VERR_VMX_IN_VMX_ROOT_MODE

[KenMitchell]

I've been running VMWare Player on my Windows 7 Pro laptop for a couple of years now, without any problems, when it abruptly crashed two weeks ago. I'm not aware Suddenly, none of my VMs would load, giving the error "VMware Player unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0) vcpu-0:VMM fault 13: src=MONITOR rip=0xfffffffffc2c38dd regs=0xfffffffffc008e60". Googling this error seemed to indicate that some other virtualization program was running, but none were. My friends and associates were saying "Ha! You should have been running VirtualBox!".

So, over the past two weeks, I've uninstalled and reinstalled VMWare a couple of times, and gave up; I completely uninstalled VMware, and deleted every file or folder containing the word "vmware". I've now installed VirtualBox, and I'm getting the error "VERR_VMX_IN_VMX_ROOT_MODE". As near as I can tell, this is VirtualBox's version of the same error message - but there's no trace of ANY other virtualization program. It doesn't even allow me to create new VMs; crashes with the same error.

I've run our corporate antivirus (BitDefender), and MalwareBytes, and the McAfee "Stinger" Av programs, with no hits. I've read all the forum posts, many of which are for Linux users (sorry; I have no clue how to "recompile my kernel" on this Windoze7 Pro machine) and nothing seems to be quite applicable.

Any suggestions, before I wipe my hard drive and reinstall Windows from scratch?

[loukingjr]

See: Windows 4.3.20 specifically for errors due to security

[mpack]

This doesn't smell like the "security" issue to me, though that can be easily verified installing VirtualBox 4.3.12 rather than the latest version.

VERR_VMX_IN_VMX_ROOT_MODE means that something else is using VT-x (or AMD-v if you have an AMD CPU).

I can't tell you what "something else" is - only you know what software you installed or updated recently. Likely candidates are Hyper-v (which installs as a service and hogs VT-x), some antivirus apps, and some system level debuggers. I'm not familiar with VMWare, so it could also be some remnant of that.

[loukingjr]

I thought perhaps this issue:

NOTE 12th Dec: if you have a Windows 7 host that started failing in the last few days then this is most like due to buggy Windows update KB3004394. Microsoft have released a fix here

may have caused the original VMWare problem since the timing seems to be approx correct. Perhaps corrupting something else on the OP's host and now looks like a VT-x problem.. Trying 4.3.12 sounds like a good idea.

[mpack]

I find it unlikely that the VMWare issue was caused by the KBxxx update. I believe that VMWare does have its own equivalent of the hardening checks, but failure of such validation checks would cause an error message, not a crash. Still, running 4.3.12 would remove most doubts.

[loukingjr]

You're probably correct. The only reason I even thought about it was when the offending KB update came out it affected my Windows 7 guest. When it booted instead of the normal boot I would get a black screen with a number of messages something to the effect of Applying changes to the registries then it would finally boot normally. Once I removed the update it booted normally.

One thing I have learned over the years is changes can cause problems that made no sense. To paraphrase, "If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and looks like a duck, sometimes it isn't a duck".

edit: I assumed at the time the KB update had caused the nice "Don't turn off your computer, Applying updates“" screen to go away, and replaced it with a verbose text message screen. But I am speculating.

[KenMitchell]

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions. I've removed VirtualBox 4.3.20 and installed VirtualBox 4.3.12, with no effects; it still crashes in the same way. Looking back at the Windows Updates, there were quite a flock of them that were installed in 12/16/14, and I first noticed the VMWare problems on the 22nd, so this is either a good correlation or a heck of a coincidence. Most of the updates were for Microsoft Office 2010 Standard and MS Access 2010. This machine never got the problem update KB3004394; I remember checking for it when the problem was first announced. There were 10 OTHER Windows updates installed on 12/16/14, so I'm going to remove those and then restart, and see if it makes any difference.

Thanks much for all the suggestions!

[KenMitchell]

Well, removing all of the Windows Updates from 12/16/14 has not resolved the issue.

Some additional background info: this is a Dell Latitude E6520 laptop, with an Intel i7 quad-core CPU and 8GB of RAM.

If anybody can suggest something else to try, I'd welcome the suggestions. Thanks.

[mpack]

The error means that you have other software installed which uses VT-x. That is a fact. But, without being at your PC I have no way to determine what that might be. I outlined a list of usual suspects above.

[socratis]

You got sidetracked by the updates that are plaguing other users with different errors. Your error is crystal-clear (VERR_VMX_IN_VMX_ROOT_MODE) and the solution was given to you by mpack:

VERR_VMX_IN_VMX_ROOT_MODE means that something else is using VT-x (or AMD-v if you have an AMD CPU).

I can't tell you what "something else" is - only you know what software you installed or updated recently. Likely candidates are Hyper-v (which installs as a service and hogs VT-x), some antivirus apps, and some system level debuggers.

[KenMitchell]

You got sidetracked by the updates that are plaguing other users with different errors. Your error is crystal-clear (VERR_VMX_IN_VMX_ROOT_MODE) and the solution was given to you by mpack:

VERR_VMX_IN_VMX_ROOT_MODE means that something else is using VT-x (or AMD-v if you have an AMD CPU).

I can't tell you what "something else" is - only you know what software you installed or updated recently. Likely candidates are Hyper-v (which installs as a service and hogs VT-x), some antivirus apps, and some system level debuggers.

Thank you for your comment. What _IS_ "crystal clear" is that I have no obvious candidates for the interfering program. I've never installed Hyper-V on this machine, and the only other programs recently updated were TeamViewer and iCloud, neither of which seemed likely to cause the error. And the Windows updates themselves, which you assure me weren't the culprit.

Does anyone know of a program that can identify which program is using the VT-x resource?

[loukingjr]

Ken, did you check Resource Monitor in your host to see if any processes or services were running that were possibly a remnant of your VMWare install or anything related to VirtualBox that looks suspicious? Sorting by Image and Name makes it easier to find.

[Perryg]

Ken, did you check Resource Monitor in your host to see if any processes or services were running that were possibly a remnant of your VMWare install or anything related to VirtualBoz that looks suspicious? Sorting by Image and Name makes it easier to find.

VirtualBoz? Must be New Year.

[loukingjr]

Ken, did you check Resource Monitor in your host to see if any processes or services were running that were possibly a remnant of your VMWare install or anything related to VirtualBoz that looks suspicious? Sorting by Image and Name makes it easier to find.

VirtualBoz? Must be New Year.

oops lol not yet!

fixed.

[KenMitchell]

interesting. I ran the Windoze7 Resource Monitor program, and the only thing that started with a "V" was "VCDDaemon.exe", which is the Elaborate Bytes Virtual Clone Drive to mount ISO images. I was about to write "This couldn't possibly have made a difference", and decided that since it actually has the word "Virtual" in the name, it _might_ make a difference. So I uninstalled Virtual Clone Drive, rebooted, and reinstalled VirtualBox.

VirtualBox now starts. Not "normally", yet, but at least I am getting SOME response from the virtual machine, even if it is a virtual BSOD. It's running Windows Startup Repair, so this may (possibly) actually work.

Thanks much for the assistance!