Is it common for vbox not to work on Ubuntu 18.04?

[ExoMale]

Okay so for a low end laptop I’ve had to resort to Linux due to windows not wanting to load back on it since it was a windows version to begin with and so as it’s been like 2 years or so since I used Linux, I just went ahead with Ubuntu instead of ones I used to use and I chose the 64 bit 18.04, seems okay, but when I was using Windows I was using and testing different android emulators and so I know for Linux you need to use virtual box and so I chose 5.2 which I think is the latest version and while that installed, I tried to set up a new virtual to allow android and I kept getting a kernel error of /sbin/vbox/config or something like that and not been able to sort it.

I’ve uninstalled it for like the 3rd time now as it’s annoying, going through the terminal with some commands don’t seem to solve it, so I’m wondering if this common or I’m not doing something?

 

[AmateurExpert]

Assuming you've already tried searching elsewhere for help regarding your specific error, I can suggest the following:

If you only need to use a VM for running Android, perhaps look at Anbox as an alternative to emulation?

If you need to use VB for other things too, then from your description it sounds like you've installed the 5.2 package from virtualbox.org; you could try removing that and using the distro's Virtualbox package instead.

 

[ExoMale]

Assuming you've already tried searching elsewhere for help regarding your specific error, I can suggest the following:

If you only need to use a VM for running Android, perhaps look at Anbox as an alternative to emulation?

If you need to use VB for other things too, then from your description it sounds like you've installed the 5.2 package from virtualbox.org; you could try removing that and using the distro's Virtualbox package instead.

Thanks for reply.

I did try googling, but what I found as solutions didn’t seem to work.

I couldn’t get anbox to work, the whole snaps thing didn’t seem help, I don’t understand Linux this well lol, the android application I tried first was android x86, don’t know if I had downloaded the right version, but left a mount icon and said live cd before I deleted it and I did go directly to virtualbox website.

On Windows i tried bluestacks, Memu, Nox player, think that was it, doesn’t seem as straight forward for those on Linux I’m finding.


Android is not a big thing of a requirement, I just didn’t want to buy an android box/tablet which is likely what I probably end up doing if i don’t figure this out.

 

[Hades]

you should only need to run:

sudo apt install virtualbox

I'm on Kubuntu 18.04 and it works fine for me. Are you getting any errors?

 

[AmateurExpert]

Android-x86 is a live ISO image that you run inside the virtual machine (e.g. in VB) rather than straight on your host desktop - as you found, it'll just mount the image so that you can inspect the contents, rather than boot up the Android machine. If you sort out your VB install, you'd create a new VM in it and configure it to load the Android-x86 ISO as a live boot CD.

For investigating the Anbox route, I installed Anbox on a 18.04 machine and was able to run the included AppManager, but if you're new to Linux then you may be fazed by the initial steps to install the kernel module, but the relevant steps are:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:morphis/anbox-support
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install linux-headers-generic anbox-modules-dkms

and then either reboot, or instead run:

$ sudo modprobe ashmem_linux
$ sudo modprobe binder_linux

After that, install the Anbox snap by:

$ snap install --devmode --beta anbox

Then launch the AppManager by clicking its icon in the dash (bottom left icon on the screen). I haven't gone as far as trying to sideload any APKs though, which is what I expect you want - it unfortunately doesn't seem to be as simple as dragging & dropping - the Anbox FAQ lists a method using ADB.

 

[ExoMale]

That’s for replies.

I figured that might have been the case for Android x86, but as for the VBox, my issues are creating VM, it comes up with a kernel error, that /sbin/vbox/config like code thing, I’m not on it right now to look, but every time I uninstall vbox and reinstall it and whether I use the terminal at all, it still comes up with the same error, so I can’t create any VM at all.

When I was looking up android apps, I found a site that leads you to snapscraft, but looking at the apps in the software package I see the name, but installing it seems to do nothing and I don’t understand when it’s give me an error about ‘base version’.

When I go on it next I will fire up the terminal and try out those code lines above and see where I get with that.

 

[AmateurExpert]

Wondering whether the VB error you're seeing is a "Kernel driver not installed" error? Did you try running "sudo /sbin/vboxconfig"? If that doesn't work, try "sudo /sbin/rcvboxdrv setup" (according to this bug report: https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/14723).

If neither of these work, there are a few threads relating to the "Kernel driver" error on the web, such as: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2390941 https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2350741

Aside from checking that you've gotten hold of the correct package for your OS (which is usually why people suggest "sudo apt install virtualbox" - but if you're getting the upstream package direct from virtualbox.org, that should work too as long as you're getting the "Ubuntu 18.04 AMD64" one).

From those threads, other possible reasons for the kernel driver not working is if there is a TPM (trusted platform module) enabled in your UEFI, also at least with some UEFI the "Secure Boot" feature may conflict and you can try disabling that.

 

[ExoMale]

tha

Wondering whether the VB error you're seeing is a "Kernel driver not installed" error? Did you try running "sudo /sbin/vboxconfig"? If that doesn't work, try "sudo /sbin/rcvboxdrv setup" (according to this bug report: https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/14723).

If neither of these work, there are a few threads relating to the "Kernel driver" error on the web, such as: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2390941 https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2350741

Aside from checking that you've gotten hold of the correct package for your OS (which is usually why people suggest "sudo apt install virtualbox" - but if you're getting the upstream package direct from virtualbox.org, that should work too as long as you're getting the "Ubuntu 18.04 AMD64" one).

From those threads, other possible reasons for the kernel driver not working is if there is a TPM (trusted platform module) enabled in your UEFI, also at least with some UEFI the "Secure Boot" feature may conflict and you can try disabling that.

ha yeah that vboxconfig was the error i kept getting and tried different commands i found online in relation which didnt work, but i dont recall seeing that setup command, so will try that.

i assume i got the correct download as i think it was top of the list, will double check and as for boot options, secure boot is off, theres limited options on this laptop, as i said this laptop is a windows version originally, i dont know how the hardware differs to the versions that came with linux, but i defaulted the bios so many times when i tried to get windows to install, so all that should be fine..


edit:

right before i press enter i have just loaded up the laptop and as dont have Vbox installed i am on the website and it is the top of the list - Ubuntu 18.04 / 18.10 / debian 10 amd64 , so i am going back through that route to download/install and as i expected, the error comes up when i click 'start'.. reading more of the error dialog, at the bottom it says -

VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED(-1908) - the support driver is not installed. On Linux, open returned ENOENT

edit: from the looks at things ive got to try the /sbin/vboxconfig as root?


further edit: i havent been able to resolve this yet, but i deleted the VM i was trying to run and made another that still comes with the same error, however at the start i chose VHD which is didnt realise was for windows based , so this new one i kept it as the native selected VDI, maybe i will get better luck and maybe i wont lol.