Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
MawPaw
Posts: 2
Joined: 2. Apr 2021, 04:30

Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by MawPaw »

I wasn't able to find anything discussing this issue on Windows XP so I hope this wasn't burred deeper than I looked.
I'm having an odd situation where installing Guest Additions 6.1.18 hangs endlessly during installation. What's strange is that it successfully installed earlier today on the same OS build before I decided to delete it and try out a different build (ultimatly failing and deciding to reinstall the old one that did work).
The hang also happens at exactly the same point in the installation too (I've attached a screenshot).
Not really sure why it worked earlier in the day and not now. Any help on workaround for this would be appreciated.
My build of Windows XP is x86 with Service Pack 3 (not sure if that's helpful information).
Attachments
A screenshot of the issue.
A screenshot of the issue.
2021-04-01 21_20_43-Window.png (72.29 KiB) Viewed 21927 times
Ben Johnson
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Joined: 4. Apr 2021, 19:26
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: Windows10
Location: 94 Town Lane

Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by Ben Johnson »

Oh, I've encountered the same kind of problem and don't fully understand how to solve it either. Have you fixed it yet? Please tell me if you have.
MawPaw
Posts: 2
Joined: 2. Apr 2021, 04:30

Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by MawPaw »

Ben Johnson wrote:Oh, I've encountered the same kind of problem and don't fully understand how to solve it either. Have you fixed it yet? Please tell me if you have.
Yeah, I fixed it. Or, more like it fixed itself. It took a long while to get it through everything, but it eventually finished installing. I think part of the problem was that I didn't allocate much RAM this time compared to the first time I did it. Another thing I did differently (after a user suggestion on reddit) was to enable VT-x/AMD-V in the settings for the Guest OS. After enabling that (and giving myself 2gb instead of 500mb of RAM) it seemed to run just find for me. Still took a while, but it didn't hang much. Without doing those things, it would take around 15 minutes to install. It doesn't seem to be hanging/stalling on the step. The step is just something that takes a lot of resources and time to execute. Not allocating enough resources or enabling the correct settings seems to play the biggest role in how long the install takes.
scottgus1
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Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by scottgus1 »

Glad it finally pushed through! I haven't run XP on Virtualbox with half a gig of RAM, will have to try it and see what the GAs install does.
BillG
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Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by BillG »

I have noticed that installing GAs on Windows XP guest runs very slowly lately. I have no idea why. I usually run XP with 2CPUs and 512MB disk space.
Bill
jimli
Posts: 11
Joined: 5. Dec 2021, 15:08

Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by jimli »

My solution is to set an IP address before install Guest addition, I tested twice for Windows XP and the installation can go through smoothly as usual.
scottgus1
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Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by scottgus1 »

jimli wrote:set an IP address before install Guest addition
Do you mean to set a static IP address? The default VM setup for XP will give it an IP address automatically on first login to the desktop, before one could start the GAs install. And I'm fairly certain GAs don't have anything to do with network.
BillG
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Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by BillG »

I have no idea why, but that also works for me! Setting a static IP seems to solve the problem.
Bill
mpack
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Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by mpack »

BillG wrote:I have no idea why, but that also works for me! Setting a static IP seems to solve the problem.
What network mode were you using before that?

I can think of a few reasons why the GAs install might like to use a network connection (e.g. to check a certificate, if XPDM drivers are signed), and bad comms could cause delays. But I can't think of any reason why a static IP would fix it.
jimli
Posts: 11
Joined: 5. Dec 2021, 15:08

Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by jimli »

I need to use the VM recently with XP installed which was created two years ago, the original VM guest addition was V5.x, and now I am using V6.1.28, that's why I decided to upgrade the guest addition.
I use this VM to test some technical software only, so I use Host-only adapter mainly. But this issue seems has no connection with the network type, just set a static IP address in VM and it works perfectly to install Guest Additions
BillG
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Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by BillG »

It is apparently just some strange glitch in XP. I have just done a few more tests, and once you get it to run successfully once, it is fine. No matter what network settings I use, it now works normally every time - NAT or bridged, DHCP or static.
Bill
fth0
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Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by fth0 »

Two independent ideas to try:

A) When the issue is reproducible: Insert the GA ISO, open a command prompt as administrator, navigate to the cert directory on the mounted GA, and execute VBoxCertUtil.exe add-trusted-publisher vbox*.cer. Does the issue persist?

B) Is the issue reproducible when unplugging the virtual network cable or when disabling the network adapter(s) from the VM?
jimli
Posts: 11
Joined: 5. Dec 2021, 15:08

Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by jimli »

fth0 wrote:Two independent ideas to try:

A) When the issue is reproducible: Insert the GA ISO, open a command prompt as administrator, navigate to the cert directory on the mounted GA, and execute VBoxCertUtil.exe add-trusted-publisher vbox*.cer. Does the issue persist?

B) Is the issue reproducible when unplugging the virtual network cable or when disabling the network adapter(s) from the VM?
I have tried your ideas:
Step A: yes, the issue persists after install the certificate first
Step B: No, the issue is gone if unplugging the network cable or disabling the adapter in VM before installing GAs, I tried both and the installation could go through as usual
By the way, I tried to uninstall GAs first and it has the same issue if network adapter is active and no static IP address set, uninstall was stuck also. I test it with latest version today,V6.1.30, but I am sure there was no this issue on V5.x, but anyway we have a temporary solution now.
jimli
Posts: 11
Joined: 5. Dec 2021, 15:08

Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by jimli »

no difference if install Cert first manually
Attachments
install CERT.png
install CERT.png (7.83 KiB) Viewed 19116 times
fth0
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Re: Guest Additions Hangs on Install

Post by fth0 »

Regarding the certificates, please also try VBoxCertUtil.exe add-trusted-publisher vbox*.cer --root vbox*.cer, which will additionally put the certificates into the Trusted Root certificate store. If this doesn't suffice, please download the separate VBoxGuestAdditions_6.1.30.iso and try that.

Regarding networking: When you had no static IP address configured, did the guest OS get an IP address from a DHCP server or an APIPA address (169.254.x.y)?
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