Discuss the VirtualBox 7.2.0_BETA1 release here

[galitsyn]

You can download the release here.
Changelog is here.

[granada29]

Host: macOS Sequoia 15.5
Guest: Windows 11 arm64

Issue raised at github for Critical Error on shutting down the VM.

[multiOS]

Testing Setup:
MacBook Pro M1 Max
MacOS Sequoia 15.5

Experiences to date:

1. Linux VMs (Debian 12, openSUSE Leap, Rocky Linux)

All three exhibit much long startup times (3 minutes plus) before being able to access a usable desktop, plus some tendency towards unpredictable 'freezes' requiring forced shutdowns/reboot. This is in contrast to the previous performance on VirtualBox 7.1 which seemed much closer to that of x64 Linux VM versions on an Intel Mac/Windows PC.

The only visible indicator of a possible 'problem' I have noticed is an often intense 'flashing indicator' on the VirtualBox Disk Icon, suggesting continuously high levels of disk activity throughout the lengthy startup process and continuing for some time after log-in; and also in some cases when the VMs might be expected to be relatively idle.

I can provide VBox.Logs from individual runs if needed

2. Windows 11 (ARM64 VMs) Windows Home and Pro versions

I haven't experienced the 'critical Error' problem mentioned by @granada29, when shutting down Windows VMs; however, in my testing so far, installing the VirtualBox Guest additions in either Windows 11 version has resulted in the VM being unable to Boot correctly. i.e. Both versions entered a rolling Boot Loop when attempting a start after the Guest Additions were installed, which continued until it became possible to access the Option to Boot into 'Safe Mode'. Uninstalling the Guest Additions whilst in Safe Mode resulted in Windows being again able to Boot 'normally', although there was some tendency for the VMs to 'freeze' during periods of intense activity, e.g. Windows Store updates, if 'too many' key presses were made when system responses seemed slow, or if a VM was left unattended for longer than 5 minutes.

3. For all VMs

The VirtualBox Network Adapter Icon never indicates any network activity, but when the network is being actively used, e.g. when downloading software updates, there is a continuously flashing indicator (red blob) on the USB Icon (roughly mirroring the disk activity indicator) despite the fact that no USB devices are connected. That doesn't seem quite right (to me).

[Byroniac]

For what it is worth, a Centos 10 stream UEFI VM that ran perfectly in VirtualBox 7.1.8 would not even boot past the boot menu. Just had a blinking cursor, no GUI, no ttys available. I tried booting directly off the ISO, and same thing happened. For whatever reason, I do not experience the slowness (well, perhaps slightly) or any other known issues so far with my (all UEFI) Debian Testing (upcoming Trixie) VM, Kali-Linux, Alpine Linux (Edge), or OpenSUSE Tumbleweed ones. I think I tried to boot off the latest Oracle Linux 9.6 ISO via UEFI and got the same behavior (blinking cursor, no GUI, no tty access) as above. I tried to look at the logs but didn't understand enough to know if it was relevant or not.

[AndyCot]

With the 7.1.10 release does the 7.2.0b1 include the 7.1.10 changes or if not is there any eta on a 7.2.0b2 with the 7.1.10 changes in it?

[klaus]

7.2.0b1 has almost all fixes which went into 7.1.10. What's not yet in 7.2.0b1 is the VMDK resize fix, and a small memory leak in the video recording feature (which both were somehow forgotten in the 7.1.10 changelog).

[AndyCot]

Thank you for the update.

[obiewan]

Howdy,

I've been having troubles with the development versions of VB for some time now. Both with FC43 (Rawhide) and FC42.

Most of the menus have NO text in them so they're completely useless.

For a brief moment they all worked as advertised but then they went back to having NO text in them.

Am I doing something wrong? The non-developer versions have not had this problem.

Best regards,

George...

[klaus]

Could it be that you accidentally changed the font scaling to a ridiculously small value? Ctrl+G for the Preferences, then the monitor icon and the 2nd slider to roughly the middle, then the default (left) button for OK...

Even with 40% (the minimum) I can still see some text, but I agree it's impossible to read.