Bodhi Linux as Virtual Box host

I have a desktop with AMD-FX8320 and 32G of memory for a long time to do testing. Because older version of VMware Workstation no longer supported in Windows 10, I decide to install Linux on the desktop. Besides, VMware Workstation only support 1 NAT. I would like to setup more than one NAT. So, I decide to go with Bodhi Linux 6. Installation is quite straight forward. 

All my old hardware are detected including equipment below. 

NetGear WIN111v2 USB wireless adapter (driver is Atheros AR9710 + AR9101) 

NVIDIA GeForce GT630 (driver is version 390) Latest one from vendor is version 470. 

Only problem is motherboard. It is a GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3P v1. I cannot get the USB 3.0 ports working. This seems to be an issue with Debian and Ubuntu, and there are lots of posts in forum without solution. I test different favour of Linux, and only RHEL family can discover them fine. 

However, I decide to stick with Bodhi because it is lightweight. Then just follow the Bodhi website for instructions to install Virtual Box. 

sudo apt-get install virtualbox 

sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-additions-iso 

Import couple of old VMware images for XP and W2K. First boot up then uninstall VMtools. Reboot and install the VB guest integration software. Everything works fine. Besides, I install xfburn. That's basically all I need on the physical host. 

Rest of the stuffs will be run in VM. From the Bodhi website, to update the OS, just run the command below. 

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

===================================================================

After doing more search on Google, I do find a solution to enable the USB 3.0 ports.  The link below shows the solution for the same issue with GA-970A-DS3 motherboard.  I apply it and now the USB 3.0 ports are up.  

GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3 USB3 fix for Ubuntu x64 · GitHub

Basically, first step is to update /etc/default/grub.  

Look for the line

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

Add "amd_iommu=on iommu=pt" to the end of it so now the line now looks like this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash amd_iommu=on iommu=pt"

Then update grub:

sudo update-grub

Hit Del to goto the BIOS and confirm the settings as below.

IOMMU: enabled 

XHCI handoff: enabled

EHCI handoff: disabled

USB Legacy support: enabled

OS type: Windows 8 

CSM support: enabled (Compatibility Support Module) 

Boot Mode Selection: Legacy (I set this one up since the disk is only 2TB).  

(Updated on 9/23)

====================================================================

For the Bodhi host, I ran the following commands to install graphics card for GeForce GT630 and other tools I need on the host.  Most of the time, I run the test and have my desktop in VM.

sudo apt-get install xfburn epdfview gdebi file-roller nvidia-driver-390

There is a new driver (version 470) released recently.  Not sure if it is tested yet and I believe it is not available in repository yet.  

Built in NIC works fine.  Only issue with h/w is WiFi (NetGear WN111v2).  Performance is not very good.  I will try to connect to a different router and see.  

For VirtualBox, couple of performance issue was discovered.  

1) Windows 2000 takes a few min to boot up.  

2) For immutable disk, the more changes I have, the longer it takes to start up on the next power on.  I create a snapshot and it helps a bit.  However, there is still delay on power up.  Not a big deal.....just go out and grab a cup of coffee.  5 min later, I will see the login screen.   

(Updated on 9/25)

==================================================================

Google and it seems the Ubuntu driver for NetGear WN111v2 does not work well with video and heavy download.  Connection is choppy.  It is ar9170 driver and seems to be an old bug that was never fixed.  I use ethernet instead.    

(Update 3/7/2022)