Failed to open a session for the virtual machine

[saberman]

Host: Windows 8.1 Pro x64 on a Surface Pro 3 512GB
Guest: Windows 8 x64

I have a number of VMs that I use as base machines. That is when I have to test something in a specific environment I clone the machine.

To avoid having a huge delay in using one when I need it I periodically start each one and apply Windows Updates.

I recently upgraded my VirtualBox from 4.3.30 to 5.0.4.

I was able to update most of my test VMs including a Windows 8 x64 machine. However, when I tried to start another Windows 8 x64 VM I got:
Failed to open a session for the virtual machine <VM Name>.

Configuration error: TM setting "MaybeUseOffsettedHostTSC" is no longer supported. Use the "Mode" setting instead. (VERR_CFGM_CONFIG_UNKNOWN_VALUE).

Result Code: E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component: ConsoleWrap
Interface: IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}

Can somebody please translate this into English and explain what I need to do to start this VM?

[mpack]

Sounds like you need to delete a manually set ExtraData item from the VM. I don't know how it was originally set, but if it was me I'd (a) back up the .vbox file, (b) look for the MaybeUseOffsettedHostTSC config item, and delete it.

[saberman]

>look for the MaybeUseOffsettedHostTSC config item, and delete it.
Before I do that I would like to know what it does and why I would have needed it under VirtualBox 4.3.30 and why it is causing a problem now.

[mpack]

Oh, ok. Well, I'm sure the 4.3.30 source code is still available as a download.

[saberman]

>>look for the MaybeUseOffsettedHostTSC config item, and delete it.
Is there a command for doing that or do I just delete it from the machine definition?

[saberman]

Oh, ok. Well, I'm sure the 4.3.30 source code is still available as a download.

So what you are saying is that nobody that views items in this forum has any idea what it was for or why it was needed for this particular VM when the other VMs with the same OS didn't need it? I have to review the source code and try and determine what it was for and determine what might have replaced it?

[mpack]

I am saying that the source code is the place to look for answers to questions about obscure implementation details.

[saberman]

I am saying that the source code is the place to look for answers to questions about obscure implementation details.

So there isn't any documentation that says what this item is for or how to delete it?
I guess I will have to open a bug report about a problem with going from VB 4 to VB 5.
https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/14661

[Perryg]

https://www.virtualbox.org/browser/vbox ... MR3/TM.cpp

It has to do with time. Do a search on that page to see what the error means. But my feeling is you might have manually set something and now it is no longer supported. For that we would need to see the extradata that was setup for the guest.

Code: Select all

/*
     * Init the locks.
     */
    rc = PDMR3CritSectInit(pVM, &pVM->tm.s.TimerCritSect, RT_SRC_POS, "TM Timer Lock");
    if (RT_FAILURE(rc))
        return rc;
    rc = PDMR3CritSectInit(pVM, &pVM->tm.s.VirtualSyncLock, RT_SRC_POS, "TM VirtualSync Lock");
    if (RT_FAILURE(rc))
        return rc;

    /*
     * Get our CFGM node, create it if necessary.
     */
    PCFGMNODE pCfgHandle = CFGMR3GetChild(CFGMR3GetRoot(pVM), "TM");
    if (!pCfgHandle)
    {
        rc = CFGMR3InsertNode(CFGMR3GetRoot(pVM), "TM", &pCfgHandle);
        AssertRCReturn(rc, rc);
    }

    /*
     * Specific errors about some obsolete TM settings (remove after 2015-12-03).
     */
    if (CFGMR3Exists(pCfgHandle, "TSCVirtualized"))
        return VMSetError(pVM, VERR_CFGM_CONFIG_UNKNOWN_VALUE, RT_SRC_POS,
                          N_("Configuration error: TM setting \"TSCVirtualized\" is no longer supported. Use the \"Mode\" setting instead."));
    if (CFGMR3Exists(pCfgHandle, "UseRealTSC"))
        return VMSetError(pVM, VERR_CFGM_CONFIG_UNKNOWN_VALUE, RT_SRC_POS,
                          N_("Configuration error: TM setting \"UseRealTSC\" is no longer supported. Use the \"Mode\" setting instead."));

    if (CFGMR3Exists(pCfgHandle, "MaybeUseOffsettedHostTSC"))
        return VMSetError(pVM, VERR_CFGM_CONFIG_UNKNOWN_VALUE, RT_SRC_POS,
                          N_("Configuration error: TM setting \"MaybeUseOffsettedHostTSC\" is no longer supported. Use the \"Mode\" setting instead."));

It might be as simple as setting the paravirtualization interface to default or legacy in the settings of the guest.

Not a lot of diagnostic information to go on though. No log file or *.vbox as attachment so this is all just guess work.

[saberman]

The log file and machine definition file are attached. Had to change machine definition to XML ans vbox extension is not allowed.

[Perryg]

Code: Select all

      <ExtraDataItem name="VBoxInternal/TM/MaybeUseOffsettedHostTSC" value="0"/>

Somewhere over the life of this guest the extradataitem was added manually. This is more than likely what is causing your issue since it was acceptable but now it is not. You can remove this by executing it again and leaving the value off ( blank ) or edit the *.vbox and remove it. If you edit then make sure the nothing VirtualBox is running so you can be sure you get a clean save.

[saberman]

>Somewhere over the life of this guest the extradataitem was added manually.
Unfortunately, I don't recall why this was necessary. A description of what it does would be useful in determining if it needs to be replaced by something else.

[socratis]

A description of what it does would be useful in determining if it needs to be replaced by something else.

At this point you have the following descriptions of what it does:

1. SourceArchive's description: {/TM/MaybeUseOffsettedHostTSC,bool,detect} Whether the CPU has a fixed TSC rate and may be used in offsetted mode with VT-x/AMD-V execution. This is autodetected in a very restrictive way by default. (sic. I have no freaking clue what that means)
2. My description: It's blocking your VM from starting. Delete it and be done with it. Nobody else seems to have it and everything is peachy. In any event, if you see any problems, you can always restore your .vbox from the backup, or re-insert the token.

[mpack]

Which takes us nicely back to what I said in my first post. Is this going to be a second loop?

[socratis]

• Ἐπανάληψις μήτηρ πάσης μαθήσεως. (ancient Greek)
• Repetitio est mater studiorum. (Latin)
• Repetition is the mother of learning.