Virtualbox broken after a dist-upgrade -- cannot install virtuabox-dkms nor run modprobe vboxdrv

upgrade kernel virtualbox dkms modprobe

9,153

Solution 1

Update

Note:
~~- This guide will become irrelevant in the near future when proposed migrates to release.~~

6.1.16-dfsg-6~ubuntu1.20.04.1 is now in the Store 'ubuntu-focal-updates-multiverse' and 5.8 kernel had a few updates with current 5.8.0-40-generic
Should not be an issue if one keeps up with regular updates.

Suggested options 1 and 4 to have future automatic updates for VirtualBox.
Option 2, 3a, 3b manual installation does not include automatic future updates for VirtualBox.

Bug

Installation of VirtualBox 6.1.16 on Ubuntu 20.04

Option 1 (Easy)

Pre-released updates (focal-proposed)

- Open Software & Updates
- Developer Options
- select ✅ Pre-released updates (focal-proposed)
- select Close
- on Popup The information about available software is out-of-date
  select Reload
- Open Software Updater
- deselect all/any other updates except VirtualBox (which will include multiple packages in its subcategory)
- select Install Now
- Repeat step 1 to disable Pre-released updates (focal-proposed) You don't want to update other proposed updates unless you are familiar with what it entails.
  Ref. Testing/EnableProposed - Ubuntu Wiki, ProposedMigration - Ubuntu Wiki

Bug virtualbox-dkms 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1 fails to build with kernel 5.8
I followed @Terrance advice and installed 6.1.16 from the source.
My previous VMs are all working.

Edit: Per @BeastOfCaerbannog request/suggestion.

Installation of VirtualBox 6.1.16 on Ubuntu 20.04

Option 2 (Easy)

Go to Download VirtualBox for Linux Hosts
Under VirtualBox 6.1.16 for Linux
Click Ubuntu 19.10 / 20.04
Open with GDebi Package Installer
Install Package

*if GDebi is not installed > go to Software Store and install it
*if Error: Conflicts with the installed package 'virtualbox-qt' > go to Software Store and Remove Virtualbox 6.1.10

Option 3 a. (Easy)

Go to Download VirtualBox for Linux Hosts
Under VirtualBox 6.1.16 for Linux
Click Ubuntu 19.10 / 20.04
Save File in Downloads
Go to Downloads
Right Click downloaded package > Open With Software install (or double click, or select and enter/return)
Install

Option 3 b. (Advanced)

In Terminal

cd Downloads

sudo apt install ./virtualbox-6.1_6.1.16-140961~Ubuntu~eoan_amd64.deb

sudo apt install ./v*

Option 4 (Advanced)

Install Virtualbox by using the Virtualbox repos

thanks @Terrance

Solution 2

Choose the latest working 5.4 kernel instead.

I have 20.04 and this worked for me:

sudo grub-reboot "1>4"

sudo reboot

Or just manually choose the 5.4 kernel at boot.

I guess this bug will be fixed for Ubuntus 5.8 kernel soon.

9,153

jRo

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

jRo over 1 year

I am running Ubuntu 20.04 and recently did a dist-upgrade.

uname -r: 5.8.0-34-generic

I purged Virtualbox and associate files by:

sudo apt-get purge "^virtualbox-.*"

After trying to reinstall any software I get the following now:

>>$ sudo apt install --reinstall linux-headers-$(uname -r)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
3 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/1,236 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 328260 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../linux-headers-5.8.0-34-generic_5.8.0-34.37~20.04.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking linux-headers-5.8.0-34-generic (5.8.0-34.37~20.04.2) over (5.8.0-34.37~20.04.2) ...
Setting up linux-headers-5.8.0-34-generic (5.8.0-34.37~20.04.2) ...
/etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms:
 * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 5.8.0-34-generic

Kernel preparation unnecessary for this kernel.  Skipping...

Building module:
cleaning build area...
make -j8 KERNELRELEASE=5.8.0-34-generic -C /lib/modules/5.8.0-34-generic/build M=/var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build...(bad exit status: 2)
ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/virtualbox-dkms.0.crash'
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 5.8.0-34-generic (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/make.log for more information.
   ...done.
Setting up virtualbox-dkms (6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1) ...
Removing old virtualbox-6.1.10 DKMS files...

------------------------------
Deleting module version: 6.1.10
completely from the DKMS tree.
------------------------------
Done.
Loading new virtualbox-6.1.10 DKMS files...
Building for 5.8.0-34-generic
Building initial module for 5.8.0-34-generic
ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/virtualbox-dkms.0.crash'
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 5.8.0-34-generic (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/make.log for more information.
dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-dkms (--configure):
 installed virtualbox-dkms package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 10
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox:
 virtualbox depends on virtualbox-dkms (>= 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1) | virtualbox-source (>= 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1) | virtualbox-modules; however:
  Package virtualbox-dkms is not configured yet.
  Package virtualbox-source is not installed.
  Package virtualbox-modules is not installed.
  Package virtualbox-dkms which provides virtualbox-modules is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-qt:
 virtualbox-qt depends on virtualbox (= 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1); however:
  Package virtualbox is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-qt (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                                                                                                          No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup err
or from a previous failure.
                           Errors were encountered while processing:
 virtualbox-dkms
 virtualbox
 virtualbox-qt
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Running

sudo apt-get install -f

Does not fix the dependency problem. I still get the same output:

>>$ sudo apt-get install -f
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
3 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up virtualbox-dkms (6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1) ...
Removing old virtualbox-6.1.10 DKMS files...

------------------------------
Deleting module version: 6.1.10
completely from the DKMS tree.
------------------------------
Done.
Loading new virtualbox-6.1.10 DKMS files...
Building for 5.8.0-34-generic
Building initial module for 5.8.0-34-generic
ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/virtualbox-dkms.0.crash'
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 5.8.0-34-generic (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/make.log for more information.
dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-dkms (--configure):
 installed virtualbox-dkms package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 10
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox:
 virtualbox depends on virtualbox-dkms (>= 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1) | virtualbox-source (>= 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1) | virtualbox-modules; however:
  Package virtualbox-dkms is not configured yet.
  Package virtualbox-source is not installed.
  Package virtualbox-modules is not installed.
  Package virtualbox-dkms which provides virtualbox-modules is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-qt:
 virtualbox-qt depends on virtualbox (= 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1); however:
  Package virtualbox is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package virtualbox-qt (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                                                                                                          No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                           Errors were encountered while processing:
 virtualbox-dkms
 virtualbox
 virtualbox-qt
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Reconfiguring as below yields the same message:

sudo dpkg --configure -a

The crash report located at /var/crash/virtualbox-dkms.0.crash indicates the following:

ProblemType: Package
DKMSBuildLog:
 DKMS make.log for virtualbox-6.1.10 for kernel 5.8.0-34-generic (x86_64)
 Thursday, January 07, 2021 AM09:37:43 HKT
 make: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.8.0-34-generic'
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/SUPDrv.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/SUPDrvGip.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/SUPDrvSem.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/SUPDrvTracer.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/SUPLibAll.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/r0drv/alloc-r0drv.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/r0drv/initterm-r0drv.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/r0drv/memobj-r0drv.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/r0drv/mpnotification-r0drv.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/r0drv/powernotification-r0drv.o
   CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/r0drv/linux/assert-r0drv-linux.o
 In file included from ./include/asm-generic/percpu.h:7,
                  from ./arch/x86/include/asm/percpu.h:556,
                  from ./arch/x86/include/asm/preempt.h:6,
                  from ./include/linux/preempt.h:78,
                  from ./include/linux/spinlock.h:51,
                  from /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/../SUPDrvInternal.h:79,
                  from /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.c:32:
 /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.c: In function ‘supdrvOSChangeCR4’:
 /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.c:760:38: error: ‘cpu_tlbstate’ undeclared (first use in this function); did you mean ‘cpuhp_state’?
   760 |     RTCCUINTREG uOld = this_cpu_read(cpu_tlbstate.cr4);
       |                                      ^~~~~~~~~~~~
 ./include/linux/percpu-defs.h:318:9: note: in definition of macro ‘__pcpu_size_call_return’
   318 |  typeof(variable) pscr_ret__;     \
       |         ^~~~~~~~
 /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.c:760:24: note: in expansion of macro ‘this_cpu_read’
   760 |     RTCCUINTREG uOld = this_cpu_read(cpu_tlbstate.cr4);
       |                        ^~~~~~~~~~~~~
 /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.c:760:38: note: each undeclared identifier is reported only once for each function it appears in
   760 |     RTCCUINTREG uOld = this_cpu_read(cpu_tlbstate.cr4);
       |                                      ^~~~~~~~~~~~
 ./include/linux/percpu-defs.h:318:9: note: in definition of macro ‘__pcpu_size_call_return’
   318 |  typeof(variable) pscr_ret__;     \
       |         ^~~~~~~~
 /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.c:760:24: note: in expansion of macro ‘this_cpu_read’
   760 |     RTCCUINTREG uOld = this_cpu_read(cpu_tlbstate.cr4);
       |                        ^~~~~~~~~~~~~
 make[2]: *** [scripts/Makefile.build:288: /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.o] Error 1
 make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
 make[1]: *** [scripts/Makefile.build:519: /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv] Error 2
 make: *** [Makefile:1780: /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build] Error 2
 make: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.8.0-34-generic'
DKMSKernelVersion: 5.8.0-34-generic
Date: Thu Jan  7 09:37:46 2021
DuplicateSignature: dkms:virtualbox-dkms:6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1:/var/lib/dkms/virtualbox/6.1.10/build/vboxdrv/linux/SUPDrv-linux.c:760:38: error: ‘cpu_tlbstate’ undeclared (first use in this function); did you mean ‘cpuhp_state’?
Package: virtualbox-dkms 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1
PackageVersion: 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1
SourcePackage: virtualbox
Title: virtualbox-dkms 6.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1: virtualbox kernel module failed to build

Any help is appreciated.

After input from @Terrace and others, I tried installing from source. But I still get an error in installing virtualbox-dkms. After that, I uninstalled virtual-dkms directly:

sudo apt-get remove virtualbox-dkms

And then re-attempted the install

sudo dpkg -i virtualbox-6.1_6.1.16-140961~Ubuntu~eoan_amd64.deb
```

Wich succeeded. Thank you!

BeastOfCaerbannog over 3 years

Hi and welcome to Ask Ubuntu! Could you elaborate on how you installed 6.1.16 from source? This would make your answer much more useful!
Terrance over 3 years

Yesterday I wrote up this answer how to install Virtualbox by using the Virtualbox repos: askubuntu.com/a/1305883/231142 Feel free to use it if you want in your answer as well. =)
null over 2 years

Thanks, this worked! The direct link to download for Ubuntu 20.04 gets an outdated version though. I was having issues with version 6.1.26 installed from apt, and the link gave me version 6.1.16. Going to downloads page you linked and selecting the Ubuntu 20.04 link gave me version 6.1.32.