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I'm trying to run VirtualBox in Linux Mint but I keep getting an error message about Kernel drivers. (lemmy.ml)

submitted 10 months ago by vortexal@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

62 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I tried looking into this myself but I couldn't really find much about this error. The only solutions I could find didn't work for me. The first one was to use mokutil but at the point where I was supposed to run sudo mokutil --import MOK.der it gives me the error message "Failed to get file status, MOK.der" even though I did everything it told me to do. The other one was to disable secure boot and then run sudo '/sbin/vboxconfig' but even though it looked like it worked, I'm still getting the error message. I have re-enabled secure boot, so you don't have to worry about that.

Is there something else I can try or does VirtualBox not work in Linux Mint for some reason?

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[–] EddyBot@feddit.de 18 points 10 months ago (3 children)

if you just need software to set up virtual machines you might look into Gnome Boxes or virt-manager which don't require external kernel modules like Virtuap Box to work

anyway these issues typically happen on Ubuntu based distros (like Linux Mint) because your linux kernel is to new for the Virtual Box version (or the Virtual Box version is simply too old)

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago (3 children)

So I tried virt-manager but it's giving me an error message about not being able to connect to "libvirt qemu:///system" and it wont let me install a virtual machine. I'm assuming that I'm supposed to download "libvirtd", but I can't figure out how to install it. I think it wants me to build it from the source but there doesn't seem to be a guide on how to do that.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Yayy, I have the same problem.

Try a

sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd

I dont know how manual everything is in Mint

Also add your user to thr libvirt group

groupadd libvit
sudo usermod -aG libvirt $USER

[–] aksdb@feddit.de 4 points 10 months ago

Just FYI, if you want to enable and start, you can use systemctl enable --now ....

[–] joshcodes@programming.dev 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Are you using a package manager or downloading everything from virtualboxs website? When I installed virtual box earlier today it all worked fine so that's why I ask.

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I installed it through apt with just sudo apt install virtualbox-7.0. I also downloaded the deb file from their website but, at least when installed through apt, it just ignores it and uses the version from Mint's repository anyways.

Edit: Because I just checked and you can't install it directly like that anymore, I first tried installing VirtualBox a few months ago, with an older version of Linux Mint. When I tried installing it several hours ago, it was with the deb file but for some reason apt still selects a different version when it actually installs it.

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm currently installing virt-manager but I ran into a problem with Gnome Boxes where I’m trying to run a Windows XP virtual machine but I can’t figure out how to get files from my host to the guest. Apparently, I need some software to be running on the guest but the website that I need to download the software from doesn’t work in internet explorer and I obviously can’t just download it on the host and transfer it to the guest.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yes this seems to be a Gnome Boxes Flatpak problem. I like that it works as a flatpak, but unsure if this can be fixed, I think its a known limitation.

Oh yes, the spice guest addition. This will be needed on every Spice VM

Try this bat script from Github

Or the program they are referring to

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Ok thanks, I might try those later if I can't get VirtualBox working.

[–] nik282000@lemmy.ca 7 points 10 months ago (4 children)

virt-manager

I've used VirtualBox for years and only just tried virt-manager. I wish I had tried years ago, so much simpler and it is in my distro's default repository.

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[–] bizdelnick@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

First of all, check that hardware virtualization is enabled in your UEFI setup.

You need to have packages virtualbox-dkms and linux-headers installed (together with all their dependencies, but you don't have to check them manually). linux-headers must be of the same version as linux-image. That's all that you need to get driver properly built. Don't listen those users who recommend you to remove and reinstall these packages or install additional packages manually, this kind of magic doesn't work.

Also note that you cannot use kvm and virtualbox simultaneously. If you are using some kvm-based virtualization system, it causes a conflict.

[–] SteveTech@programming.dev 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Is there something else I can try

I use virt-manager, since it uses KVM which should already be present in the kernel.

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

How similar to VirtualBox is virt-manager? I've only ever used VirtualBox but if virt-manager is easy to use, I have no problem trying it out.

[–] Kid_Thunder@kbin.social 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Gnome's Boxes is pretty easy to use and of course uses qemu + KVM. This would be a type 1 hypervisor vs. Virtualbox's type 2. It is point and click like Virtualbox. You don't need to use Gnome's DE to use Boxes.

I have seen people post about your specific error for years when using the virtualbox website's repository instead of their own distro's repository (if it exists).

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I just tried Gnome Boxes and it seems to work mostly fine but the only problem I’m having is that I’m trying to run a Windows XP virtual machine but I can’t figure out how to get files from my host to the guest. Apparently, I need some software to be running on the guest but the website that I need to download the software from doesn’t work in internet explorer and I obviously can’t just download it on the host and transfer it to the guest.

[–] Kid_Thunder@kbin.social 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

In Boxes, power down your XP VM, click Settings -> Sharing Panel -> Enable Sharing toggle. Click File Sharing and enable File Sharing. Power on the VM.

At that point you should be able to drag and drop from your host direct into your VM for a file transfer.

You can also click the vertical dots menu in the Guest's console "screen" and click Send File... menu option.

In the same menu you can click Devices & Shares -> Realtek USB or whatever -> Local Folder -> Select from the dropdown for the Host's folder that you'd like to share -> Save -> Make sure Toggle on the right is on.

Then your folder, I believe in XP, will show up as a removable drive like a USB drive would.

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[–] SteveTech@programming.dev 3 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I probably wouldn't describe it as similar, but virt-manager is fairly simple but powerful at the same time (like it will let you expose more advanced KVM/QEMU features like PCIe passthrough and similar).

But like the other guy said, gnome boxes is very straight forward and probably more similar in it's simplicity.

They both use QEMU + KVM, so you can have both virt-manager and boxes installed at once, and I believe virt-manager (probably boxes too) easily let you use existing VirtualBox .vdi files, if you've got an existing VM you want to run. Also like I said before, KVM is already mainlined into the Linux kernel, so you don't have to install sketchy kernel modules and stuff.

I've only used VirtualBox once though, so I can't really compare them.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 10 months ago

Afaik Boxes it not developed anymore? May be wrong

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[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Really try virt-manager with qemu and kvm. It doesnt need any kernel mods.

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[–] MasterNerd@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago

As others have said, there's no reason not to be using virt manager with qemu/KVM at this point

This should get you started: https://hrishikeshpathak.com/blog/install-and-configure-linux-virtual-machine-using-virt-manager/

[–] penquin@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Try

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Then reboot your machine. Virtualbox needs the kernel headers to work.

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I tried that but It's giving me the error message E: Unable to locate package kernel-headers.

[–] penquin@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

My bad, I haven't run Debian based distros for a while. Run this instead

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

I've edited my comment

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It's telling me that they are already installed: j@j-HP-Notebook:~$ sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) [sudo] password for j: Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree... Done Reading state information... Done linux-headers-5.15.0-88-generic is already the newest version (5.15.0-88.98). linux-headers-5.15.0-88-generic set to manually installed. The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: brave-keyring libu2f-udev linux-headers-5.15.0-76 linux-headers-5.15.0-76-generic linux-headers-5.15.0-78 linux-headers-5.15.0-78-generic linux-headers-5.15.0-79 linux-headers-5.15.0-79-generic linux-headers-5.15.0-82 linux-headers-5.15.0-82-generic linux-headers-5.15.0-83 linux-headers-5.15.0-83-generic linux-headers-5.15.0-84 linux-headers-5.15.0-84-generic linux-headers-5.15.0-86 linux-headers-5.15.0-86-generic linux-image-5.15.0-76-generic linux-image-5.15.0-78-generic linux-image-5.15.0-79-generic linux-image-5.15.0-82-generic linux-image-5.15.0-83-generic linux-image-5.15.0-84-generic linux-image-5.15.0-86-generic linux-modules-5.15.0-76-generic linux-modules-5.15.0-78-generic linux-modules-5.15.0-79-generic linux-modules-5.15.0-82-generic linux-modules-5.15.0-83-generic linux-modules-5.15.0-84-generic linux-modules-5.15.0-86-generic linux-modules-extra-5.15.0-76-generic linux-modules-extra-5.15.0-78-generic linux-modules-extra-5.15.0-79-generic linux-modules-extra-5.15.0-82-generic linux-modules-extra-5.15.0-83-generic linux-modules-extra-5.15.0-84-generic linux-modules-extra-5.15.0-86-generic Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them. 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

[–] penquin@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Then restart you machine. That normally needs to be done after installing virtualbox. See if it works.

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I already restarted my computer twice after installing it, is there any reason I would have restart my computer a third time?

[–] penquin@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Ok then, it's probably the dkms shitting the bed. Follow this

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[–] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Does loading the kernel module help, assuming it’s installed?

sudo modprobe vboxdrv

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

No, it's giving me the following error message:

j@j-HP-Notebook:~$ sudo modprobe vboxdrv
[sudo] password for j:  
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'vboxdrv': Operation not permitted

[–] danielfgom@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's really odd. I'm running Linux Mint Debian Edition 6 and I installed virtual box from the oracle website just fine.

As others have said, try Gnome Boxes and see if they works. If it also has issues then it's something with your system.

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I actually just tried Gnome Boxes and it seems to work mostly fine but the only problem I'm having is that I'm trying to run a Windows XP virtual machine but I can't figure out how to get files from my host to the guest. Apparently, I need some software to be running on the guest but the website that I need to download the software from doesn't work in internet explorer and I obviously can't just download it on the host and transfer it to the guest.

[–] danielfgom@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Have you tried to download it on the host to a USB (formatted with fat32) and then in Boxes select that usb in Windows to copy and run the software?

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

While I have already found a solution (and with it found out that the software doesn't even work in windows xp) the only way to download Boxes that I could find was through flathub, which doesn't allow usb devices for some reason. What does work is that I can just put all of the files I want transferred into an iso file and mount it to the VM.

Also, if there is a way to install Boxes outside of flathub, I'll have to check it out tomorrow because of late it is for me right now.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 10 months ago

Yes there is such a way.

[–] Presi300@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Use virt-manager or gnome boxes, they are both better and tend to run faster in my experience

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