Discuss the 6.0.4 release

This is for discussing general topics about how to use VirtualBox.
bigbaldbob
Posts: 5
Joined: 11. Mar 2019, 03:23

Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by bigbaldbob »

This may be a dumb question but...

I have version 5.2. If I just replace it with 6.0, will my existing VMs just work?

I say this because I tried a fresh install of version 6 and then tried to import OVA from another computer. It complained that the OVA was from a different version.
mpack
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by mpack »

bigbaldbob wrote: I have version 5.2. If I just replace it with 6.0, will my existing VMs just work?
It would be a bug if they didn't. I won't address the OVA error since you didn't report it accurately.

That said, we don't use OVA to move VirtualBox VMs between PCs. Howto: Move a VM.
GregB3
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Joined: 20. Oct 2014, 20:07

Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by GregB3 »

I recently updated from VB 5.2.26 to VB 6.0.4. All the VMs had successful Guest Addition updates. After the update I took snapshots of the update work. I deleted some old snapshots and the deletion process had some strange values displayed on-screen. When the process began the green progress bar shot to 99% completion, but the remaining time said that the process was going to take 14714 days and 5 hours. It did this for every snapshot that I deleted. The actual deletion completed in the about the same time that it usually takes for each snapshot deleted, and the deleted snapshot was removed from the snapshot listing. The VMs all started OK after these deletions took place.
Last edited by GregB3 on 19. Mar 2019, 19:08, edited 2 times in total.
klaus
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by klaus »

GregB3 wrote:...When the process began the green progress bar shot to 99% completion, but the remaining time said that the process was going to take 14714 days and 5 hours.
Known issue, and already fixed (current test builds don't have the issue any more). Was an interesting collection of half-bugs including a harmless integer overflow which worked together to produce the insane estimates. Happens more frequently on fast systems, because there it's more likely that a lot of progress is made in little time, provoking extreme extrapolation which in the end produced these numbers (which should be somewhat random, but the next bug turned them always into the number you and others saw).
ParanoidAndroid
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Joined: 14. Nov 2013, 10:10

Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by ParanoidAndroid »

Dave B wrote:Since upgrading to VirtualBox 6.0.4 noticed ReactOS guest no longer produces sound. Switching back to 6.0.2 fixes the issue.
I'm having the same problem on Linux, it broke with 6.0.2. Version 6.0.0 works fine.

Maybe it's related because we don't have PulseAudio installed?
klaus
Oracle Corporation
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by klaus »

This quirky progress time estimation bug was certainly present in 6.0.0 as well (and happens on all host OSes). However, I also believe you that you didn't see it with some versions, and get it all the time with others. It's all due to the precise timing of the API and GUI, i.e. essentially a question of luck, what other activities are happening on your machine and so on. A few msecs different timing and you'll get much more sensible numbers.
dinosaur
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by dinosaur »

ParanoidAndroid wrote:
Dave B wrote:Since upgrading to VirtualBox 6.0.4 noticed ReactOS guest no longer produces sound. Switching back to 6.0.2 fixes the issue.
I'm having the same problem on Linux, it broke with 6.0.2. Version 6.0.0 works fine.
Same here. v6.0.0 worked like a charm (without the sound delays encountered with late v5.2 releases), and it is now broken with all versions after v6.0.2: I also tried yesterday with the latest development release (6.0.5.something), with the exact same issue.
Maybe it's related because we don't have PulseAudio installed?
I don't use Pulseaudio either (bare metal ALSA only), but I don't see why it would be an issue since v6.0.0 worked prefectly without it !

I also opened a bug report ticket but it got no reply whatsoever (not even an acknowledgment) from Vbox developers... :cry:
ParanoidAndroid
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Joined: 14. Nov 2013, 10:10

Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by ParanoidAndroid »

It's hard to debug. I've created a diff between 6.0.0 and 6.0.2 to find the problem. I didn't manage to find it though as there seems to have been a lot of code refactoring which makes it impossible for a vbox laymen like me to find the source of the problem.

But I think it looks like vbox has some kind of buggy dependency on Pulseaudio.
Last edited by socratis on 4. Apr 2019, 22:14, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Removed unnecessary verbatim quote of the whole previous message.
janpeter
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by janpeter »

I wonder if you easily can transfer VM made in 5.x to run under 6.x?

Alternatively, perhaps better to make a new VM in 6.x?

I have myself used VBox for about 10 years under macOS with Windows and Linux as guest VM and transitions due to major VBox revision has gone quite smooth, so far. But the current transition is perhaps bigger?
socratis
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by socratis »

janpeter wrote:But the current transition is perhaps bigger?
Nope, negative. They're as smooth as they've always been. I switch often (at least twice a week) between 5.x.x and 6.x.x with no problem. Sometimes for issues debugging, I've found myself using 4.x.x with no problems as well...
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janpeter
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by janpeter »

Sounds good. When you switch between different VBox versions for the same VM, does it mean you import it every time to VBox when you switch, or you have two VBox versions running the same VM, updating the same files etc...?
socratis
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by socratis »

Negative, none of the above. I simply uninstall the version that I have installed and installed whatever version I want to use. Why do you believe that there's got to be an elaborate scheme for this to work? Does updating your Firefox browser means that you have to export/import your bookmarks? Or with LibreOffice you need to do something with your spreadsheets?
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
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janpeter
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by janpeter »

Well, I just think a VM is a more complex object than a web-browser bookmarks etc.

In the folder that house the VM there is also a folder with Logs that I thought may contain critical information that the VM perhaps read at start - but well the name Logs indicate it is simply logs to undrstan what happened recently, so perhaps not that critical.

The other aspect is that I just guess that the VM perhaps keep some information of what software did run it last time and things might get screwed up here if you switch between different (versos of) software using it.

Is it possible to keep both VBox 5 and 6 installed at the same time? Then just move the VM from one to the other?

See that 6.0.6 is finally out and I am more inclined to make a test.

Thanks

Jan Peter
socratis
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Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by socratis »

janpeter wrote:Well, I just think a VM is a more complex object than a web-browser bookmarks etc.
No, not really, same idea in fact; data is data. And a VM is just data, just like a spreadsheet...
janpeter wrote:there is also a folder with Logs that I thought may contain critical information that the VM perhaps read at start
Negative. The logs are being generated, not read.
janpeter wrote:the VM perhaps keep some information of what software did run it last time and things might get screwed up here if you switch between different (versos of) software using it.
As in "a computer remembers what its state was"? Yes, of course. But that info is kept inside the VM, not outside of it.
janpeter wrote:Is it possible to keep both VBox 5 and 6 installed at the same time?
Negative. You can only have a specific version kernel driver, and that kernel driver needs to "speak" to its own version of the main program.
janpeter wrote:Then just move the VM from one to the other?
Uninstall/install whichever version you like, that way you can move back and forth between VirtualBox versions.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
ParanoidAndroid
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Joined: 14. Nov 2013, 10:10

Re: Discuss the 6.0.4 release

Post by ParanoidAndroid »

dinosaur wrote:
Maybe it's related because we don't have PulseAudio installed?
I don't use Pulseaudio either (bare metal ALSA only), but I don't see why it would be an issue since v6.0.0 worked prefectly without it !

I also opened a bug report ticket but it got no reply whatsoever (not even an acknowledgment) from Vbox developers... :cry:
Good news, I managed to fix this after a weekend of hacking the VBox source code. It is not related to PulseAudio.

The patch is attached to the bug report and changes the buffer size to 100ms, which was the default in older VBox versions and this fixes the broken sound.
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