VBoxSVC exits when starting any VM on Mavericks

[daylanzee]

VBoxSVC exits when any VM is started on Mavericks - the selected VM runs, but immediately all VMs and information are inaccessible until VirtualBox is restarted.

Version: Seen originally when I updated 4.3.8 -> 4.3.10 Subsequently back-revved to 4.3.8 which previously worked correctly, but now also exhibited the problem. Forward revved to 10 again, same behavior. Today I uninstalled and installed 4.3.12, but with the same results.

MAC OS X 10.9.3, (the problem was first seen on 10.9.2)
MacBook Pro (Fall 2013): 2.3G Core i7, 16 GB

When I start any VM (several versions of linux: Fedora 14, OpenSUSE 12.3, XINU development environment Debian 6.0) the selected VM starts and runs successfully, but immediately the VirtualBox GUI reports “Inaccessible” for all VMs, and I have determined that VBoxSVC always quits immediately upon starting any VM.

Once this has happened, attempting to start the same VM again gives the error message:
“Failed to open a session for the virtual machine” with details: Callee RC: NS_ERROR_CALL_FAILED (0x800706BE).
Attempting to start a different VM gives the error message:
“There is no virtual machine with the identifier xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx” and the same details.

Quitting and restarting the VirtualBox application restarts the service, and the app behaves normally -- VM information is accessible in the GUI -- until a VM is again run and the same thing happens. This behavior is particularly a problem for the XINU development environment which requires that two VMs be running.

The following text is always added in the VBoxSVC.log (attached) when the service crashes:

• 00:00:09.901650 nspr-3 ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_INVALID_VM_STATE (0x80bb0002) aIID={480cf695-2d8d-4256-9c7c-cce4184fa048} aComponent={Machine} aText={Machine is not locked for session (session state: Unlocked)}, preserve=false
  00:00:10.230587 nspr-2 ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR (0x80bb0005) aIID={480cf695-2d8d-4256-9c7c-cce4184fa048} aComponent={SessionMachine} aText={Saved screenshot data is not available (VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED)}, preserve=false
  00:00:10.284577 nspr-2 ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND (0x80bb0001) aIID={3295e6ce-b051-47b2-9514-2c588bfe7554} aComponent={ExtPackManager} aText={No extension pack by the name 'Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack' was found}, preserve=false
  00:00:10.899387 nspr-2 AssertLogRel /Users/vbox/tinderbox/4.3-mac-rel/src/VBox/Main/glue/string.cpp(56) void com::Bstr::copyFromN(const char*, size_t): <NULL>
  00:00:10.899412 nspr-2 VERR_CODE_POINT_ENDIAN_INDICATOR ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf ef bf bf

I have done complete uninstall and reinstall several times, revved the application as described above, removed and readded my Virtual Machines, with the same result always. The first VM I run will always start and run properly, so I don’t know if it has to do with corrupted VMs.


These are the same symptoms as were seen an earlier posting, including the the error in the service log:
[forums.../viewtopic.php?f=8&t=55788&p=257911&hilit=AssertLogRel+tinderbox+4.3+mac+rel+src+glue+string.cpp+56+#p257911]
That case was resolved by uninstall/reinstall — mine has not been, nor by back/forward revving Virtualbox


I am attaching a VM log for Fedora guest. From /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports I attach example crash logs:
Created each time: VBoxSVC_2014-05-31-163601_DJLMacBookPro.crash
sometimes created: VirtualBoxVM_2014-05-31-160820_DJLMacBookPro.crash

I can provide a more detailed sequence of my actions, though not complete since this has gone on for a while. However, as I said, once the problem began it has persisted over restarts, reinstalls, and up/down-grades of the application, so those details might not be too useful.

Thanks for any help in figuring out what is going on and how I can fix it!

[ChipMcK]

Check out the following
[Fixed v4.3.12] v4.3.x and V4.2.x VBoxSVC daemon quits
[Fixed 4.3.12] USB Drive Process Conformity
and
Ticket #11038

[daylanzee]

That was it!
I had seen some of those discussions but hadn't made the connection, because I wasn't explicitly using any USB devices with any virtual machines, and things had run fine in the past with a USB HD (time machine) plugged in sometimes. However, I had forgotten about a little "Fitbit" USB dongle (this guy, http://www.amazon.com/Fitbit-FB152OD-Wi ... B00GWP0WUK, or something much like it) which grabs information from a wristband via Bluetooth -- and it is evidently the culprit. Merely having it plugged in to the Mac host (and presumably connected to the Fitbit Mac app/service) is enough to crash VBoxSVC on starting a VM! If I remove the dongle, VirtualBox runs fine.

I acquired the dongle around New Year's but I am not sure if the problem showed up immediately. I think it was a few months later, but most likely that was just the first time I tried to use VirtualBox with the dongle present. But, I believe the problem is solved for me - just remove the dongle to use VBox.

Thanks for the tip!

[ChipMcK]

I believe the problem is solved for me - just remove the dongle to use VBox.

It would seem prudent to fix the problem and be done with it, rather than depend on one's memory/luck.
The upgrade does not take that long.