Oracle VirtualBox 6.0.0 with SAS UE

[Vaya_Con_Dios]

Does anyone already have experience working with VirtualBox 6?

Last week I installed a fresh version of Windows and also downloaded the latest VB release, version 6.

Now I notice that saving the state of the SAS University Edition goes well, but reloading is impossible:

-----------------------------

Failed to open a session for the virtual machine SAS University Edition.

Failed to load unit 'lsilogicscsi' (VERR_SSM_LOADED_TOO_LITTLE).

Result Code: E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component: ConsoleWrap
Interface: IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}

-----------------------------

Took me a while to investigate, because I had a fresh Windows installation, an SSD instead of a hard disk, the latest VB version and a fresh SAS UE. In the end, I uninstalled VB 6.0 and installed the previous version, 5.2.22. And this was the trick to solve the problem!

I'm anxious to hear your experiences, and maybe ways to solve this fault. Until then I will stick with VB version 5.2.22.

[ChrisBrooks]

I haven't heard of this particular problem before but you might be able to get round it by going into VirtualBox (on the latest version), right-clicking on the SAS UE VM and then clicking on Discard Saved State. I don't think you'll lose anything as in all the years I've used UE I've never explicitly saved the VM state and everything's been fine.

[Vaya_Con_Dios]

Thanks Chris for your reply.

VirtualBox version 6 is very new, launched 18st of December.

To discard the O.S. state isn't the way I normally would do, it only cost you time. Your solution is indeed valid, I tested it while trying to solve the problem. However, give me one reason for using VB 6 instead of VB 5.2 and I will switch to this work around.

I did a small comparison (not representative) for the start and stop times of the different ways to stop the virtual server.

Saving and reloading the O.S.: start time about 6 à 7 seconds; stop time 7 à 8 seconds, total approximate 15 seconds.

Discarding the O.S. and rebooting from scratch: start time varies heavily (don't know why), the faster time was 35 seconds, but the slowest ticked 1 minute 56 seconds (???). Quitting however only cost 1 second rounded up. Conclusion is that saving and restoring will always be faster.

P.S. Funny that my question is stored in New Users. I started using SAS in the late seventies... After more than 40 years still a new user. Hopefully I live long enough to reach the next level. 

[ChrisBrooks]

You're right - I don't see any compelling reason to upgrade to the latest version of VirtualBox either (in fact I'm still running v 5.2.18). I don't ever usually rush to install the latest version as we've had issues with updates to VirtualBox "breaking" SAS UE before so it's only wise to hold back a bit anyway.....

As to why your post appeared in New Users I really couldn't say - New Users is a fairly new sub-forum but I'm sure you used to be able to post in any forum (except the Community Library which required a minimum number of previous posts before giving write access). If you can only post in that one then I'm guessing it's a new rule linked to the number of posts you've made.

[Vaya_Con_Dios]

We're on the same line. I even don't know what version of VirtualBox was installed before. I removed the previous installation set after downloading the latest version. But I installed SAS UE in April 2017. So it must have been the current version at that time.

This post landed here because on the Home page I saw a BIG button saying 'Ask your question'. Now I notice this button is related to a new community for new users. Confusing. Maybe a moderator can move this thread to a better topic, perhaps Administration and Deployment?

In fact, what I really want to say is: Dear people of SAS, the UE Installation Guide needs an update. Now it states:

Install the latest release of Oracle VirtualBox... Change this to Install release 5.2.22 of Oracle VirtualBox. A better solution would be to correct the vApp so it will be compatible with version 6 of VB. Thanks.

[abhayvandu0]

I am newbie to SAS and was facing the same issue ... following steps fixed it ... its in VirtualBox Support Community (https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/18263#comment:3)

• Add a 2nd controller, the SATA:AHCI one. Win7 has built-in drivers, it should find it and install the drivers, no "external" or "installation" media required.
• Now remove the disk (VDI) from the SCSI controller and add it to the SATA one.
• Boot the VM to make sure that everything is in order.
• Remove the SCSI controller altogether.

Thanks

Abhay

[Vaya_Con_Dios]

You're right. Thanks Abhay, this is the solution.

I was sooooo close finding this word-around when I was trying to solve the problem. As I mentioned earlier, a lot has changed in my configuration. One of them was replacing the hard disk with a Samsung SSD. In the readme file I noticed this sentence:

     Magician does not work with SSDs connected via the SCSI controller interface.

And I knew SAS UE uses a SCSI controller in VB. First I thought this could be the problem, then realizing it's only a virtual controller using real Windows 7 drivers. So I stopped testing this. <sob>

[Vaya_Con_Dios]

Sadly however, this is not the solution you want...

The first start looks good:

But the third (and successive) start states:

Not only is the folder not writable, it's not visible in the GUI at all.

So, it's not an acceptable solution. Back to the previous release of VirtualBox again.

[sfullman]

Thank you - I didn't think to do this but then saw Vagrant status = saved and your post! This worked. FYI my MacBook saves the VM when battery is down to like 10% I believe. Anyway to configure VirtualBox to NOT save a state and just shut down? I'm thinking this is more resource wise.

[gurungre]

Thank you! This worked for me!

[Ranjeet_Pawar]

Thanks, mine issue is solved due to your solution .

[Masande]

Did you check if, in Virtual Box, the Read Only check box is not selected? Otherwise, follow these steps:

1. Select Machine > Settings.
2. In the navigation panel, select Shared Folders.
3. Select the shared folder, and click .
4. In the Edit Share window, make sure that the Read Only check box is not selected.

[Vaya_Con_Dios]

I'm sorry, did you read my message?

It states that the problem occurs after two successful sessions. Do you think that VirtualBox allows me twice to access myfolders and at the third attempt decides that that is enough?

I'm using SAS UE now for almost two years, and yes I've read the corresponding instruction:

     f. In the Add Share dialog box, confirm that Read-only is not selected, and then select the Auto-mount and Make Permanent (if available) options. Click OK.

I love to speak you again after you installed VB release 6.

[Masande]

I'm sorry but I understood you went from version 5 to version 6. From this perspective, it was possible that the update had reset this setting to its default value.

[Vaya_Con_Dios]

I don't know what VirtualBox does when you upgrade.

In the initial post I mentioned that I replaced the hard disk with an SSD. And I hate cloning, so I started with a fresh Windows installation (always feels good) and a new installation of VirtualBox. And according to SAS instructions created a myfolder and modified the VB settings. Remember, the problem only occurs when you save the state of the O.S. instead of shutting down.

I wonder, if you started with SAS only a fortnight ago, what version of VirtualBox did you install? And when finished do you save the O.S. (sleep mode) or Power off the virtual machine?