Solved Graphics card opinions

[Danbor]

Hello all, hoping to get some opinions to consider as I try to settle on a hardware upgrade.
Much to my amazement, I was able to install Virtual Box and install LMDE6 on it with guest editions. There were a few glitches getting the clipboard and shared files set up, but overall it wasn't to difficult for me.
However, in order to get it to run in full screen I have to switch the graphics controller to VBoxVGA. This generates an "invalid setting detected" message. The graphics memory is set to 128 M, as much as there is. It does go to full screen, but it seems to me like it's "straining" to get it done.
The graphics card I'm using is one I pulled from an HP Officedesk Pro with a dead motherboard. Which I bought refurbished. As such, I don't know how old the thing is. My guess is it's old enough to have problems running both the host and guest system output. Hence the glitches I'm encountering.
I've read about some problems running NVidea and / or other cards drivers and I'd prefer to avoid buying a new graphics card only to wind up having to jump through hoops getting it up and keeping it up with updates.
While I know I can shop and compare myself, I also know that I'm not well versed enough in the subject to comprehend what I'm comparing. So I'm asking you kind folks to chime in with some ideas for me to peruse. Oh, running Mint Cinnamon 21.2.
Here's a listing of pertinent current system set up.

Machine:
Type: Desktop System: Micro-Star product: MS-7C91 v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: Micro-Star model: MAG B550 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI (MS-7C91) v: 1.0
serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: 2.20 date: 08/30/2022

CPU:
Info: 16-core model: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 rev: 2 cache:
L1: 1024 KiB L2: 8 MiB L3: 64 MiB

Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Lexa PRO [Radeon 540/540X/550/550X / RX 540X/550/550X] driver: amdgpu v: kernel
pcie: speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8 ports: active: HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1,DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 2b:00.0
chip-ID: 1002:699f
Device-2: Logitech C922 Pro Stream Webcam type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
bus-ID: 3-3:3 chip-ID: 046d:085c
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu,ati
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96
Monitor-1: HDMI-A-0 mapped: HDMI-A-1 model: Samsung LF27T35 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 82
diag: 686mm (27")
OpenGL:
renderer: AMD Radeon RX 550 / 550 Series (polaris12 LLVM 15.0.7 DRM 3.42 5.15.0-86-generic)
v: 4.6 Mesa 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 direct render: Yes

 

[vs2-free-users]

Hi,

if I read your question correctly the problem is that your graphics card inside the VE has only 128MB correct? If that is the case, no hardware upgrade will help. In virtualbox the maximum is always 128MB. I think there are ways to pass the graphics card, but they are not easy.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Dan, not a VB expert, but which version are you using?

apt policy virtualbox

and the Guest Additions must match.

It appears that VBoxVGA was deprecated for VB6.1.

Cheers

Wizard

 

[Brickwizard]

I pulled from an HP Officedesk Pro with a dead motherboard.

if you still have the original CPU and can read the numbers [eg I3-35600] I can date the machine it came from within 6 months

your AMD Lexa PRO was first released in spring 2017

 

[Danbor]

Dan, not a VB expert, but which version are you using?

apt policy virtualbox

and the Guest Additions must match.

It appears that VBoxVGA was deprecated for VB6.1.

Cheers

Wizard

I'm using edition 7.0.12 and the guest additions match.

 

[Danbor]

Hi,

if I read your question correctly the problem is that your graphics card inside the VE has only 128MB correct? If that is the case, no hardware upgrade will help. In virtualbox the maximum is always 128MB. I think there are ways to pass the graphics card, but they are not easy.

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like I can save some money. I played around with the display options and got it to open full screen.
How you ask? I have no idea, but it work!

 

[wizardfromoz]

I have no idea, but it work!

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Now would be a good time to take a Timeshift snapshot, including /home, as that will also save the VM.

Cheers

Wiz

 

[Danbor]

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Now would be a good time to take a Timeshift snapshot, including /home, as that will also save the VM.

Cheers

Wiz

Hi Wiz!
I do have a recent Timeshift snapshot, though I left Vbox out of it for some reason.
Anyway, I had installed LMDE 6 on a vbox machine and I was trying to get a game working with wine on it. One of the first problems I had was trying to work on it with LMDE 6. Some things had to come from Debian and some from Ubuntu. So I decided to dump lmde and just install another copy of mint 21.2.
Welllll, I done something wrong, I don't know what, and couldn't get mint installed. Now, to avoid unneeded issues, I'm trying to uninstall and purge vbox. Tried a few times already but I keep finding bits of it still on my system. All the info I can find is a couple of years old at best so I'm not sure how effective the steps are,
Do you, or anyone else, know where an old guy can find a decent tutorial on how to purge and reinstall Vbox 7 on mint 21.2?

 

[wizardfromoz]

Might be easier to just fresh install Mint again, take a Timeshift snapshot and then try reinstalling VBox?

 

[Danbor]

It may come to that. But I'll keep plugging away at it. At least this issue doesn't keep me from getting other things done. ;D

 

[bob466]

Hi Danbor,

A few things about Vitrualbox...

I'm using Vbox 6.1 because 7.0 has a bug...I couldn't get my Flash Drives to work...USB Devices just disappeared...that was only a few months ago.

When you install Virtualbox you must install Vbox Extention Pack.

When you install your Virtual Machine...to get it to Full Screen...install Vbox Guest Addititions and run it.

To change Virtualbox Video Memory From 128 To 256...
Copy name of Virtual Machine eg...Mint Cinnamon 20.3...close Virtualbox and open a Terminal and type this command...

vboxmanage modifyvm "Mint Cinnamon 20.3" --vram 256

As for Linux Mint Cinnamon 21.2...it runs like a dog in Vituralbox...Mint has for some years...even with 6GB of Ram...it's a good idea to create a Shared Folder too.

Once you have your VM installed apart from taking a snapshot with Timeshift and creating an image with Foxclone as I do...you can also Export your VM to an External HDD/SSD...so when you do a clean install...you just Import it back...this works just fine as I've done this many times...hope this helps.