Inaccessible VM

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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nbs
Posts: 3
Joined: 26. May 2010, 15:30
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux

Inaccessible VM

Post by nbs »

I've recently upgraded Virtualbox to version 3.2.0 (from 3.1.4, AFAIR) and run my Ubuntu VM a couple of times without problems (although I didn't bother upgrading Guest Additions).

Today when trying to start my VM I got the following error:

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

The VM session was closed before any attempt to power it on.

Details:

Result Code:
E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component:
Machine
Interface:
ISession {12f4dcdb-12b2-4ec1-b7cd-ddd9f6c5bf4d}
====

Is it possible to fix it somehow?

-nbs
jems
Posts: 2
Joined: 27. May 2010, 09:10
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows Server 2008R2

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by jems »

Hi nbs,

I recently encountered a similar problem too (same error message, but not sure if I had the exact error codes). Basically, I have a snapshot that I restored to, and then when I tried to boot, it gave me the "the vm session was closed before any attempt to power it on" message. I tried re-restoring to the snapshot again (I only had 1 snapshot and thus could only revert back to it), and also tried to close and re-open VirtualBox and starting the VM, but to no avail.. Then as a desperate measure, I did a restart on the host OS, and somehow I was able to boot my into my VM again (with snapshot restored).

So, in conclusion, my solution was to perform a reboot of the Host OS.

Hope this helps and good luck with your problem ;)


Cheers,
jems
nbs
Posts: 3
Joined: 26. May 2010, 15:30
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by nbs »

Unfortunately, restarting the host OS doesn't help in my case.

-nbs
nbs
Posts: 3
Joined: 26. May 2010, 15:30
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by nbs »

I've finally managed to "recover" my VM by:
- removing the hard disk from the storage settings,
- starting the VM - it stopped with a missing boot loader error,
- adding the hard disk back.

Not sure if that matters but in the VirtualBox.xml-prev there is a line:
<ExtraDataItem name="GUI/UpdateDlgWinID" value="135514"/>
which is not present in the VirtualBox.xml (the one that works).

-nbs
dineshj
Posts: 34
Joined: 21. Nov 2009, 07:48
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows Vista

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by dineshj »

Thanks nbs. Me too faced this issue today. Fixed by your way.
jems
Posts: 2
Joined: 27. May 2010, 09:10
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows Server 2008R2

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by jems »

Hi nbs,

Congratulations in fixing your issue.

Just like to add that I forgot to mention that my HDD was stored on a removable drive.. Maybe that's why a reboot of the host OS managed to fix the issue (in my case) - although I did not remove the external drive or changed any settings during the whole process. I.e. Just a simple, straight forward host OS reboot.

Best regards,
Jems
patrickH
Posts: 1
Joined: 10. Jun 2010, 10:42
Primary OS: MS Windows Vista
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: winxp

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by patrickH »

I had the same problem today, I switchto VirtualBox 3.2.0 few days ago.
I remove Guest addition , then my guest OS manage to start.
I reinstall guest addition via the guest OS after my Guest OS start.
Then I reboot the Guest OS, and problem disapear.
NoDataFound
Posts: 1
Joined: 23. Jul 2010, 17:37
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: XP

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by NoDataFound »

I had the same issue using 3.2.0 r61806.

I imported an image, attempted to start it and got the same error as the OP.

To correct the issue, I went into the settings of the problematic VM. Went to the 'system' section and then onto the 'processor' tab. I unchecked "Enable PAE/NX' and the VM fired without issue. No reboots, or HDD changes for me.
sureshpeela
Posts: 1
Joined: 9. Dec 2010, 00:18
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: OSE Fedora
Guest OSses: Windows XP

"VM session was terminated before any attempt to power it on

Post by sureshpeela »

I am on 3.2.4 and had the same issue. But this was because my hard disk was ported to a different laptop.

Firstly the instance complained that the processor model mismatch.

I did the following steps

Use File>Export Appliance to dump the instance
File>Import Appliance and reload the instance with a diffent name
Load succeded but the new instance would not start it fails as "VM session was terminated before any attempt to power it on"

I had done the following to recover
1) Firstly noticed that I could not change any settings because the VM instance was in a Saved state instead of Powered Off.
2) Edited the xml file stored under \.VirtualBox\Machines\<Instance Name> to edit the following section as shown below to Fake a "powerOff" condition to expose the settings tab. See the xml excerpt below
3) Exited and Started Virtual box to see that the new isntance shows powered off instead of saved. Then just started the instance and it fired up properly.

<ExtraData>
<ExtraDataItem name="GUI/LastCloseAction" value="powerOff"/>
<ExtraDataItem name="GUI/LastGuestSizeHint" value="1440,802"/>
<ExtraDataItem name="GUI/LastWindowPostion" value="0,0,0,0,max"/>
<ExtraDataItem name="GUI/MiniToolBarAlignment" value="bottom"/>
<ExtraDataItem name="GUI/SaveMountedAtRuntime" value="yes"/>
<ExtraDataItem name="GUI/ShowMiniToolBar" value="yes"/>
</ExtraData>
danube
Posts: 4
Joined: 26. Apr 2010, 16:35
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: WinXP

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by danube »

NoDataFound wrote:I had the same issue using 3.2.0 r61806.

I imported an image, attempted to start it and got the same error as the OP.

To correct the issue, I went into the settings of the problematic VM. Went to the 'system' section and then onto the 'processor' tab. I unchecked "Enable PAE/NX' and the VM fired without issue. No reboots, or HDD changes for me.
I'm running 3.2.12 on Win7 with WinXP as guest. Funny thing, I CHECKED the mentioned 'Enable PAE/NX' option to get my machine back and running.
I also use several snapshots.
appyface
Posts: 79
Joined: 13. Sep 2009, 21:31
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: XP W7 Linux

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by appyface »

I am using 4.0.0.r69151 Windows XP Host and Windows XP Guest VM. Just had this happen for first time.

Had just rebooted machine, opened VirtualBox Manager GUI and started VM, and here this was.

I tried starting the VM several times, with same result... not unexpected, since nothing changed AFAIK :)

I opened the logfile in a text editor to have a look around, and noticed that the same log file was being used for every restart attempt I made (IIRC a new log should be created - ??? Maybe not when the VM doesn't start, dunno).

I tried to delete the logfile from disk but it was in use by VirtualBox Manager GUI, which I still had open. I closed the GUI but still couldn't delete because the process was hanging. I killed the process and deleted the log file from disk.

I tried starting the VM again and it came up fine :o

Maybe this helps somebody.

Kind regards,
--appyface
msheppard
Posts: 3
Joined: 9. Mar 2011, 16:23
Primary OS: MS Windows 2008
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows, all

Re: Inaccessible VM

Post by msheppard »

I got this error message after connecting to a Vm Host machine from RDC and thinking the machine had rebooted and none of my VM's were running. Turns out I had logged into the console of the machine and the VM's were all running fine.

Trying to start a VM on a second copy of Virtual Box on the same host caused this error and connecting to the correct session (the one already running the VM) showed me it was running fine.

M@
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