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No bootable medium found!

Posted: 11. May 2007, 01:01
by kinfe
What do I have to do? Currently, I have Vista and Ubuntu (ver 6) setup on two different partitions. I just followed the setup menu.

Partial info from the setup,

"
Hard Disks
Primary Master linux.vdi[Nomal, 7.81 GB]

"


Thanks.

re:

Posted: 11. May 2007, 20:05
by titan_never_surrenders
You need to use a .iso or a cd to install your vitrual machine. On the settings button open the cd/dvd tab and mount either a cd/dvd drive with your install cd or you can mount a .iso file of a install cd. I hope this helps.

Posted: 13. May 2007, 12:59
by abcuser
Hi,
don't know if this is a problem, but VirtualBox requires administrative privilege to run. I have two accounts Administrator and User, so I need to configure how to use Windows with User, but running VirtualBox with administrative rights (runas command can help). According to UserManual documentation this administration dependency will be removed from some of new version.
Hope this helps,
Abcuser

Posted: 2. Oct 2008, 22:21
by johnsok0
<You need to use a .iso or a cd to install your vitrual machine. On the settings button open the cd/dvd tab and mount either a cd/dvd drive with your install cd or you can mount a .iso file of a install cd. I hope this helps.>

I am having the same issue. So I download the software, install the software and choose standard responses, and now I need a CD to install the virtual machine? I don't understand this, why isn't the vm started from my laptop's harddrive?

I have to carry around a CD with me everytime I want to start the vm? Remember that I have already "installed" it.

Here is the error I am getting: FATAL: No bootable medium found! System halted.

My info:

Version 2.0.2 installed windows xp o/s

Base memory 512mb
Video memory 8mb
Boot order: hard disk
ACPI enabled
IO APIC/VT-XAMD-V/PAE NX disabled
Hardisk: IDE Primary Master partition_xp.vdi [Normal, 10gb]
CD/DVD Rom not mounted
Floppy not mounted
Audio disabled
Network: Adapter 1 PCnet FAST III (NAT)
Seial ports and USB disabled

Thanks, Kate


[/i]

Posted: 2. Oct 2008, 22:46
by Sasquatch
Do you need a CD to boot your laptop? No, because there is an OS installed on it. Please read the VirtualBox FAQ and learn what a VM actually is.

Posted: 3. Oct 2008, 10:22
by reywan1
I have same problem . i installed virtual box and when i start the virtual machine i get same message : fatal error no bootable medium found. I don't think that i my fault. every time i get this message no mater what i use : a real cd or dvd in my dvd-rom unit, an Iso image , a virtual dvd loaded with that image (daemon tool). The CD/DVD-ROM option is enable on virtual machine settings.

Posted: 3. Oct 2008, 12:04
by mpack
Having encountered this same message myself a couple of days ago (trying to create a Win98 VM - just to see if I could!) - the message seems to mean what it says, ie. the Virtual Machine can't find a bootable medium among the disks listed in boot order under settings.

In my case the problem was that although I thought the CD ISO image I was using was bootable - in fact it wasnt. An ISO image of another CD worked just fine.

If you have the original CD, not the ISO, then there's a simple test. Try getting your PC to boot off the CD (obviously you'd cancel the install). If the PC can't boot off it then neither can a VM.

Posted: 16. Oct 2008, 02:41
by sippnonacorona
I upgraded to VBOX 2.0.2 and now I get this same error message.
HOST: Ubuntu Hardy 64-bit (linux-2.6.24-21-rt)
GUEST: Ubuntu Hardy 32-bit (this starts ok with no error)
GUEST: Windows XP sp4 32-bit (this gives a black screen with error about boot media)

Other factors about the environment:
#1 Ubuntu Hardy (Host) had updates for the kernel.
I updated, installed the matching headers, and then rebooted.
I then ran: sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup
there were no errors.
#2 My VM image files (vdi) were on a data disk that was getting replaced. I moved the vdi files into my home directory. Then, in the VM Manager, I selected NEW and followed the wizard, reattaching to the vdi files in the new location.

It is my impression the error message is thrown because VBox can not start the guest session booting the vdi image file.

Is there a utility that can diagnose the vdi files to check for corruption?
Is there some other setting that could be causing this error?

Posted: 16. Oct 2008, 20:22
by Sasquatch
You say you ran the new disk wizard, did you actually create a new disk, or point to an existing to be added? If you create a new disk with the same name, the old one will loose it's data.

Posted: 17. Oct 2008, 05:13
by sippnonacorona
The wizard let me point to the existing one and that's what I did.
I did not create a new disk image ready to a new install from the CD.

It's like the logical boot sector in the vdi file is not working?... hmmm

Posted: 18. Oct 2008, 16:20
by Sasquatch
sippnonacorona wrote:The wizard let me point to the existing one and that's what I did.
I did not create a new disk image ready to a new install from the CD.

It's like the logical boot sector in the vdi file is not working?... hmmm
That is possible. Boot from the original OS install medium and go into recovery mode. It should see the OS and give you the ability to repair the installation, or the boot record. See your OS documention on how to do that.

Re: No bootable medium found!

Posted: 12. Dec 2009, 19:26
by ntwstn
i dont even have the CD/DVD ROM option in my settings how do i mount

Re: No bootable medium found!

Posted: 12. Dec 2009, 19:27
by Perryg
What version of VirtualBox are you using?

Re: No bootable medium found!

Posted: 31. Aug 2012, 14:20
by esporter
Solved this problem on Mac OS 10.7.4 (Lion) one one of the new (driveless) Macbook Pros. It probably failed because I copied the contents of the disk to the SSD, then created an iso from the folder. Created an iso in Ubuntu directly from the disk (on another machine) and copied the iso over. Booted fine.

Re: No bootable medium found!

Posted: 16. Aug 2013, 20:53
by Tom Johnsen
I was able to get past this by installing the VirtualBox Extension Pack and hitting F12 for service boot on startup.