virtualbox.org

Error message at start of the machine:

A differencing image of snapshot {80b44e5d-a481-4c11-a60b-259ba97e8cc9} could not be found. Could not find an open hard disk with UUID {68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89}.

Fehlercode: E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Komponente: SnapshotMachine
Interface: IMachine {85632c68-b5bb-4316-a900-5eb28d3413df}
Callee: IVirtualBox {d0a0163f-e254-4e5b-a1f2-011cf991c38d}

I would like first to apologize if there already is a solution on the web of this, I already tried several stuff, like creating a new machine with same disks, editing the vbox file with different approaches and renaming the .VirtualBox folder in user directory. I got to the point where I think if I continue on my own I might damage something rather than fix it.

Below is the original .vbox file and the output of the 'vboxmanage internalcommands dumphdinfo ' command for hard disk and two snapshot disks(it did not allow to attach files). Although I had only one snapshot named '17 Okt' there are two vdi files, which I try to understand the reason.

So ... after my tests I managed to get the machine starting, but it is not able to take the snapshot , or differencing image, effectively being the machine from 17 october. I have done important things since then and would like to recover it, as the disk is physically present. If you can instruct me how to achieve this, I would be grateful. Thank you!

Attached is a screenshot after I have added the two .vdi files in the folder snapshot and they appear as a child structure - but it still does not recognize them, it only opens the version from 17 october. The location of the three .vdi disks are visible in the output of the command below.

VirtualBox Version 6.1.14 r140239 (Qt5.6.2)

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C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox
λ vboxmanage internalcommands dumphdinfo "C:\Daten\Linux Mint\Linux Mint.vdi"
--- Dumping VD Disk, Images=1
Dumping VD image "C:\Daten\Linux Mint\Linux Mint.vdi" (Backend=VDI)
Dumping VDI image "C:\Daten\Linux Mint\Linux Mint.vdi" mode=r/o uOpenFlags=9 File=0x00000000a0c6a0
Header: Version=00010001 Type=1 Flags=0 Size=20093911040
Header: cbBlock=1048576 cbBlockExtra=0 cBlocks=19164 cBlocksAllocated=18854
Header: offBlocks=1048576 offData=2097152
Header: Geometry: C/H/S=1024/255/63 cbSector=512
Header: uuidCreation={50216244-b8a1-4fb9-9ca1-8d279c0f4fbe}
Header: uuidModification={e9b40ade-bc74-4d1d-85b4-d2661706ff43}
Header: uuidParent={00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
Header: uuidParentModification={00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
Image:  fFlags=00000000 offStartBlocks=1048576 offStartData=2097152
Image:  uBlockMask=000FFFFF cbTotalBlockData=1048576 uShiftOffset2Index=20 offStartBlockData=0

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox
λ vboxmanage internalcommands dumphdinfo "C:\Daten\LMint19\Snapshots\{68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89}.vdi"
--- Dumping VD Disk, Images=1
Dumping VD image "C:\Daten\LMint19\Snapshots\{68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89}.vdi" (Backend=VDI)
Dumping VDI image "C:\Daten\LMint19\Snapshots\{68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89}.vdi" mode=r/o uOpenFlags=9 File=0x00000000b4c970
Header: Version=00010001 Type=4 Flags=0 Size=20093911040
Header: cbBlock=1048576 cbBlockExtra=0 cBlocks=19164 cBlocksAllocated=4115
Header: offBlocks=1048576 offData=2097152
Header: Geometry: C/H/S=1024/255/63 cbSector=512
Header: uuidCreation={68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89}
Header: uuidModification={a7d8b559-d8bf-4411-8ac7-396d9eada0e5}
Header: uuidParent={50216244-b8a1-4fb9-9ca1-8d279c0f4fbe}
Header: uuidParentModification={20464072-4e2f-4ad9-a142-9a96af558e16}
Image:  fFlags=00020000 offStartBlocks=1048576 offStartData=2097152
Image:  uBlockMask=000FFFFF cbTotalBlockData=1048576 uShiftOffset2Index=20 offStartBlockData=0

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox
λ vboxmanage internalcommands dumphdinfo "C:\Daten\LMint19\Snapshots\{b1d88967-d281-4516-af1e-b44394f0bc77}.vdi"
--- Dumping VD Disk, Images=1
Dumping VD image "C:\Daten\LMint19\Snapshots\{b1d88967-d281-4516-af1e-b44394f0bc77}.vdi" (Backend=VDI)
Dumping VDI image "C:\Daten\LMint19\Snapshots\{b1d88967-d281-4516-af1e-b44394f0bc77}.vdi" mode=r/o uOpenFlags=9 File=0x000000012bcd10
Header: Version=00010001 Type=4 Flags=0 Size=20093911040
Header: cbBlock=1048576 cbBlockExtra=0 cBlocks=19164 cBlocksAllocated=3657
Header: offBlocks=1048576 offData=2097152
Header: Geometry: C/H/S=1024/255/63 cbSector=512
Header: uuidCreation={b1d88967-d281-4516-af1e-b44394f0bc77}
Header: uuidModification={012ef54a-6063-43d3-bf2a-0571e8be3f64}
Header: uuidParent={68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89}
Header: uuidParentModification={a7d8b559-d8bf-4411-8ac7-396d9eada0e5}
Image:  fFlags=00020000 offStartBlocks=1048576 offStartData=2097152
Image:  uBlockMask=000FFFFF cbTotalBlockData=1048576 uShiftOffset2Index=20 offStartBlockData=0

vbox file (edited web address to be allowed in post):

Code: Select all


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!--
** DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE.
** If you make changes to this file while any VirtualBox related application
** is running, your changes will be overwritten later, without taking effect.
** Use VBoxManage or the VirtualBox Manager GUI to make changes.
-->
<VirtualBox xmlns="://www virtualbox org/" version="1.17-windows">
  <Machine uuid="{8ee08a56-e6ee-480e-b4b6-0a791a9b8f94}" name="LMint19" OSType="Ubuntu_64" currentSnapshot="{80b44e5d-a481-4c11-a60b-259ba97e8cc9}" snapshotFolder="Snapshots" lastStateChange="2020-10-30T10:34:43Z">
    <MediaRegistry>
      <HardDisks>
        <HardDisk uuid="{50216244-b8a1-4fb9-9ca1-8d279c0f4fbe}" location="C:/Daten/Linux Mint/Linux Mint.vdi" format="VDI" type="Normal"/>
      </HardDisks>
      <DVDImages>
        <Image uuid="{0b1a269e-faa0-4378-bd7c-fb6910f18032}" location="C:/Program Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso"/>
        <Image uuid="{d22c779e-7f7d-4546-a721-aab32fec535a}" location="C:/Users/harald.konnerth/Downloads/VBoxGuestAdditions_6.1.12.iso"/>
      </DVDImages>
    </MediaRegistry>
    <ExtraData>
      <ExtraDataItem name="GUI/LastCloseAction" value="PowerOff"/>
      <ExtraDataItem name="GUI/LastGuestSizeHint" value="1920,962"/>
      <ExtraDataItem name="GUI/LastNormalWindowPosition" value="0,29,640,480,max"/>
      <ExtraDataItem name="GUI/LastScaleWindowPosition" value="35,39,619,480"/>
      <ExtraDataItem name="GUI/MiniToolBarAlignment" value="Top"/>
      <ExtraDataItem name="GUI/ScaleFactor" value="1"/>
    </ExtraData>
    <Snapshot uuid="{80b44e5d-a481-4c11-a60b-259ba97e8cc9}" name="17 Okt" timeStamp="2020-10-17T14:14:41Z">
      <Description>p 
double commander
Dateien bereinigt
</Description>
      <Hardware>
        <CPU>
          <PAE enabled="false"/>
          <LongMode enabled="true"/>
          <X2APIC enabled="true"/>
          <HardwareVirtExLargePages enabled="true"/>
        </CPU>
        <Memory RAMSize="2801"/>
        <HID Pointing="USBTablet"/>
        <Display controller="VMSVGA" VRAMSize="16"/>
        <VideoCapture screens="1" file="." fps="25"/>
        <BIOS>
          <IOAPIC enabled="true"/>
          <SmbiosUuidLittleEndian enabled="true"/>
        </BIOS>
        <USB>
          <Controllers>
            <Controller name="OHCI" type="OHCI"/>
            <Controller name="EHCI" type="EHCI"/>
          </Controllers>
        </USB>
        <Network>
          <Adapter slot="0" enabled="true" MACAddress="08002771A61F" type="82540EM">
            <DisabledModes>
              <BridgedInterface name="Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265"/>
              <InternalNetwork name="intnet"/>
              <NATNetwork name="NatNetwork"/>
            </DisabledModes>
            <NAT/>
          </Adapter>
          <Adapter slot="1" MACAddress="0800274716CF">
            <DisabledModes>
              <InternalNetwork name="intnet"/>
              <NATNetwork name="NatNetwork"/>
            </DisabledModes>
            <NAT/>
          </Adapter>
        </Network>
        <AudioAdapter driver="DirectSound" enabled="true" enabledIn="true" enabledOut="true"/>
        <RTC localOrUTC="UTC"/>
        <SharedFolders>
          <SharedFolder name="Daten" hostPath="C:\Daten" writable="true" autoMount="true" autoMountPoint="E:"/>
        </SharedFolders>
        <Clipboard mode="Bidirectional"/>
        <DragAndDrop mode="Bidirectional"/>
        <GuestProperties>
          <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/HostVerLastChecked" value="6.1.14" timestamp="1602938584934411300" flags=""/>
          <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Revision" value="140239" timestamp="1602403402728591006" flags=""/>
          <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Version" value="6.1.14" timestamp="1602403402728591004" flags=""/>
          <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/VersionExt" value="6.1.14" timestamp="1602403402728591005" flags=""/>
          <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Product" value="Linux" timestamp="1602403402728591000" flags=""/>
          <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Release" value="4.15.0-20-generic" timestamp="1602403402728591001" flags=""/>
          <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Version" value="#21-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 24 06:16:15 UTC 2018" timestamp="1602403402728591002" flags=""/>
          <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/HostInfo/GUI/LanguageID" value="de_DE" timestamp="1602939316456716100" flags="RDONLYGUEST"/>
        </GuestProperties>
        <StorageControllers>
          <StorageController name="IDE" type="PIIX4" PortCount="2" useHostIOCache="true" Bootable="true">
            <AttachedDevice passthrough="false" type="DVD" hotpluggable="false" port="0" device="0">
              <Image uuid="{0b1a269e-faa0-4378-bd7c-fb6910f18032}"/>
            </AttachedDevice>
          </StorageController>          
        </StorageControllers>
      </Hardware>
    </Snapshot>
    <Hardware>
      <CPU>
        <PAE enabled="false"/>
        <LongMode enabled="true"/>
        <X2APIC enabled="true"/>
        <HardwareVirtExLargePages enabled="true"/>
      </CPU>
      <Memory RAMSize="2801"/>
      <HID Pointing="USBTablet"/>
      <Display controller="VMSVGA" VRAMSize="16"/>
      <VideoCapture screens="1" file="." fps="25"/>
      <BIOS>
        <IOAPIC enabled="true"/>
        <SmbiosUuidLittleEndian enabled="true"/>
      </BIOS>
      <USB>
        <Controllers>
          <Controller name="OHCI" type="OHCI"/>
          <Controller name="EHCI" type="EHCI"/>
        </Controllers>
      </USB>
      <Network>
        <Adapter slot="0" enabled="true" MACAddress="08002771A61F" type="82540EM">
          <DisabledModes>
            <BridgedInterface name="Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (4) I219-LM"/>
            <InternalNetwork name="intnet"/>
            <NATNetwork name="NatNetwork"/>
          </DisabledModes>
          <NAT/>
        </Adapter>
        <Adapter slot="1" MACAddress="0800274716CF">
          <DisabledModes>
            <InternalNetwork name="intnet"/>
            <NATNetwork name="NatNetwork"/>
          </DisabledModes>
          <NAT/>
        </Adapter>
      </Network>
      <AudioAdapter driver="DirectSound" enabled="true" enabledIn="true" enabledOut="true"/>
      <RTC localOrUTC="UTC"/>
      <SharedFolders>
        <SharedFolder name="Daten" hostPath="C:\Daten" writable="true" autoMount="true" autoMountPoint="E:"/>
      </SharedFolders>
      <Clipboard mode="Bidirectional"/>
      <DragAndDrop mode="Bidirectional"/>
      <GuestProperties>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/HostVerLastChecked" value="6.1.14" timestamp="1603548368568324600" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Revision" value="140239" timestamp="1603218691221212400" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Version" value="6.1.14" timestamp="1603218691220246901" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/VersionExt" value="6.1.14" timestamp="1603218691220246902" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Product" value="Linux" timestamp="1603218691190957900" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Release" value="4.15.0-20-generic" timestamp="1603218691190957901" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Version" value="#21-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 24 06:16:15 UTC 2018" timestamp="1603218691191943800" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/HostInfo/GUI/LanguageID" value="de_DE" timestamp="1603698535846812900" flags="RDONLYGUEST"/>
      </GuestProperties>
      <StorageControllers>
        <StorageController name="IDE" type="PIIX4" PortCount="2" useHostIOCache="true" Bootable="true">
          <AttachedDevice passthrough="false" type="DVD" hotpluggable="false" port="0" device="0">
            <Image uuid="{0b1a269e-faa0-4378-bd7c-fb6910f18032}"/>
          </AttachedDevice>
        </StorageController>
        
      </StorageControllers>
    </Hardware>
  </Machine>
</VirtualBox>

I have managed to get the snapshot recognized and the machine with current version working.
I did something like attaching it again as secondary master or slave (I do not remember exactly).

Then I deleted the snapshot , started the machine which was ok.
Then I created a snapshot with name '31 oct' and started it - which was ok.
Then I started again and it was back to the version from 17 october without snapshots.
Then I deleted the snapshot '31 oct' and created another one - started VM - but it still does not recognize the snapshots and is at version from 17 october.

In the vbox files it looks like this:

<HardDisks>
<HardDisk uuid="{50216244-b8a1-4fb9-9ca1-8d279c0f4fbe}" location="C:/Daten/Linux Mint/Linux Mint.vdi" format="VDI" type="Normal">
<HardDisk uuid="{68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89}" location="Snapshots/{68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89}.vdi" format="VDI">
<HardDisk uuid="{b1d88967-d281-4516-af1e-b44394f0bc77}" location="Snapshots/{b1d88967-d281-4516-af1e-b44394f0bc77}.vdi" format="VDI"/>
</HardDisk>
<HardDisk uuid="{c276f2fb-46a2-452a-9a73-b7ae4f45cca3}" location="Snapshots/{c276f2fb-46a2-452a-9a73-b7ae4f45cca3}.vdi" format="VDI"/>
<HardDisk uuid="{c457b76b-b4ef-43c4-8e12-d01b1d8d7d3a}" location="Snapshots/{c457b76b-b4ef-43c4-8e12-d01b1d8d7d3a}.vdi" format="VDI"/>
</HardDisk>
</HardDisks>

In the add storage menu, similar to screenshot from first post, all disks appear under category 'Not attached' now. I restarted Virtual Box, tried to remove them from this menu, deleted IDE controller and added a new one - but they still appear as not attached.

Attached are screenshots of this menu, disk how it looks in the VM properties and the VBox.log from today after the most recent start just before writing this.

Is there any possibility to be able to have the disks under 'Attached' and have the machine recognize them and show the current state from 31 October?

Thank you!

LE: I have created a new VM using the same hard disk (50216244-b8a1-4fb9-9ca1-8d279c0f4fbe) and now it appears as attached in the storage menu. Unfortunately it still is not using the snapshots I need - 68d6ba78-c330-44c5-8118-ac721d339d89 and b1d88967-d281-4516-af1e-b44394f0bc77 . This is what I need to achieve. Thank you.

An easy method to solve your problem will probably be using mpack's CloneVDI tool to create a copy of the latest VDI file ({b1d8...}). The result should be a single VDI file containing the latest state, which you can then add to the VM.

Another hint if you haven't guessed it in the meantime: In the .vbox file, the <Harddisks> section is a list of all virtual hard disk drives ever used with the VM, and doesn't determine which are currently in use. Only the <StorageControllers> section decides with disk controllers exist and which virtual hard disk drives are connected to them.

no, I did not figure it out, this is what has pointed me in the right direction and attach that disk.

It was actually easy, but hard until I found it, when changing it in the .vbox file it simply ignored it and after closing the VM, it had the setting back to disk c457b76b-b4ef-43c4-8e12-d01b1d8d7d3a . The solution was to set in in the dialog from screenshot above double clicking the disk I need Also in the log from - b1d88967... .VirtualBox folder, it shows it was all the time searching for the snapshot ID and hard disk 68d6ba78.... Although this was not set either in vbox file or in VirtualBox.xml .

THANK YOU! I have spent a lot of hours trial and error..

In the snapshots folder there are now 5 disks and I would like to get rid of those not needed anymore. IS it ok to delete the last 2 (c457... and c276...) ?
I assume 68d6... should not be deleted as it is somehow a parent of b1d8... which is now the current one I need. Is this correct?
Also I find it strange that in the VB Manager UI there is no snapshot for this machine, although a disk from Snapshots folder is used. Is that right?

Thank you.

With my previous suggestion, I tried to circumvent the more error-prone methods to clean up the mess you've been facing, especially since I'm not sure who you got into your situation. Regarding your questions, I'll try to give you some background information first:

harald123 wrote:when changing it in the .vbox file it simply ignored it

There is a large disclaimer in the .vbox file telling you not to edit it, and this is for a reason: While the VirtualBox Manager and/or any VM is running, there is a background process named VBoxSVC running which owns all .vbox files, and overwrites them when being terminated. The safest way is to boot your host OS and edit .vbox files early enough.

harald123 wrote:I assume 68d6... should not be deleted as it is somehow a parent of b1d8... which is now the current one I need. Is this correct?

As documented in 5.5. Differencing Images, you'll need (at least) the whole chain from the base VDI file up to the current (leaf in the tree) writable disk image.

harald123 wrote:IS it ok to delete the last 2 (c457... and c276...) ?

I don't know. It depends on the question if you need something that is inside those files ...

I understand, yes, we should not edit it while the VM is running, I did it before starting it up.

I have renamed the two disks (c457... and c276...) and the machine started in the same state without any warning, so I assume it is ok to delete them. Yes, I do not need them.

What I would like to achieve is to have a single .vdi file, somehow merging the three disks from the base VDI to the current one. Would the CloneVDI tool do this?

Thank you.

harald123 wrote:have a single .vdi file, somehow merging the three disks from the base VDI to the current one. Would the CloneVDI tool do this?

Yes. Read the CloneVDI instructions carefully.

Thanks, I read the instructions and I think it can to this, also it says it won't damage source files in any way.
The only show stopper is now that there is not enough space on the disk for the copy, which I need to find a solution for.

I assume then VB does not have an option to merge disks , without generating an additional copy.

VirtualBox's typical snapshot Delete command merges the data without making another file (I think), but it does so at the increased risk of damaging the source files. Computers do have errors at times. It is wise to back up the whole guest folder and all disk files beforehand so recovery from error is possible. Which comes back to needing another drive.

Yes I am aware of that, I have done it before.

The problem with that is that VB does not show any snapshots in the UI, although there is a chain of two.
I am guessing the reason for this is that they appear as 'not attached' in the menu to add disks.

Will need to find an external hard drive then.

Thank you .

scottgus1 wrote:
harald123 wrote:have a single .vdi file, somehow merging the three disks from the base VDI to the current one. Would the CloneVDI tool do this?
Yes. Read the CloneVDI instructions carefully.

I just tried, it says it cannot do differencing disks. - yet

virtualbox.org

Snapshot not recognized at start

Snapshot not recognized at start

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