VirtualBox 7 (Beta) on MAC Monterey ARM M1

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
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coolsport00
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VirtualBox 7 (Beta) on MAC Monterey ARM M1

Post by coolsport00 »

First post here in the forums, but have been using VBox several yrs. I looked through several posts, but didn't see anything definitive re: the query I have. I just received a new MAC Air at work, Monterey with M1 chip. Previous 6.x version of VBox (dont' recall exact vers) I couldn't install. I downloaded the BETA 7.0.2 version & got it installed just fine. I installed the 'Additions' pkg as well. I tried to run a Windows 10 VM I had used previously, and it won't boot up. Is this known? VMs won't run yet with the BETA version? I didn't try to install the MAC OS/Intel version as I assumed that won't work and/or install. Any idea when a workable VBox version will be released? Thanks in advance. BTW...I added the log file for the VM, attached.

Shane
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scottgus1
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Re: VirtualBox 7 (Beta) on MAC Monterey ARM M1

Post by scottgus1 »

coolsport00 wrote:I looked through several posts, but didn't see anything definitive
Try the M1/M2 Sticky at the top of Mac Hosts. :D
coolsport00
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Re: VirtualBox 7 (Beta) on MAC Monterey ARM M1

Post by coolsport00 »

Hey @scottgus1 -
I actually did skim through that one but really didn't get the gist of what was said. Is it basically saying MAC M1/M2 is not supported yet still?..i.e. won't be able to power on VMs? In my log file, I see the following failure error: "00:00:00.710072 Firmware type: failed - VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED", which would obviously lead me to believe just that...VBox is still not supported on Monterey with M1/M2 chips?

Really appreciate the response, sir.

Cheers!
Shane Williford
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Re: VirtualBox 7 (Beta) on MAC Monterey ARM M1

Post by multiOS »

I would suggest that it's probably best to monitor the relevant Changelog updates that are made available via a link on the Downloads page for each new release, e.g.

7.0.0 release (Bold emphasis is mine)
macOS host: Dropped all kernel extensions. VirtualBox relies fully on the hypervisor and vmnet frameworks provided by Apple now. At the moment the implementation lacks "Internal Networking" functionality. This will be provided at a later date.
macOS host: Providing a Developer Preview package for systems with an Apple silicon CPU. This is unsupported work in progress, and is known to have very modest performance.
7.0.2 release
macOS hosts: Re-introduced support for internal networking, this is considered a bit experimental still
macOS hosts: Fixed VM crash when the guest tries to access a microphone or webcam
You will note that there is no mention yet of any expected improvement in performance for the the Apple Silicon Developer Preview release in 7.0.2 so those benefits that have been delivered for macOS will primarily be for those still using Intel Macs and you probably shouldn't expect any significant reliability/performance improvement for M1/M2 Macs until there is a specific announcement (and a move on from the Developer Preview status).
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Re: VirtualBox 7 (Beta) on MAC Monterey ARM M1

Post by fth0 »

coolsport00 wrote:In my log file, I see the following failure error: "00:00:00.710072 Firmware type: failed - VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED"
You'll see this error message in every VBox.log file created by any VirtualBox version on macOS hosts. For the background rationale, see MH - Firmware type log message.
coolsport00
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Re: VirtualBox 7 (Beta) on MAC Monterey ARM M1

Post by coolsport00 »

Really appreciate the additional responses. I guess I'll keep an eye on that Changelog for further developments for the MAC M1/M2 chips.

Cheers!
Shane Williford
@coolsport00
Systems Architect
VCP, VMCA, vExpert, Veeam Vanguard
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