Virtualbox Guests randomly crash for no reason at all

Discussion in 'Virtualization' started by TheCollDude489, Oct 11, 2018.

  1. TheCollDude489

    TheCollDude489 MDL Member

    Apr 16, 2018
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    For some odd reason, when running any Virtualbox VM I create, the Guest OS inside said VM tends to crash or freeze completely, requiring me to reset the VM I am currently using. This has been happening for a very long time(a couple years) on my older laptop as well.

    Windows Guests display a BSOD with a random stop error code, while Linux Guests just freeze without displaying any sort of error on screen. The crashes happen regardless if I am actually doing anything in the VM or not. There seems to be no pattern as to when the guest OS crashes, and I cannot reproduce any of the crashes.

    I am running the latest available version of Virtualbox, which is 5.2.18. My host OS is Windows 10 Enterprise version 1803.

    This is what my CPU, GPU, and RAM consist of, if it is of any importance:
    • CPU: Ryzen 7 1800X @ 3.6Ghz
    • GPU: GTX 1060 6GB
    • RAM: 64GB DDR4 2666Mhz
    I have no idea why this issue is happening, nor do I know how I can fix it. The fact that the same issue also happens on my older laptop(which is Intel-based) makes me doubt it's a hardware fault. I also would have posted this on the Virtualbox support forums, but their account creation seems to require being part of an actual company.

    Could someone please help me in solving this problematic issue?
     
  2. Carlos Detweiller

    Carlos Detweiller Emperor of Ice-Cream

    Dec 21, 2012
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    You can create an Oracle SSO login even if you aren't a company / business. The users in their forum are private, for the most part.

    If a company field is mandatory, be a bit "creative".
     
  3. app_raiser

    app_raiser MDL Junior Member

    Mar 18, 2018
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    this began with 1803! microslot integrated well the features because of them we totally need meltdown and spectre protection (a positive point of view is possible!)

    es i first set up a 1803 was wondering why so often freezes hangs /keeps host from shutting down a.s.o. so the vm activated software with background services of software on the host (or them running on shutdown of the vm) messed up the system. it's spectre and meltdown related, running scripts to stop and disable services on the host is also a (most performant solution)

    so far.
     
  4. TheCollDude489

    TheCollDude489 MDL Member

    Apr 16, 2018
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    OK, thanks for clarifying. The account creation form expects you to be part of or own a company(as the respective fields are required), so I'll just come up with a company name or something. Only issue is it wants a work phone number, but I'll just put in my home phone number.
    I doubt that the Guests crashing could be related to Meltdown and Spectre patches, since the same exact issue was happening for years on my older laptop, before Meltdown and Spectre was revealed to the public and patches were made available.
     
  5. app_raiser

    app_raiser MDL Junior Member

    Mar 18, 2018
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    just cleared that using winblows 10 >= 1803 WILL cause problems if working with virtualisation (and remote desktop also)!

    i suggest you to provide some detailed info about the vm's configuration tab! there is an option to export it, so you could paste it here - if getting useful advises to solve the problem is what you want!..

    greetz
     
  6. TheCollDude489

    TheCollDude489 MDL Member

    Apr 16, 2018
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    Where exactly is the option to export the information stored in the VM Configuration tab located exactly? The only option I was able to find was to export the entire VM as an OVF file.
     
  7. app_raiser

    app_raiser MDL Junior Member

    Mar 18, 2018
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    i will next time! yes this was what i meant.

    i suggest you to reduce the memory to 3072mb, disable 3d acceleration, reduce shared video memory to max. 128mb, disable floppy (there is none, right?!..)

    also i would disable "use host i/o cache" in drive settings in case it is activated, for testing purpose!

    .. futher you should change usb support from usb 1.0 (ohci) to usb 2.0 (ehci). if you don't do it on regular basis u should install / update the extension pack in the vm to latest version.

    i'm there for any further questions! i think we solve this issue soon. tell me if the machine is running smoother!

    greetings!
     
  8. ForrestGump

    ForrestGump MDL Member

    Oct 19, 2018
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    i suggest to use VMWare which has much more options for an optimal use.
    i have used VB for a while until i decided to give a try with VMWare and after testing it during couple of days, i noticed that it contains much more options as boot from USB, boot from DVD, inject MSDM table, slic table, capture screens and much more available options, and now i can't do without it.
     
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  9. TheCollDude489

    TheCollDude489 MDL Member

    Apr 16, 2018
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    #11 TheCollDude489, Oct 30, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2018
    (OP)
    OK, I made the changes you told me to do except for the USB support(since the version of Virtualbox I am using does not have an actual extension pack available for some reason) and disabling the "Use Host I/O Cache" as it was already disabled.

    I have since been running the VM for a little while, and have not experienced any crashes so far. I'll post here as soon as the Guest OS crashes again.

    EDIT: Literally a few minutes after I made this post, the VM crashes again. The BugCheck was 0x9F, and I was simply letting the VM stay idle.

    I would use VMWare if I had the money to do so. The free version restricts several features that I find necessary for doing virtualization, like creating/restoring backups and running multiple VMs at the same time.
     
  10. ForrestGump

    ForrestGump MDL Member

    Oct 19, 2018
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    i can offer you a life license for VMware WS v15 if you really want to switch to VMWare.
    you can contact me by pm and i will send it to you.
     
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  11. TheCollDude489

    TheCollDude489 MDL Member

    Apr 16, 2018
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    Oh, OK. I'll PM you then. I assume that is done by starting a conversation when clicking on your icon?
     
  12. ForrestGump

    ForrestGump MDL Member

    Oct 19, 2018
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    yes.
     
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  13. TheCollDude489

    TheCollDude489 MDL Member

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    OK, thanks for telling me. I am just used to using forum sites that display the traditional PM option.
     
  14. app_raiser

    app_raiser MDL Junior Member

    Mar 18, 2018
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    so exactly usb might be the problem. an external usb hard drive for example which by default spins down when it is not used.

    the bsod occurs because something is not handled correctly between host and vm, result of power state change of an idle device ?! :)

    xhci / ehci handoff or usb legacy support or bios shadowing or too aggressive energy saving on host system - that simple it likely is!
     
  15. TheCollDude489

    TheCollDude489 MDL Member

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    Except I had no USB devices attached to the VM at all. The only window I had open was an explorer window navigated to This PC. That BSOD was inside the VM, not on the Host.

    On the Host, I've had energy saving features(except for turning off the monitor after 5 minutes) disabled for a very long time. XHCI / EHCI Handoff and USB Legacy Support I am not sure about(is this for the Host or VM?), nor am I sure about the BIOS Shadowing, as my PC uses UEFI and is a Click-GUI variant.

    Either way, I am currently trying out VMWare Workstation, as some people have told me that it is better than Virtualbox and has some more tools/features.
     
  16. app_raiser

    app_raiser MDL Junior Member

    Mar 18, 2018
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    some say this, some say that.. i use VBOX for 8 years now. and i am a bit surprised how well my virtualized winblows ten works under linux jailed in VM even without clipboard connection. the only issue was to find the appropiate download for linux edition, the procedure described on the official homepage is catastrophic.. mission impossible.

    so, you said, you did nothing, and after 5 minutes the death in blue pushed the VM away. 5 minutes is exactly the win internal time for maintenance tasks to begin with, no matter what further powersettings you made. simple questions: do you use a usb mouse and a usb keyboard in your VM? usb power saving is on in all three windows power schemes, AC as DC... do you use a NAS?

    you can send me some bluescreen dump files "*.dmp" or "memorydump.dmp" you should find in your VMs windows or windows\minidump folder to debug them. i have everything set up and ready for debugging whats needed and good experience with this. usually i could tell you exactly which device caused the bluescreen by analyze the name of the driver (ntfs.sys or aiahcic.sys for example pointing to hdd physical issues or wrong driver)

    further you can create an energy-report in your VM by exec the following command in an elevated cmd: "powercfg /energy"
    after a minute you find a html file with result in windows system32 folder (in VM), and there most possibly are some issues.

    greetings!
     
  17. TheCollDude489

    TheCollDude489 MDL Member

    Apr 16, 2018
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    On my Host, the Keyboard and Mouse are connected through the USB ports on the back of the motherboard. All of my VMs use those automatically. In the Pointing Device options for the Windows 10 VM, I set it to PS/2 Mouse. I not sure what you mean by a "NAS", so I unfortunately can't answer that question. I looked in the locations you told me for any DMP files and found one minidump file around 700KB large, and one dump file called "MEMORY.dmp" that is about 400MB large. I will run the command you provided and retrieve the html document that it creates.

    Unfortunately it might take a little while to get the files you need uploaded, since my internet at home is very slow and can barely upload anything at all(the maximum upload speed is 20 kilobytes a second). However, my school that I go to has internet speeds that are thousands of times faster than my home internet speeds, so I might be able to upload all the files there and give you the link. Really depends if I can bypass their Securly web filter or not which blocks all common filesharing sites.
     
  18. app_raiser

    app_raiser MDL Junior Member

    Mar 18, 2018
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    nice!

    you should use the standard option tablet/usb! not ps/2!

    the small 700KB files are enough in most cases for debugging. good that you have these files (windows does not create them on some machines no matter that it should...) - so we will get an answer soon what exactly causes the bluescreens!

    greetz!