trying to start up Mac-on-Mac virtual machine after 7.0.12 upgrade from 6.1.36

[myopic man]

worked fine running MacOS 10.9 under current MacOS 11 on Mac Pro 5,1
very plain setup to run Quicken 2017

with a fresh install of 7.0.12, and after a restart, any single machine from 6.1.36 fails to open properly.
the guest window flashes black, then disappears and the short log window shows:
Result Code:
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0X80004005)
Component:
ConsoleWrap
Interface:
IConsole {6ac83d89-6ee7-4e33-8ae6-b257b2e81be8}

00:00:02.012435 VirtualBox VM 7.0.12 r159484 darwin.amd64 (Oct 12 2023 20:27:35) release log
00:00:02.012437 Log opened 2023-12-27T01:30:24.016408000Z
00:00:02.012438 Build Type: release
00:00:02.012463 OS Product: Darwin
00:00:02.012475 OS Release: 20.6.0
00:00:02.012487 OS Version: Darwin Kernel Version 20.6.0: Thu Jul 6 22:12:47 PDT 2023; root:xnu-7195.141.49.702.12~1/RELEASE_X86_64
00:00:02.012612 DMI Product Name: MacPro5,1
00:00:02.012688 DMI Product Version: 0.0
00:00:02.012694 Firmware type: failed - VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED
00:00:02.012759 Host RAM: 32768MB (32.0GB) total, 25292MB (24.6GB) available
00:00:02.012762 Executable: /Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/VirtualBoxVM
00:00:02.012762 Process ID: 1432
00:00:02.012763 Package type: DARWIN_64BITS_GENERIC
00:00:02.015464 Installed Extension Packs:
00:00:02.015515 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack (Version: 7.0.12 r159484; VRDE Module: VBoxVRDP; Crypto Module: VBoxPuelCrypto)
00:00:02.017648 Console: Machine state changed to 'Starting'

rest is in
log file attached.

[scottgus1]

Wikipedia tells me that Mac 11 (Darwin 20.6) is Big Sur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)

Virtualbox 7.0 was designed around the new restrictions enforced by Apple for Ventura and later, namely, no kexts. There is some forum talk that the further back you go from Ventura, the worse 7.0 can get because of the enforced change.

You may do better remaining on 6.1 for Bug Sur.

Also note that getting an old Mac to run Ventura and later using OpenCore Legacy Patcher may also up-end Virtualbox.

(Note that I am not a Mac guru, others here will say much better what kind of stuff I'm blowing just now. )

[fth0]

Note that I am not a Mac guru, others here will say much better what kind of stuff I'm blowing just now.

I think you're on the right track, although I'm no Mac guru either.

The next step would be to check for "MacPro5,1" on https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/. There you'd find out that macOS 10.14.x Catalina was the last supported macOS version on the 22 different "MacPro5,1" devices. In consequence, the OP is probably using either OpenCore Legacy Patcher (as you already suspected), or a Hackintosh host without an Intel Xeon CPU.

[myopic man]

the VirtualBox 7.0.12 documentation says:

1.4. Supported Host Operating Systems

Currently, Oracle VM VirtualBox runs on the following host OSes:
• Windows hosts (64-bit):
[…]
• macOS hosts (64-bit):
◦ 10.15 (Catalina)
◦ 11 (Big Sur)
◦ 12 (Monterey)
• 
Intel hardware is required. See also Chapter 14, Known Limitations. 


I see no mention of Ventura or later required. It appears to be precluded.
Is Ventura or later actually required?

[scottgus1]

No, Ventura is not required. Sometimes the manual gets out of date. And, Apple's new no-kext restriction starting with Ventura has placed some limits on Virtualbox that the devs are still working around.

The big things you need to consider are:

1. If you've bootlegged your Mac Pro 5,1 to run a later version of Mac OS than Apple intends, then Virtualbox may not run correctly.

2. If you are running a version of Mac OS on your Mac Pro 5,1 that Apple intends for it, and it's Monterey or earlier, run Virtualbox 6.1.

[myopic man]

My original error message was truncated at the beginning [probably my error] and should have read in its entirety:

Code: Select all

VM Name: V10-9

hv_vm_create() failed: 0xfae94001 (VERR_NEM_INIT_FAILED).
Driverless mode (VERR_SUP_DRIVERLESS).
Result Code:
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0X80004005)
Component:
ConsoleWrap
Interface:
IConsole {6ac83d89-6ee7-4e33-8ae6-b257b2e81be8}

The initial "VERR_NEM_INIT_FAILED" appears to be the key indicator in this case, and the rest is extraneous.

I am disappointed not to have a definite answer. But I will concede that this could, in fact be a failure of my too-old Nehalem processor, pressed beyond Apples ordinary limits, to correctly implement the required Hypervisor features needed to support 'Driverless' mode, as implemented in VirtualBox version 7.

I will go quietly back to version 6 to lick my wounds.