Virtualbox 6.0, crashes immediately on ubuntu 18.10

[rjhanson]

Hello all,
I tried to use virtualbox 6.0 on my HP desktop with ubuntu 18.10 and got this error:

Gdk-Message: 15:07:01.955: VirtualBox: Fatal IO error 0 (Success) on X server :0.

I installed virtualbox 6.0 on my laptop and it works just fine. I tried all the tricks I could find on the net with no success. I returned to virtualbox 5.2 and it works perfectly. What changed that 6.0 does not work on my desktop computer?

Thanks

Richard

[socratis]

What changed that 6.0 does not work on my desktop computer?

I'll reverse the question; what's different between your laptop and your desktop?

[rjhanson]

Good question. Both are running ubuntu 18.10. Laptop is a lenovo Z50 with AMD A10 processor. Desktop is a hp pavillion with AMD Ryzen 3 processor.

I built them so they have the same programs as the laptop is for travel.

[kipc]

Same problem on fresh Ubuntu 18.10 on ASUS N551JW laptop

$ virtualbox
Gdk-Message: 21:32:35.060: VirtualBox: Fatal IO error 2 (No such file or directory) on X server :0.

$ sudo virtualbox
Qt WARNING: QStandardPaths: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set, defaulting to '/tmp/runtime-root'
Qt WARNING: QStandardPaths: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set, defaulting to '/tmp/runtime-root'
Qt WARNING: The X11 connection broke: Maximum allowed requested length exceeded (code 4)
XIO:  fatal IO error 2 (No such file or directory) on X server ":0"
      after 612 requests (612 known processed) with 0 events remaining.

2019-01-11-20-58-57-bugreport.tgz

(2.52 KiB) Downloaded 38 times

Anybody has a solution?

[socratis]

Same problem on fresh Ubuntu 18.10

I know one thing; this is not as fresh as you think or say that it is, because on a fresh Ubuntu 18.10 you won't be getting this. Something seems wrong with your Qt setup. Can you retry the installation with a fresh download from the Linux Downloads area?

[kipc]

I've found the cause...
It works normally after unplugging HDMI cable connected to a TV

socratis, thanks for help!

[socratis]

It works normally after unplugging HDMI cable connected to a TV

Hmm... that's rather interesting, if not straight out weird. I would suggest to turn off the audio completely and try again, but you're getting an X server error (if I read it correctly)...

socratis, thanks for help!

Come on, I did nothing...

[kipc]

It works normally after unplugging HDMI cable connected to a TV

Hmm... that's rather interesting, if not straight out weird. I would suggest to turn off the audio completely and try again, but you're getting an X server error (if I read it correctly)...

I tried to disable audio devices, but it didn't help. However, when I switch to 'Single Display' in Display Mode to work only with laptop screen - virtualbox starts normally.

Also, the error message changed and now it's actually the same as for the OP:

Gdk-Message: 00:00:12.530: VirtualBox: Fatal IO error 0 (Success) on X server :0.

[nickbrooker]

It's not just Ubuntu. I have the same issue on Gentoo.

Setting it to Single Display works but mirrored or stretch crashes with the error the OP noted.

VirtualBox: Fatal IO error 0 (Success) on X server :0.

[lizaoreo]

I've found the cause...
It works normally after unplugging HDMI cable connected to a TV

socratis, thanks for help!

Thanks for this. I was having the same issue on a fresh load of Linux Mint 19 and couldn't figure out what was going on. I happened to be TeamViewer'd into the computer (the first thing I loaded) but it was still plugged up via VGA to my TV. Loaded VirtualBox (the second thing I loaded) and I couldn't run it. Made no sense because I had just run it on the same exact box a few days ago while working on some documentation for building my lab up from scratch so this was my test rebuild. I unplugged that VGA cable and immediately was able to run it no problem.

Super weird.

[IansMusical]

I've found the cause...
It works normally after unplugging HDMI cable connected to a TV

socratis, thanks for help!

I've just installed Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon on a 8th Gen NUC and the first thing I did was install VirtualBox 6. After typing virtualbox in the terminal window I saw the error:

VirtualBox: Fatal IO error 2 (No such file or directory) on X server :0.

Like for the original poster I found that removing the HDMI connection to the TV and running virtualbox blind, then reconnecting the HDMI connection caused virtualbox to run correctly. Closing and re-opening virtualbox again with the HDMI connection still present resulted in it crashing as before. I'm assuming this is a bug, is there a fix planned to something/virtualbox or do I have something incorrectly configured?

It's worth noting that on the same NUC I also have Linux Mint 19.1 Mate with VirtualBox 6 installed and it runs fine without having to mess with the HDMI connection!

[Jans125]

It is May 2020.

I can still recreate the problem and the solution on MX Linux 18.3 and 19.1.

Problem:
- VirtualBox 6+ crashes

Solution:
- unplug HDMI cable for your monitor
- run VirtualBox blind
- plug in HDMI cable for your monitor
- now VirtualBox didn't crash

I couldn't find a place to report bugs, so I write in this thread that helped me in hopes to make people aware that this is still a problem.