Fedora 12 on VirtualBox

Just a quick note that if you use the default VirtualBox settings during the “Create New Virtual Machine” wizard for a new install of Fedora 12, you’ll find that the .iso will boot to the live user screen, but when attempting to run the “Install to Hard Drive” installation routine, it’s runs for a second and then quits.

The problem is that the default memory settings in VirtualBox for fedora are insufficient. Reset the system base memory to a more appropriate 512MB and you’ll find the installation routine runs as expected.

Enjoy.

20. November 2009 by Jason
Categories: Virtualization | Tags: , | 7 comments

Comments (7)

  1. Jason says December 28, 2009 at 1:27 PM

    This is fixed in VirtualBox as of 3.1.2.

    Reply
  2. Joe says January 12, 2010 at 11:21 PM

    I have 2 questions RE: Fedora guest within VirtualBox.
    I’d be grateful if you can help.

    Question 1)
    I installed VirtualBox on my host system (Windows Vista).
    I was able to start Fedora 12 Live using the ISO File (Fedora-12-i686-Live.iso). I now wish to “Install to Hard Drive”.
    I have read the Fedora Install and User Guides but they do not address scenario where Fedora is within VirtualBox.
    I choose “ReInitalize Drive” there is a warning
    “YOU WILL LOOSE ALL DATA ON THIS DRIVE”.
    My understanding is this refers to the VIRTUAL Drive for the Fedora guest O/S (i.e. Fedora12_Live.vdi file) and will not in any way harm my host Windows Vista O/S or the data on my “real” harddrive.
    Is this correct ? I’m a bit paranoid to do this unless I’m certain.

    Question 2)
    I want to install Guest Options, in particular I need Guest/Host file sharing capability. The documentation says I need to use the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso file and it should be in the VirtualBox installation directory- but I can’t find it. Is this because I haven’t yet installed to disk ? Is it because I’m using the “Live” version and not the full version ?

    Thank You
    Joe

    Reply
    • Jason says January 13, 2010 at 2:27 AM

      No Problem.

      • Question 1: You understand correctly. Fedora is looking at your virtual drive only (Fedora12_Live.vdi) and not the underlying hardware.
      • Question 2: The guest addition iso is there, but you need to install the guest operating system first. When that’s done, you can mount the guest addition while the guest is running by hitting host+d, or selecting Install Guest Additions from the Device menu.

      Hope that helps.

      Reply
  3. Nate says May 3, 2010 at 8:40 AM

    Thanks for the tip about the memory.

    I used an old Virtualbox install, and it was pre-set to 384 MB, and the “Install Fedora” program would run for a second, then disappear.

    I set the memory to 512, and I was able to install.

    Thanks again,
    –Nate

    Reply
  4. brian says March 29, 2011 at 11:39 AM

    after installing, i tried changing the resolution settings and all i can get is 800×600. Are there any ways to fix this so i can get to a higher diplayu setting?

    Reply
  5. dafeda says April 10, 2011 at 10:17 PM

    I’m running VirtualBox 4.0.4 and had the same problems with Fedora 12. Increasing the memory to 512MB as you suggested fixed the problem.

    Thank you!

    Reply

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