx movbe msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pcid
pclmulqdq pge pni popcnt pse pse36 pti rdrand rdtscp rep_good sep sse
sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 syscall tsc tsc_known_freq vme xsave xtopology
Vulnerabilities:
< censored >
Graphics:
Device-1: InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH VirtualBox Graphics Adapter
vendor: VMware driver: vboxvideo v: kernel ports: active: VGA-1 empty: none
bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 80ee:beef class-ID: 0300
Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.13 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.18.0
driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vboxvideo,vesa
gpu: vboxvideo display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1440 s-size: <missing: xdpyinfo>
Monitor-1: VGA-1 model: VBOX monitor serial: <filter> built: 1990
res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red: x: 0.639 y: 0.329 green:
x: 0.298 y: 0.600 blue: x: 0.149 y: 0.059 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329
size: N/A modes: 1024x768, 2560x1600, 1920x1440, 1856x1392, 1792x1344,
2048x1152, 1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1400x1050,
1600x900, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1280x960, 1366x768, 1360x768, 1280x800,
1280x768, 1280x720, 800x600, 848x480, 640x480
EDID-Errors: 1: bad sync value: no horizontal 2: bad sync value: no
vertical
EDID-Warnings: 1: parse_edid: unknown flag 16
API: EGL v: 1.5 platforms: device: 0 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast
surfaceless: drv: swrast x11: drv: swrast inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 24.1.3-manjaro1.1 glx-v: 1.4
direct-render: yes renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 18.1.8 256 bits)
device-ID: ffffffff:ffffffff memory: 6.36 GiB unified: yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW High Definition Audio vendor: SigmaTel
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:05.0 chip-ID: 8086:2668
class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.1.100-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.1 status: active with: 1: pipewire-media-session
status: active 2: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pw-cat,pw-cli
Network:
Device-1: Red Hat Virtio network driver: virtio-pci v: 1 modules: virtio_pci
port: 6020 bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 1af4:1000 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp0s3 state: up speed: -1 duplex: unknown mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
broadcast: <filter>
Device-2: Intel 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI type: network bridge
driver: piix4_smbus v: N/A modules: i2c_piix4 port: N/A bus-ID: 00:07.0
chip-ID: 8086:7113 class-ID: 0680
Device-3: Intel 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet driver: e1000 v: kernel
port: 6080 bus-ID: 00:08.0 chip-ID: 8086:100e class-ID: 0200
IF: enp0s8 state: down mac: <filter>
Info: services: mld,NetworkManager
WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 145.79 GiB used: 44.45 GiB (30.5%)
SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: VirtualBox model: VBOX HARDDISK
size: 31.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1.0 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: VirtualBox model: VBOX HARDDISK
size: 60.03 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1.0 scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: VirtualBox model: VBOX HARDDISK
size: 4 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1.0 scheme: GPT
ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: VirtualBox model: VBOX HARDDISK
size: 50 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1.0 scheme: GPT
Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: VBOX model: CD-ROM rev: 1.0 dev-links: cdrom
Features: speed: 32 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes rw: none
state: running
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 59.53 GiB size: 58.42 GiB (98.13%) used: 23.85 GiB (40.8%)
fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18 label: N/A
uuid: faa32b82-f503-456b-a174-68decd0843af
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
used: 312 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 label: N/A
uuid: 7C6E-5924
ID-3: /home raw-size: 31.76 GiB size: 31.15 GiB (98.08%)
used: 20.6 GiB (66.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A
uuid: 8b19bc50-6c78-4bda-beba-007b73303aa8
Swap:
Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
ID-1: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 size: 4 GiB fs: ext4 label: N/A
uuid: c35a2760-3fcf-4081-93ad-3d1428934ee5
ID-2: /dev/sdd1 maj-min: 8:49 size: 50 GiB fs: ext4 label: CY06
uuid: d537733d-39e3-4655-90fa-c6db38d1e7d4
USB:
Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 8 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 1-1:2 info: VirtualBox USB Tablet type: HID
driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s)
lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 80ee:0021 class-ID: 0300
Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 6 rev: 3.0
speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
Src: lm-sensors+/sys Message: No sensor data found using /sys/class/hwmon
or lm-sensors.
Repos:
Packages: 1259 pm: pacman pkgs: 1230 libs: 388 tools: pamac pm: snap
pkgs: 29
Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
1: https://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
2: http://ftp.rz.tu-bs.de/pub/mirror/manjaro.org/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
3: https://mirror.alpix.eu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
CPU top: 5 of 186
1: cpu: 7.3% command: chrome pid: 2325 mem: 290.5 MiB (4.3%)
2: cpu: 5.6% command: chrome pid: 2281 mem: 156.9 MiB (2.3%)
3: cpu: 3.9% command: chrome pid: 2103 mem: 270.9 MiB (4.0%)
4: cpu: 2.5% command: Xorg pid: 797 mem: 201.0 MiB (3.0%)
5: cpu: 2.2% command: chrome pid: 2465 mem: 252.6 MiB (3.7%)
Memory top: 5 of 186
1: mem: 290.5 MiB (4.3%) command: chrome pid: 2325 cpu: 7.3%
2: mem: 270.9 MiB (4.0%) command: chrome pid: 2103 cpu: 3.9%
3: mem: 252.6 MiB (3.7%) command: chrome pid: 2465 cpu: 2.2%
4: mem: 201.0 MiB (3.0%) command: Xorg pid: 797 cpu: 2.5%
5: mem: 156.9 MiB (2.3%) command: chrome pid: 2281 cpu: 5.6%
Info:
Processes: 186 Power: uptime: 21m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle
wakeups: 0 hibernate: shutdown avail: reboot,suspend,test_resume
image: 2.6 GiB services: upowerd,xfce4-power-manager Init: systemd v: 256
default: graphical tool: systemctl
Compilers: clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.1.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.26
running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.35
$