Fixing VBoxManage: error: VMDK: descriptor does not start as expected in

When using Vagrant / Virtualbox and optionally Laravel Homestead it could occur that this message displays:

There was an error while executing `VBoxManage`, a CLI used by Vagrant

for controlling VirtualBox. The command and stderr is shown below.

Command: ["startvm", "{LONGOCDE}", "--type", "headless"]

Stderr: VBoxManage: error: Could not open the medium '/Users/USER/VirtualBox VMs/homestead-7/ubuntu-....vmdk'.

VBoxManage: error: VMDK: descriptor does not start as expected in '/Users/USER/VirtualBox VMs/homestead-7/ubuntu-....vmdk' (VERR_VD_VMDK_INVALID_HEADER).

VBoxManage: error: VD: error VERR_VD_VMDK_INVALID_HEADER opening image file '/Users/USER/VirtualBox VMs/homestead-7/ubuntu-....vmdk' (VERR_VD_VMDK_INVALID_HEADER)

VBoxManage: error: Details: code NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005), component MediumWrap, interface IMedium

After changing lots of stuff and trying out a lot, I found out it’s best to restore a backup of your vmdk file. For Linux and Windows there seem to be restore tools (not sure if these will work),  but not for Mac.

So, after trying to restore your backup, hopefully everything works (always backup your new file before restoring as well). Everything is at your own risk of course. Good luck!