Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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Treq
Posts: 6
Joined: 2. Jul 2018, 13:38
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, WinXP, Win8
Location: Norway

Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by Treq »

Hi,

I have been using VirtualBox for a long time on the work laptop.
This is a 32bit Win7 machine with VT-x/AMD-V turned off.

This has worked very well until recently.
After some Ubuntu update a month ago or so, it all stopped working. The kernel panics on boot always.
I thought perhaps it was some update problem, but I have tried reinstall with Ubuntu, Debian and Centos.
It all fails, but if I go a generation back it works.

So for Centos for example:
CentOS-7-i386-Minimal-1804.iso gives kernel panic on boot.
CentOS-7-i386-Minimal-1708.iso boots and installs just fine.
- However if I update 1708 after installation, it crashes just as the 1804 installer.

The VM has 1GB, I have tried to add more memory, but it doesn't seem to change anything.

Does anybody have an clue as to why this happens?

Thank you.
Centos - Old kernel works new kernel panics.png
Centos - Old kernel works new kernel panics.png (4.67 KiB) Viewed 5090 times

Code: Select all

[    7.707893] Calibrating delay loop (skipped) preset value.. 5651.90 BogoMIPS (lpj=2825954)
[    7.762482] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[    7.786272] Security Framework initialized
[    7.818684] SELinux:  Initializing.
[    7.829944] Yama: becoming mindful.
[    7.844822] Mount-cache hash table entries: 2048 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
[    7.891760] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 2048 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
[    7.905023] Initializing cgroup subsys memory
[    7.938719] Initializing cgroup subsys devices
[    7.971507] Initializing cgroup subsys freezer
[    7.977598] Initializing cgroup subsys net_cls
[    7.998891] Initializing cgroup subsys blkio
[    8.001656] Initializing cgroup subsys perf_event
[    8.002640] Initializing cgroup subsys hugetlb
[    8.015228] Initializing cgroup subsys pids
[    8.042692] Initializing cgroup subsys net_prio
[    8.061387] CPU: Physical Processor ID: 0
[    8.092052] mce: CPU supports 0 MCE banks
[    8.106494] Last level iTLB entries: 4KB 0, 2MB 0, 4MB 0
[    8.120157] Last level dTLB entries: 4KB 64, 2MB 0, 4MB 0
[    8.140824] tlb_flushall_shift: 6
[    8.157673] Speculative Store Bypass: Vulnerable
[    8.162223] FEATURE SPEC_CTRL Not Present
[    8.177672] FEATURE IBPB_SUPPORT Not Present
[    8.205950] Spectre V2 : Vulnerable: Retpoline without IBPB
[    8.219476] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP 
[    8.230864] Modules linked in:
[    8.239473] CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G        W      ------------   3.10.0-862.3.3.el7.centos.plus.i686 #1
[    8.261002] Hardware name: innotek GmbH VirtualBox/VirtualBox, BIOS VirtualBox 12/01/2006
[    8.293262] task: de068620 ti: de05c000 task.ti: de05c000
[    8.309006] EIP: 0060:[<dd845d49>] EFLAGS: 00200046 CPU: 0
[    8.328460] EIP is at native_flush_tlb+0x39/0x70
[    8.337458] EAX: 00000003 EBX: dd84da20 ECX: de05df00 EDX: fff15000
[    8.379722] ESI: dd8009ec EDI: de05df67 EBP: de05df14 ESP: de05df00
[    8.397449]  DS: 007b ES: 007b FS: 00d8 GS: 00e0 SS: 0068
[    8.416446] CR0: 80050033 CR2: ffd13000 CR3: 1e1c2000 CR4: 000006d0
[    8.431444] Call Trace:
[    8.437443]  [<ddddd3aa>] text_poke+0x13a/0x200
[    8.443078]  [<ddde4a30>] ? iret_exc+0xb9c/0xb9c
[    8.443442]  [<dd81cb89>] alternatives_smp_module_add+0x119/0x160
[    8.446442]  [<dd800000>] ? 0xdd7fffff
[    8.447298]  [<de0fe79b>] alternative_instructions+0x6b/0xae
[    8.451328]  [<dd800000>] ? 0xdd7fffff
[    8.453441]  [<ddde4a30>] ? iret_exc+0xb9c/0xb9c
[    8.454129]  [<de0ffe72>] check_bugs+0x1cc/0x276
[    8.457440]  [<dd8f63fa>] ? __delayacct_tsk_init+0x1a/0x30
[    8.458440]  [<de0f5b73>] start_kernel+0x3ac/0x3ea
[    8.461245]  [<de0f55f6>] ? repair_env_string+0x51/0x51
[    8.462439]  [<de0f5380>] i386_start_kernel+0x12e/0x131
[    8.464439] Code: 00 00 00 89 45 fc 31 c0 89 f6 c7 45 ec 00 00 00 00 8d 4d ec b0 03 c7 45 f0 00 00 00 00 c7 45 f4 00 00 00 00 c7 45 f8 00 00 00 00 <66> 0f 38 82 01 8b 45 fc 65 33 05 14 00 00 00 75 11 c9 c3 8d 74
[    8.481436] EIP: [<dd845d49>] native_flush_tlb+0x39/0x70 SS:ESP 0068:de05df00
[    8.483436] ---[ end trace f68728a0d3053b53 ]---
[    8.487234] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception
Last edited by Treq on 6. Jul 2018, 10:38, edited 3 times in total.
Treq
Posts: 6
Joined: 2. Jul 2018, 13:38
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, WinXP, Win8
Location: Norway

Re: Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by Treq »

Here are the two log files.
Attachments
Logs.zip
(51.35 KiB) Downloaded 19 times
Treq
Posts: 6
Joined: 2. Jul 2018, 13:38
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, WinXP, Win8
Location: Norway

Re: Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by Treq »

Hi,

I am running latest Virtualbox version 5.2.12.
I am trying to log the output of the Linux guest console to a file, but am having problems with that random characters seem to be lost in the output for some reason.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the guests always crashes now?
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by socratis »

Treq wrote:This is a 32bit Win7 machine with VT-x/AMD-V turned off.
00:00:01.512863 HM: HMR3Init: Falling back to raw-mode: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes
...
00:00:02.589186 Full Name: "Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6600U CPU @ 2.60GHz"
Why did you disable VT-x on your BIOS? This is becoming more and more of a requirement for virtualization. Your CPU certainly supports it. Enable it in your BIOS, see your crashes go away.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Treq
Posts: 6
Joined: 2. Jul 2018, 13:38
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, WinXP, Win8
Location: Norway

Re: Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by Treq »

Thank you for reply.

I don't know the BIOS password on this machine, and am not allowed to change the BIOS settings.
Or else I would surely enable hardware virtualization. :(
But on the other side; one of the main features listed on the About VirtualBox is that "No Hardware virtualization required".

Do you know if the Linux kernel been changed to use these "very esoteric processor instructions" that OS/2 used? Meaning that my problem basically is, that there is some weird x86 instruction that Oracle has not implemented yet in software?
Can you see this from the kernel panic?
Treq
Posts: 6
Joined: 2. Jul 2018, 13:38
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, WinXP, Win8
Location: Norway

Re: Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by Treq »

Replying to myself here.
I think this could be related to Spectre and the changes to the kernel that this brought.

Comparing the boot log of when the machine works and when it crashes, the main difference looks to me that the kernel looks for Spectre vulnerabilities.
The kernel does all this work related to Spectre and then crashes.

From the first line that is different between working and not working is this part that looks related to Spectre:

Code: Select all

[    8.157673] Speculative Store Bypass: Vulnerable
[    8.162223] FEATURE SPEC_CTRL Not Present
[    8.177672] FEATURE IBPB_SUPPORT Not Present
[    8.205950] Spectre V2 : Vulnerable: Retpoline without IBPB
[    8.219476] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP 
[    8.230864] Modules linked in:
[    8.239473] CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G        W      ------------   3.10.0-862.3.3.el7.centos.plus.i686 #1
[    8.261002] Hardware name: innotek GmbH VirtualBox/VirtualBox, BIOS VirtualBox 12/01/2006
[    8.293262] task: de068620 ti: de05c000 task.ti: de05c000
[    8.309006] EIP: 0060:[<dd845d49>] EFLAGS: 00200046 CPU: 0
[    8.328460] EIP is at native_flush_tlb+0x39/0x70
[    8.337458] EAX: 00000003 EBX: dd84da20 ECX: de05df00 EDX: fff15000
[    8.379722] ESI: dd8009ec EDI: de05df67 EBP: de05df14 ESP: de05df00
[    8.397449]  DS: 007b ES: 007b FS: 00d8 GS: 00e0 SS: 0068
[    8.416446] CR0: 80050033 CR2: ffd13000 CR3: 1e1c2000 CR4: 000006d0
[    8.431444] Call Trace:
[    8.437443]  [<ddddd3aa>] text_poke+0x13a/0x200
[    8.443078]  [<ddde4a30>] ? iret_exc+0xb9c/0xb9c
[    8.443442]  [<dd81cb89>] alternatives_smp_module_add+0x119/0x160
[    8.446442]  [<dd800000>] ? 0xdd7fffff
[    8.447298]  [<de0fe79b>] alternative_instructions+0x6b/0xae
...
Maybe this means that Linux is from now on only available as a guest on hosts that have hardware-assisted virtualization.
Unless Oracle implements the instruction that this Spectre-mitigation needs.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
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Location: Greece

Re: Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by socratis »

Treq wrote:I don't know the BIOS password on this machine, and am not allowed to change the BIOS settings.
Reset the BIOS? Removing the battery for example?
Treq wrote:one of the main features listed on the About VirtualBox is that "No Hardware virtualization required".
  1. Where does it say that, it may need an update ;)
  2. If you want to run DOS, Win95 to XP with 1 CPU, older Linux clients, with an older unsupported VirtualBox, on an older host, yes, it can be done. It was done for years. Not these days anymore I'm afraid.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Treq
Posts: 6
Joined: 2. Jul 2018, 13:38
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, WinXP, Win8
Location: Norway

Re: Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by Treq »

That is possible. :)
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch01. ... s-overview

I won't be able to change anything in the BIOS I think. This is a work-machine and I just won't be allowed to change anything in the BIOS.
So I guess I am simply stuck here then.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
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Location: Greece

Re: Recent 32bit linux on 32bit windows host crash

Post by socratis »

And that introduction leads to 10.3. Hardware vs. software virtualization, try reading that as well. ;)
Treq wrote:This is a work-machine and I just won't be allowed to change anything in the BIOS.
Well, you don't have too many options in today's world, except maybe asking them politely...
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
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