virtualbox.org

I have a really bad problem here:

When I try to start a VM my iMac completely freezes. I have to shut it down by holding the power button. Some additional backgrounds:

I reinstalled Mac OS X yesterday because I built a SSD into my iMac. I reinstalled Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I updated everything and reinstalled the software I already used before.

Then I copied back my VM's Hard Disk file I had before (Windows XP Professional). I created a new VM with this Hard Disk file. I configure it the same as before. But when I try to start it my iMac freezes completely.

I tried to assign less RAM: didn't help.

I reinstalled VirtualBox and created a fresh VM: Windows XP copied all the files but when it tried to start my iMac froze again.

I have 8GB of RAM and it didn't cause any problems before today. And I use Aperture which took almost 2GB while creating thumbnails and nothing crashed.

Any help would be really useful

Thank you.

What version of Virtualbox are you running? If you look around here you will see a few posts from other people reporting that the latest version (3.1.4) completely crashes OS X when it tries to run Windows XP Pro on new iMacs. I had to revert to version 3.1.2 to get it working again.

I was running 3.1.4. But I also tried Vista and the Mac completely froze again. I also tried 3.1.2 and I had the same problem. I removed 4 GB memory and it didn't change. I installed Mac OS X again on an external hard drive and I had the same problem.

BUT: I installed Virtual Box on Windows 7 (Boot Camp) and I didn't encounter any problems!


I'm desperate and don't know what to do...

It sounds like your problem is different than mine was, although they might be related, I have a new iMac 27" with core i7 processor and 8 GB memory. I used Virtualbox 3.1.2 running Windows XP Pro SP2 and it was working perfectly. I had assigned 1 GB of memory to the VM. Then I received notice of the new version 3.1.4. I downloaded and installed it. With that version every time Windows tried to boot up the whole Mac OS X would crash completely. I re-installed 3.1.2 and it boots and works perfectly again. I'm staying away from 3.1.4 until something gets fixed. I found similar complaints about 3.1.4 in this forum and elsewhere. Sorry, that's all I know.

I found a solution!

First I removed VirtualBox and the folders and files it leaves behind (StartUp Items, Preferences, HardDisk and Machines folders...). Then I installed VirtualBox 2.2 which worked with a newly created VM with Windows XP Pro! I installed the windows updates and so on...

Then I backupped the VirtualBox files (again StartupItems and the others...) and installed VirtualBox 3.1.4 which had the fatal freeze-problem before.

It worked! My VM didn't cause any problems.

To say it again: on my MacBook a fresh installation of VBox 3.1.4 worked perfectly. Only on the iMac it didn't.

I'm sorry that's not really a solution for you as you can't go back to VirtualBox 2.2 now. Or can you? Maybe removing the guest extensions and then go back to an older version works. I don't know.

The problem I encountered and solved might be interesting for the VirtualBox developers as it is very special and should be solved. I'm happy I found a workaround for me.

Greets,
Ken

Just to chime in, I'm having the exact same problem on my new 27" iMac. I just downgraded to 3.1.2, and can now boot without any issues.

YYEEEH!!!!

I HAD EXACTLY SAME PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have an iMac 27" core i7 with 8Gb RAM.
When i updated my VirtualBox to version 3.1.4, this AMAZING BUG started!!!

I never see anything like that in the Mac OS!!! the screen become more dark and a message in 6 language says to shut down directly on the button...

Holy God!!!!! How a program can freeze the Mac OS like that???

VirtualBox was made in Carbon, right?
And why a version 3.1.2 works perfect and that upgrade, crashes like that??? This realy don't make any sense!!!

Yeh, i know that VirtualBox is like an "OpenSource"....
But for GOD!!!!!! The brands of Oracle (Sun before, whatever) is behind it!!!!!!

I don't find any notice that this "AMAZING" CRASH will be repaired. Any notice of a new release with excuses. WHY???????