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When I try to start a virtual machine in VirtualBox, I get the error above. I tried what it asked me to do, but it didn't work. My kernel version is 4.4.232. Also, here is the error message:

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver is either not loaded or not set up correctly. Please reinstall virtualbox-dkms package and load the kernel module by executing

'modprobe vboxdrv'


as root.


If your system has EFI Secure Boot enabled you may also need to sign the kernel modules (vboxdrv, vboxnetflt, vboxnetadp, vboxpci) before you can load them. Please see your Linux system's documentation for more information.


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

Also, it gave me a second error message:

The virtual machine 'linux 2' has terminated unexpectedly during startup with exit code 1 (0x1).

Result Code: 
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: 
MachineWrap
Interface: 
IMachine {85632c68-b5bb-4316-a900-5eb28d3413df}

And yes, I am trying to run Linux within Linux, but I know it's not that because I have tried multiple different virtual machines. Also, I am running this Ubuntu 20.04 on my chromebook, so if that's the problem, I'd like a workaround for that. I set it up using crouton on howtogeek.com, if that helps.

I have had the same error messages on Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04, so the version is not the problem. also, I noticed while reinstalling virtualbox the terminal mentions that my kernel version likely belongs to a chroot's host, so that might be a problem too. If I need a different version of the Linux kernel, I'd like directions to do that because it's probably different for me since I'm using my chromebook.

For anyone who tried running VirtualBox on their chromebook using crouton like I tried and got the same error, from what I've read is that on some devices the chrome OS kernel does not support running virtual machines.

Zanna
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Jacob McKenna
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10 Answers10

6

I had the exact issue. Fixed it with the following simple commands

sudo apt update
sudo apt install virtualbox

The good thing was that my existing machines were never affected; they still worked fine.

Zanna
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Obinna Nnenanya
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  • This worked for me but it installed 6.1.38 version of Virtual Box and I had 7.0.8 before that. The nice thing was the "sudo apt install virtualbox" also ran a text gui app to configure the secure boot. Only other issue after that was a popup complaining of USB driver issue and to install the Oracle VirtualBox extension pack. After I did that my VM ran fine. – HungryPipo May 04 '23 at 01:13
4

I had the same problem after some updates on Ubuntu 20.04. I solved this problem by manual installation of a recent version of VirtualBox 6.1.16. By default Ubuntu 20.04 is installing 6.1.10.

Go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads and read chapter "Debian-based Linux distributions". In brief, you should:

Add a new line to the file /etc/apt/sources.list

deb [arch=amd64] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian focal contrib

Then type these commands:

sudo wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install virtualbox-6.1

Probably you need to disable "Secure Boot" in the BIOS as well.

Zanna
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Andrey Tushev
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  • 2
    Thanks, worked for me! A note for others with the same problem: the secure boot option was already disabled on my machine. It means at least in some cases only switching the flag off maybe not sufficient. – 2xMax Feb 19 '21 at 03:54
3

I faced this problem in Ubuntu 20.04. My secure boot was already off and neither I updated my system or the Virtual Box and this issue came out of blue.

I fixed this issue by simply updating and upgrading my host machine -

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
T Wellick
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1

Sorry about not answering for so long (I forgot about the question) I was able to get VirtualBox working by installing Gallium OS through Mrchromebox's legacy firmware for my Chromebook.

Jacob McKenna
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1

Install VirtualBox 6.1.26 or greater for Linux.

There was a conflict between VirtualBox in previous versions and Ubuntu 20.04

Zanna
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Ammar Bozorgvar
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0

I was able to fix the issue by disabling "Secure Boot" in the BIOS. I am running an Asus Vivobook. VMs quit working after the update to 20.04 (from 18.04). They are working now.

Adam Borntrager
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0

I fixed this issue by only disabling "Secure Boot" in the BIOS. ( Ubuntu 20.04. and VirtualBox 6.1.18 )

D.M.
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0

I had the same issue and solved it by disabling the secure boot in BIOS settings.

Meysam
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0

My VirtualBox setup did break during an update. I used these commands to fix it :

sudo apt install linux-headers-`uname -r`
sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox-dkms

sudo modprobe vboxdrv
sudo modprobe vboxnetadp
sudo modprobe vboxnetflt

No reboot was needed. I run an Ubuntu 22.04.

I did reinstall the virtualbox-dkms package, but I am not sure if this is needed.

Olivier Lasne
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0

I often encounter this bug when I upgrade my Linux distro. VirtualBox will start to fail because it can't find the needed kernel module.

The command given by VirtualBox sudo modprobe vboxdrv fail with the following error:

modprobe: FATAL: Module vboxdrv not found in directory /lib/modules/5.19.0-42-generic

You need to rebuild the kernel module for the current kernel version:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --reinstall linux-headers-$(uname -r) virtualbox-dkms dkms

Then you can load the kernel module, and VirtualBox should run. No reboot needed.

sudo modprobe vboxdrv
Olivier Lasne
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  • 1
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