Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
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bob1234
Posts: 7
Joined: 23. Jan 2018, 05:23

Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by bob1234 »

I was using Virtualbox 6.1 with a Windows 10 host and a Windows 10 guest with no problems at all today.

I decided to try upgrading to Virtualbox 7. I installed it by running as Administrator as I usually do, and rebooted my host PC (twice now). I also installed the new extension pack by downloading it, double clicking the file, and clicking to upgrade in Virtualbox.

Now, when I try to launch my guest, it gets stuck in a windows screen saying it is preparing automatic repair. After it was stuck a while and I reboot it, the Automatic repair comes up with a screen saying your PC did not boot properly, and it lets me click some options, such as Troubleshoot, start up repair, command line, etc.

I tried the start up repair, but it didn't fix anything. I also rebooted a few times and tried the command line and inside of that, I tried using chkdsk and also sfc /scannow, but neither seemed to find any issues. The previously working fine guest is now seemingly dead. I am not sure if I did something majorly wrong when upgrading to Virtualbox 7, or if uninstalling and trying to go back to Virtualbox 6.1 can repair this. I'm hoping to fix my guest and not start from scratch.

Any ideas on what I can do for this error?
bob1234
Posts: 7
Joined: 23. Jan 2018, 05:23

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by bob1234 »

Update:
Decided to go ahead and downgrade, so I found the VirtualBox-6.1.40 files I had downloaded before, installed that as Admin, intalled the old Extension pack, rebooted again.
Now my guest that couldn't boot in Virtualbox 7.0 is back to working fine with no errors.
I rebooted the guest a few times to be sure, and now its fine (in 6.1.40 again).

I have absolutely no idea what went wrong with 7.0, but now I am afraid to ever take this upgrade to 7.0 since I don't know what caused it, and rolling back to 6.1.40 definitely fixed it. I am not sure if there was some other step for upgrading to 7.0, or if that new 7.0 is just very unstable with some configurations.
BanjoEyes
Posts: 4
Joined: 11. Feb 2023, 19:05

[Solved] Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot [Solved

Post by BanjoEyes »

I had the same problem of VMs not booting after the upgrade from VBox 6 to 7. What solved it for me was DISABLING 3D Acceleration in the Display settings for each VM. :D
koutheir
Posts: 1
Joined: 16. Jun 2023, 17:07

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by koutheir »

The solution that worked for me is to disable the option:

Code: Select all

System/Processor/Enable Nested VT-x/AMD-V
But enable:

Code: Select all

System/Acceleration/Enable Nested Paging
Pfeifenraucher
Posts: 6
Joined: 1. Oct 2015, 12:23

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by Pfeifenraucher »

Thanks, both settings worked for me as well.
bob1234
Posts: 7
Joined: 23. Jan 2018, 05:23

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by bob1234 »

I tried the upgrade again today and faced the same errors as months ago in my first post.

I tried disabling Nested VT-X/AMD-V and that immediately fixed the problem for me. I already had Nested Paging enabled.
Thanks a lot for the reply to the old thread, it helped me a lot today.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by mpack »

If you want a prompt answer to such questions you need to provide a VM log. Make sure the VM is fully shut down, then right click it in the manager UI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (no other file) to a zip file. Attach the zip here.
bob1234
Posts: 7
Joined: 23. Jan 2018, 05:23

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by bob1234 »

Thanks, you're right I should have posted logs before when reporting the issue. I'm glad it's working OK again though after turning off the nested VT-x option from the earlier comments.
freeuse
Posts: 4
Joined: 8. Oct 2023, 21:22

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by freeuse »

I have the exact same symptoms above, but the fix above does not help.
Everything works fine with virtualbox 6.1, and I've tried upgrading to 7 on several systems, and have the same problem on all systems tried; windows 10 goes in to check and repair blue screen mode.

Help appreciated!
Log attached.
Attachments
Win10-2023-10-08-15-11-57.zip
virtual box v7 log file
(40.88 KiB) Downloaded 11 times
freeuse
Posts: 4
Joined: 8. Oct 2023, 21:22

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by freeuse »

Any ideas? I'll be bummed if I can't upgrade to 7.0 especially when support for 6.1 stops.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Upgraded host from Vbox 6.1 to 7.0, previously working guest can no longer boot

Post by mpack »

Unfortunately you posted in the wrong forum. Your problem is not relevant to "Windows Guests", your problem is most likely with your Linux Host, and even if it was on-topic, you may not find much Linux expertise in here.

I suggest you start again. Open your own topic in Linux Hosts, provide an independent and useful description of your problem, and provide the zipped log again. I'm sure you'll find more takers in that forum.

I can't just move your post, because being a "me too" it depends on too much context - and I can't move the other posts since I have no evidence that they belong in "Linux Hosts" - in fact the OP specifically states otherwise.

The only other thing I can say for now is that when a VM stops working it's because something changed. I know that VirtualBox can still run Win10 VMs, so consider what other software you recently installed, particularly regarding other VM platforms or graphics drivers.
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