Sometimes when VirtualBox is updated, or when a Virtual Machine is imported, a non-optimal Graphics Controller may be enabled in the Display Settings for the Virtual Machine. All of our Virtual Machines are designed with the VMSVGA Graphics Controller, which should typically provide the most stability and the best performance.
To apply this VMSVGA setting:
- On the Virtual Machine, go to Settings -> Display -> Screen (tab)
- In the Screen tab of the Display Settings, change the Graphics Controller: drop-down to the VMSVGA setting
NOTE: A small number of users have reported that using VMSVGA causes their Virtual Machine to crash or not boot up at all. In some instances, a crash will occur if the user attempts to open a graphics application (chrome, atom, visual studio code, Qt, etc). If you are experiencing these issues, you can also try VBoxSVGA, VBoxVGA, or None. We recommend trying them in that order and sticking with the first one that works (this listing order reflects the theoretical order of performance). Be aware that the None setting will mean that the Virtual Machine will launch with no graphics device (headless), so you will not see a boot or login screen; you will still be able to connect to it remotely (ssh) if you have configured your setup to allow that.