Page 1 of 1

Startup - Fatal Error "Failed to initialize VB COM Server"

Posted: 25. Sep 2009, 17:50
by mbarrene
Hello,

I am currently running Mac OS X Snow Leopard on my Macbook Pro, and just yesterday I installed VirtualBox 3.0.6 for a virtualization class I am taking.

I'm having a bit of trouble starting it up after downloading the .dmg file and installing VB on my computer. The error reads:

" Failed to initialize COM or to find the VirtualBox COM server. Most likely, the VirtualBox server is not running or failed to start.
The application will now terminate.

Callee RC:
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005) "

Any help with this is issue would be great. I haven't found any substantial support on the forums for this problem, so I was wondering if somebody could help me out here.

Thanks,
Mario

Re: Startup - Fatal Error "Failed to initialize VB COM Server"

Posted: 25. Sep 2009, 18:14
by Perryg
Did you add your user name to the vboxusers group?

Re: Startup - Fatal Error "Failed to initialize VB COM Server"

Posted: 25. Sep 2009, 18:20
by mbarrene
No, I haven't done that. I'm not too familiar with VB, but I can't get it to start up because of the error.

How do I put my username in the vboxusers group?

-Mario

Re: Startup - Fatal Error "Failed to initialize VB COM Server"

Posted: 25. Sep 2009, 18:40
by Perryg
Not really sure about MAC but in Linux the command below works: I do know the error you are getting is exactly what you get if you are not in the vboxusers group though.
In terminal as SU

Code: Select all

usermod -aG vboxusers <your username>

Re: Startup - Fatal Error "Failed to initialize VB COM Server"

Posted: 25. Sep 2009, 18:51
by mbarrene
No luck with the usermod command. I searched through my Unix Executable Files and don't recognize any commands labeled "vboxusers". The only command I do know that just runs the VB app is "Virtualbox".

Re: Startup - Fatal Error "Failed to initialize VB COM Server"

Posted: 18. Oct 2009, 01:22
by mbarrene
*Bump on this thread. Does anybody know how to add my username to the "vboxusers" group so I can resolve this "VirtualBox COM Server" problem I am still having?

Thanks!
Mario B.

Re: Startup - Fatal Error "Failed to initialize VB COM Server"

Posted: 7. Mar 2010, 23:46
by domac
I have the same problem on my MacBook (Mac OS X Leopard). What do you mean about the group? I have added my user to the virtualbox app, but this doesn't solve the problem. What can I do to solve it?