System locks up when trying to install a new VM

[nellery]

I have VirtualBox 2.2 installed on a fresh Ubuntu 9.04 install. The VirtualBox installation is the non-free one from http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads. When I attempt to install a VM using a CD, my system completely locks up, resolvable only with a forced shut down. I have tried this attempting to create a new virtual machine with both a Ubuntu 9.04 CD (the same one I used to install my current system with) and a Windows XP CD. Both fail, with the same result. I have also completely reinstalled Ubuntu 9.04 and tried it, with the same result. This did not happen with Ubuntu 8.10. Does anybody have any clues as to what is causing this?

[Perryg]

While you have done a good job of telling us what happens I need to know the exact steps you take to create the VM. Include the settings that you used.

[nellery]

I've attempted this with two different configuration, one for Windows XP and one for Ubuntu 9.04.

I set up VirtualBox from a download from the virtualbox site, and installed using the Ubuntu 9.04 .deb. The installation is fine. When creating the virtual machine I:
- choose the right OS and version
- allocate base memory to 300mb
- create new harddisk (dynamic, about 8gb in size)

All that works smoothly. Finally, I simply boot the machine and install using a CD, and my system crashes within about a minute.

[MuddlinThru]

I, too, have this problem. Host is newly updated CentOS5. Former version of VirtualBox, 2.1.4, had two VMs: (1) EFW - firewall appliance, linux 2.6; (2) Kubuntu 8.04. System has a P4, 3.2GHz, hyperthreading turned on, one HD, of 160GB SATA, and 2GB of RAM, not overclocked at all.

After updating VM2 to currency, all was fine. After updating host to currency, all was fine. After updating VBox from 2.1.4 to 2.2.2_46594 (using the rpm for CentOS5), no VMs will start. Within a few seconds (5-25) of attempting starting, the systems locks up, the keyboard LEDs flash, and the keyboard and mouse are both inop. The exact same thing happens when I create a new VM (with suggested RAM, 16GB growable drive, no sound or USB), and mount a CD image to try to install a new OS on this blank VM.

IIRC, this happened before, back about 2.0.4, and I had to wait for 2.0.6 before it worked... Any help would be appreciated.

Dick Martin Shorter
(MuddlinThru)