0

I had Ubuntu running fine a few minutes ago, but then a sudden error caused the virtual machine to exit to Windows. When I rebooted, I got a shrunken, mostly blue screen with "Activites" at the top left, the date in the top center, and when I mouse around it highlights elements of the UI that are supposed to be there. But if I try to open any windows, nothing happens.

enter image description here

Edit:

Ok, I've pressed the meta key and I can search for programs to run. Here's what that looks like:

enter image description here

Clicking "Terminal" returns me to the same blank blue screen. Nothing happens.

Edit2:

I noticed on startup i get this: enter image description here

Edit3:

I realize that restoring a backup is an option, but I'd still like to know what's going on when it's in this state, and if there's a possibility to fix it. Is this an issue with VirtualBox, or with Ubuntu? Is it recoverable? Should I just always rely on backups? Maybe this is an easy fix that I just don't have enough knowledge about to resolve. I'm a beginner to Ubuntu and running VMs.

Improve this question
3
  • I don't bother fixing broken VMs. I either use my backup (if any), or recreate it.
    – harrymc
    Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 10:27
  • If you have a saved snapshot you could try rolling back to it superuser.com/a/1358104/309436
    – cup
    Commented Apr 4, 2021 at 19:06
  • I saw a few snapshots in there and rolled back, but all had the same issue.
    – byronaltice
    Commented Apr 11, 2021 at 22:36

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

I don't really consider this an "answer", but it's how I ended up handling it.

I was using Oracle's VirtualBox to run this instance.

I installed VMWare Player and installed Ubuntu to a new virtual machine. It worked a lot better in general than VirtualBox and I haven't had the same issue pop up.

I did lose all my data and settings on my Ubuntu instance in VirtualBox though, and I don't know how to recover it. If anyone can find a way please post.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .