Chracter input in virtualbox VMs not recognized correctly when VNC'ed via krfb. I have a Kubuntu 14.04 laptop with krfb and virtualbox installed. I remote into this over WiFi 802.11g via either remmina or krdc from a Ubuntu 14.04 machine. The character input on the host is generally acceptable (intermittently when I'm typing multiple key presses are shown when I have typed the character only once). However, when I launch a VM of either Windows Vista or Ubuntu 15.04, I'm unable to type inside the VM. They both have guest additions installed. Despite this, if I'm typing at the laptop directly, the typing works as expected in the VMs. I've tried updating the kernel from the default 3.13 to 3.16, as well as trying a later version of virtualbox downloaded from their website (4.20) and it didn't change anything. Hence, it appears this issue is due to krfb. apt-cache policy krfb krfb: Installed: 4:4.13.3-0ubuntu1.1 Candidate: 4:4.13.3-0ubuntu1.1 Version table: *** 4:4.13.3-0ubuntu1.1 0 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates/universe amd64 Packages 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security/universe amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status 4:4.13.0-0ubuntu1 0 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages apt-cache policy virtualbox virtualbox: Installed: 4.3.10-dfsg-1 Candidate: 4.3.10-dfsg-1 Version table: *** 4.3.10-dfsg-1 0 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/multiverse amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status apt-cache policy linux-generic-lts-utopic linux-generic-lts-utopic: Installed: 3.16.0.28.21 Candidate: 3.16.0.28.21 Version table: *** 3.16.0.28.21 0 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates/main amd64 Packages 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security/main amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status apt-cache policy krdc krdc: Installed: 4:4.13.0-0ubuntu1 Candidate: 4:4.13.0-0ubuntu1 Version table: *** 4:4.13.0-0ubuntu1 0 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status apt-cache policy remmina remmina: Installed: 1.0.0-4ubuntu3 Candidate: 1.0.0-4ubuntu3 Version table: 1.0.0-4ubuntu3 0 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: ^ Actual Results: ^ Expected Results: ^ ^
Also occurs when using Kubuntu 14.10, krfb 4.14.1, and virtualbox 4.3.18. This does not occur when using Windows 8.1, tightvnc 2.7.10.0, and virtualbox 4.3.20. Hence, the root cause of this issue is krfb.
Reproducible in: lsb_release -rd Description: Ubuntu Vivid Vervet (development branch) Release: 15.04 apt-cache policy krfb krfb: Installed: 4:14.12.0-0ubuntu1 Candidate: 4:14.12.0-0ubuntu1 Version table: *** 4:14.12.0-0ubuntu1 0 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ vivid/universe amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status apt-cache policy virtualbox virtualbox: Installed: 4.3.18-dfsg-1 Candidate: 4.3.18-dfsg-1 Version table: *** 4.3.18-dfsg-1 0 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ vivid/multiverse amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
As a WORKAROUND (and quick proof of concept), I removed krfb, restarted installed x11vnc, executed the following: x11vnc -storepasswd x11vnc -rfbauth ~/.vnc/passwd -bg -gone "popup" -rfbport 5900 -gui icon=tray,,simple,iconfont=14x17 -forever -nevershared