Fedora 42 randomly freezes on shell completion inside VirtualBox

Ask Fedora
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1

Hello, I have multiple setups where I use Fedora inside a VirtualBox VM on a Windows computer and I have seen consistent behaviors on them. When hitting [tab] for a shell completion in the terminal, it will randomly freeze. I haven’t seen any recent conversation mentioning setups with VirtualBox and I’d be happy to figure out what is happening with your directions.

Here is a list of setups where it happens

  • Windows 11 laptop, VirtualBox 7.1.8, Fedora 42 fresh installation
  • Windows 11 laptop, VirtualBox 7.1.8, Fedora 42 upgraded from Fedora 35 over the years
  • Windows 10 desktop, VirtualBox 7.1.8, Fedora 42 upgraded from Fedora 35 over the years

It does not happen on

  • Fedora 42 laptop, native, upgraded from Fedora 40 over the time

VirtualBox was updated a few months ago to version 7.1.6 to be able to work with docker images based on a preview version of rhel10, to get compatibility with the x86_64-v3 arch. The freeze did not happen with Fedora 41 (upgraded) and VirtualBox 7.1.6. Unfortunately, I changed the laptop, installed VirtualBox 7.1.8, copied the Fedora 41 VM files and didn’t notice anything with it for a few days, then I upgraded quickly to Fedora 42. Also, I was not fully able to uninstall VirtualBox 7.1.8 and install 7.1.6, it won’t start. So I can’t tell if the issue appeared with upgrading VirtualBox or Fedora.

I don’t know what to look at to get info on what’s happening and start debugging the issue.

2

What is it that you are command completing?
If it is file paths then I would suggest investigating disk issues.
Do you for example have network mounts?
Also do check the amount of memory the VMs have.

3

It can freeze both on path or command option completion. There is no network mount involved and I doubt the possibility of a hardware issue since it appeared on 3 different hardware after doing version upgrades.
It could be linked to memory conflicts between the VM and the host as I tend to push the limits, but it didn’t freeze like that before, and certainly not consistently while hitting the [tab] key. This happening on shell completion is what feels the oddest to me

4

Can you trigger a freeze with a ls of a path?
That would be doing the same operations that a completion will do.

I would also expect you to see freezes doing other operations aside from completions.
Have you notice althing else?

It would be worthy checking dmesg and journal logs just after afreeze for clues.

5

Here are some logs from one of the machines I left untouched for a couple days, actually it had nothing to do shell completion, it happened while the laptop was hibernating

$ dmesg
dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted

$ journalctl --since "2025-05-28 18:07:00" --system --no-pager | head -n 20
May 28 18:07:00 fedora cri-dockerd[3040]: time="2025-05-28T18:07:00+02:00" level=error msg="Error validating CNI config list ({\n  \"name\": \"cbr0\",\n  \"cniVersion\": \"0.3.1\",\n  \"plugins\": [\n    {\n      \"type\": \"flannel\",\n      \"delegate\": {\n        \"hairpinMode\": true,\n        \"isDefaultGateway\": true\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"portmap\",\n      \"capabilities\": {\n        \"portMappings\": true\n      }\n    }\n  ]\n}\n): [failed to find plugin \"portmap\" in path [/opt/cni/bin]]"
May 28 18:07:00 fedora cri-dockerd[3040]: time="2025-05-28T18:07:00+02:00" level=error msg="Error validating CNI config list ({\n  \"cniVersion\": \"0.4.0\",\n  \"name\": \"podman\",\n  \"plugins\": [\n    {\n      \"type\": \"bridge\",\n      \"bridge\": \"cni-podman0\",\n      \"isGateway\": true,\n      \"ipMasq\": true,\n      \"hairpinMode\": true,\n      \"ipam\": {\n        \"type\": \"host-local\",\n        \"routes\": [{ \"dst\": \"0.0.0.0/0\" }],\n        \"ranges\": [\n          [\n            {\n              \"subnet\": \"10.88.0.0/16\",\n              \"gateway\": \"10.88.0.1\"\n            }\n          ]\n        ]\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"portmap\",\n      \"capabilities\": {\n        \"portMappings\": true\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"firewall\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"tuning\"\n    }\n  ]\n}\n): [failed to find plugin \"bridge\" in path [/opt/cni/bin] failed to find plugin \"portmap\" in path [/opt/cni/bin] failed to find plugin \"firewall\" in path [/opt/cni/bin] failed to find plugin \"tuning\" in path [/opt/cni/bin]]"
May 28 18:07:05 fedora cri-dockerd[3040]: time="2025-05-28T18:07:05+02:00" level=error msg="Error validating CNI config list ({\n  \"name\": \"cbr0\",\n  \"cniVersion\": \"0.3.1\",\n  \"plugins\": [\n    {\n      \"type\": \"flannel\",\n      \"delegate\": {\n        \"hairpinMode\": true,\n        \"isDefaultGateway\": true\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"portmap\",\n      \"capabilities\": {\n        \"portMappings\": true\n      }\n    }\n  ]\n}\n): [failed to find plugin \"portmap\" in path [/opt/cni/bin]]"
May 28 18:07:05 fedora cri-dockerd[3040]: time="2025-05-28T18:07:05+02:00" level=error msg="Error validating CNI config list ({\n  \"cniVersion\": \"0.4.0\",\n  \"name\": \"podman\",\n  \"plugins\": [\n    {\n      \"type\": \"bridge\",\n      \"bridge\": \"cni-podman0\",\n      \"isGateway\": true,\n      \"ipMasq\": true,\n      \"hairpinMode\": true,\n      \"ipam\": {\n        \"type\": \"host-local\",\n        \"routes\": [{ \"dst\": \"0.0.0.0/0\" }],\n        \"ranges\": [\n          [\n            {\n              \"subnet\": \"10.88.0.0/16\",\n              \"gateway\": \"10.88.0.1\"\n            }\n          ]\n        ]\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"portmap\",\n      \"capabilities\": {\n        \"portMappings\": true\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"firewall\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"tuning\"\n    }\n  ]\n}\n): [failed to find plugin \"bridge\" in path [/opt/cni/bin] failed to find plugin \"portmap\" in path [/opt/cni/bin] failed to find plugin \"firewall\" in path [/opt/cni/bin] failed to find plugin \"tuning\" in path [/opt/cni/bin]]"
May 28 18:07:10 fedora cri-dockerd[3040]: time="2025-05-28T18:07:10+02:00" level=error msg="Error validating CNI config list ({\n  \"name\": \"cbr0\",\n  \"cniVersion\": \"0.3.1\",\n  \"plugins\": [\n    {\n      \"type\": \"flannel\",\n      \"delegate\": {\n        \"hairpinMode\": true,\n        \"isDefaultGateway\": true\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"type\": \"portmap\",\n      \"capabilities\": {\n        \"portMappings\": true\n      }\n    }\n  ]\n}\n): [failed to find plugin \"portmap\" in path [/opt/cni/bin]]"
-- Boot 0ee0a2d57e7f4fdfaf99482810568fc5 --
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: Linux version 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64 (mockbuild@d52ebe864e9b44d9a612faa06f490c58) (gcc (GCC) 15.1.1 20250425 (Red Hat 15.1.1-1), GNU ld version 2.44-3.fc42) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=(hd0,msdos1)/vmlinuz-6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64 root=UUID=553004d3-71de-4f70-80d2-da3c2f909b31 ro rootflags=subvol=root rhgb quiet
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009fbff] usable
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000000009fc00-0x000000000009ffff] reserved
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000f0000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x00000000dffeffff] usable
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000dfff0000-0x00000000dfffffff] ACPI data
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec00fff] reserved
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fffc0000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x000000041fffffff] usable
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: NX (Execute Disable) protection: active
May 30 16:27:45 fedora kernel: APIC: Static calls initialized

so not much, I don’t know if the docker stuff is relevant

6

Use sudo dmesg

7

it’s only the output from the boot it seems

$ sudo dmesg
[    0.000000] Linux version 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64 (mockbuild@d52ebe864e9b44d9a612faa06f490c58) (gcc (GCC) 15.1.1 20250425 (Red Hat 15.1.1-1), GNU ld version 2.44-3.fc42) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
[    0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=(hd0,msdos1)/vmlinuz-6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64 root=UUID=553004d3-71de-4f70-80d2-da3c2f909b31 ro rootflags=subvol=root rhgb quiet
[    0.000000] BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009fbff] usable
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000000009fc00-0x000000000009ffff] reserved
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000f0000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x00000000dffeffff] usable
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000dfff0000-0x00000000dfffffff] ACPI data
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec00fff] reserved
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fffc0000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
[    0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x000000041fffffff] usable
[    0.000000] NX (Execute Disable) protection: active
[    0.000000] APIC: Static calls initialized
[    0.000000] SMBIOS 2.5 present.
[    0.000000] DMI: innotek GmbH VirtualBox/VirtualBox, BIOS VirtualBox 12/01/2006
[...]

with these parts in red

[    2.181370] vmwgfx 0000:00:02.0: [drm] *ERROR* vmwgfx seems to be running on an unsupported hypervisor.
[    2.181372] vmwgfx 0000:00:02.0: [drm] *ERROR* This configuration is likely broken.
[    2.181373] vmwgfx 0000:00:02.0: [drm] *ERROR* Please switch to a supported graphics device to avoid problems.

[...]

[    3.095600] SELinux: https://github.com/SELinuxProject/selinux-kernel/wiki/DEPRECATE-runtime-disable
[    3.095603] SELinux: Runtime disable is not supported, use selinux=0 on the kernel cmdline.

I also notice the issues with libwayland-client and libX11 in the end, but I still get normal graphics

[...]
[    7.698965] 14:27:51.524960 main     VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 (verbosity: 0) linux.amd64 (Apr 16 2025 00:00:00) release log
               14:27:51
[    7.699153] 14:27:51.525515 main     OS Product: Linux
[    7.699443] 14:27:51.525699 main     OS Release: 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64
[    7.699802] 14:27:51.525994 main     OS Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
[    7.702182] 14:27:51.528029 main     Executable: /usr/bin/VBoxDRMClient
               14:27:51.528031 main     Process ID: 856
               14:27:51.528032 main     P
[    7.705707] 14:27:51.531593 main     VBoxDRMClient: found compatible device: /dev/dri/renderD128
[    7.711075] 14:27:51.537036 main     VBoxDRMClient: starting deferred resize events delivery
[    7.711782] 14:27:51.537723 main     VBoxService 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 (verbosity: 0) linux.amd64 (Apr 16 2025 00:00:00) release log
               14:27:5
[    7.711982] 14:27:51.538346 main     OS Product: Linux
[    7.712228] 14:27:51.538521 main     OS Release: 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64
[    7.713368] 14:27:51.539521 main     VBoxDRMClient: IPC server socket access granted to all users
[    7.714683] 14:27:51.540852 main     OS Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
[    7.715188] 14:27:51.541224 main     Executable: /usr/bin/VBoxService
               14:27:51.541224 main     Process ID: 875
               14:27:51.541225 main     Pac
[    7.716808] 14:27:51.542967 main     7.1.8_Fedora r168469 started. Verbose level = 0
[    7.717600] 14:27:51.543752 main     vbglR3GuestCtrlDetectPeekGetCancelSupport: Supported (#1)
[    7.718916] 14:27:51.544560 main     VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 (verbosity: 0) linux.amd64 (Apr 16 2025 00:00:00) release log
               14:27:51
[    7.720163] 14:27:51.546478 main     OS Product: Linux
[    7.720472] 14:27:51.546730 main     OS Release: 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64
[    7.721037] 14:27:51.547160 main     OS Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
[    7.721707] 14:27:51.547581 main     Executable: /usr/bin/VBoxDRMClient
               14:27:51.547581 main     Process ID: 896
               14:27:51.547582 main     P
[    7.723676] 14:27:51.549919 main     VBoxDRMClient: already running, exiting
[    7.961488] 14:27:51.787395 Timer    VBoxDRMClient: push screen layout data of 1 display(s) to DRM stack, fPartialLayout=false, rc=VINF_SUC
[    8.021029] NET: Registered PF_QIPCRTR protocol family
[   10.449710] e1000: enp0s3 NIC Link is Up 1000 Mbps Full Duplex, Flow Control: RX
[   11.355696] fs-verity: sha256 using implementation "sha256-ni"
[   12.150768] bridge: filtering via arp/ip/ip6tables is no longer available by default. Update your scripts to load br_netfilter if you need this.
[   13.486870] rfkill: input handler disabled
[   14.543620] docker0: port 1(veth38f372a) entered blocking state
[   14.543624] docker0: port 1(veth38f372a) entered disabled state
[   14.543634] veth38f372a: entered allmulticast mode
[   14.543664] veth38f372a: entered promiscuous mode
[   14.705985] eth0: renamed from veth8f79be4
[   14.708744] docker0: port 1(veth38f372a) entered blocking state
[   14.708749] docker0: port 1(veth38f372a) entered forwarding state
[   15.174733] 14:27:59.000591 main     VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 (verbosity: 0) linux.amd64 (Apr 16 2025 00:00:00) release log
               14:27:59
[   15.175184] 14:27:59.001407 main     OS Product: Linux
[   15.175553] 14:27:59.001848 main     OS Release: 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64
[   15.176083] 14:27:59.002223 main     OS Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
[   15.176831] 14:27:59.002757 main     Executable: /usr/bin/VBoxClient
               14:27:59.002757 main     Process ID: 2396
               14:27:59.002758 main     Pac
[   15.177586] 14:27:59.003481 main      VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 started. Verbose level = 0
[   15.178890] 14:27:59.004376 main      rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libwayland-client.so', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libwayland-client.so: 
[   15.180426] 14:27:59.005969 main      rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libX11.so', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libX11.so: cannot open shared obj
[   15.182236] 14:27:59.008161 main      Session type is: VBGHDISPLAYSERVERTYPE_XWAYLAND
[   15.182703] 14:27:59.008940 main      Service: Shared Clipboard
[   15.183126] 14:27:59.009443 main      Daemonizing service ...
[   15.183953] 14:27:59.010337 main      Initializing service ...
[   15.184217] 14:27:59.010600 main      Creating worker thread ...
[   15.185058] 14:27:59.011135 main     VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 (verbosity: 0) linux.amd64 (Apr 16 2025 00:00:00) release log
               14:27:59
[   15.185341] 14:27:59.011704 main     OS Product: Linux
[   15.185694] 14:27:59.011844 shcl      Shared Clipboard: Initializing X11 clipboard (regular mode)
[   15.185934] 14:27:59.011987 main     OS Release: 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64
[   15.186285] 14:27:59.012569 main     OS Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
[   15.186793] 14:27:59.012927 main     Executable: /usr/bin/VBoxClient
               14:27:59.012927 main     Process ID: 2401
               14:27:59.012928 main     Pac
[   15.187126] 14:27:59.013429 main      VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 started. Verbose level = 0
[   15.187742] 14:27:59.013897 main      rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libwayland-client.so', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libwayland-client.so: 
[   15.188429] 14:27:59.014529 main      rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libX11.so', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libX11.so: cannot open shared obj
[   15.189197] 14:27:59.015477 main      Session type is: VBGHDISPLAYSERVERTYPE_XWAYLAND
[   15.189448] 14:27:59.015845 main      Service: Seamless Mode Support
[   15.189687] 14:27:59.016115 main      Daemonizing service ...
[   15.190374] 14:27:59.016763 main      Initializing service ...
[   15.190711] 14:27:59.017033 main      Service is not supported on this platform, skipping
[   15.191376] 14:27:59.017449 main     VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 (verbosity: 0) linux.amd64 (Apr 16 2025 00:00:00) release log
               14:27:59
[   15.191739] 14:27:59.018180 main     OS Product: Linux
[   15.191990] 14:27:59.018376 main     OS Release: 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64
[   15.192356] 14:27:59.018625 main     OS Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
[   15.192880] 14:27:59.019005 main     Executable: /usr/bin/VBoxClient
               14:27:59.019005 main     Process ID: 2409
               14:27:59.019006 main     Pac
[   15.193289] 14:27:59.019514 main      VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 started. Verbose level = 0
[   15.193838] 14:27:59.019972 main      rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libwayland-client.so', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libwayland-client.so: 
[   15.194466] 14:27:59.020597 main      rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libX11.so', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libX11.so: cannot open shared obj
[   15.195280] 14:27:59.021561 main      Session type is: VBGHDISPLAYSERVERTYPE_XWAYLAND
[   15.195490] 14:27:59.021930 main      Service: Drag'n'Drop
[   15.195722] 14:27:59.022151 main      Daemonizing service ...
[   15.197261] 14:27:59.023638 main      Initializing service ...
[   15.197592] 14:27:59.023921 main      Service is not supported on this platform, skipping
[   15.198101] 14:27:59.024011 main     VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 (verbosity: 0) linux.amd64 (Apr 16 2025 00:00:00) release log
               14:27:59
[   15.198527] 14:27:59.024966 main     OS Product: Linux
[   15.198805] 14:27:59.025191 main     OS Release: 6.14.6-300.fc42.x86_64
[   15.199236] 14:27:59.025480 main     OS Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May  9 20:11:19 UTC 2025
[   15.199823] 14:27:59.025954 main     Executable: /usr/bin/VBoxClient
               14:27:59.025955 main     Process ID: 2416
               14:27:59.025955 main     Pac
[   15.200252] 14:27:59.026501 main      VBoxClient 7.1.8_Fedora r168469 started. Verbose level = 0
[   15.200820] 14:27:59.026970 main      rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libwayland-client.so', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libwayland-client.so: 
[   15.201496] 14:27:59.027606 main      rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libX11.so', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libX11.so: cannot open shared obj
[   15.202331] 14:27:59.028623 main      Session type is: VBGHDISPLAYSERVERTYPE_XWAYLAND
[   15.203041] 14:27:59.029409 main      Service: VirtualBox host version check
[   15.203337] 14:27:59.029719 main      Daemonizing service ...
[   15.204250] 14:27:59.030485 main      Creating worker thread ...
[   15.206637] 14:27:59.033067 main      Service started
[   15.240013] 14:27:59.066427 main      Service started
[   15.368936] br-2c4fa4750441: port 1(veth6269fcb) entered blocking state
[   15.368940] br-2c4fa4750441: port 1(veth6269fcb) entered disabled state
[   15.368944] veth6269fcb: entered allmulticast mode
[   15.368968] veth6269fcb: entered promiscuous mode
[   15.473678] eth1: renamed from veth9659b18
[   15.474497] br-2c4fa4750441: port 1(veth6269fcb) entered blocking state
[   15.474500] br-2c4fa4750441: port 1(veth6269fcb) entered forwarding state
[  933.458752] clocksource: Long readout interval, skipping watchdog check: cs_nsec: 1285012098 wd_nsec: 1285011264
8

I wonder if you run out of resources and Windows has to swap to get memory?

Maybe you can see something interesting in the windows task manager/Performance/Memory tab before and after a freeze.

9

I just had a freeze, and I see no obvious change in the memory or cpu graphs, there were only idle chrome tabs in the Windows host, nothing “actively” running.
Also, it happened after trying to shell-complete “cla”, got “clang” and then the next attempt to try seeing if clang-format was properly installed, I did a double-tab, it froze.
So double-tabs and sometimes hibernation (not always) ?

10

I don’t have any more suggests.

11

You might check with Virtualbox community and or users which use the windows version of Virtualbox.
Especially because of your comment about the native installation of Fedora not has this issue.

Install the Virtual-box on the native Fedora and see if you get the same issue.