74

I have installed VirtualBox through the software centre, but when I try to start a VM, I get the following error:

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.

I already updated my dkms and installed linux-headers, but this /etc/init.d/vboxdrv doesn't exist.

I have been googling but I can't find an answer.

Flyk
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Dr_Bunsen
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10 Answers10

132

I also encountered this issue several times once I upgrade my linux kernel.

What I did:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

Reconfigure dkms and load module:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox-dkms  
sudo modprobe vboxdrv

Then VirtualBox works. No computer reboot needed.

Erk
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Jason Zhu
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12

Here's EXACTLY how to do it on 12.10:

Make sure there are no traces of dkms, (virtualbox/ virtualbox-4.2), linux generic headers (..17):

***Replace virtualbox-4.2 with the version you have already installed. If you haven't installed it yet then proceed to step 2.

  1. sudo apt-get purge virtualbox-4.2 dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)
  2. sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
  3. sudo apt-get install virtualbox-4.2

You MUST install the linux headers BEFORE virtualbox otherwise the VBox installation will error when trying to set up the vboxdrv section because the linux headers aren't installed.

HankHendrix
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9

Reinstall "virtualbox-dkms"

sudo apt-get install --reinstall virtualbox-dkms

It worked for me.

VedVals
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6

Should peruse /var/log/vbox-install.log file to determine the issue. If the problem persists, you may want to download and install the latest v4.2.2 version directly from https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads (for kernel 3.6.* and below). Good luck.

cogitoergosum
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3

I had the same problem and I solved with the installation of the kernel headers.

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

After the installation of the headers, DKMS was set-up properly and Virtualbox just worked after a reboot.

Still, there is no vboxdrv in /etc/init.d.

Note: the package I initially installed was virtualbox (non ose):

sudo apt-get install virtualbox
Vincenzo Pii
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1

I'm on Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit and encountered exactly this problem. I did all the recommended stuff listed here (uninstall, re-install headers, dkms, etc) and still couldn't get it to work.

What finally worked was going to the virtualbox website (https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads), downloading the package and installing it via:

sudo dpkg -i virtualbox-4.2_4.2.10-84104~Ubuntu~precise_amd64.deb

Then I ran:

sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup

And it worked like a charm.

andy u
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1

With Ubuntu 12.04 I was not able to solve it via standard repositories. I had to download Virtualbox from its website and use version 4.3

Christian Vielma
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0

VirtualBox Installation

Open the terminal and issue these commands for Ubuntu 12.10/Linux Mint:

echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -sc) contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list

wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install dkms virtualbox-4.2

Web: http://www.upubuntu.com/2012/10/virtualbox-424-released-ppa.html

jafan
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0

what i found instead is that if you run 

# modprobe vboxdrv

before running virtualbox, you will not have that sign

so I just add 

 vboxdrv

in /

 /etc/modules

which is equivalent to run

  'modprobe vboxdrv'

after system start

Chenming Zhang
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0

1) If you have not yet installed DKMS run this command

sudo apt-get install virtualbox-dkms

If is already installed resintallation should fix the problem

sudo apt-get install --reinstall virtualbox-dkms

2) After the (re)installation process you should see something similar to this

vboxnetflt.ko: Running module version sanity check. - Original module - No original module exists within this kernel - Installation - Installing to /lib/modules/3.5.0-61-generic/updates/dkms/

vboxpci.ko: Running module version sanity check. - Original module - No original module exists within this kernel - Installation - Installing to /lib/modules/3.5.0-61-generic/updates/dkms/

depmod.........

DKMS: install completed. * Stopping VirtualBox kernel modules [ OK ] * Starting VirtualBox kernel modules [ OK ] Setting up virtualbox-qt (4.1.12-dfsg-2ubuntu0.10) ... Processing triggers for libc-bin ... ldconfig deferred processing now taking place

3) Close VirtualBox and wait for at least 10 seconds for the daemon to shutdown.

4) Open VirtualBox again and Start the machine, it should be fixed

Mauricio Gracia Gutierrez
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