VB does not fully load goes to a black screen

[Lizzie]

I am trying to set up a second Win 8.1 VM using VB 6.1.2 r135662 on Fedora 31. It is named Win8.1a. It starts up ok then hangs with a black screen. I have installed the extension pack. I have attached the latest log file. any help would be appreciated.

Lizzie

[mpack]

A second VM? How exactly? Is it a clone, and if so: how was the clone created? Did you use the VM clone creation feature of the UI (i.e. not the VDI cloning function).

The log shows the VM booting normally, even to the point of loading the Guest Additions and a USB filter. Windows 8.1 and later is always going to be near unusable with 1 core.

p.s. I'd give the VM 2 cores.

I do see these warnings, don't know if they are significant.

00:00:06.688444 HPET: Using timer above configured range: 3
00:00:06.688448 HPET: Using timer above configured range: 3
...
00:00:23.837708 NAT: Guest address guess changed from 10.0.2.15 to 169.254.181.0 by gratuitous arp
00:00:24.695872 NAT: resolv.conf: nameserver 192.168.0.1
00:00:24.695890 NAT: resolv.conf: nameserver 205.171.3.25
00:00:24.695899 NAT: Adding domain name domain.actdsltmp
00:00:24.695902 NAT: DNS#0: 192.168.0.1
00:00:24.695904 NAT: DNS#1: 205.171.3.25
00:00:24.695908 NAT: DHCP offered IP address 10.0.2.15
00:00:24.695910 NAT: Guest address guess changed from 169.254.181.0 to 10.0.2.15 by DHCP ACK
00:00:32.522702 VMMDev: Guest Log: 23:38:31.853577 timesync vgsvcTimeSyncWorker: Radical guest time change: -3 588 142 942 000ns (GuestNow=1 581 723 511 853

Trying to extend, and now clone, a time limited demo?

[Lizzie]

This is not a clone. I loaded the OS from disc. Increased the cores to 2. This made so it loaded faster but still the black screen. Lizzie

[mpack]

So what was the first VM and how was it different?

[Lizzie]

It was also Windows 8.1. While it will still run, it has some corrupted config files. Trying to set this one up to take care of that issue

[fth0]

Trying to extend, and now clone, a time limited demo?

The guest was one hour ahead:

00:00:00.863346 Log opened 2020-02-14T23:38:00.209263000Z
00:00:22.486386 VMMDev: Guest Log: 00:38:19.965805 main     Log opened 2020-02-15T00:38:19.965805000Z
00:00:32.522702 VMMDev: Guest Log: 23:38:31.853577 timesync vgsvcTimeSyncWorker: Radical guest time change: -3 588 142 942 000ns (GuestNow=1 581 723 511 853 577 200 ns GuestLast=1 581 727 099 996 519 200 ns fSetTimeLastLoop=true )

[Lizzie]

how do oi fix the problem of the guest additions being at a different time?

[fth0]

how do oi fix the problem of the guest additions being at a different time?

1st of all, I don't know if it's a problem at all. It's possibly your guest OS that gets its time from somewhere (e.g. Router, Internet). Some time related questions:

What time zone do you live in? UTC-7?
Is your guest OS configured to the timezone UTC+1?
Does your guest OS adjust its time using NTP (Internet)?

[Lizzie]

I am in UTC -7. The clock is set by the internet.

[scottgus1]

One hour off could be wrong daylight savings time setting, either in the OS settings or an un-updated OS (DST days get changed every so often by the politicians).

Guest Additions should not interfere with time sync. But a manual vboxmanage command can cause time offset. If none of the above fixes the time problem, zip and post the guest's .vbox file.

[Lizzie]

sorry to be so slow here; but, isn't the guest .vbox file on the guest? If the screen is black how do I send a copy? If it is not on the guest, where would it be located?

[scottgus1]

The .vbox file is on the host PC, in the guest's folder. In the main Virtualbox window, right-click the guest and choose "Show in {whatever Linux calls its file explorer}". A window should appear with the guest's .vbox file in it.

Uploading the .vbox file might help us clear up a possible vboxmanage-command-induced time shift, that's all. It occurs to me that we'd need to get the blackscreen problem fixed first, probably.

I looked through the vbox.log you posted and also cannot see a reason for the guest to be stuck on blackscreen. I see earlier that you installed with one processor then upped to 2. Please try a fresh new guest, with 2 processors from the beginning, VboxSVGA video, 128MB video memory and no 3D acceleration for now. Zip and post this guest's vbox.log.

If this fresh guest also goes blackscreen, please try to get a fresh iso (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... indows8ISO) and try a third time. If this third guest also goes blackscreen, download and install a Linux LiveCD, see what that does.

[Lizzie]

solved the problem of a black screen. I changed from VBoxSGA to VBoxVGA and the problem went away.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my plea for help. On to the next problem with a new ticket.

[scottgus1]

FWIW VboxVGA won't have any 3D acceleration. If you don't need 3D then you're OK. If you find you do need 3D one day you'll need to go back to VboxSVGA. A fresh test guest with new 8.1 as recommended will probably indicate if such is possible at the time.