Ubuntu 17.10 screen blinks in VirtualBox on Macbook Pro

Question

I have just installed Ubuntu 17.10 under VirtualBox on a MacbookPro OS 10.13.1. The screen blinks at random intervals. I repeated the installation twice, with a new .iso, and both failed the same way. Although 17.10 does several things better than 16.04.3, 16.04 does not blink. Is this a known bug in 17.10? Does anybody know how to fix it? Should I try 17.04?

Solution

I had this problem too with Ubuntu 17.10 on Mac OS High Sierra.

The solution listed here https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=85110 is to switch to XOrg mode, instead of Wayland.

Comments

[Kalle Richter]

I never experienced issues with any Ubuntu version as host and guest regarding blinking the last years. Maybe a VirtualBox bug on MacOSX. What version of VirtualBox are you using? Why can't you stick with 16.04?

[Dashdrum]

I too am seeing this blinking issue. Have turned off 3D acceleration and have 16GB set for display memory. My VM is not running full screen and there is plenty of memory available on the physical machine.

[Robin Verdier]

Since I posted this, I installed Ubuntu 17.04 and there is absolutely no blinking.

[GhostCat]

Consider accepting the answer - as it is a simple straight forward solution ( I am running High Sierra 10.13.3 ... and with the last 17.10 and virtual box 5.28 ... still blinks ... until switching on xorg )

[GhostCat]

Worked in November 2017, and still helps/works with latest greatest mac os and virtual box 5.28 and 17.10 in March 2018. Thanks for the simple, straight forward solution to a very annoying problem!

[Aaron Wright]

Hey. I know this is really old! But as a newbie to these things, where can I find the selection for XOrg?