Cannot install VirtualBox Guest Additions 6.1.28+

[Smoerrebroed]

Hi All,

in short: I am running VirtualBox on a Linux host (Arch) and have pretty much always been on the latest version. However, it seems that since the 6.1.28 release, it is no longer possible to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions in any of my Windows guests (8.0, 8.1, 10). I always get an error message "Error executing vboxdrvinst.exe", and then the installer will hang for minutes until it terminates. Downgrading to 6.1.26 fixes this problem and is acceptable as a workaround, but what might be causing this?

FWIW, the corresponding Arch package simply encapsulates the official .iso from virtualbox.org, so I daresay the issue comes from the .iso (not the Arch package). Was there any significant change with 6.1.28 which might prevent a successful installation?

TIA!

Cheers,

Smoerrebroed

[scottgus1]

On a Windows host, Virtualbox is installed via the Windows MSI installer system. I suspect the Guest Additions inside a Windows VM are installed with the same setup.

Web-search how to enable MSI logging inside the Windows VM, then try the installer again. Zip and post the log file the installer makes.

Take a look at these resources:

Basic troubleshooting steps for Windows Installer
Repair MSI (Windows Installer) 2.8.8
Windows Repair 4.5.1 (includes the above)

[Smoerrebroed]

Okay, so I've attached both the log for 6.1.26 and 6.1.30 installation to this post.

install 6.1.26.log

(99.13 KiB) Downloaded 7 times

install 6.1.30.log

(25.17 KiB) Downloaded 12 times

[scottgus1]

In both logs the error message says to look in:

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox Guest Additions\install_ui.log

This file will be in the VM. If you don't see what the problem is, please zip and post that file.

Aside:

"C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\Temp\nsrD974.tmp\AccessControl.dll"
...etc

Is your VM's account username actually "XXX"?
If it is, that's fine.
If it is not, and you felt the - ahem - need to obfuscate the logs to remove your user name, please let us know what you obfuscate in the future, so we can know what data cannot be trusted in the logs.

[fth0]

In addition to C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox Guest Additions\install_ui.log, the contents of C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox Guest Additions\install_drivers.log may also be of interest.

[Smoerrebroed]

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox Guest Additions\install_ui.log

This file will be in the VM. If you don't see what the problem is, please zip and post that file.

Yeah, you'd really think it is there - but it isn't, and I haven't been able to find it anywhere else on the VM either, so unfortunately I cannot provide this file. I have, however, attached the install-drivers.log files to this message. Looking at the size of those files, it seems like the driver installation doesn't even kick in on 6.1.30.

Aside:

"C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\Temp\nsrD974.tmp\AccessControl.dll"
...etc

Is your VM's account username actually "XXX"?

Yes.

[fth0]

During the installation of the VirtualBox Guest Additions, the installation of the Windows drivers fails with error 0xE0000244 (ERROR_SIGNATURE_OSATTRIBUTE_MISMATCH: The software was tested for compliance with Windows Logo requirements on a different version of Windows, and may not be compatible with this version).

AFAIU, due to Microsoft requirements, the driver signing for Windows 10 was changed, and is now incompatible to Windows 8.1. The VirtualBox devs are aware of it, but the issue hasn't been solved yet. Some deep technical background can be found in Downlevel Driver Enabler.

I assume that the install_drivers-6.1.30.log file is from a Windows 8.1 guest. What error do you get on a Windows 10 guest?

[Smoerrebroed]

I just tested it with the very latest version 6.1.32. Windows 10/11 works without issues now. Windows 8/8.1 does not, so I'm back on 6.1.26.

[Smoerrebroed]

Update: GA 6.1.34 seems to have fixed this. Thanks, devs!