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Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)

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.

This is a familiar message to everyone that uses Virtual Box. This "bug" has been popping up every few months at least since 11.10. I got it today for the first time on 14.04 and unfortunately the classical solution of re-installing virtualbox-dkms is not having any effect:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential dkms
sudo apt-get remove virtualbox-dkms
sudo apt-get install virtualbox-dkms

What could be the reason for this old fix to fail?

Update: In the comments user bain makes reference to an old thread that apparently reports to the same problem. While the error message is similar, on Ubuntu 14.04 this issue seems to have a different nature, unrelated to the virtualbox-dkms package. For instance, on Ubuntu 14.04 the virtualbox package is up to date:

$ sudo apt-cache policy virtualbox
virtualbox:
  Installed: 4.3.10-dfsg-1
  Candidate: 4.3.10-dfsg-1
  Version table:
 *** 4.3.10-dfsg-1 0
        500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/multiverse amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
Luís de Sousa
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  • Try the answers in the linked question. Make sure all updates are in place (apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade) then uninstall virtualbox (apt-get purge virtualbox*) and re-install. – bain Jul 17 '14 at 09:39
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    Hi bain. The question you link is over 3 years old, referring to older Ubuntu versions where this problem had different solutions. – Luís de Sousa Jul 17 '14 at 12:41
  • Did you try to just run the command suggested in the error message? If yes, what happened? – fkraiem Jul 17 '14 at 12:55
  • Hi fkraiem, the result has always been "File not found". It has been like this since 11.10. – Luís de Sousa Jul 17 '14 at 12:59
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    Please reopen this question. Right now there is no viable solution for Ubuntu 14.04.Thank you. – Luís de Sousa Jan 16 '15 at 14:53
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    @LuísdeSousa I fail to see the reasoning in reopening this. If this is a bug that needs addressed, file it as a bug, and keep this closed as a thousand open questions with no resolution is detrimental - assuming that a fix comes through then perhaps we can reopen it then. – Thomas Ward Jan 16 '15 at 15:44
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    That is a great logic you have there Thomas. If the question remains closed how can a new fix be posted by someone else? – Luís de Sousa Jan 17 '15 at 08:04

1 Answers1

88

The fix for 14.04 is indeed different, but not that different:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential dkms
sudo apt-get remove --purge virtualbox-dkms
sudo apt-get install virtualbox-dkms

The install virtualbox-dkms command was actually failing applying the 13.10 fix. By fully purging the package things got back to normal.

Update [17-01-2015]: In the latest iteration of this bug a restart to the system is required between the apt-get remove command and the second apt-get install.

Update [07-02-2016]: This fix is reportedly functional on Ubuntu 15.10.

Update [29-09-2016]: This fix is also functional on Ubuntu 16.04.

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Luís de Sousa
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  • Are these commands run in the VM or on the host? – Dave Jun 11 '15 at 21:37
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    It is all in the host. This is a problem with VirtualBox itself. – Luís de Sousa Jun 12 '15 at 08:59
  • Does not work for me. Error during installation of virtualbox-dkms: ERROR (dkms apport): kernel package linux-headers-4.0.9-040009-generic is not supported... – hako Aug 27 '15 at 12:43
  • @hako how did you get a 4.x kernel on 14.04? – Rob Audenaerde Sep 30 '15 at 12:28
  • It turned out that my version 4.09 of Linux could not run with virtualbox, so I changed to v4.16 after reading somewhere that it would play well with virtualbox. That did it. – hako Oct 01 '15 at 14:30
  • I downloaded the v4 kernel deb (3 files) from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4... and installed with sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.1.6.deb linux-image-4.1.6.deb – hako Oct 01 '15 at 14:58
  • I get an error : Building only for 3.19.0-33-generic Module build for the currently running kernel was skipped since the kernel source for this kernel does not seem to be installed.
    • Stopping VirtualBox kernel modules [ OK ]
    • Starting VirtualBox kernel modules * No suitable module for running kernel found [fail]

    invoke-rc.d: initscript virtualbox, action "restart" failed.

     – mauek unak Nov 27 '15 at 10:17
  • I had the same issue on Ubuntu 15.10, and i tried this fix, it works.! – Nasik Shafeek Feb 07 '16 at 13:18
  • Does not work for me with 16.04. – hugo der hungrige Jun 14 '16 at 15:52
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    Overkill, if you have dkms installed you were probably running virtualbox and just need to rebuild the kernel module. See suggested duplicates at the top. – Constantin Jul 05 '16 at 15:20
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    For me the REAL problem turned out to be boot-efi which is the default on the ubuntu/kubuntu-14.04 install. After removing virtualbox-dkms & reinstalling it, I got a pop-up about boot-efi running in "secure" mode will not allow these drivers to load.....soooo, the thing rebooted in MOK, and with MOK I DISABLED efi-boot's secure mode. ALL IS NOW WELL. – Eric Sep 24 '16 at 02:29
  • This worked for me, with the caveat of rebooting after sudo apt-get remove (I did not try anything else, though). – sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio Oct 14 '16 at 19:22
  • Worked for me on 16.04, but only with the system restart as described in the Update section. – akavel Nov 29 '16 at 13:28
  • It worked for me on 14.04 – Amol Suryawanshi Dec 14 '16 at 07:11
  • Works on 16.04 if disabled Secure Boot from UEFI in BIOS. – de-facto Feb 21 '17 at 14:51
  • Worked on 17.04 with system restart. – X09 Jun 28 '17 at 10:30
  • did not work with LInux Mint 18.2 Cinnamon – flyingdrifter Nov 06 '17 at 15:32
  • Instead of complete reinstall of virtualbox-dkms, you can just reconfigure it: sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox-dkms. https://askubuntu.com/a/465455/250300 – Melebius Feb 01 '18 at 08:42
  • Is there a permanent fix to this issue, so that I do not have to re-fix every kernel update? – Aaron Franke Feb 25 '18 at 21:37
  • @Aaron Franke I opnened a thread on this issue at the Ubuntu Forums in 2011. That thread and this question together have harnessed almost half a million views. Apparently, no one is interested in fixing this for good. In any case, with emerging technologies like Docker, the relevance of VBox is waning. – Luís de Sousa Feb 26 '18 at 09:13
  • @flyingdrifter This solution is not supposed to work on Mint. It is only for the Ubuntu distribution. – Luís de Sousa Feb 26 '18 at 09:14