VirtualBox not starting after recent kernel upgrade

canadensis · 09-11-2018, 06:40 PM

Hello All,

After the recent kernel upgrade VirtualBox will no longer start, I get the following message in a friendly graphical dialog box:

Code:

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) is either not loaded or there is a permission problem with /dev/vboxdrv. Please reinstall the kernel module by executing

'/sbin/rcvboxdrv setup'

as root. If it is available in your distribution, you should install the DKMS package first. This package keeps track of Linux kernel changes and recompiles the vboxdrv kernel module if necessary.

where: suplibOsInit what: 3 VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED (-1908) - The support driver is not installed. On linux, open returned ENOENT.

I have system/virtualbox-kernel installed, but not system/virtualbox-addons, system/virtualbox-kernel-addons or system/virtualbox-extension-pack.

Can someone tell me what the best apporach is please? Should I use DKMS, re-install VirtualBox? Something else?

Many thanks,
Bill

frankbell · 09-11-2018, 06:49 PM

The VirtualBox kernel must be compatible with the host kernel.

Did you follow the instructions in the error message and run, as root, /sbin/rcvboxdrv setup?

If that doesn't work, you can try /etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv setup?

What version of VirtualBox are you running? I'm running Version 5.2.18 r124319 (Qt5.6.1) and it updates its kernel automatically when a new Slackware kernel is installed.

cwizardone · 09-11-2018, 06:49 PM

After each kernel upgrade I always uninstall VirtualBox using, sh /opt/VirtualBox/uninstall.sh,
reboot with the new kernel and then re-install VirtualBox.

Edit in. Thanks to kjhambrick for catching the typo. It is now correct, i.e, sh /opt/VirtualBox/uninstall.sh

As I usually run the command from within the /opt/VirtualBox directory, I slipped a cog somewhere along the line.

hitest · 09-11-2018, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwizardone

After each kernel upgrade I always uninstall VirtualBox using /opt/VirtualBox/sh uninstall.sh,
reboot with the new kernel and then re-install VirtualBox.

I'm lazy I guess.

I just re-install Virtualbox: ./VirtualBox-5.2.18-124319-Linux_amd64.run

During the install process the installer detects the installed version of Virtualbox and removes it, then it installs Virtualbox.

montagdude · 09-11-2018, 07:50 PM

It's only necessary to rebuild virtualbox-kernel (assuming you are using the SBo VirtualBox) after a kernel upgrade.

canadensis · 09-11-2018, 08:28 PM

Thanks for all the quick answers. I am having trouble with all of them unfortunately...

frankbell:

/sbin/rcvboxdrv does not exist on Slackware and the command /etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv setup gives the message:

Quote:

Not implemented! Please use the virtualbox-kernel.SlackBuild available at SlackBuilds.org instead.

I am running the latest VirtualBox from Slackbuilds which is virtualbox-5.0.40

cwizardone:

root@darkstar:~# /opt/virtualbox/sh uninstall.sh
-su: /opt/virtualbox/sh: No such file or directory

So, using the brute-force method, I removed the packages

virtualbox-5.0.40-x86_64-1_SBo
virtualbox-kernel-5.0.40_4.4.144-x86_64-1_SBo

re-started the computer,
synced the database (I am using sbopkg),
re-installed the two packages,
re-started the computer,
and ..

VirtualBox still does not start - the message is the same as in my first post.

Very frustrating!

Cheers, Bill

montagdude · 09-11-2018, 08:53 PM

Since you have the SBo version installed, did you run:

Code:

/etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv start

after rebooting?

canadensis · 09-11-2018, 09:03 PM

No I didn't! And that works, thanks montagdude!

Cheers, Bill

montagdude · 09-11-2018, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canadensis

No I didn't! And that works, thanks montagdude!

Cheers, Bill

Good to hear! You may want to put this in your /etc/rc.d/rc.local:

Code:

# Start vboxdrv
if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv ]; then
  /etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv start
fi

canadensis · 09-11-2018, 09:24 PM

Thanks, I will do that.
Bill

frankbell · 09-11-2018, 10:40 PM

Quote:

/sbin/rcvboxdrv does not exist on Slackware

Code:

$ ls -l /sbin/rcvboxdrv
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 Aug 16 20:10 /sbin/rcvboxdrv -> /opt/VirtualBox/vboxdrv.sh
$ cat /etc/*release*
NAME=Slackware
VERSION="14.2"
ID=slackware
VERSION_ID=14.2
PRETTY_NAME="Slackware 14.2"
ANSI_COLOR="0;34"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:slackware:slackware_linux:14.2"
HOME_URL="http://slackware.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/"

It might have been necessary to run the command with a dot-slash, perhaps even with an sh ./.

I always used the /etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv setup command myself.

bassmadrigal · 09-12-2018, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

Code:

$ ls -l /sbin/rcvboxdrv
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 Aug 16 20:10 /sbin/rcvboxdrv -> /opt/VirtualBox/vboxdrv.sh
$ cat /etc/*release*
NAME=Slackware
VERSION="14.2"
ID=slackware
VERSION_ID=14.2
PRETTY_NAME="Slackware 14.2"
ANSI_COLOR="0;34"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:slackware:slackware_linux:14.2"
HOME_URL="http://slackware.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/"

It might have been necessary to run the command with a dot-slash, perhaps even with an sh ./.

I always used the /etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv setup command myself.

This does not work when using the package from SBo. vboxdrv.sh is modified to tell users to run the virtualbox-kernel.SlackBuild file to re/build the module.

bitfuzzy · 09-12-2018, 01:03 PM

I've personally found it easier just to use the official installer from Virtualbox (Not everything needs to be done w/ slackpkg)

I've never had any problem with Virtualbox after kernel updates, however running /sbin/rcvboxdrv setup is needed