Ubuntu
virtualbox-ose package

Virtualbox crashes when launching hosts under 64 bit Karmic

Asked by pwaring

I've just installed the amd64 version of Karmic on a new desktop, updated all the packages and then rebooted. After this, I installed the virtualbox-ose package using aptitude, which brought in some dependencies such as dkms. I can start Virtualbox without any problems and create virtual machines and disks, but when I launch one the whole system freezes up. There's no response from the keyboard (Ctrl+Alt+Backspace and Ctrl+Alt+Del don't work) or the mouse, and the only way to recover the machine is to press the reboot button. The problem occurs regardless of what the guest operating system is - I've tried with Debian ISOs and a copy of Windows 2000 - both of which work fine on another machine.

I've had the same problem for several weeks on the same machine, but even installing from scratch doesn't seem to help. I'd really like to figure out exactly what the problem is and, if it's a bug, contribute whatever debugging information is needed to fix it. I have a working version of Virtualbox on my 32 bit laptop running Karmic, so I don't think it's a problem with the package not working at all. It's possible I'm just missing some dependencies, although I would expect aptitude to automatically install anything which is required to run Virtualbox.

uname -a outputs:

Linux mondas 2.6.31-17-generic #54-Ubuntu SMP Thu Dec 10 17:01:44 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Could try adding this PPA and install a later version:
https://launchpad.net/~debfx/+archive/virtualbox

are the guests 32bit or 64bit? You may have to turn off the 64bit guest functionality in your bios. I also suggest you run a RAM healthheck as well as an fsck on your partitionsin a live CD boot.

To restart the x server use ALT + K + PrintScreen. Hard resetting like that can and will physically damage the components in your system.

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pwaring (launchpad-pwaring) said : 		#2

I've tried 32 and 64 bit guests (32 bit Windows 2000, 32/64 bit versions of Debian and Gentoo) - they all fail in the same way. I don't really want to have to turn off 64 bit guest functionality if possible, as that sort of defeats the point of having Virtualbox installed, but I will try it this evening and see what happens.

I'll give the later version a try as well, although I'm always a bit wary about installing backported software as it won't necessarily have been tested as rigorously as other components.

As for hard resetting, there's not much of an option when everything locks up...

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

The point of having virtualbox is to run virtualised systems. The architecture does not define the requirement of virtualbox.

You could also check your BIOS is the latest.

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pwaring (launchpad-pwaring) said : 		#4

I know the point of having Virtualbox is to run virtualised systems, however I want to be able to run 32 and 64 bit guests - unless turning off 64 bit guest functionality doesn't affect the ability of Virtualbox to run 64 bit guests.

I have also run memtest from a live CD and there are no memory problems, and fsck doesn't throw up any errors either.

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pwaring (launchpad-pwaring) said : 		#5

Thanks for the suggestion - I have tried disabling "Virtualisation Technology" (the only option which looks vaguely related to virtualisation) in the BIOS - this lets me run 32 bit guests without any problems but won't let me run 64-bit hosts (my system doesn't crash, I just get an error message from Virtualbox about 64-bit support being available but not enabled). I'll file a bug report instead as it doesn't seem like there's anything obviously wrong with my setup.

(On a side note, ALT+K+Print Screen doesn't work on my system).

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#6

Looks like your BIOS is to blame then, Virtualbox is running as it should. I suggest you upgrade your BIOS to the latest version to see if this helps

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