VT-x is not available

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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thany
Posts: 108
Joined: 24. Dec 2008, 02:35

VT-x is not available

Post by thany »

I can't start any VM, it says:

Code: Select all

Failed to open a session for the virtual machine Linux Mint.

VT-x is not available (VERR_VMX_NO_VMX).

Result Code: E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component: ConsoleWrap
Interface: IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}
VT-x and VT-d are both enabled in my BIOS settings. I doublechecked that a minute ago.
The weirdest part is that VB used to work until a few weeks ago. I don't use my VMs very often. I'm not sure what could've happened in the mean time that messed things up so badly...

Relevant specs&versions: VirtualBox 5.2.12, Windows 10 x64 with April Update, Windows Defender, and a Dell XPS15 laptop with i7-7700HQ.
I'm probably running the latest everything. Yolo.
andyp73
Volunteer
Posts: 1631
Joined: 25. May 2010, 23:48
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Assorted Linux, Windows Server 2012, DOS, Windows 10, BIOS/UEFI emulation

Re: VT-x is not available

Post by andyp73 »

thany wrote:I'm not sure what could've happened in the mean time
This is what happened in the mean time...
thany wrote:Windows 10 x64 with April Update
With each new Windows update Microsoft find new and exciting ways to make running VirtualBox more difficult. The VBox.log file from the guest (zipped) may make it easier for us to diagnose things.

As well as making sure that Hyper-V is disabled in Windows Features you also need to disable Device Guard, Credential Guard, the new setting that runs the Edge browser in a container, ...

There are also a couple of commands you may need to run in an elevated command prompt (right-click, Run-as-Administrator):
  • dism /Online /Disable-Feature:Microsoft-Hyper-V
    bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off
-Andy.
My crystal ball is currently broken. If you want assistance you are going to have to give me all of the necessary information.
Please don't ask me to do your homework for you, I have more than enough of my own things to do.
thany
Posts: 108
Joined: 24. Dec 2008, 02:35

Re: VT-x is not available

Post by thany »

Device Guard and Credential Guard sound like something I should want to keep enabled. Won't I be exposed to additional attacks with them disabled? Or wont something stop working, like, Edge?
Is it not possible to make VB compatible with these guards?

I've checked Hyper-V, and it's not enabled.

I'll attach the log file zipped.
Attachments
VBox.zip
(8.21 KiB) Downloaded 22 times
I'm probably running the latest everything. Yolo.
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: VT-x is not available

Post by socratis »

thany wrote:Is it not possible to make VB compatible with these guards?
You need to talk to Microsoft about that, and convince them to play "nice". Otherwise, not a chance in a thousand the way things are right now...
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.
andyp73
Volunteer
Posts: 1631
Joined: 25. May 2010, 23:48
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Assorted Linux, Windows Server 2012, DOS, Windows 10, BIOS/UEFI emulation

Re: VT-x is not available

Post by andyp73 »

thany wrote:I've checked Hyper-V, and it's not enabled.
If you still have Device Guard, Credential Guard or the new Edge "feature" enabled then Hyper-V gets turned on without you knowing it - the same way as some anti-virus products take control of VT-x and don't play nicely with it.

You need to decide what your priority is - in my case, my Windows machine has all those things off and now uses Windows Defender as I need to run VirtualBox. YMMV.

-Andy.
My crystal ball is currently broken. If you want assistance you are going to have to give me all of the necessary information.
Please don't ask me to do your homework for you, I have more than enough of my own things to do.
thany
Posts: 108
Joined: 24. Dec 2008, 02:35

Re: VT-x is not available

Post by thany »

Okay, so how do I turn off this Device Guard thing? Here's what I eventually did:

I've done these commands:
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2146361
Except for the group policy thing. I don't have that. I also don't have Hyper-V listed in Windows Features, so it can't have been installed.
You then have to reboot, and opt out of two security things. The opt-out screens will only appear once.

After that, VM-x is still unavailable. So let's do the next step:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/104 ... -10-a.html
I downloaded that REG file, because Defender did not let me disable Core Isolation myself, as it said "managed by system administrator" or similar. Ugh.
So I applied that reg file, rebooted, and now virtualization starts working again.

Thanks, Microsoft, for messing up virtualization software.
Hopefully someone will benefit from the above :)

(disclaimer: I'm not sure if this is the absolute right way of doing things, and it might not work for you in true Micosoft-magic fashion, but it might just as well, noone knows for sure :?)
I'm probably running the latest everything. Yolo.
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: VT-x is not available

Post by socratis »

Not sure if you solved your VT-x theft from Hyper-V, but here's a rather big laundry list of things to try: https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/17741#comment:9

Let us know if it worked or not...
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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