VirtualBox 3.0 with 3D capabilities on Ubuntu Intrepid

Ever since I heard that VirtualBox 3.0 had 3D capabilities I wanted to try this out. However … time to “play” has not been very much available. This evening I had some time on my hands, so I decided to give it a try.

On my Ubuntu Intrepid host I first modified the /etc/apt/sources.list file to add the VirtualBox repositories. To do so, I added the following lines:
## VIRTUALBOX REPOSITORIES
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian intrepid non-free
Before doing the update I made sure I had the GPG key added. This can be done with the following command
wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
Next I updated the repositories and after this installed VirtualBox by using the command

sudo aptitude install virtualbox-3.0

Once this was completed I added myself to the “vboxusers” group and I had to logout and login once to have VirtualBox appear in my menu (Applications –> System Tools –> Sun VirtualBox). During this all in the meantime I had downloaded the Alpha 2 release of Ubuntu Karmic Koala, since I wanted to have a look at that anyway.

First I created a new VM with the following settings (during the initial run the .iso was “inserted” into the CD-Rom):

Once the VM was started I chose to install Karmic Koala and basically accepted all default settings (except for the timezone). This completed without issues and after a restart a renewed login screen appeared

Once logged in, the first thing I did was add the so-called “Guest Additions”. This is done by selecting from the VirtualBox window menu Devices –> Install Guest Additons. This resulted in the “Guest Additions CD-Rom” to be mounted. In a terminal I cd-ed into /media/cdrom0 and in that directory issued the command

./autorun.sh

This installation completed without any issues

After this I restarted Karmic Koala (just to be sure) and restarted it started up in a new (and better) size and resolution. Furthermore I noticed that the Visual Effects were present. So what I first did was install the Compiz Settings Manager by issuing the command

sudo aptitude install simple-ccsm

Next I opened the settings manager and changed the number of desktops to 4 (was initially set at 2) and enabled the cube and the rotating cube. Now it was time for the great moment … I pressed down <Ctrl>-<Alt> and moved my mouse and yes …. it worked!

I have to admit … I am impressed! I know this is something I wished would become available within a VM since it was always something that could not be tested within a VM (at least not within a VM in VMware Server). Now I have an environment in which I can test such capabilities.

UPDATE July 12, 2009: After performing all the updates, which included an upgrade of the kernel (to 2.6.31-2-generic) I lost the 3D capabilities. Additionally the screen size went back to 800×600 (instead of 1024×768). I initially thought this was caused by the fact that the Guess Additions needed to be installed again. However … this did not fix the issue.

So what I did was open the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and edited this as follows. The original “Screen” section I changed from:
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection
into:
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
And at the bottom I added the following:
Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection
I rebooted and I had all 3D capabilities back again!

The cube however changed into a sphere. Opening the simple Compiz configuration settings manager I noticed it had changed. You now can use the “simple” version or the “old fashioned” version. Furthermore, being member of Linux Hardcore that also supports the Conky Hardcore! blog, I just had to install and use conky