Unable to open Windows 10 on openSUSE 15.5

[JKnott]

I recently updated my computer from openSUSE 15.4 to 15.5. Since then, I cannot run Windows. When I start the VM, it reaches the point where I have to press Enter, to get to the screen where I enter my password. However, when I do, the panel with the password box briefly flashes and leaves me back where I was. I tried going back to 15.4, but the problem remains. This started when I replace a spinning disk with SSD and did a fresh install of 15.5, retaining only my /home partition.

Doing the same on my ThinkPad, where I had previously replaced the drive, also SSD though a while ago, works fine.

I have been running Oracle VM on both systems for several years, starting with Windows 7 and both systems have had disk replacements and a few generations of openSUSE. This is the first time I've had a problem. One thing, I usually just upgrade an existing openSUSE, rather than a fresh install.

Any ideas?

tnx jk

[scottgus1]

Please start the VM from full normal shutdown, not save-state. Run until you see the problem happen, then shut down the VM from within the VM's OS if possible. If not possible, close the Virtualbox window for the VM with the Power Off option set.

Right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show in Explorer/Finder/File Manager. In the "Logs" subfolder, zip the VM's "vbox.log", and post the zip file, using the forum's Attachments tab. (Configure your host OS to show all extensions so you can find the "vbox.log", not "vbox.log.1", etc.)

[JKnott]

By "power off" I assume you mean ACPI shutdown, as I don't see any power off option anywhere, as I cannot get into W10, to use it's power off.

I zipped the log with gzip. It's been many years since I zipped a file, so I had to refresh my memory. Hopefully it worked.

tnx jk

[scottgus1]

By "power off" I assume you mean ACPI shutdown

No. When you click the Close box on the VM window, one of the options in the pop-up box is "Power off the machine".

ACPI shutdown requires the VM OS to be running to receive the ACPI signal (essentially a "tap" on the VM's "case" "power button").

Your VM did respond to the ACPI signal, though, so it did power off correctly.

I don't see anything egregiously wrong in the VM's "hardware" operation in the log. I see that the Guest Additions did not fully load up, which may be because the desktop wasn't fully activated yet.

I cannot think of why a change in the host OS would make you unable to log into the VM OS.

Try making a new VM with Windows 10, no need to activate it. See if the new VM has the same problem.

[JKnott]

I ¨borrowed"a Windows 10 VM from my ThinkPad and it opens OK on this system, so the problem appears to be with the one on my desktop computer.
tnx jk

[fth0]

I see that the Guest Additions did not fully load up, which may be because the desktop wasn't fully activated yet.

Yes, the missing part of the VirtualBox Guest Additions is the VBoxTray.exe application, which would get started by the Windows autorun mechanism only after a successful user login.

Any ideas?

The following advice is a shot in the dark:

On your host, please search dmesg for "Missing ENDBR". If found, start your host OS with "ibt=off".

[JKnott]

On your host, please search dmesg for "Missing ENDBR". If found, start your host OS with "ibt=off"

Not found

[scottgus1]

I ¨borrowed"a Windows 10 VM from my ThinkPad and it opens OK on this system, so the problem appears to be with the one on my desktop computer.

OK, this could indicate that the problem isn't inside the Linux host or Virtualbox. Try booting your VM OS in Safe Mode, web-search for how, then uninstall Guest Additions and see if you can run the failing VM with no Guest Additions installed.

One other possibility is, if you had to actually copy the VM when you changed host drives, the VM files may not have copied correctly.

[fth0]

When I start the VM, it reaches the point where I have to press Enter, to get to the screen where I enter my password. However, when I do, the panel with the password box briefly flashes and leaves me back where I was.

What happens if you press the space bar (instead of Enter) to get to the password entry field? Or what happens if you press no key for a while?

00:00:01.236212 Your keyboard layout does not appear to be fully supported by
00:00:01.236213 VirtualBox. If you are experiencing keyboard problems this.
00:00:01.236213 information may help us to resolve them.
00:00:01.236213 (Note: please tell us if you are using a custom layout.)
00:00:01.236213 
00:00:01.236214 The correct table for your layout is:
00:00:01.236246 "PS","1!","2@","3#","4$","5%","6R","7&","8*","9(","0)","-_","=+",
00:00:01.236354 "qQ","wW","eE","rR","tT","yY","uU","iI","oO","pP","[{","]}",
00:00:01.236427 "aA","sS","dD","fF","gG","hH","jJ","kK","lL",";:","QW","\\|",
00:00:01.236490 "zZ","xX","cC","vV","bB","nN","mM",",<",".>","/?","\\|","\x0\x0","\x0\x0"
00:00:01.236555 
00:00:01.236557 X Server details: vendor: The X.Org Foundation, release: 12003000, protocol version: 11.0, display string: :0
00:00:01.236560 Using XKB for keycode to scan code conversion

I've seen these log message in VBox.log files from other users who didn't have any keyboard issues, but just in case: Is there something special with your keyboard? If yes, you could try to use the Input > Keyboard > Soft Keyboard... to get to the password entry field.

[JKnott]

Pressing the space bar makes no difference.
I still have the original drive and have already considered copying the VM, but that will have to wait until I have time to do it. Perhaps on the weekend.
I have tried pressing F4, F5 & F8 to get into safe mode, but none work.
The keyboard I normally use is an IBM model M, connected through a PS/2 -> USB adapter and KVM switch. I also considered the possibility of some issue with that and tried a Microsoft keyboard connected directly to the computer. Same thing. However, given the VM from my other computer worked, I doubt it's a keyboard issue.
Where do you see that soft keyboard? In User interface > Input, I only see Keyboard & Mouse integration, both selected. If it's a setting within Windows, I can´t get to it.

[fth0]

Thanks for trying!

I doubt it's a keyboard issue.

Admittedly, my suspicion in the direction of keyboard issues has its weaknesses (although your setup gives ample opportunities for spurious keyboard events). Trying the soft keyboard should (dis-)prove this theory, take a look at the VM window's Input menu.

Yet another idea: Does your host OS use (X)Wayland instead of X11? Can you try using X11 in that case?

PS: That your VM from the other computer worked is a strong argument pointing to the guest OS, but there could also be differences in the virtual hardware provided by VirtualBox playing a role ...

[JKnott]

PS: That your VM from the other computer worked is a strong argument pointing to the guest OS, but there could also be differences in the virtual hardware provided by VirtualBox playing a role ...

Other than the hard drive, the hardware is exactly as it's been for years. I only changed the drive because the old one was giving warnings that it was about to fail.

Also, as mentioned above, the VM input didn't show any virtual keyboard.

[scottgus1]

differences in the virtual hardware provided by VirtualBox playing a role ...

This is the "hardware" generated virtually by Virtualbox, not the physical hardware that the host uses. The VM OS does not see any of the host hardware, except for the physical CPU.

the VM input didn't show any virtual keyboard.

Trying the soft keyboard should (dis-)prove this theory, take a look at the VM window's Input menu.

Please show a screenshot of the VM window's Input menu., Keyboard pop-out, looking for "Soft keyboard".

[JKnott]

I found the soft keyboard you were referring to. It also is unusable.

tnx jk

[JKnott]

I have tried mounting the partition than contained my /home directory, which includes the VirtualBox VM. However, for some reason I cannot copy the VM from the old drive to the new. One thing I noticed is a bunch of .sav files in a snapshots folder. Might it be possible to recover using one of those?

tnx jk