Fix No Bootable Media Found Error in VirtualBox PXE Boot

Oracle VM VirtualBox is a free and open-source hosted hypervisor for x86 virtualization, developed by Oracle Corporation. It was created by Innotek and was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2008, which was in turn acquired by Oracle in 2010. In this article, we shall discuss how to fix “No bootable media found system halted: Unable to PXE boot WDS to Virtualbox”. Please see”the virtual machine has terminated unexpectedly during startup with exit code 1 (1×0)“, and Windows failed to start, a recent hardware or software change might be the cause.

For similar errors, see the following articles, HyperV – A boot image was not found and why does the legacy PXE not does work on Generation 2 VM.

Why was the error “No bootable media found system halted” prompted?

When you try to boot a VirtualBox VM into PXE (Microsoft WDS), using the default Intel PRO/1000MT Desktop adapter. You may have seen the error message.

Solution

To resolve the following issues “Fatal!, No bootable media found system halted! follow the steps below.

This extension pack includes the required files for the boot to continue normally, a few screen shots are shown below detailing what you need to do.

Navigate to the following link to download VirtualBox 6.1.8 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack. Click on the All supported platform as shown below.

This will ensure the VM VirtualBox Extension Pack is downloaded to your system. In my case I am using macOS.

However, Double click on the installer to install the VM Extension pack. Click on install

Moreover, Accept the license as shown below

Screenshot of the VirtualBox License agreement displaying legal terms and conditions.

Nonetheless, You will be prompted to enter your password to proceed.

Enter the username and password as shown below

VirtualBox installation prompt asking for username and password with options to cancel or proceed.

Note: I got an error! You may also get compatibility issues.

Consequently, Please ensure your VirtualBox is updated to date!

After updating VirtualBox, ran the VirtualBox Extension Pack again, it was successful as shown below.

Now you can select the boot order. Select the VM and right click on it and select Settings. This will open the settings windows and click on System.

Note: You also have to ensure you are on the same network

System settings interface displaying memory allocation and boot order options with checkboxes for Network, Hard Disk, Optical, and Floppy. Includes buttons for 'Cancel' and 'OK'.

Now the error is no more present and we can boot over the network.

Terminal window displaying PXE boot information, including client MAC address, IP details, and a downloaded file from a local server.

For how to add images to WDS, see Windows Deployment Services: How to add boot and install images to WDS and configure Multicast transmission via the GUI and WDSUTIL and how to set up and install WDS role

I hope you found this blog post on how to fix “No bootable media found system halted: Unable to PXE boot WDS to Virtualbox” helpful. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment session.