failing to launch virtual box ubuntu VM on Windows

Question

I installed VirtualBox on Windows. I set it up to boot Ubuntu14. I enabled the virtualization option for the CPU to enabled (before that, the VM would not boot up complaining about i686 CPU). I rebooted the OS. After this, when I try starting the VM, it gives the following error:

The VM session was closed before any attempt to power it on.


Result Code: 
E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component: 
SessionMachine
Interface: 
ISession {7844aa05-b02e-4cdd-a04f-ade4a762e6b7}

What did I do wrong and how can I fix it? Thanks. I did not post on serverfault since this is not a server but a laptop.

score 35 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 26 '15 at 18:11

35

discarding the "saved state" of the virtual machine using the virtual box GUI allowed me to launch the Ubuntu VM.

answered Sep 26 '15 at 18:11

user3813256

792
1
6
19

Worked for me too – saikarthik parachi Jun 07 '18 at 13:34
Perfect! Worked. – Hemant Feb 06 '19 at 05:18
1

I have the option already disabled / greyed out – Muhammad Omer Aslam Sep 23 '21 at 09:47

score 21 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 27 '18 at 12:47

21

Just right click and choose "clear saved state" to restart or click on the orange discard icon.

edited Jul 27 '18 at 12:47

Simon Schnell

1,160
14
24

answered Nov 18 '16 at 01:15

Pegasus

1,398
15
20

Solved the same problem I had on MacOS Sierra. Thanks – rinzy kutex Jan 08 '17 at 17:23

OutOfThisPlanet · Answer 3 · 2016-01-23T21:43:36.323

14

I just had this same issue, and the fix for me (On Windows) was to run Virtual Box as Administrator.

edited Jan 23 '16 at 21:43

answered Jan 23 '16 at 20:49

OutOfThisPlanet

336
3
17

Doesn't help me (win7, VirtualBox 5.0.16) – Hauke Mar 11 '16 at 10:10
1

It's the file permission issue :) I moved the location of the virtual machines, so the permissions are probably changed somehow, causing Virtualbox unpriviledged to access them. I fixed it by taking the ownerships of the files. – skygate Aug 14 '18 at 06:14

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 24 '18 at 12:05

I fixed it fixing filesystem permissions, there were in a strange state by doing as root (or sudo):

find /pathToVmDir -type d -exec chmod 755 {} +
find /pathToVmDir -type f -exec chmod 644 {} +

The state was:

usr@machnine:~$ ls -l /mnt/data/virtualboxVms/                                                                                                                                       [418/418]
ls: cannot access '/mnt/data/virtualboxVms/vmDebDev': Permission denied                                
ls: cannot access '/mnt/data/virtualboxVms/Archiv': Permission denied                                                              
total 0                                       
d????????? ? ? ? ?            ? Archiv                                                                                                                       
d????????? ? ? ? ?            ? vmDebDevJava_Clone

In my case it also was a permission issue. thanks for the hint — FedFranz, Apr 08 '19 at 14:45

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 03 '18 at 14:54

1

vboxmanage discardstate <vmId>

you can get with vboxmanage list vms

answered Dec 03 '18 at 14:54

Pipo

4,653
38
47

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 19 '20 at 00:44

1

It was a permissions issue for me because I changed the VM folder to a different drive, either try running as administrator or just change the security permissions of the VM root folder to allow full control by anyone. The latter worked for me!

answered Feb 19 '20 at 00:44

Bassam Helal

380
3
12

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 05 '21 at 12:36

1

My solution was to clone the VM into an alternative name, and then remove the older one with all the files.

(I already removed the Snapshoots and VM in every way I thought ...)

answered Aug 05 '21 at 12:36

Cristian F.

328
2
12

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 02 '22 at 22:29

1

Solution of "Discard Saved State" is still valid at 2022 Cx

answered Jan 02 '22 at 22:29

Abdennour TOUMI

87,526
38
249
254

score -1 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 11 '16 at 10:12

-1

If you have done shapshots .. you can easy get back to the last version: (snapshot > restore spapshot)

answered Mar 11 '16 at 10:12

Hauke

257
4
12

score -1 · Answer 10 · answered Jan 18 '17 at 02:29

I newly installed VirtualBox and try to register a former created virtual machine. When start it I got the same error. And the "clear saved state" was not-able-to-click. I tried other virtual machines, all the same. Then I did this: 1)I enabled the CPU virtualization in bios, which was disabled. (not really related but should give another 64 cpu not supported like error sooner or later). 2)I remove and save storage hard disk. Then another error:

............(Access denied.)..........

3)Reopen virtual box in Administrator. or maybe repeat 2. it works...

score -1 · Answer 11 · answered Jul 09 '18 at 11:13

I faced the same problem. I resolved it by renaming the .sav file. Steps to resolve the problem.

Select the VM which is having problem and Right click on VM and select 'show log' option
Find the file name which is saved the VM state like '2018-07-03T17-05-16-834993200Z.sav is invalid' in the logs.
Go the path where the .sav file is located and change the file extension to anyother file format.
Restart the VM. It works.

Regards Sridhar Ganji

score -1 · Answer 12 · edited Oct 14 '20 at 12:22

I hope this answer isn't too late, but I was in the same problem and finally I solved with two solutions get from different sources.

You must solve the next issue with:

Open the registry editor. Start > Run > regedit
Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\VBoxDrv
Edit the key called Start. Change its value from 1 to 3
Close the registry editor and restart your computer. After your computer restarts you should be able to use VirtualBox without any issues.

If not you must open cmd as Administrator and type the next command:

sc start vboxdrv

After that try to start the virtual machine.

failing to launch virtual box ubuntu VM on Windows

12 Answers12