Failure to boot AlmaLinux 10 Live DVD

[JochenW]

Hi,

using VB 7.2.0_BETA1, I tried to boot a VM from the file AlmaLinux-10.0-x86_64-boot.iso, but that failed. with a kernel error.

To be honest, that might be a problem of AlmaLinux 10 being so fresh out of the box, but since it's a RHEL/CentOS clone,
you might see a lot of that real soon, so I thought you would like to know.

Attached you'll the VBox log files. If I can be of further assistance, I'll be happy to provide more information.

Jochen

[klaus]

From the log file you're running VirtualBox on Windows host with Hyper-V enabled. Which means VirtualBox has to use the "Windows Hypervisor" API and in this mode some instruction set extensions are not available for the VM (due to limitations of the VirtualBox code). For example AVX and AVX2.

AlmaLinux/RHEL/Oracle Linux 10 are spec'ed for CPUs with x86_64-v3 only which requires AVX2 among other things. So this is behaving as expected (and we hope to get this improved in the VirtualBox code soon).

[JochenW]

Hi, klaus,

thanks for the reply. If you can read that from the log file, then I would hope, that you might be able to perform a check, when I
select "Red Hat Linux, x64" as the operating system type. If so, one might issue a warning?

I am asking, because "Hyper-V enabled" should be a fairly standard condition.

Thanks,

Jochen

[klaus]

Actually I can't read it out of your screenshot really, because the Linux Oops messages have been too long for 80x25 text for at least 2 decades, with the important part always scrolled off at the top. What I wrote is an extrapolation based on prior knowledge and plausibility (i.e. I'm not an AI ).

Your suggestion isn't wrong, but we tend to prioritize working on proper solutions than coming up with more excuses why something doesn't work.

In any case: it is very sad that OSes which raise the bar for the CPU functionality can't be bothered to provide sensible messages when their expectations are not met. This is where Linux and Windows are equally hopeless: the former shows a meaningless bottom part of an Oops message, the other crashes without anything on the screen because the error handling code for "CPU feature missing" is apparently either untested and therefore completely broken or it is using the missing CPU features itself.

[Byroniac]

My Windows 11 Pro system does not have Hyper-V enabled, and I tried booting the Alma Linux 10 minimal ISO, and it would not boot with EFI on beyond the initial boot menu, but it boots all the way into the GUI installer when EFI is off. No idea why. Attached are the logs.

Host Name:                     GORT
OS Name:                       Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
OS Version:                    10.0.26100 N/A Build 26100
OS Manufacturer:               Microsoft Corporation
OS Configuration:              Standalone Workstation
OS Build Type:                 Multiprocessor Free
Registered Owner:              N/A
Registered Organization:       N/A
Product ID:                    (removed)
Original Install Date:         2025-04-25, 15:36:24
System Boot Time:              2025-06-02, 08:32:33
System Manufacturer:           Alienware
System Model:                  Alienware m18 R2
System Type:                   x64-based PC
Processor(s):                  1 Processor(s) Installed.
                               [01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 183 Stepping 1 GenuineIntel ~2200 Mhz
BIOS Version:                  Alienware 1.14.0, 2025-04-01
Windows Directory:             C:\WINDOWS
System Directory:              C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device:                   \Device\HarddiskVolume1
System Locale:                 en-us;English (United States)
Input Locale:                  en-us;English (United States)
Time Zone:                     (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Total Physical Memory:         65,225 MB
Available Physical Memory:     46,222 MB
Virtual Memory: Max Size:      69,321 MB
Virtual Memory: Available:     48,887 MB
Virtual Memory: In Use:        20,434 MB
Page File Location(s):         C:\pagefile.sys
Domain:                        WORKGROUP
Logon Server:                  \\GORT
Hotfix(s):                     4 Hotfix(s) Installed.
                               [01]: KB5056579
                               [02]: KB5058499
                               [03]: KB5058523
                               [04]: KB5059502
Network Card(s):               4 NIC(s) Installed.
                               [01]: Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
                                     Connection Name: Bluetooth Network Connection
                                     Status:          Media disconnected
                               [02]: Killer(TM) Wi-Fi 7 BE1750x 320MHz Wireless Network Adapter (BE200NGW)
                                     Connection Name: Wi-Fi
                                     Status:          Media disconnected
                               [03]: Killer E5000 5 Gigabit Ethernet Controller
                                     Connection Name: Ethernet
                                     DHCP Enabled:    Yes
                                     DHCP Server:     (removed)
                                     IP address(es)
                                     [01]: (removed)
                                     [02]: (removed)
                                     [03]: (removed)
                                     [04]: (removed)
                                     [05]: (removed)
                               [04]: VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter
                                     Connection Name: Ethernet 2
                                     DHCP Enabled:    No
                                     IP address(es)
                                     [01]: (removed)
                                     [02]: (removed)
Virtualization-based security: Status: Not enabled
                               App Control for Business policy: Enforced
                               App Control for Business user mode policy: Off
                               Security Features Enabled:
Hyper-V Requirements:          VM Monitor Mode Extensions: Yes
                               Virtualization Enabled In Firmware: Yes
                               Second Level Address Translation: Yes
                               Data Execution Prevention Available: Yes

[klaus]

Byroniac's log file definitely shows that AVX/AVX2 etc. are available to the guest. No immediate idea for the EFI related boot issue.

[JochenW]

Would you think, that is sufficient reason for a bug report to the AlmaLinux guys?

[JochenW]

Update: Problem resolved by using the AlmaLinux-10-latest-x86_64_v2-boot.iso (note the "_v2" part!), which works fine.
To my surprise, that even includes the guest additions.