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Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapter?
Posted: 4. Sep 2013, 04:04
by capitrium
So here's an interesting issue:
It seems I'm unable to use any network adapters other than the "Bridged Adapter" type with my Ubuntu 12.04 guest on my Win 7 x64 HE host!
I am able to select the network adapter type, however networking inside the guest OS will fail to start for any networking interface device which is not a Bridged Adapter. Running
ifconfig shows only the loopback interface, and running
sudo ifup eth0 tells me that
eth0 is already configured.
My current network adapter configuration is as follows:
- Network Adapter 1: Host-Only Adapter
Network Adapter 2: NAT
I can go into the
70-persistent-net.rules file and see that the MAC addresses for each network interface correctly corresponds to the MAC address shown for each network adapter in the VirtualBox Manager's Settings page for this particular VM, as we would expect. However, by issuing the command
dmesg | grep eth I can see an entry like the following for every interface device that is not a Bridged Adapter:
Code: Select all
ADDRCONF (NETDEV_UP) eth0: "link is not ready"
I'm currently using the Bridged Adapter type since it works and is actually the most useful type for me atm. The main issue is that I'd like to be able to access the web server on my guest OS from the internet via a free dynamic DNS service and due to having a substandard router, I have to forward the ports on my router to my host, then forward the ports on the host to the guest because the router is incapable of directly forwarding a port to a virtual machine on the network for whatever reason. So, if anyone can help me figure out why my NAT + Host-only configuration isn't working, I would greatly appreciate it!
Re: Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapt
Posted: 4. Sep 2013, 19:28
by noteirak
Error is pretty clear : the link is not ready

Did you check the "Cable connected" in the VM config?
Re: Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapt
Posted: 5. Sep 2013, 00:10
by capitrium
noteirak wrote:Error is pretty clear : the link is not ready

Did you check the "Cable connected" in the VM config?
When testing last night I got the same result with Cable connected checked and unchecked; if it was
that simple, I like to think I'd have been able to fix it myself...
EDIT: Apparently I have to wait a while yet before I can post the screenshot I've taken, but the Cable connected option is definitely selected on all adapters currently in use. Only the Bridged Adapter's interface actually gets to a usable state, and I can find no good reason as to why the others refuse to work.
Re: Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapt
Posted: 5. Sep 2013, 08:14
by noteirak
Could you attach as zip a full VM log session (from poweron to poweroff of the VM) as well as the guest settings, once per configuration that fails? See
this post for the information location.
Re: Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapt
Posted: 6. Sep 2013, 01:31
by capitrium
noteirak wrote:Could you attach as zip a full VM log session (from poweron to poweroff of the VM) as well as the guest settings, once per configuration that fails? See
this post for the information location.
The only configuration I need working which currently isn't is NAT, so here are the logs for the VM with only the NAT adapter enabled.
Re: Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapt
Posted: 6. Sep 2013, 12:49
by noteirak
From your config I see two enabled interfaces, and it's a bridged one. And the bridge is on a Wifi link, which never helps anything - definitly go wired.
NIC 1: MAC: 0800274485F5, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Airlink101 Wireless USB Adapter', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: 82540EM, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny
NIC 2: MAC: 080027EAFED6, Attachment: NAT, Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: 82540EM, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny
But, in the log, there is only the NAT interface which seems configured, I see no mention about your other NIC - which is what to be expected here.
Finally, you run a quite old version of Virtualbox, 4.1.16. I would strongly suggest your upgrade your installation here, this issue could be bug related that is fixed later on.
If you want to keep using 4.1.16, please provide consistent information here - the showvminfo must match the session.
Re: Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapt
Posted: 6. Sep 2013, 23:35
by capitrium
...the bridge is on a Wifi link, which never helps anything - definitly go wired.
Unfortunately wired isn't an option here, as this machine only has wireless access; there are a few floors between my desktop and the router.
... you run a quite old version of Virtualbox, 4.1.16. I would strongly suggest your upgrade your installation here, this issue could be bug related that is fixed later on.
Also not an option AFAIK; I'm using a third-party rogram to run this VM as a Windows service so that I don't need to be logged in for it to start, and this particular program is only compatible with certain versions of VirtualBox due to an "unstable API", to quote the developer. Of course, if you're aware of a different program that does the same thing but works with a newer version of VirtualBox I'll happily upgrade.
...please provide consistent information here - the showvminfo must match the session.
Not sure I follow you here, as what I had posted should have been for the same session... Here are my steps:
- 1) Start VM
2) Run showvminfo command, output to text file
3) Stop VM
4) Save VM log file
5) Zip together and post archive
If there's anything there that would cause an inconsistency, let me know and I'll fix it for you. Just to be sure, I've re-run all the commands above and re-attached the logs.
Re: Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapt
Posted: 7. Sep 2013, 00:56
by noteirak
info is now consistent - only one interface enabled in the VM config, just like in the log.
Can't see anything wrong, only that the guest additions version do not match the Virtualbox version, but that shouldn't be your problem.
I understand your restriction, but it would be best to reproduce the same issue with the latest VB version running the normal way, and not via 3rd party tool. If you can reproduce it, then you could file a ticket on the bugtracker.
Re: Unable to use network interface other than Bridged Adapt
Posted: 7. Sep 2013, 01:06
by capitrium
I'm actually running the VM manually for now while debugging this issue, so I doubt the other software is interfering with VB at the moment. Regardless, I guess I'll have to get the latest version and see if I have the same issue.