virtualbox.org

I am attempting to set up an Ubuntu linux guest VM on a Windows 7 64bit Home Premium host, which is a custom built desktop. Virtual Box installation appeared to go well. After creating a VM, I then attempted to install Ubuntu 13.10 using the minimal install iso. Ubuntu's boot menu displays, but the VM locks up after hitting enter on "install" option. I also tried with Ubuntu 12.04 32 bit CD media, and VM locks up at the same point. I tried again with Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit iso, and got a message that VM could only recognize 32 bit host.

I know the problem isn't with the Ubuntu install media, as I have a VM made from the exact same 12.04 64 bit iso running successfully on my laptop. I also know that Ubuntu runs fine on the desktop hardware which runs the Windows Host, because I dual boot Windows7 with a real installation of Ubuntu 12.04.

So I'm guessing I have a hardware or driver incompatibility with Virtual Box. Here are the system specs for the host machine: Asrock 990FX Extreme4 Mobo, AMD fx6300 3.8 GHz CPU, Radeon HD 7870 GPU, 120GB Samsung EVO SSD, 1 TB Seagate Momentus Hybrid Drive, 8GB G. Skill Ares 1600 Ram.

I'd love to know how to go about troubleshooting this to see what components or drivers are not communicating correctly with Virtual Box. At the very least I think I should be able to get Virtual Box to recognize the host as a 64 bit system. Virtualization support is enabled in my UEFI settings.

Any suggestion or info much appreciated!

To run a 64-bit OS in the vm you must have hardware virtualization (amd-v) enabled in the BIOS of the host. Exactly how you do that will depend on your motherboard.

dave2001 wrote: At the very least I think I should be able to get Virtual Box to recognize the host as a 64 bit system. Virtualization support is enabled in my UEFI settings.

As stated in original post, Virtualization support for my CPU is enabled in my mobo settings... UEFI is the replacement of BIOS on newer boards.

Post a VM log file showing the failure. Minimum information needed for assistance.

p.s. UEFI is a type of BIOS, not a replacement for a BIOS.

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! Apologies for not including all of the needed information initially.

Virtual Box Version 4.2.12 -Tried version 4.3.4 first, but decided to try older version after that failed (since i have VB 4.2 running successfully with this host/guest on another comp)

Host: Windows 7 64bit Home Premium -8GB ram
Guest: Ubuntu 13.04 32bit -2GB ram, fixed size virtual disk 14 GB no guest additions installed, as guest OS is not yet installed


logfile attached

p.s. In addition to the context which you are using BIOS (being an acronym for basic input/ouput system), it is also the name of a recognized standard of firmware interface, which is being replaced by UEFI. I chose to use the latter definition, as it seemed more helpful to the poster who misread my original question.

00:00:03.138631 OS type: 'Ubuntu'

Ubuntu = 32-bit
Ubuntu_64 = 64-bit.

Change the settings for the guest

Perryg wrote:00:00:03.138631 OS type: 'Ubuntu'

Ubuntu = 32-bit
Ubuntu_64 = 64-bit.

Change the settings for the guest

ah yes, thanks.. I forgot to change it back after i tried with a 32 bit install image. Anyway, changed back to 64 and didn't resolve problem.

However i did manage to fix the issue. There was an extra setting in UEFI for IOMMU support, turns out it also has to be enabled, in addition to cpu virtualization. So I suppose I've answered my own initial question.

Still not getting through an installation though.. it freezes a bit into the install process when attempting to download installer files... *sigh* this was so easy on my laptop... anyway, I'm attaching the NEW log file.

Still haven't found a solution or reason for the installation process failing at the point i described in my last post.. any fresh ideas from the new log?

00:00:02.041563 IOAPIC <integer> = 0x0000000000000000 (0)

The 64_bit receipt is going to expect ioapic being enabled, which should have been if you selected Ubuntu_64 at creation.
I also see you mention UEFI at the start. Does the PC not have BIOS?
AFAIK, VirtualBox is going to get a lot of its information from bios and the hosts OS.

Perryg wrote:00:00:02.041563 IOAPIC <integer> = 0x0000000000000000 (0)

The 64_bit receipt is going to expect ioapic being enabled, which should have been if you selected Ubuntu_64 at creation.

Thanks for the info, I wasn't aware I needed to explicitly enable ioapic. I did find the option for it in the Virtual Box settings. However, perusing various forums seems to indicate enabling ioapic seems to cause problems for a lot of people, and also that 64 bit linux guests have a lot of issues in general.

I decided to try a 32 bit installation just to make things simpler. Unfortunately my attempts at installation still froze repeatedly at some point during file download. After several attempts, I finally got the installation process to go all the way to completion.

Imagine my disappointment when upon reboot of freshly installed VM I get nothing but a bsod. Looking around on the Ubuntu forums indicates that unless several configuration files are altered BEFORE initial reboot of the system, Virtual Box VM installations will result in a bsod.

At that point I'd become a bit annoyed. I downloaded the latest version of VMware Player to give it shot. Ten effortless minutes later I have a working installation, no fuss, no muss.

Thanks for the help forum folks, I'll continue using Virtual Box on my laptop, as i like it's configurability and backup options .. but it just doesn't seem to get along with my desktop hardware.

dave2001 wrote:it just doesn't seem to get along with my desktop hardware.

I don't see how you drew that conclusion. It was the guest OS that had trouble running, not VirtualBox. And the guest OS only had trouble because your VM recipe was incompatible with it, because you originally chose the wrong template. Had you chosen a 64bit template at VM creation then that template would have allowed 64bit guests and have had IO APIC enabled. Retrospective correction of the longmode flag doesn't change the IOAPIC setting.