It is common that most pentester face the difficulty of black screen once or often times when running or installing Kali Linux on VirtualBox. When you run into this problem, the first thing that comes to mind is how do I fix black screen kali Linux on VirtualBox? I ran into this problem on upgrading my previous Kali-Linux version, storming into a search on the internet sure there is no single way or a perfect solution found.
I however, decided to take a few steps and document my procedures that makes it easy for professionals or even beginners to fix this problem.
Image source: fixitgearware
WHAT TO DO WHEN FACING A BLACK SCREEN ON KALI-LINUX?
The next thing, that comes to mind is what next to do when facing a black screen on kali Linux? The first step is shutting down your Kali-Linux running on your VirtualBox. Since you cannot see the poweroff menu as a result of the black screen, click the cancel icon box and force shut it down.
The first step:
It is no doubt often times, VirtualBox rollout updates without users knowing about this I suggest firstly you check by selecting check for updates to see if the VirtualBox machine can pick the update notification. To locate the check-update follow the screen instruction below:
Image source: fixitgearware
On some occasions, due to bad connectivity or other factors your VirtualBox might not pick the notification of a new update. Therefore, I suggest you check the version you have on your computer by following the screen instruction below:
Image source: fixitgearware
After you have gotten the version of your current VirtualBox machine, navigate to the official VirtualBox website and check if the current version you are running is the same as the one on their website.
Image source: fixitgearware
If not the same, then download the package that corresponds to the operating system you are running. Also, ensure that your system meets the hardware requirements for the installation. After downloading the package, close your VirtualBox machine that is currently running then install the new package downloaded and follow the screen instructions.
The second step:
Proceed to install VirtualBox machine while carefully following the onscreen instruction, it will ask for upgrade and other necessary information select accordingly as displayed on the screen.
Image source: fixitgearware
After the installation has been completed proceed to run the VirtualBox machine-Oh, wait we are not done yet.
Image source: fixitgearware
As at the moment this article was published, the version of VirtualBox package used for the demonstration is version 7.0.4. The completed installation would have an interface like this. The interface of the new version is quite impressive and amazing and we will discuss further on the beauty of the new update on VirtualBox in subsequent articles.
Image source: fixitgearware
Now that our installation is complete, to have a more user-friendly interface and not getting bored as a result of sloppy interface we need to install the VirtualBox guest edition package. The guest edition has many functionalities for example makes it easier to operate between the VirtualBox and the host system, such as copying and moving files between the host system and the VirtualBox machine. Therefore, navigate once more to the official VirtualBox website and download the extension pack by clicking the link “All supported platforms” as shown below:
Image source: fixitgearware
Install the extension pack by following the screen instruction as shown in the image below:
Click the plus sign and navigate to the directory which the extension pack file downloaded to and add it. After successful installation, navigate to settings to check your hardware requirements for running your kali-Linux
Image source: fixitgearware
Image source: fixitgearware
Image source: fixitgearware
Image source: fixitgearware
A minimum requirement to run kali on VirtualBox is 8000MB (8GB) for the base memory also known as the RAM check other necessary tabs, and set the configurations accordingly. Our area of focus is to fix the black screen. Upon completion, now start your Kali-Linux machine.
Image source: fixitgearware
Now you can run your kali-Linux and If the procedures were followed accordingly, your Kali-Linux should run successfully and your operating system should be up for you to continue carrying out your Pentesting on your VirtualBox.
Put your comments below in the comment section on your thoughts about this.