[SOLVED] Has anybody else experienced virtualbox problems lately?

[otacon14112]

All of a sudden, without warning (but after some updates), virtualbox installed from LM repositories freezes my entire computer (can't even press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to get to a console) immediately after starting the VM. It can't even get to the point where it even starts to load the OS (which is LM 18.3). I read online it may be because of virtualization, but the thing is I didn't make any changes to the settings. One thing I remember just before it started freezing is that my computer was acting extremely slow, to the point that it took over a second for windows to be drawn (I'm talking about the native OS ...not the one in the VM).

I don't remember which updates were applied just before it, but I do remember some update for intel microcode recently. Does anybody have any ideas about this?

LM 18.3 MATE, 64-bit

Update: As mentioned, the software directly from virtualbox's site works, and solves this problem.

[catweazel]

That can happen with a kernel update. It's best to reinstall virtualbox.

[silfox2000]

It's best to reinstall virtualbox.

This does not work with the version from the repository, but upgrading to version 5.2.4 from the virtualbox's site works... at least for me.

[AndyMH]

Similar problems, as a result of Spectre/Meltdown upgraded my kernel and ran into VB problems. What I found was:

• VB 5.0.40 (version in the respository) works okay with kernel 4.4.0.109 (this is the latest in the 4.4 series patched for Spectre).
  
  VB 5.2.2+ (has to be downloaded) worked fine with 4.4.0.53 (what I had before the kernel update) but does not work correctly in seamless mode (on a Thinkpad T430)
  
  VB 5.0.40 freezes with kernel 4.13.26 - the problem you have.

[otacon14112]

Alright, thanks guys. When I have time I'll dl the one from their site.

Also, one more piece of information: After the first time it froze, I held down the power button to forcibly shut off the computer. When I turned it back on, my Asus Z170-Pro bios failed to boot, saying the overclocking had failed. I let the overclocking software automatically choose the most stable configuration, and I have never had problems with this oc speed. However, when I turned off the computer again, and turned it back on, the error message hasn't come back up yet.

I have an intel i7 6700k 4.0 GHz, an Asus Z170-Pro motherboard, and 8 GB G.Skill 3200 DDR4 x2 (16 GB). I also forgot to mention that I had uninstalled, purged and autoremoved everything related to VB prior to posting this topic. When I restarted and reinstalled it, it had the same problem. I even deleted the vm that I had installed and set up, and created a new one from scratch, but still had the same problem. So when I get time I will try the one from their site.

Thanks again for the info.

[Tarzan]

Well I'm still running 17.3 64 bit (supported till 2019)
Being aware of the Spectre problem and when the new kernel came along (4.4.0-109)
I installed it.
It hasn't been a nice experience for VBox, all I get is a segmentation fault when I run VB from the CL.

Now I've tried all versions of VirtualBox from the latest [virtualbox-5.2_5.2.4-119785~Ubuntu~trusty_amd64.deb]
back to
[virtualbox-5.2_5.2.0-118431~Ubuntu~trusty_amd64.deb] without any joy at all.

I'm running a FX6100 Bulldozer CPU with 16g RAM and my 2x 32 bit VM's are no longer available to me
on a 14.x.x.x kernel. I can have them back when I opt at boot time for a 13.x kernel
Any good ADVICE on this UN-RESOLVED for me, issue?

[Cosmo.]

Try the latest 3.13.x kernel.

And please avoid confusion by writing about kernel versions, which will most likely not appear in the next 10 or 20 years (13.x, 14.x.x.x).