Arch Linux

bepaald

Member

Registered: 2016-10-08

Posts: 22

[SOLVED] Virtualbox can't start any VM since updating to 7.2.2

Yesterday, I updated VirtualBox to 7.2.2 (updating from 7.2.0). Since then, no VM is able to start up, it fails almost instantly with the message:

VBoxManage: error: HM ring-0 init failed: VERR_NOT_AVAILABLE (VERR_NOT_AVAILABLE)
VBoxManage: error: Details: code NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005), component ConsoleWrap, interface IConsole

The VMs were running fine the day before. Is anyone else seeing this same issue? Does anyone have any idea what this means, and how to fix it?

Thanks!

Last edited by bepaald (2025-09-16 15:31:52)

StarWolf3000

Member

Registered: 2025-06-23

Posts: 31

Re: [SOLVED] Virtualbox can't start any VM since updating to 7.2.2

The kernel modules were updated as well and not just the hypervisor and the manager?

If you're not using the DKMS variant, then you have to update the kernel modules manually.

Last edited by StarWolf3000 (2025-09-13 11:37:07)

---

Mainboard: GIGABYTE B550 AORUS ELITE V2 | CPU: Ryzen 7 5800X | RAM: 32 GB
GPU: GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB (575.64.05 proprietary) | Display: BenQ BL2405 1920x1080
Kernel: 6.15.9 stable | Boot Manager: GRUB2 | DE: KDE Plasma | Login Manager: SDDM | Window Manager: KWin (Wayland)

bepaald

Member

Registered: 2016-10-08

Posts: 22

Re: [SOLVED] Virtualbox can't start any VM since updating to 7.2.2

Thanks for your thoughts, the modules are of course important as well, I should have mentioned them in my initial post. I do not usually use the DKMS package, but the modules are fully up-to-date as well:

[~] $ pacman -Qs virtualbox
local/linux 6.16.7.arch1-1
    The Linux kernel and modules
local/virtualbox 7.2.2-1
    Powerful x86 virtualization for enterprise as well as home use
local/virtualbox-guest-iso 7.2.2-1
    The official VirtualBox Guest Additions ISO image
local/virtualbox-host-modules-arch 7.2.2-2
    Virtualbox host kernel modules for Arch Kernel
[~] $ sudo pacman -Syuu
[sudo] password for bepaald: 
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core is up to date
 extra is up to date
:: Starting full system upgrade...
 there is nothing to do
[~] $ 

Thanks!

j82

Member

Registered: 2023-09-30

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] Virtualbox can't start any VM since updating to 7.2.2

The cause of the issue is probably a bug introduced with the 7.2.2 update of VirtualBox and it seems not to be Arch Linux specific. Users of other linux distributions report the same problem. There are several people reporting this problem on the VirtualBox forums (see here and here) and there is a bug report in the VirtualBox github bug tracker as well.

Until this is fixed, I downgraded to 7.2.0 and can use my VMs again.

Last edited by j82 (2025-09-13 13:41:51)

bepaald

Member

Registered: 2016-10-08

Posts: 22

Re: [SOLVED] Virtualbox can't start any VM since updating to 7.2.2

Thanks, however, it looks like one of those threads and the github issue, are a different problem ("VERR_PDM_DRIVER_NAME_CLASH", I get "VERR_NOT_AVAILABLE"). The other thread you linked is actually mine! So, as far as I can tell, I'm still the only one with this particular problem.

But, I did not actually realize virtualbox had a github repo, so I'll open an issue there as well. And I might try downgrading to 7.2.0 as well. Thanks!

j82

Member

Registered: 2023-09-30

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] Virtualbox can't start any VM since updating to 7.2.2

I suspect that both error prompts ("VERR_PDM_DRIVER_NAME_CLASH" and "VERR_NOT_AVAILABLE") are part of the same problem. Inside my log file, I can find both error messages.

Edit: Updating the extension pack solved the issue for me.

Last edited by j82 (2025-09-13 23:17:59)

bepaald

Member

Registered: 2016-10-08

Posts: 22

Re: [SOLVED] Virtualbox can't start any VM since updating to 7.2.2

A solution has come from the github issue I created:

While in the past, the `vboxdrv` and `kvm_intel` kernel modules could not be used together, and it was needed to blacklist `kvm_intel` to (reliably) start virtualbox, since 7.2.2 virtualbox actually uses the kvm API to enable virtualization. So the previously required blacklist was now actually causing the problem instead of solving it.

The solution was simply to remove the `kvm` and `kvm_intel` modules from the modprobe blacklist.

NOTE: this only applies to intel-systems! On AMD, virtualbox currently does not use the kvm API and blacklisting the module is still required.

Two relevant quotes from the github issue (link):

Since 7.2.2 we try to use the kvm API to enable virtualization to avoid users having to blacklist these modules for virtualbox. If you don't have kvm_ntel [sic] loaded can you please try whether loading it fixes the issue?

There is a changelog entry in https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog (look for "Linux host: Use KVM APIs on kernel 6.16.0 [...]". Currently this is only done on Intel hosts, blacklisting kvm_amd is still necessary actually.