# Virtualbox 4.1.12 stability on FreeBSD 9



## vdubgeek (Apr 12, 2012)

I'm a new convert to FreeBSD, and have been trying to use it for my workstation at work for the past couple weeks. FreeBSD has been rock solid, and very easy to familiarize with.  I have a need to run Windows 7 in a VM for various work related activities, and have been trying to use the newest port for VirtualBox but have been having a somewhat frequent issue of my VMs suddenly stopping.  Is VirtualBox a stable app, or is it known to have issues on FreeBSD?  The logs for Virtualbox don't really give much information on what is occurring to cause the crash, so I'm looking for advice for next steps on troubleshooting.  If anyone has a friendly tips, I would welcome them.  

Otherwise, I really like FreeBSD, and I'm interested in digging in and trying my hand at possibly a port or two.  

Thanks


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## wblock@ (Apr 12, 2012)

VirtualBox seems pretty stable.  Make certain the IDE controller under Storage is still set to PIIX4, ICH6 can be shaky.


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## vdubgeek (Apr 13, 2012)

wblock@ said:
			
		

> VirtualBox seems pretty stable.  Make certain the IDE controller under Storage is still set to PIIX4, ICH6 can be shaky.



Thanks, I checked the IDE controller, and it's set to PIIX4.  I think I'll try rebuilding VirtualBox with the debug symbols as a next step.  I hope I can get VirtualBox a little more stable so I can rely on it, as I really like using FreeBSD.


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## _martin (Apr 17, 2012)

Well, VirtualBox is not VMware .. let's just leave it there 

I'm using VirtualBox on FreeBSD 9 hosting several VMs and didn't run into bigger problem (yet). But I did try Windows 7 on it once and experienced the same problem you're describing - suddonly session got closed (crashed). I can't remember why and I erased the whole VM already. 

Did you find something interesting logged in /<basefolder>/<VM>/Logs/ ?


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## vdubgeek (Apr 18, 2012)

matoatlantis said:
			
		

> Did you find something interesting logged in /<basefolder>/<VM>/Logs/ ?



Odd, I thought I had responded to this last night, but my post is missing.  I've not had any crashes for a couple days now, but I'll be sure to check the logs next time it occurs.  

I do think there may be some other issues going on with VirtualBox, but I can't confirm completely.  I've noticed that my Win7 vm will not always fully boot.  Just after I login to my VM, it will stall while displaying the 'Welcome' splash.  It doesn't hang, but it just sits there forever till I kill the VM.  If I do this a couple times, it will eventually complete the login, then I can use the VM without issue.  My gut tells me it's something with the VirtualBox additions but I've not been able to prove it as of yet.


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## vdubgeek (Apr 18, 2012)

matoatlantis said:
			
		

> Did you find something interesting logged in /<basefolder>/<VM>/Logs/ ?



Well, as it happens I experienced a crash this morning.  I have saved off the log file, nothing really stands out in the log file, but I don't know if I would recognize anything wrong unless it was really screaming ERROR.  Any thing in particular I should be looking for in the log file?


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## _martin (Apr 18, 2012)

vdubgeek said:
			
		

> Any thing in particular I should be looking for in the log file?



Not in particular .. something that would suggest why it crashed. Not much of a help, I know .. but try to ask VirtualBox forums, you might get better help there.


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