virtualbox.org

So I had virtualbox 6.0 and all my VMs were running fine. Now, Kali is not booting up anymore (I get a blackscreen). I tried restoring from snapshots but same thing. The other VMs are working fine (Windows based). So I updated VirtualBox to 6.1 and now I get this error when booting up Kali, but the other Windows VMs work fine.. I was also having some weird freezing errors with Kali on version 6.0. Kali used to work fine but slowly started to deteriorate..

I have also uploaded a zipped VB log.

Thank you in advance!!

This error comes from running a VM with a saved state on a different Virtualbox version than when the VM state was saved. Saved states don't survive a Virtualbox version change.

If you don't care about the unsaved data in the VM, right-click the VM in the list of VMs and click Discard Saved State.

If you do care about the unsaved data, you have to downgrade Virtualbox to the version you had when you save-stated the VM.

ns4444 wrote:Kali is not booting up anymore (I get a blackscreen).

Kali is based on Debian. Ubuntu is also based on Debian. Ubuntu goes to blackscreen for known reasons, even on physical PCs. While it's a logical fallacy, it could be that Kali might do the same thing, if Debian does the same thing.

Better to get the VM running from cold boot, then we can try to solve the Kali blackscreen.

ns4444 wrote:I tried restoring from snapshots

If you thought that the snapshots were backups, then like Mad Dog Tannen said to Marty in Back to the Future III:

You thought wrong, dude.

Snapshots are not backups in any sense and cannot be used to restore a broken VM. They are more like time travel markers in the life of a VM. Snapshots make a VM more delicate.

Start the VM from full power off, not save-state. Run until you see the problem happen, then shut down the VM from within the VM OS if possible. If not possible, close the Virtualbox window for the VM with the Power Off option set.

Please right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show Log. Save the far left tab's log, zip the log file, and post the zip file, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.

I uninstalled VirtualBox 6.1 and installed 6.0.24, but received a similar error. I thought I installed 6.0.24 initially, is there any way to check? I could not find the version in the log that is all the way to the left..

ns4444 wrote:I thought I installed 6.0.24 initially,

I guess maybe not.

ns4444 wrote:I thought I installed 6.0.24 initially,

Unless the original version was installed within the last four VM logs, no, not that I'm aware of.

If the Kali VM was blackscreening already when you upgraded Virtualbox, then the saved state data would be worthless and can be discarded.

Dang.. How can I keep my previous snapshots? I have a lot of customizations on them and do not even know why the black screen occurred lol. The black screen did not occur when I upgraded VirtualBox, just the error message that I posted above. This sucks lol

I post the VM log in my initial post, I am not sure if it makes any sense or shows why the black screen was even appearing. What do you recommend? I can always create a new image but the issue can return in the future.. Thanks for responding by the way

ns4444 wrote:Dang.. How can I keep my previous snapshots?

Snapshots != saved state. All the snapshots remain through a saved state discard. Only the data that was in the VM's memory, not written to the VM's disk, will be lost. Which is nil if the VM was already booting to blackscreen when the state was saved.

The log in the first post showed the error happening. The VM did not boot, because of the version change while being save-stated.

This VM won't be startable unless you discard the saved state, or put the host into exactly the same setup it was when the VM was save-stated. You have to decide which course to take: restore the host or discard the saved state.

Once the VM is starting again, even if it still boots to blackscreen, post the log from that run per the instructions above.

Please use Post Reply instead of Quote to start a new topic, then quote only the parts that are pertinent to your reply, not the whole previous post.

Wow!! Kali VM works!! I just discarded the save state and it worked again!! I deleted all past snapshots because they do not work anymore and saved new snapshots of all 5 VMs and the snapshots work!! Thank you so much!! You have no idea how much time you saved me!! Lol

Great! Glad you're up and running.