VirtualBox errors - (sh*t happens)

• My setup :
  • Host : Ubuntu 22.04 + VirtualBox 6.1.38
  • Guest : Windows 10 20H2
• my VM doesn't start
• VirtualBox outputs the error message :

  Result Code:	NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
  Component:	SessionMachine
  Interface:	ISession {c0447716-ff5a-4795-b57a-ecd5fffa18a4}

1. open the VM settings
2. USB tab
3. you should see the USB 3.0 option is selected, select USB 1.1 instead
4. try again booting the VM

• the host operating system is Windows 10 version 1909 (got that update lately)
• I also upgraded to VirtualBox 6.1.22 a few days ago
• when booting my VM, I get Windows pop-ups asking whether I allow VirtualBox to "make changes to my system" regarding network interfaces. I said "yes".
• the VM boots, but its network interface dedicated to host-guest networking does not work (ip a says NO CARRIER)
• on a following VM boot, I get the following error message (copied as-is, with a mix of french and english ) :

  Échec de l'ouverture de session pour la machine virtuelle Debian.
  
  Failed to open/create the internal network 'HostInterfaceNetworking-VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter' (VERR_INTNET_FLT_IF_NOT_FOUND).
  
  Failed to attach the network LUN (VERR_INTNET_FLT_IF_NOT_FOUND).
  
  Code d'erreur : E_FAIL (0x80004005)
  Composant : ConsoleWrap
  Interface : IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}

• in the VirtualBox GUI, VM properties, Network panel, Adapter tab (the one corresponding to private host networking), the Name select box is empty and offers no option (should display VirtualBox Host-Only Network adapter).
• there is an error icon at the bottom of the window stating No private host network adapter specified
• this seems related to major Windows 10 updates (source)

/!\ This is a temporary solution that _can_ fix the error message, but won't probably survive a reboot or a suspend :
- in "Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager", open the "Host Network Manager"
	- hover the "Tools" cell (top left) + click the "hamburger" menu + "Network"
	- or "File | Host Network Manager"
	- or "CTRL-h"
- you may see there some "Host-only" network interfaces that don't exist anymore in Windows10, so clean the mess by deleting everything
- create a new interface with the proper settings (IP, mask, DHCP)
- open Windows 10 network properties (WIN-r | ncpa.cpl)
- you should see the interface you just created
- disable + re-enable it	https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=94568&p=456926#p473162

- unfortunately, it's pretty likely this interface won't be there at the next reboot and I don't know how to fix this so far :-(((

https://superuser.com/questions/1132433/virtualbox-connection-disappears/1648033#1648033

• Windows 10 host, running VirtualBox 6.1.16
• Debian 10 (Buster) guest
• 2 monitors (laptop + external monitor via DisplayPort)

1. Debian boots normally and displays the login window as usual (which is at a very low resolution, like 800x600)
2. usually, once I've entered my credentials, the display flickers slightly while the monitor frame is resized to its full resolution, then a 2^nd window appears for the 2^nd monitor. Now, the window keeps its low resolution, no 2^nd window appears, and my XFCE desktop is displayed in this tiny window.
3. Then 3 desktop notifications appear in the top-right corner (1 is displayed twice but I can't remember which since they vanish after just a few seconds). Because of the low screen resolution, the messages are truncated :
   • Failed to register
   • Failed to set display

1. on the host side (this is not mandatory, but since you'll have to spend some time re-building the kernel module, upgrade everything) :
   1. update VirtualBox itself
   2. if VirtualBox itself had an update, update the Extension Pack
2. on the guest :
   1. update the kernel headers
   2. update the guest Additions
   3. reboot

1. my setup (described in more details here and here) :
   • Windows 10 host, on a laptop
   • Debian guest
   • 3 monitors : laptop + 2 external identical monitors
2. Windows 10 is configured so that both external screens use their native resolution (1920x1080)
3. when switching the Debian guest into full screen on both external monitors :
   • one is in its native resolution of 1920x1080
   • the other tops at 1536x864 ()

XFCE display properties

In more details :

Screen 0: minimum 1 x 1, current 3456 x 1080, maximum 8192 x 8192
Virtual1 connected 1920x1080+1536+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+
   2560x1600     59.99
   1920x1440     60.00
   
   800x600       60.32
   640x480       59.94
Virtual2 connected primary 1536x864+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1536x864      60.00*+
   2560x1600     59.99
   1920x1440     60.00
   
   800x600       60.32
   640x480       59.94

1. on the host side (Windows 10), open the VirtualBox VM Manager
2. open the VM Configuration screen, then Display | Screen tab
3. on this window, you can define :
   • the amount of video memory
   • the number of screens (2 here)
   • and a scale factor (either for all monitors, or per monitor)
4. for an unknown reason, I had :
   • for the 1920x1080 monitor (working fine) : 100%
   • for the other one —limited to 1536x864— : 125%
5. setting the latter back to 100% brought things back to normal

• laptop running Windows 10 (I've only had the upgrade to 10 a few days ago, I already hate it : it's full of weirdness, stuff that _never_ was problematic with 7 waste my time today, configuration options are hidden in 15 clicks-deep menus, ..., )
• VirtualBox 6.1.4 + up-to-date Extension Pack and Guest Additions
• my VM is a Debian Buster running XFCE
• I've used this kind of setup (Windows host + VirtualBox + Debian guest + dual screen) for years. Except the software upgrades, not much has changed.
• when I boot my VM, only 1 window (1 virtual screen) appears
• it still worked yesterday

Let's see what happens in the VM :

(some Xrandr chitchat)
screen1Name					not the expected VGA-0 (or DVI-0)
	(list of supported resolutions)
	
	
	
						no 2nd screen is listed : only 1 "virtual" monitor is connected to the VM

VM display settings in VirtualBox :

1. in the virtual monitor window, select Monitor in the top menu
2. select Virtual screen 2. If this option is not visible (sometimes the drop-down list is not entirely displayed (), click again on Monitor to close + re-open the list
3. then Enable

• trying to install the Guest Additions in a Linux guest using the usual procedure
• don't know whether this is relevant, but this guest VM has no graphical mode
• sh autorun.sh

  Linux guest additions installer not found --try to start them manually.

• mount -o remount,exec,ro /media/cdrom
• cd /media/cdrom && ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

1. Debian boots normally, the login screen appears
2. I type my login + password
3. both screens turn black, there's nothing I can do to interact with the machine anymore. I have to turn it off from VirtualBox's VM manager

1. boot until the login screen appears
2. using VirtualBox's host (right CTRL here) : host-F6 to open a login console
3. log in as standard user, then test stuff as root
4. (unclear in which order I did this...)
   lightdm

   DBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.Accounts was not provided by any .service files
   Failed to use bus name org.freedesktop.DisplayManager, do you have appropriate permissions ?

   journalctl -xe

   pam_unix(lightdm:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=

   journalctl -u lightdm

   -- Reboot --
   Sep 11 09:37:59 myWorkstation systemd[1]: Starting Light Display Manager...
   Sep 11 09:38:04 myWorkstation systemd[1]: Started Light Display Manager.
   Sep 11 09:38:05 myWorkstation lightdm[889]: pam_unix(lightdm-greeter:session): session opened for user lightdm by (uid=0)
   Sep 11 09:42:08 myWorkstation lightdm[1037]: pam_unix(lightdm:auth): check pass; user unknown
   Sep 11 09:42:08 myWorkstation lightdm[1037]: pam_unix(lightdm:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=:0 ruser= rhost=
   Sep 11 09:42:16 myWorkstation lightdm[1074]: pam_unix(lightdm:auth): check pass; user unknown
   Sep 11 09:42:16 myWorkstation lightdm[1074]: pam_unix(lightdm:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=:0 ruser= rhost=
   Sep 11 09:43:51 myWorkstation lightdm[1103]: pam_unix(lightdm:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=:0 ruser= rhost=  user=sys

5. some of the links I visited / things I tried while debugging this (and that did not solve the problem, kept for future reference...) :

   https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1428379#c8
   	/etc/systemd/system/lightdm.service.d/fixes.conf
   ==========================================8<=========================================================
   https://askubuntu.com/questions/346738/13-04-lightdm-crashing-black-screen-flashing-cursor
   
   /var/lib/lightdm/.Xauthority
   	600 lightdm:lightdm
   
   chmod 664 ...
   ==========================================8<=========================================================
   https://askubuntu.com/questions/346738/13-04-lightdm-crashing-black-screen-flashing-cursor#answer-346994
   apt install xdm
   at config, select xdm
   apt remove lightdm* --purge
   reboot
   apt install lightdm
   + select lightdm
   reboot

6. change the VM configuration in VirtualBox's VM manager so that it uses a single screen instead of 2, it works fine : I can log in graphically, see my desktop & al. and a desktop notification :

   Failed to connect to the VirtualBox kernel service

1. install the kernel headers (that were missing for an unknown reason)
2. re-install the VirtualBox Guest Additions
3. reboot, enjoy.

1. upgrade my workstation to Debian Buster (10)
2. upgrade VirtualBox from version 5.2.xx to 6.0 with this method
3. start VirtualBox as a non-root user from a graphical session
4. VirtualBox detects that the Extension Pack is outdated and offers to download + upgrade
5. the upgrade fails with the error :

   Failed to install the Extension Pack /home/stuart/.VirtualBox/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.0.10.vbox-extpack.
   
   The installer failed with exit code 127: Error creating textual authentication agent: Error opening current controlling terminal for the process (`/dev/tty'): No such device or address.
   
   Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
   Component: ExtPackManagerWrap
   Interface: IExtPackManager {70401eef-c8e9-466b-9660-45cb3e9979e4}

1. close the current VirtualBox instance
2. start VirtualBox again as root. No need to open a graphical session for root, sudo virtualbox will do the job
3. if you're not prompted to update the Extension Pack, force the update with File | Check for updates
4. follow the on-screen instructions and proceed with the update
5. close this VirtualBox instance
6. re-start VirtualBox as a non-root user
7. confirm everything is going extremely well with File | Check for updates again

I just _HATE_ when simple things waste my time !!! Today's joke was Windows 7 + VirtualBox + Debian/XFCE not able to go fullscreen the way I expected it. It already worked thousands of times, but no luck today ...

For the context, here's my setup. I have :

• a laptop, running Windows 7 and VirtualBox
• 2 extra screens. So 3 screens in total :
  • the laptop screen is for Windows applications. Windows 7's display itself is configured properly so that all monitors are recognized and available
  • the 2 wide screens are for my Debian VM running on VirtualBox. VirtualBox itself is setup so that this VM has 2 "virtual" screens. I've used this dual-monitor setup for years both in regular and virtual Debian machines with no problem.

Upon starting my Debian guest within VirtualBox, 2 windows appear, 1 for each "virtual" screen. At first, they are in "windowed" mode (i.e. not fullscreen). One of these windows is my primary window (it has the XFCE taskbar), the other is the secondary window. Because of my physical setup, desk, personal preferences, I'd like to have :

• the primary window on the right monitor
• the secondarywindow on the left monitor

1. Start menu | Settings | Display
2. Identify displays (optional, but helps a lot : understanding who's who is priceless )
3. then 2 solutions :
   • either monitors 1 and 2 are misplaced relative to each other (in XFCE settings). In such case, drag one around.
   • or XFCE insists on having the wrong monitor to be the Primary display. Tick the checkbox accordingly.

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1098)

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) is either not loaded
or there is a permission problem with /dev/vboxdrv. Please
reinstall virtualbox-dkms package and load the kernel module
by executing

'modprobe vboxdrv'

as root.

where: suplibOsInit what: 3 VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED
(-1908) - The support driver is not installed. On linux, open
returned ENOENT.

1. apt install --reinstall linux-headers-$(uname -r) virtualbox-dkms dkms
2. modprobe vboxdrv
3. reboot the VM

Can not start VirtualBox on Debian Stretch : Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908) (source)

Situation

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) is either not loaded or there is a permission problem with /dev/vboxdrv. Please reinstall the kernel module by executing

'/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup'

as root. If it is available in your distribution, you should install the DKMS package first. This package keeps track of Linux kernel changes and recompiles the vboxdrv kernel module if necessary.

Details

Solution

VBoxClient
The VirtualBox kernel service is not running. Exiting.

• Everything is going extremely well, and suddenly, the mouse "stops clicking" in the guest window.
• The mouse cursor still moves normally in the guest, but nothing happens when it hovers buttons or links, nor when clicking.
• The mouse works normally in the host.

• This thread clearly highlights this is one more VirtualBox issue.
• So far, the only solution was to restart the impacted guest VM.

1. ps aux | grep [d]raganddrop

   kevin    31488  0.0  0.0  50364   332 ?        S    08:53   0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
   kevin    31489  0.1  0.0 117064  2184 ?        Sl   08:53   0:15 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop

2. kill -1 31489
   • I don't know which one of both should be killed : the first or the other ?
   • Anyway, after that, both processes disappeared.
3. The mouse click is back

1. VirtualBox itself
2. the Extension Pack
3. the Guest Additions. This is where I got this modprobe vboxsf failed error message.

Disable 3D acceleration in VM configuration

No effect

Enable PAE/NX in VM configuration

No effect

echo 'blacklist intel_rapl' > /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf, then reboot (source)

OK so far.

1. I get no Wrong password message
2. The screen turns black and flickers as if the graphical session was being opened normally
3. Then I get the login window again

It's even possible that this has nothing to do with VirtualBox...

New permissions will be effective only after opening a new shell (for CLI access) or after a new login (for GUI access).

Failed to access the USB subsystem
Could not load the Host USB Proxy Service (VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND).
The service might not be installed on the host computer

Erreur d'accès au sous-système USB.
Le service de relais de périphériques USB n'a pas pû être activé (erreur VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND).
Il se peut que le service ne soit pas installé sur l'ordinateur hôte.

1. as root :
   usermod -aG vboxusers bob
2. log out and in again to reload groups data