VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

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ermshiperete
Posts: 5
Joined: 20. Jul 2022, 15:45

VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by ermshiperete »

With 6.1.36 I'm no longer able to start VirtualBox. It hangs for quite a while and finally exits with a message box "failed to acquire com object".

Deleting ~/.config/VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml allows to start the GUI, but then of course all my VMs no longer show up.

The VBoxSVC.log showed:
00:00:00.153239 nspr-2 failed to create vboxnet0, error (0xffffffff)
00:00:00.161101 nspr-2 failed to create vboxnet1, error (0xffffffff)
00:00:00.169793 nspr-2 failed to create vboxnet2, error (0xffffffff)

Downgrading to 6.1.34 "fixed" things.

This is on Ubuntu 22.04, kernel 5.15.0-41-generic.
Last edited by scottgus1 on 2. Sep 2022, 16:34, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: changed title to reflect problem
scottgus1
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Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by scottgus1 »

I suspect this is an installation problem, not a specific issue with the new release. But with the Linux host, I'm not sure how to fix it. Moving to Linux Hosts.
sunrider
Posts: 15
Joined: 10. Sep 2015, 11:45

Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by sunrider »

Same problem here on Ubuntu 20.04, kernel 5.4.0-122
After
sudo dpkg -i virtualbox-6.1_6.1.36-152435~Ubuntu~focal_amd64.deb
over the 6.1.34 version, starting the VirtualBox Manager application either from the dock or the terminal causes VBoxSVC to acquire approx. 1GB memory per second until the main memory is fully allocated (see attachment: top.png). Then failure with popup window (see attachment):
"Failed to acquire the VirtualBox COM object. [...] Callee RC: NS_ERROR_ABORT (0x80004004)"
A plain kill command on VBoxSVC during memory allocation produces the same result.

I could not find any suspicious messages in logs (see dmesg excerpt in attachment).

Problem remains after
sudo dpkg -r virtualbox-6.1
and
sudo dpkg -i virtualbox-6.1_6.1.36-152435~Ubuntu~focal_amd64.deb

Reproducible.
No known mitigation.
Downgrade to 6.1.34 and running without problems on the old version.
Attachments
error msg popup
error msg popup
Screenshot from 2022-08-02 19-40-26.png (20.72 KiB) Viewed 2526 times
dmesg.6.1.36.txt
dmesg excerpt
(634 Bytes) Downloaded 4 times
top showing <60GB mem alloc for VBoxSVC
top showing <60GB mem alloc for VBoxSVC
top.png (114.24 KiB) Viewed 2526 times
fth0
Volunteer
Posts: 5668
Joined: 14. Feb 2019, 03:06
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, Windows 10, ...
Location: Germany

Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by fth0 »

This issue should be fixed in the VirtualBox test builds 6.1.37r152565 and newer. For details, see 21034. For a workaround, see 21034#comment:13.
ermshiperete
Posts: 5
Joined: 20. Jul 2022, 15:45

Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by ermshiperete »

6.1.38 allows me to start VirtualBox again, but now all VMs with a saved state fail to start.
scottgus1
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Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
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Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by scottgus1 »

ermshiperete wrote:all VMs with a saved state fail to start
This is known behavior. Saved states do not survive a Virtualbox version change.

You can do one of two things:

A. Downgrade back to 6.1.34 where the VMs were starting. Start the save-stated VM, save unsaved data and shut the VM down normally using the VM OS's shutdown commands.

-or-

B. Right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window and choose Discard Saved State. The VM will start as if it had its power plug pulled on it. Data not saved to disk inside the VM will be lost.

If you actually have a VM which did start correctly in 6.1.38, then you save-stated it still in 6.1.38 and it won't start again, please clarify this, and we'll get you going on a new topic.
galitsyn
Posts: 82
Joined: 4. Jul 2012, 16:09

Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by galitsyn »

scottgus1 wrote:
ermshiperete wrote:all VMs with a saved state fail to start
This is known behavior. Saved states do not survive a Virtualbox version change.

You can do one of two things:

A. Downgrade back to 6.1.34 where the VMs were starting. Start the save-stated VM, save unsaved data and shut the VM down normally using the VM OS's shutdown commands.

-or-

B. Right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window and choose Discard Saved State. The VM will start as if it had its power plug pulled on it. Data not saved to disk inside the VM will be lost.

If you actually have a VM which did start correctly in 6.1.38, then you save-stated it still in 6.1.38 and it won't start again, please clarify this, and we'll get you going on a new topic.
Hi guys,

A VM state saved with 6.1.34 should be restored with 6.1.38. This is expected behavior. If it is not a case then this is a bug. It would be helpful to take a look at VBox.log of a VM which is unable to restore its saved state.

Saved state is expected not to be restored only in case if you save it with VirtualBox of the bigger major release version and try to restore it with the previous one. For example, state saved with VBox 7 will not be restored with version 6.1.38.
scottgus1
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Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by scottgus1 »

Hmm, that's interesting, galitsyn! We've had lots of folks who bump up one or two minor versions (Z.Y.X to Z.Y.X+2) and saved states won't start.

ermshiperete, please go ahead and post the failing saved-state restore log. I'm going to watch this one! :D
ermshiperete
Posts: 5
Joined: 20. Jul 2022, 15:45

Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by ermshiperete »

Attached are the VBox.log files of failed restores of a Windows 10 VM and a Ubuntu 22.04 VM.
Attachments
VBox.log
VBox.log of a Ubuntu 22.04 VM
(43.88 KiB) Downloaded 6 times
VBox.log
VBox.log of a Windows 10 VM
(38.14 KiB) Downloaded 5 times
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
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Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by scottgus1 »

One thing I do notice, which may obscure the saved-state question. Your Extension Pack is mismatched. Update the EP to 6.1.38 version too.

If the save-stated VMs still don't start, please provide new logs.
fth0
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Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by fth0 »

The crashes happen when VirtualBox loads the VBoxEhciR0.r0 module from the mismatched Extension Pack. This happens way before the saved state information normally gets loaded.
ermshiperete
Posts: 5
Joined: 20. Jul 2022, 15:45

Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by ermshiperete »

Installing the 6.1.38 extension pack solves the problem and allows me to restore the saved state. Thanks a lot!
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: VirtualBox 6.1.36 failed to acquire com object

Post by scottgus1 »

Great! Glad you're up and running!
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