VBox 6.1.36: Kernel Panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

[mhanft]

Hi,

now I also have the "Kernel Panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!" problem, but strangely

• since VirtualBox 6.1.36 (with 6.1.34, everything was OK)
• only with one of my guests, namely Gentoo Linux 64 bit.

All other guests (Gentoo Linux 32 bit, Ubuntu 64 bit or openSUSE 64 bit) still run without any problems.

I have already tried the suggestions from this forum (1, 2, or 4 CPUs; memory 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB; all the checkboxes on/off etc.) - nothing helps.

Host is Windows 10, and there is Microsoft's Hyper-V installed, too (for a virtual Windows 11), but ending the Hyper-V service doesn't help either (and all the other guests do run, even with Hyper-V service running in the background).

Now I am at my wit's end - what could I try next (except install a new Gentoo 64 bit from scratch, with uncertain success)?

Thanks,

-Matt

[scottgus1]

Start the VM from full normal shutdown, not save-state. Run until you see the problem happen, then shut down the VM from within the VM's OS if possible. If not possible, close the Virtualbox window for the VM with the Power Off option set.

Right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show Log. Save the far left tab's log, zip it, and post the zip file, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.

(except install a new Gentoo 64 bit from scratch, with uncertain success)?

We could certain-ify that if you did.

[mhanft]

I always used "shutdown -h now" to switch off the VM (never saved any running state).

Of course, in the current "Kernel Panic State", I just can switch off the machine "hard" by VirtualBox.

I have attached the requested log file. In that file, I have found the line "VT-x is not available".
The only BIOS config I have found in that context is "VT-d (Enables or disables Intel® Virtualization
Technology for Directed I/O", and that is "Enabled". Other virtualization configuration does
apparently not exist in the BIOS. Might the problem have something to do with Microsoft's Hyper-V
(even if it's just installed but not running)?

On the other hand, all other VMs (Linux 32 Bit, Linux 64 Bit, Windows 64 Bit) do run perfectly
with this configuration (and the problematic VM did run some weeks ago, too - probably before
the VB 6.1.36 update); so I'm afraid that just that special VM could be somewhat corrupted.

What I could try further (if it might help):
- in the Windows Features of the Host, remove all Hyper-V things and reboot
- downgrade VB to 6.1.34a (or .32 or .30 or .28) and check if it runs with those versions

Thanks again,
-Matt

[scottgus1]

You could always downgrade Virtualbox back to the working version and see if the VM comes back. That would be a good troubleshooting step.

Hyper-V is enabled on the host. See HMR3Init: Attempting fall back to NEM (Hyper-V is active) if you want to try disabling Hyper-V to see if that is blocking the VM.

The only BIOS config I have found in that context is "VT-d (Enables or disables Intel® Virtualization
Technology for Directed I/O", and that is "Enabled".

Many modern OS's have VT-x already enabled and no switch to disable it because it's so needed nowadays. VT-d isn't used by Virtualbox.

[mhanft]

Hmmm... downgrading VB to 6.1.34a won't show the guest windows at all; instead I get this Windows message (manually translated into English):

---------------------------
VirtualBoxVM.exe - Error in Application
---------------------------
The instruction in 0x00007FFE64D09EF4 is related to memory at 0x0000000000000000. The process could not be performed in memory.

Click "OK" to end the program.
Click "Cancel" to debug the program.
---------------------------
OK Cancel
---------------------------

and in VB it shows

The VM session was aborted.

Error code:
E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component:
SessionMachine
Interface:
ISession {c0447716-ff5a-4795-b57a-ecd5fffa18a4}

(Other VMs do work with the downgrade.)

Restoring VB to 6.1.36, everything is like before (VM windows shows, but kernel panic).
(I have still older versions available, .32, .30, and .28, which I didn't try yet.)

I didn't yet deinstall Hyper-V because I need that virtual Windows 11 for testing (which, as far as I know, won't work in VB because of the missing TPM).

But meanwhile I get the impression that this particular VM seems to be somehow corrupt...?!

-Matt

[mhanft]

Ok, now I tried

bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off

as mentioned here and rebooted - and now it works (and I have the blue virtualization icon instead of the green turtle).

Obviously it's not enough to stop the Hyper-V service by GUI.

Thanks a lot for pointing me to that forum post!

-Matt