# Xorg VirtualBox Video Driver



## tzoi516 (Apr 28, 2014)

`pciconf -lv` tells me my virtual graphics adapter is an InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH. Is there a port or specific driver that will give me better virtual performance or is VESA primarily the chosen one?

Additional information:
I Installed Windows 7 Pro on an Optimus laptop with VirtualBox, and FreeBSD 10.0-RELEASE-p1 as the guest operating system. I'm more familiar with Parallels, which isn't an option because I'm not using a Mac. Thanks.  :h


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## wblock@ (Apr 28, 2014)

Install emulators/virtualbox-ose-additions.  It includes drivers for the mouse (vboxmouse) and video (vboxvideo).  If you do not have an xorg.conf at all, these will be used automatically.


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## tzoi516 (Apr 29, 2014)

wblock@ said:
			
		

> Install emulators/virtualbox-ose-additions.  It includes drivers for the mouse (vboxmouse) and video (vboxvideo).  If you do not have an xorg.conf at all, these will be used automatically.



Thanks for the reply. When I `make config /usr/ports/x11-drivers/xorg-drivers` there aren't any vbox* drivers listed. There are additional drivers, but not for VirtualBox. The Handbook doesn't list what video driver either, it just basically says emulators/virtualbox-ose-additions provides a few additional services.


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## trh411 (Apr 29, 2014)

Installing Guest Additions for FreeBSD guests illustrates use of the vbox* drivers for Xorg.


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## tzoi516 (Apr 29, 2014)

trh411 said:
			
		

> Installing Guest Additions for FreeBSD guests illustrates use of the vbox* drivers for Xorg.



I apologize for not being clear. Windows 7 Pro is the host system, FreeBSD is the guest OS in VirtualBox running in Windows. My concern with running X.Org virtually is: what video driver do I select because `pciconf -lv` doesn't show a virtual graphics adapter listed in x11-drivers/xorg-drivers `make config`.

I'm running FreeBSD on top of Windows 7 Pro because I have a new Optimus-based laptop that FreeBSD doesn't want to run on, and most of my work is done on previous FreeBSD systems. So I need to set up the environment on the Optimus-based system before I move all my data from the old system. The new system is an i7 Haswell system with 12 GB of memory, and I'm trying to tweak as much as I can so FreeBSD feels like the resident system - and so far, so good. I'm just not confident about X.Org and want to have all my ducks-in-a-row before I start delving deeper.


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## wblock@ (Apr 29, 2014)

Yes.  In the VirtualBox FreeBSD guest, install emulators/virtualbox-ose-additions.  That is a driver package to be installed in VirtualBox virtual machines (guests), not the host.


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## tzoi516 (Apr 29, 2014)

wblock@ said:
			
		

> Yes.  In the VirtualBox FreeBSD guest, install emulators/virtualbox-ose-additions.  That is a driver package to be installed in VirtualBox virtual machines (guests), not the host.



I did that and don't see the vbox drivers. I'll go ahead and run it without /etc/X11/xorg.conf and see what happens.


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## wblock@ (Apr 29, 2014)

Where do you expect to see the drivers?  X will detect them.  Or you can enter it in Section "Device", but it's not necessary.


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## tzoi516 (Apr 29, 2014)

Thanks. Even though it doesn't show up in x11-drivers/xorg-drivers `make config`, when running `Xorg -configure` it does get listed there:

```
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Tue Apr 29 11:36:06 2014
List of video drivers:
                    tseng
                    intel
                    vboxvideo
                    tdfx
                    tga
                    trident
                    vesa
```

The others I installed "just in case"  :e Thanks.


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## tzoi516 (Apr 29, 2014)

wblock@ said:
			
		

> Where do you expect to see the drivers?  X will detect them.  Or you can enter it in Section "Device", but it's not necessary.


I was expecting to see them listed with all of the drivers when I ran `make config`. But you're right, X.Org did detect them.


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## wblock@ (Apr 29, 2014)

x11/xorg-drivers is a meta-port, but it doesn't include emulators/virtualbox-ose-additions or other drivers.


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## spanglefox (Aug 18, 2014)

From my experience running X.Org in VirtualBox I often found that `X -configure` would produce the following extract of the xorg.conf:


```
Section "Device"
	### Available Driver options are:-
	### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
	### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
	### [arg]: arg optional
	Identifier "Card0"
	DRIVER "VESA"
	VendorName "InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH"
	BoardName "VirtualBox Graphics Adapter"
	BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection
```

Note the DRIVER "VESA" part. Provided that X.Org loads the vboxvideo driver simply replace the VESA with vboxvideo (Capitals only used to highlight). The file should now read:


```
Section "Device"
   ### Available Driver options are:-
   ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
   ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
   ### [arg]: arg optional
   Identifier "Card0"
   Driver "vboxvideo"
   VendorName "InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH"
   BoardName "VirtualBox Graphics Adapter"
   BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection
```

I also found that a reboot is required, rather than restarting the X session, and you should have your resizable screen, etc.


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