[SOLVED] Virtualbox won't start after upgrading to Ubuntu 14.10

jjonas · 02-24-2015, 12:00 PM

Hi,

I upgraded my Ubuntu 14.04 to 14.10 a few days ago, and noticed that Virtualbox won't start the VM anymore. Instead I get this error message:

Failed to open a session for the virtual machine Windows.

The virtual machine 'Windows' has terminated unexpectedly during startup with exit code 1 (0x1).

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: Machine
Interface: IMachine {480cf695-2d8d-4256-9c7c-cce4184fa048}

In addition, another window pops up:

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

'/etc/init.d/vboxdrv 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.

As to permissions with /dev/vboxdrv, there is not such file in /dev, not even after I sudo '/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup'. There's no error message, or any other kind of message when I run it. According to Ubuntu Software Center, DKMS package is installed.

I tried uninstalling Virtualbox (in order to reinstall it), but there was an error:

The installation or removal of a software package failed.

installArchives() failed: (Reading database ...
(Reading database ... 5%
(Reading database ... 10%
(Reading database ... 15%
(Reading database ... 20%
(Reading database ... 25%
(Reading database ... 30%
(Reading database ... 35%
(Reading database ... 40%
(Reading database ... 45%
(Reading database ... 50%
(Reading database ... 55%
(Reading database ... 60%
(Reading database ... 65%
(Reading database ... 70%
(Reading database ... 75%
(Reading database ... 80%
(Reading database ... 85%
(Reading database ... 90%
(Reading database ... 95%
(Reading database ... 100%
(Reading database ... 637777 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing virtualbox-qt (4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.0.2-2) ...
Processing triggers for bamfdaemon (0.5.1+14.10.20140925-0ubuntu1) ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf-2.index...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.22-1ubuntu2) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.55ubuntu1.1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.10.1-0ubuntu2) ...
Processing triggers for menu (2.1.47ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for shared-mime-info (1.2-0ubuntu3) ...
Unknown media type in type 'all/all'
Unknown media type in type 'all/allfiles'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mms'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mmst'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mmsu'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/pnm'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/rtspt'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/rtspu'
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.13-1) ...
Setting up virtualbox (4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1) ...
insserv: script virtualbox: service vboxdrv already provided!
insserv: exiting now!
update-rc.d: error: insserv rejected the script header
dpkg: error processing package virtualbox (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-dkms:
virtualbox-dkms depends on virtualbox (>= 4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1); however:
Package virtualbox is not configured yet.
Package virtualbox-4.1 which provides virtualbox is not installed.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-dkms (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
Errors were encountered while processing:
virtualbox
virtualbox-dkms
Error in function:
Setting up virtualbox (4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1) ...
insserv: script virtualbox: service vboxdrv already provided!
insserv: exiting now!
update-rc.d: error: insserv rejected the script header
dpkg: error processing package virtualbox (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-dkms:
virtualbox-dkms depends on virtualbox (>= 4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1); however:
Package virtualbox is not configured yet.
Package virtualbox-4.1 which provides virtualbox is not installed.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-dkms (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

Whatever this means, Virtualbox is no longer available in dashboard, and Software Center shows it is uninstalled. If I try to reinstall it, I get this:

The installation or removal of a software package failed.

installArchives() failed: Selecting previously unselected package virtualbox-qt.
(Reading database ...
(Reading database ... 5%
(Reading database ... 10%
(Reading database ... 15%
(Reading database ... 20%
(Reading database ... 25%
(Reading database ... 30%
(Reading database ... 35%
(Reading database ... 40%
(Reading database ... 45%
(Reading database ... 50%
(Reading database ... 55%
(Reading database ... 60%
(Reading database ... 65%
(Reading database ... 70%
(Reading database ... 75%
(Reading database ... 80%
(Reading database ... 85%
(Reading database ... 90%
(Reading database ... 95%
(Reading database ... 100%
(Reading database ... 637620 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../virtualbox-qt_4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking virtualbox-qt (4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.0.2-2) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.13-1) ...
Processing triggers for shared-mime-info (1.2-0ubuntu3) ...
Unknown media type in type 'all/all'
Unknown media type in type 'all/allfiles'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mms'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mmst'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mmsu'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/pnm'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/rtspt'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/rtspu'
Processing triggers for menu (2.1.47ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for bamfdaemon (0.5.1+14.10.20140925-0ubuntu1) ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf-2.index...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.22-1ubuntu2) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.55ubuntu1.1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.10.1-0ubuntu2) ...
Setting up virtualbox (4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1) ...
insserv: script virtualbox: service vboxdrv already provided!
insserv: exiting now!
update-rc.d: error: insserv rejected the script header
dpkg: error processing package virtualbox (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-dkms:
virtualbox-dkms depends on virtualbox (>= 4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1); however:
Package virtualbox is not configured yet.
Package virtualbox-4.1 which provides virtualbox is not installed.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-dkms (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-qt:
virtualbox-qt depends on virtualbox (= 4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1); however:
Package virtualbox is not configured yet.
Package virtualbox-4.1 which provides virtualbox is not installed.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-qt (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
Errors were encountered while processing:
virtualbox
virtualbox-dkms
virtualbox-qt
Error in function:
Setting up virtualbox (4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1) ...
insserv: script virtualbox: service vboxdrv already provided!
insserv: exiting now!
update-rc.d: error: insserv rejected the script header
dpkg: error processing package virtualbox (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-dkms:
virtualbox-dkms depends on virtualbox (>= 4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1); however:
Package virtualbox is not configured yet.
Package virtualbox-4.1 which provides virtualbox is not installed.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-dkms (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-qt:
virtualbox-qt depends on virtualbox (= 4.3.18-dfsg-2ubuntu1); however:
Package virtualbox is not configured yet.
Package virtualbox-4.1 which provides virtualbox is not installed.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-qt (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
virtualbox
virtualbox-dkms
virtualbox-qt

Virtualbox is back, but won't start VM, giving the same error messages quoted in the beginning of this post.

I tried to follow the advice in this thread, and reinstalled kernel headers (using 'sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)'), but it didn't change the situation as far as I can tell.

Any ideas about how to fix this?

Wocky · 02-25-2015, 04:35 PM

Have a look in /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc for files called
vboxdrv.ko
vboxnetadp.ko
vboxnetflt.ko
vboxpci.ko

They're the kernel modules that aren't running; if they're not there, they need to be installed. The script in /etc/init.d/vboxdrv should install them, but it should also display several messages. I don't know why it's not; have a look at the script. It should give details on where to find them. They need to be installed, not just copied to /lib/modules.

If they are there, they're not being loaded. Check that /etc/rc3.d/S03vboxdrv is a symbolic link to ../init.d/vboxdrv. This assumes that your system is running in runlevel 3; you can find what runlevel you're in with the runlevel(8) command. It might also not be S03; the actual number will depend on how your system is set up. Try something like

Code:

ls -l /etc/rc3.d/*vbox*

If it's not there, you should create it; there should be some others there too: here's mine

Code:

$ ls -l /etc/rc3.d/*vbox*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 May 20  2012 /etc/rc3.d/S03vboxdrv -> ../init.d/vboxdrv
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 May 20  2012 /etc/rc3.d/S04vboxballoonctrl-service -> ../init.d/vboxballoonctrl-service
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 May 20  2012 /etc/rc3.d/S03vboxweb-service -> ../init.d/vboxweb-service
$

You can start the vboxdrv service manually several ways:

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv start

or

Code:

sudo modprobe vboxdrv

jjonas · 02-28-2015, 09:29 AM

Hi, thanks for your answer!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wocky

Have a look in /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc for files called
vboxdrv.ko
vboxnetadp.ko
vboxnetflt.ko
vboxpci.ko

They're the kernel modules that aren't running; if they're not there, they need to be installed. The script in /etc/init.d/vboxdrv should install them, but it should also display several messages. I don't know why it's not; have a look at the script. It should give details on where to find them. They need to be installed, not just copied to /lib/modules.

I cannot really read a script, I need more advice on what to look for there.

There is no misc directory in my /lib/modules/3.16.0-30-generic directory. (Also nothing with vbox in the name in the 3.16.0-30-generic directory.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wocky

If they are there, they're not being loaded. Check that /etc/rc3.d/S03vboxdrv is a symbolic link to ../init.d/vboxdrv. This assumes that your system is running in runlevel 3; you can find what runlevel you're in with the runlevel(8) command. It might also not be S03; the actual number will depend on how your system is set up. Try something like

Code:

ls -l /etc/rc3.d/*vbox*

If it's not there, you should create it; there should be some others there too: here's mine

Code:

$ ls -l /etc/rc3.d/*vbox*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 May 20  2012 /etc/rc3.d/S03vboxdrv -> ../init.d/vboxdrv
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 May 20  2012 /etc/rc3.d/S04vboxballoonctrl-service -> ../init.d/vboxballoonctrl-service
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 May 20  2012 /etc/rc3.d/S03vboxweb-service -> ../init.d/vboxweb-service
$

The symbolic links are there, I've got the same ones as you list, except I've got S04vboxweb-service instead of S03vboxweb-service.

Running runlevel produces output "N 2".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wocky

You can start the vboxdrv service manually several ways:

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv start

or

Code:

sudo modprobe vboxdrv

The former produces no output, the latter produces "modprobe: FATAL: Module vboxdrv not found."

jjonas · 04-01-2015, 08:45 AM

I managed to remove the misbehaving virtualbox with

sudo apt-get purge virtualbox-\*

as per the advice here. After doing that I was able to re-install virtualbox. However, Software Center's virtualbox was an older version than the Extension Pack available on Oracle's website (which I needed), so I uninstalled the old version I had just managed to re-install, downloaded the latest version from Oracle's website, installed that, and then installed the extension pack.

That was all, everything seems to work normally now. No settings tweaking or other miserable stuff.