Arch Linux

majewsky

Member

Registered: 2014-10-31

Posts: 8

X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

I updated to linux{,-headers}-4.5 (from 4.4.5) this morning. After reboot, SDDM coredumped and the Xorg.0.log shows that the X server does not come up anymore.

Logs are at https://gist.github.com/majewsky/0f6e91 … 60ccad18c3 -- The Xorg.0.log especially says "Fatal server error: AddScreen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0".

My VirtualBox guest modules are definitely built for that kernel. I use virtualbox-guest-dkms and I saw the post-transaction hook running through without error.

I'm not sure whether to report this bug against Arch, VirtualBox, or the kernel (do they even have a bugtracker?). Maybe someone else is seeing the same problem and can share some insight?

cscutcher

Member

Registered: 2015-10-12

Posts: 4

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

Exactly the same here (except I use lightdm). Tried both virtualbox-guest-additions and the VBoxAdditions.run that Virtualbox provides. No luck with either.

bjorn82

Member

Registered: 2016-04-14

Posts: 2

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

Same problem here.
Tried linux-mainline 4.6-RC3, but same issue.

cscutcher

Member

Registered: 2015-10-12

Posts: 4

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

I can confirm downgrading to 4.4.5 got things working again for me. I used

sudo pacman --force -U linux-4.4.5-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz linux-headers-4.4.5-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Also I forgot to say that I'm on Antergos rather than raw Arch.

WebReflection

Member

Registered: 2014-07-08

Posts: 106

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

not sure if helps, but I'm on gdm and GNOME 3.20 and every VM I have works just fine (various Windows, Fedora, Ubuntu 14, 15, 16)

Linux archibold 4.5.0-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Mar 15 09:41:03 CET 2016 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Last edited by WebReflection (2016-04-14 10:02:35)

cscutcher

Member

Registered: 2015-10-12

Posts: 4

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

every VM I have works just fine (various Windows, Fedora, Ubuntu 14, 15, 16)

I presume you're talking about Arch being the VM host? We're talking about Arch being the guest.

WebReflection

Member

Registered: 2014-07-08

Posts: 106

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

so I was right being not sure, I didn't help at all (yes, I was talking about Arch as primary OS which is my case, apologies for the (my) confusion)

cscutcher

Member

Registered: 2015-10-12

Posts: 4

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

apologies

No worries. Thanks for trying to help!

bjorn82

Member

Registered: 2016-04-14

Posts: 2

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

I can confirm downgrading to 4.4.5 got things working again for me. I used

sudo pacman --force -U linux-4.4.5-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz linux-headers-4.4.5-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Also I forgot to say that I'm on Antergos rather than raw Arch.

I downgraded too, now it's working again.

bartekplus

Member

Registered: 2004-12-25

Posts: 4

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

Same problem here, I use  iomem=relaxed kernel parameter as workaround.

IMBJR

Member

From: INDCMPLX

Registered: 2014-03-16

Posts: 88

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

Same problem here, I use  iomem=relaxed kernel parameter as workaround.

This work-around works for me.

0strodamus

Member

Registered: 2014-01-22

Posts: 95

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

Thanks for posting the work-around. It's working here too. This option was added to the 4.5-1 kernel config:

CONFIG_IO_STRICT_DEVMEM=y

. According to this forum post, once VirtualBox 5.0.17 is released the kernel parameter can be removed.

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"In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."

fredbezies

Member

Registered: 2011-07-28

Posts: 357

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

Looks like https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/48598 ?

lyndon

Member

Registered: 2016-04-14

Posts: 3

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

I am having the same problem on 2 different host systems.

I have tried the workaround on 1 and it works (will confirm on the other later).

For those who stumble across this who have never changed their kernel parameters before like me (and are using GRUB) all I did was:

Edit /etc/default/grub and append

iomem=relaxed

to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT variable so mine now looks like this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet iomem=relaxed"

Then I ran:

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

See Kernel parameters wiki page for more info.

brontosaurusrex

Member

Registered: 2016-01-11

Posts: 20

Website

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

lyndon: That did the trick for me.

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blog | configs git

linmx0130

Member

Registered: 2012-04-19

Posts: 4

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

lyndon's trick works for me, too!

semeion

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2008-10-20

Posts: 65

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

yeah, same problem here...

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,330

Website

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

We really don't need a string of "me too" posts now that the solution is confirmed.

Semeion, your's is particularly odd saying you have the same problem - if you do, you can use the same solution.

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

semeion

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2008-10-20

Posts: 65

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

Yes, that solution from lyndon worked to me.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,084

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

This should be fixed in the latest packages.

Momentum

Member

Registered: 2016-04-17

Posts: 8

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

This should be fixed in the latest packages.

And what might those packages be?

Last edited by Momentum (2016-04-18 01:56:00)

FrankTM

Member

From: Zwolle, Netherlands

Registered: 2006-02-19

Posts: 26

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

I can confirm downgrading to 4.4.5 got things working again for me. I used

sudo pacman --force -U linux-4.4.5-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz linux-headers-4.4.5-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Also I forgot to say that I'm on Antergos rather than raw Arch.

Could someone share the i686 versions of these two files?

[edit]

Never mind, went with the kernel option for now

Last edited by FrankTM (2016-04-18 08:38:55)

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Here is your parachute and here is the manual. Welcome to Linux.

lyndon

Member

Registered: 2016-04-14

Posts: 3

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

This should be fixed in the latest packages.

And what might those packages be?

I think they may be referring to the new virtualbox packages (virtualbox-guest-dkms and virtualbox-guest-utils).
I am running an update now and will test removing the kernel parameter (will edit with the result).

As for the workaround it wasn't actually me who suggested it, it was bartekplus, I just wrote out the steps for GRUB.

EDIT:
Unfortunately that didn't work.

At least what I did didn't:

I tried removing the iomem=relaxed parameter and rerunning grub-mkconfig after updating the packages.
I may also need to update Virtualbox to 5.0.16 as I am at 5.0.14. I will try that later today.

Last edited by lyndon (2016-04-18 09:09:42)

oliver

Member

Registered: 2007-12-12

Posts: 448

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

I tried removing the iomem=relaxed parameter and rerunning grub-mkconfig after updating the packages.
I may also need to update Virtualbox to 5.0.16 as I am at 5.0.14. I will try that later today.

I was on 5.0.16 and the upgrade today didn't fix the issue for me

[2016-04-18 08:55] [ALPM] upgraded virtualbox-guest-dkms (5.0.16-3 -> 5.0.16-4)
[2016-04-18 08:55] [ALPM] upgraded virtualbox-guest-utils (5.0.16-3 -> 5.0.16-4)

The old workaround was still good though.

steadybright

Member

Registered: 2014-03-11

Posts: 17

Re: X server does not come up in VirtualBox VM after upgrade to kernel 4.5

Thank you, lyndon!

Not only do your instructions fix the problem, but you also presented it at a level that a Linux newbie can easily understand.  Thank you for the reference to the kernel parameters page as well.

Sincerely,

sb