Virtual Box - installed but won't start

English Virtualization
1

Installed 42.2, running great. Installed virtualBox from Yast. It won’t run. Below is what shows up.

Failed to acquire the VirtualBox COM object.
The application will now terminate. 
Details

  Runtime error opening '/home/dad/.config/VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml' for reading: -38(Access denied.).
 /home/abuild/rpmbuild/BUILD/VirtualBox-5.1.18/src/VBox/Main/src-server/VirtualBoxImpl.cpp[550] (nsresult VirtualBox::init()).
 

 | Result Code:| NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)|
|---|---|
| Component:| VirtualBoxWrap|
| Interface:| IVirtualBox {0169423f-46b4-cde9-91af-1e9d5b6cd945}|
| Callee:| IVirtualBoxClient {d2937a8e-cb8d-4382-90ba-b7da78a74573}|

linux-hi7k:/home/dad # /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup
vboxdrv.sh: Stopping VirtualBox services.
vboxdrv.sh: Starting VirtualBox services.
vboxdrv.sh: failed: modprobe vboxdrv failed. Please use ‘dmesg’ to find out why.

dmesg shows the following with vb referenced:

22.315816] VBoxPciLinuxInit
   22.315821] vboxpci: IOMMU not found (not registered)

[170767.746094] VBoxPciLinuxLinuxUnload

thanks

2

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 03:26:02 +0000, idee wrote:

> Installed 42.2, running great. Installed virtualBox from Yast.

YaST isn’t a software source - so the first question to answer is which
repository you installed VirtualBox from.

The easiest way to do this is to run:

zypper if virtualbox

(root not required)

Post the output from that command in CODE tags, and that’ll let someone
start troubleshooting this.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

3

Also post:

zypper se -si vbox virtualbox kernel make gcc

uname -a
4

From a Forum thread in 2010…
https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=30680

Try deleting the file that “can’t be read” and then re-installing.

TSU

5
  • What are the permissions on ‘/home/dad/.config/VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xm’?
  • Which virtualbox packages are installed? (“> zypper search --installed-only virtual”)
  • Is “dad” a member of the “vboxusers” group?
  • Are the “vbox” kernel modules correctly installed? (May need to reboot . . .)

 > lsmod | grep -i 'box'
vboxpci                28672  0 
vboxnetadp             28672  0 
vboxnetflt             32768  0 
vboxdrv               512000  3 vboxnetadp,vboxnetflt,vboxpci
 >
6

zypper if virtualbox

Post the output from that command in CODE tags, and that’ll let someone
start troubleshooting this.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

dad@linux-hi7k:~> zypper if virtualbox
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...


Information for package virtualbox:
-----------------------------------
Repository     : Main Update Repository      
Name           : virtualbox                  
Version        : 5.1.18-19.5.1               
Arch           : x86_64                      
Vendor         : openSUSE                    
Installed Size : 34.0 MiB                    
Installed      : Yes                         
Status         : up-to-date                  
Source package : virtualbox-5.1.18-19.5.1.src
Summary        : VirtualBox is an Emulator   
Description    :                             
    VirtualBox is an extremely feature rich, high performance product
    for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution
    that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the
    GNU Public License (GPL).
7 
dad@linux-hi7k:~> lsmod | grep -i 'box'
vboxpci                28672  0 
vboxnetadp             28672  0 
vboxnetflt             32768  0 
vboxdrv               512000  3 vboxnetadp,vboxnetflt,vboxpci

Permissions:
/home/dad/.config/VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml owner-root group-root

Yes “dad” is a member of the “vboxusers” group

“Are the “vbox” kernel modules correctly installed?” how do I confirm that?

Update -
I changed the permissions of the .config file to dad / users and it opened up. I will see where it goes from here.

8

Based on Googling your errors I recommend you investigate in the following order…

  1. You may have a packaging error where the VBox version is different than the VBox Extensions version.
    See the details of this thread how to verify
    https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=63636

  2. Verify your CPU virtualization extensions are enabled
    This is a good reference for probing CPU capabilities in general, with emphasis on determining whether your CPU virtualization extensions are enabled
    https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-xen-vmware-kvm-intel-vt-amd-v-support/

  3. Your system supports IOMMU, but is disabled in the BIOS.
    See recommendations in this discussion how to enable.
    https://ask.fedoraproject.org/en/question/81708/iommu-not-found-not-registered-steps-to-debug/

  4. Check whether the kernel modules have been compiled at all. If you use modprobe, Also describes disabling the IOMMU requirement which may be required on systems that don’t support it.
    https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/58308/vboxpci-iommu-not-found-not-registered

HTH,
TSU

9

Oh wrong one…

10

Everything in “~/.config/VirtualBox/” needs to be owned by the user who is starting the Oracle VirtualBox session – in this case “dad” . . .

Being a member of the “vboxusers” group ain’t gonna help if the owner of the configuration files is anything else other than the user who is attempting to start an Oracle VirtualBox session – and, even worse, if the owner of the configuration files is the devil in person: the “root” user . . .

You did that by executing the CLI command “lsmod | grep -i ‘box’”.

From what you’ve posted it seems that, the kernel modules needed by Oracle VirtualBox are present and correct.
[HR][/HR]Continuing with tsu2’s recommendation, check your BIOS and/or UEFI for a setting related to virtual machines. AFAIK there isn’t a standard name for this setting – each mainboard/motherboard manufacturer has their own terminology for the the setting – you will need to read the manufacturer’s handbook carefully to find the setting – it’s more than likely in the “advanced settings” area.

ASUS motherboards may have a “Secure Virtual Machine Mode” (SVM) which needs to be enabled.
On the other hand, Lenovo Laptops tend to have a BIOS “Configuration” setting named something like “Virtualization Technology”.