Ubuntu

Virtualbox & Genymotion not functioning

Asked by P J Reil

I had a working version of both Virtualbox and Genymotion on my Ubuntu 13.04 machine. I must have inadvertantly erased or removed some esential programs because now when I try to run either I get the following critical error message box:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Virtualbox Critical Error

Failed to create the VirtualBox COM object.
The application will now terminate.
Start tag expected, '<' not found.
Location: '/home/patrick/.VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml', line 1 (0), column 1.
/home/vbox/vbox-4.2.16/src/VBox/Main/src-server/VirtualBoxImpl.cpp[525] (nsresult VirtualBox::init()).

Details

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: VirtualBox
Interface: IVirtualBox {3b2f08eb-b810-4715-bee0-bb06b9880ad2}

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I've reinstalled Virtualbox with both the Software Center and the Gdebi Package Installer but I still get the same error.

I had installed VMplayer via the teminal on the same machine which does run. I didn't like it in comparison to Virtualbox so I tried to remove it but am not having any luck in doing so.

Can anyone direct me as to how to get these programs back up and running amd with the removal of VMware Player?

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P J Reil
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Did you install using source or deb file?
Do you have virtual systems which previously worked?

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#2

...Start tag expected, '<' not found.
Location: '/home/patrick/.VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml', line 1 (0), column 1. ...

It seems you ruined your personal configuration file for virtualbox. You might try renaming it or deleting it, and it should be re-created (with default values) when you start virtualbox again.

Revision history for this message
P J Reil (preil65) said : 		#3

I reinstalled it from a deb file and also from the Software Center

Yes, I previouslt had several virtual systems tha worked including several Genymotion Android systems.

I am now removing it completely with Synaptic Software Center and then I;ll reinstall.

TY

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#4

You have to be aware that removing and re-installing the software package will not change anything on your personal configuration file, and the error message strongly indicates that the problem is the configuration file!

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P J Reil (preil65) said : 		#5

Okay, I removed it with Synaptic then installed it again. Still getting the same Critical Error message.

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P J Reil (preil65) said : 		#6

"You have to be aware that removing and re-installing the software package will not change anything on your personal configuration file, and the error message strongly indicates that the problem is the configuration file!"

How do I deal with the configuration file? I'm completly lost!

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#7

Open your home directory in nautilus, press ctrl-h to show also hidden files (those with a dot as first character of the file name), navigate into the subdirectory .VirtualBox and rename the file VirtualBox.xml to something else.

or

open a terminal and issue the command
mv ~/.VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml ~/.VirtualBox/VirtualBox.error

Then try starting virtualbox again.

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P J Reil (preil65) said : 		#8

You virtual wiz. Thank you, very much!!!!

YT

PJR

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#9

YAY!