VirtualBox UI crashes when searching for files under MacOS

[Promet]

It happens on my Mac since VirtualBox 5.1.22 or probably even earlier, and continues to be so under 5.1.26.

Every time when I am setting my virtual machine preferences, such as mounting ISOs, appointing shared folders, if I search for files in the opened dialog window, the VirtualBox UI will crash suddenly.

But this does not affect the operating virtual machines, if there is any. Therefore I think it is some sort of UI bug instead of anything underlying goes wrong.

[Frank Mehnert]

Sounds related to #16935.

[Socratis]

It most certainly does frank, and Promet correctly continued the discussion in #16935. So, if you could close this as duplicate so that all further discussion continues in #16935.

[Frank Mehnert]

Thanks. I assume it's an issue with a 3rd-party shared library.

[Frank Mehnert]

We think we fixed the problem. Could you install the most recent 5.1 Mac OS X test build >= revision 117470 to verify if it resolves your problem?

[Uli]

Not fixed - 5.1.28 continues to have this issue for me. I can reproduce it easily (not every time, but maybe every other time) with many file-related operations, for example drag-moving files to another folder, and even bash file name completion (e.g. type "cat .bas", hit Tab => hang). The entire UI hangs and does not come back - I force close Virtualbox and restart, don't know if there's another workaround. I am running MacOS Sierra 10.12.6 client on MacOS Sierra 10.12.6 host. Restarting host and client to clean things up does not make a difference for reproducing the problem.

This a fairly recent issue for me - I think I first saw it in 5.1.24, and I always use these same kinds of file operations, and I did not have the issue previously. I might not have used a version or two before 5.1.24, but the problem does not go back further than that for me.

[Socratis]

Uli,

This ticket is a duplicate of #16935, so it would be wiser to continue the discussion there, or in the forums (preferably, see below).

But, I just want to point out that this ticket as well as #16935 are about a "Spotlight" hang on the host, and what you're describing doesn't sound like that. You seem to have generic file operations issues, like tab-completion. And it is something that it is happening on the guest, not on the host . See the differences:

Original poster: But this does not affect the operating virtual machines, if there is any.

Uli: Just to be clear - I am browsing files inside the client to trigger the hang.

So, maybe what you're seeing is something completely different, not a Spotlight issue on the host. So, if you can, please open a new thread in the ​Mac OS X Guests section of the forums to discuss this further and figure out whether it deserves a ticket or not.