Debian VMs not working on Windows 11/AMD cpu

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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Syyva
Posts: 2
Joined: 11. May 2023, 15:10

Debian VMs not working on Windows 11/AMD cpu

Post by Syyva »

Hello,

I recently moved to Windows 11 on a new PC (Ryzen 9 7940hs cpu) and I am having trouble getting my Debian VM to run.
I also tried installing a VM from a completely fresh Debian install and I'm having the same issue
I thought it was a kernel panic however it seems like I don't get an actual error message and the console just freezes and hangs on boot.
Hyper V is not enabled nor does it show up in the log, I also have a (new?) AMD cpu so I'm not sure if that has something to do with it.
Log file will be attached.
Thanks all.
Attachments
debtest-2023-05-11-10-24-13.zip
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scottgus1
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Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
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Re: Debian VMs not working on Windows 11/AMD cpu

Post by scottgus1 »

There is no Hyper-V on the host, The VM hardware appears to be working, and the CD-ROM boots, but no problems appear that I can see. I'd suggest trying re-downloading the ISO or try a different distro as a test.
Syyva
Posts: 2
Joined: 11. May 2023, 15:10

Re: Debian VMs not working on Windows 11/AMD cpu

Post by Syyva »

scottgus1 wrote:There is no Hyper-V on the host, The VM hardware appears to be working, and the CD-ROM boots, but no problems appear that I can see. I'd suggest trying re-downloading the ISO or try a different distro as a test.
I downloaded a new Gentoo iso and tried to set up a new machine but I'm still having the same issue. It's getting stuck at the same point with a flashing cursor and not continuing (image attached).
I also tried running on Virtualbox 6.1, 7.0.6 and 7.0.8 but I get to the same point every time. Also worth mentioning SVM is enabled in bios
Appreciate the reply!
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Screenshot 2023-05-11 145512.png
Screenshot 2023-05-11 145512.png (17.56 KiB) Viewed 2402 times
fth0
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Primary OS: Mac OS X other
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Location: Germany

Re: Debian VMs not working on Windows 11/AMD cpu

Post by fth0 »

Your host CPU ("AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics ") seems to be quite new indeed (Q1/2023), and your screenshot could indicate a CPU-specific issue ("cpuid4_cache_lookup_regs").

As a first step, I'd suggest to try booting your host with one of the Linux distributions (without using VirtualBox), to verify that your CPU is supported by the Linux distributions. Another thing to check is the Linux kernel version, because a new CPU could require a Linux kernel that is not yet supported by VirtualBox (VirtualBox 6.1.44 and 7.0.8 support Linux kernel 6.3).
RavenY2K3
Posts: 1
Joined: 31. May 2023, 16:28

Re: Debian VMs not working on Windows 11/AMD cpu

Post by RavenY2K3 »

Syyva wrote:Hello,

I recently moved to Windows 11 on a new PC (Ryzen 9 7940hs cpu) and I am having trouble getting my Debian VM to run.
I also tried installing a VM from a completely fresh Debian install and I'm having the same issue
I thought it was a kernel panic however it seems like I don't get an actual error message and the console just freezes and hangs on boot.
Hyper V is not enabled nor does it show up in the log, I also have a (new?) AMD cpu so I'm not sure if that has something to do with it.
Log file will be attached.
Thanks all.
Hi, I've only made an account o reply to this in the hope it helps others, I too was having the exact same issues as yourself with my Asus A17 2023, with a Ryzen 9 7940HS.
I would be able to boot a linux on the physical hardware okay, but not in VirtualBox, I could boot windows VMs though.

Nothing I tried in terms of VM settings, Windows settings etc got it working.
When checking to make sure I was using the latest drivers for the laptop, I noticed there was a BIOS update, only after I'd applied that update (to version 305 in my case) was VirtualBox able to successfully boot Linux VMs, it does not appear to have added any extra settings in the BIOS or anything like that, it must just be "under the hood" changes, either way, it's working for me now so I would check if you have any BIOS updates available for your system too.

HTH.
mpack
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Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Re: Debian VMs not working on Windows 11/AMD cpu

Post by mpack »

What relevance would a host BIOS update have to a VM? Secure boot?
fth0
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Re: Debian VMs not working on Windows 11/AMD cpu

Post by fth0 »

mpack wrote:What relevance would a host BIOS update have to a VM?
The (legacy or UEFI) BIOS usually configures some of the (tons of) features of Intel/AMD CPUs (e.g. enabling/disabling + locking VT-x, to give a well-known example). VirtualBox provides only some of the CPU features to the guest, hiding the rest (the CPU performance counters are an example for that).

Now if the BIOS configured a new CPU feature wrong, the host OS could detect the misconfiguration and react accordingly, because it has direct access to the CPU. If VirtualBox wasn't aware of the new CPU feature, it wouldn't detect the misconfiguration. And if VirtualBox didn't provide the new CPU feature to the guest, the guest OS also couldn't detect it.
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