I'm wanting to update virtualbox on my 14.1 install here. I gather I installed from source on /opt without going to a t?z package (Unusual for me) which complicates life slightly.

They no longer seem to have source archives, but use .rpm & .deb. The Slackbuild is back on version 4.x for 13.37 while I want 5.1.12 & guest additions, and hopefully keep my 2 vms unharmed.

Can I use something like the Fedora rpm? Something like
rpm2targz --> extract to tmpdir, mv /usr to /opt, makepkg, & install?

Just use the VirtualBox binary install script. You can get it from this page;
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

Just download the appropriate script (either i385 or AMD64) for you system architecture (note that AMD64 is for both Intel and AMD CPUs)
Once downloaded, you just need to run the script as root.

Yup. The script will remove your existing install during the upgrade(not your VMs).

Almost remove it (but not quite)

https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/10752

Unless they have fixed this after 4+ years

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@Ruario: They have declared that ticket obsolete. I would never have thought of python.

@hitest: That's comforting to know. I actually renamed the VirtualBox directory, and when the script complained, I temporarily moved it to /root to get it out of the way. It appears I can delete it.

@laprjns: Thanks for that. I tried it, but no dice. It folds compiling the kernel modules. I'm on 3.19.0-rc6 iirc and that may be a bit old. The first error was in vboxdrv.sh with timeconst.h; that was in the wrong position, so a symlink went in. This produced a much longer tailspin available at
http://pastebin.com/SBWCu0Qf. I will have to update the kernel, or upgrade to Slackware-14.2 if I have the energy.

The new install is up and running, but the vms won't boot because there's no kernel modules. This is always the tricky bit, the kernel modules.

Make sure that the kernel-source package is installed and then do the following as root:

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Thanks. I had done that and there was some issue with the kernel I didn't figure. That falls over with error 1 & error 2 even as root. The kernel source was a git of Linus' linux-stable or maybe unstable I downloaded to build and test a video driver patch on another box back in the day.

Anyhow, I bit the bullet and upgraded to Slackware-14.2 which landed jammy side down, to put it mildly. I will post a new thread on that those issues I don't sort it. So this was solved by upgrading. I can assure you there are errors in my 14.2 atm, but not related to the kernel source and building modules.

A little heads-up for Slackware users who want to install VirtualBox easily. I'm providing Slackware packages for Virtualbox 5.0.30 in my MLED [extras] repositories:

• Slackware 14.1 32-bit
• Slackware 14.1 64-bit
• slackware 14.2 32-bit
• Slackware 14.2 64-bit

Make sure to download and install these three packages for your version and architecture:

• virtualbox
• virtualbox-kernel
• virtualbox-extension-pack

VirtualBox depends on the acpica package, which is available in the main [desktop] repositories, in package group [d].

Add the following group to your system:

Add your user to this group:

Last but not least, add the following stanza to /etc/rc.d/rc.local:

Cheers,

Niki

Looks promising.

Why 5.0.30 instead of 5.1.x?

What is acpica needed for? It's not in the standard 14.2 install, and I gather virtualbox works on that.

Acpica is a dependency. It's not in the standard install indeed, that's why I provide it. And starting with version 5.1, VirtualBox depends on Qt5, so I'll stick with 5.0.x.

I have neither qt5 installed nor acpica installed. VirtualBox 5.1.12 runs fine here. It take it directly from virtualbox.org, including the extension pack, that I needed to get a virtual NVMe ssd controller for testing.

Different roads lead to Saint-Bauzille-de-Putois.

This reminds me that my best friend's father and mother had an house in Aniane and yes, I visited la Grotte des Demoiselles. About the road to get there, let me tell you that several decades ago it was only the Nationale 9 from Paris. Nothing funny behind trucks in a 2CV Citroën...

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That made me laugh!

In my younger days I spent three years driving a 20-ton truck all around Ireland, before Ireland had any motorways. It was no fun getting stuck in this truck behind a 75-year-old farmer in his tractor, let me tell you! Especially when your shift was nearly over.

;-)

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Was that truck rigid? What a nightmare. Tractors in Ireland then had a narrower wheelbase, and fatalities from overturned tractors were common - the tractor would roll, throw the driver off, and then roll over him, usually killing him. It would be 25 kph max, and nobody would dare go much above walking speed on a bendy road.

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