[Solved] Ubuntu 14.04 Guest on Win7 Pro - can't log in using VirtualBox 5.0 and above

[dabberd]

I have an Ubuntu 14.04 guest on a Win7 host. When I use VirtualBox 5.0 and higher I can't log onto the guest. I try to log into the guest it brings me back to the login screen. I have tried logging in using the GUI and the command window. In the command window I get an incorrect password error even though I use the correct password. When I use VB versions earlier than 5.0I can log in (I am currently using 4.3.40), However, when I first logged into the guest using VB 4.3.40 I got an error from Ubuntu (see attached screenshot)

host info:
MoBo: ASUS ROG Strix X370-F Gaming W/16GB memory
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
O/S: Windows 7 Pro SP1
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti

[socratis]

We're going to need a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run:

• Gather the necessary information:
  1. Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state).
  2. Observe the error, i.e. try to login.
  3. Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.

[dabberd]

As requested, here is the log file from a run using VirtualBox 5.2.12. I used 7zip - I hope that's not a problem

[socratis]

VirtualBox VM 5.2.12 r122591 win.amd64 (May  9 2018 10:42:46) release log

5.2.14 is out, you might want to upgrade. Don't forget the Ext. Pack and the Guest Additions (GAs) for your guest.

00:00:00.685823 Path <string> = "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso" (cb=58)

Don't forget to eject your GAs CD once you're done with the installation, generally speaking. You might have issues when you upgrade, like I just mentioned above.

00:00:00.660031 File system of 'C:\Users\Doug\VirtualBox VMs\PyImageSearch - Practical Python and
        OpenCV 3rd Edition\PyImageSearch - Practical Python and OpenCV 3rd Edition-disk1.vmdk' is ntfs

That looks like a pre-installed VM, not a VM from scratch, is that right?

00:00:00.685853 VRamSize <integer> = 0x0000000001000000 (16 777 216, 16 MB)

Consider at least 64 MB, if not 128 MB (max) for the VRAM (VM Settings » Display). You might want to enable 3D acceleration while you're there.

00:00:08.905994 VMMDev: Guest Additions information report: Version 4.3.40 r110317 '4.3.40'

It turns out that you've never actually installed the GAs, you just inserted the CD! Whether you upgrade to 5.2.14 or not, install the matching GAs.

[dabberd]

Thanks for the info. To answer your question, this is a 3rd party VM- I didn't build it from scratch. I'll check about changing the memory size.

[dabberd]

This is weird -- I changed the VRam to 64 MB and I was able to log onto the VM using 5.2.12 . Problem solved !!

Thanks. I'll get the latest version

[socratis]

The VRAM suggestions are unbelievably conservative for this kind of operations. To Be Continued...

Glad you got it going. Marking as [Solved].