VirtualBox users need to download

[ben79 (Ben Bullard)]

Hello,

This is not relevant to Oracle versions of VirtualBox, it applies only to OM versions. I do not know if the latest Oracle version does or does not work in ROME or Cooker.

Requirements:

I have Searched the forum for my issue and found nothing related or helpful
I have checked the Resources category (Resources Index)
I have reviewed the Wiki for relevant information
I have read the the Release Notes and Errata

OpenMandriva Lx version:

I have Cooker, ROME, and Rock/6.0 partitions

Desktop environment (KDE, LXQT…):
I use KDE Plasma6 desktop currently

Description of the issue (screenshots if relevant):
Newer versions of VirtualBox in ROME and Cooker no longer work. This will occur in Rock when the next Rock release occurs. (VirtualBox versions newer than 7.1.8)

Relevant informations (hardware involved, software version, logs or output…):

As far as I know the latest OM version of VBox that will work is 7.1.8 which needs kernel 6.14.x. If you use or want to use OM’s VBox I would advise downloading the versions of VBox and kernel for your arch from OM Rock/6.0 repos. It would be useful to have these in case either VBox or the kernel that works were to be removed during a dnf dsync upgrade.

For x86_64

For znver1

If someone has a newer OM version of VBox working please post here how you have done that so I can try what you have done.

The word from devs is that newer OM versions of VBox will not work until sometime in the future when VBox devs switch to kvm for virtualization. I have no time frame for when that will be.

I really, really, do not like recommending for users to use an older kernel. What I do in ROME is I have kernel 6.14.2-3 installed along with the latest available for ROME and only boot in to 6.14.2-3 when I need to use VBox. For Rock these versions are what are in use for Rock/6.0 so Rock users will not see this problem until the next version of Rock is released.

For upgrading without upgrading VBox use sudo dnf dsync --refresh -x virtualbox. As far as the kernel upgrades OM by default keeps the 3 latest installed kernel versions. So I remove one of those before doing a dnf dsync so the new kernel can install without removing the 6.14.2-3 version.

I hope this is useful. If I have not explained anything well enough just ask and I’ll try to explain better.

Edit: If you use VBox download these packages for your system now. When the next Rock release occurs they will no longer be in Rock repos and they are not in ABF anymore. Yes I expect this to be resolved someday. Whether someday is 2 days, 2 months, or 2 years or more is unknown.

[ben79 (Ben Bullard)]

I should add a highly recommended alternative to using VirtualBox is virt-manager. Some very hard working OM contributor was kind enough to put this how to article in our Forum Resources section:

How to install and use virt-manager

I do not mean to be telling other people what to do, I describe what I do in case other users find it helpful. I use virt-manger in my Cooker hardware system. I use VirtualBox 7.1.8 in my Rome hardware system. I do not do much work in Rock, that is mostly for testing or sorting out user reported problems specific to Rock.

[raddevus]

I saw a similar problem occur when I was on Ubuntu (last year) & trying to run VirtualBox.
I wrote it up at: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1553345/suddenly-ubuntu-24-04-virtualbox-wont-run-a-vm-cant-enable-the-amd-v-ext/1553350#1553350

I believe that was related to kernel changes at the time – Ubuntu has been ahead on those.

I mention this because I discovered the solution at the time & I’m wondering if it is likely or not that these changes are possible on OM.

Workaround Solution

Discovered your could unload the kvm module for your specific system with the following command (for AMD):
$ sudo rmmod kvm_amd 2>/dev/null

After that I could run VirtualBox.

You need to run it related to your architecture (one of the following):

sudo rmmod kvm_amd 2>/dev/null
sudo rmmod kvm_intel 2>/dev/null
sudo rmmod kvm 2>/dev/null

I run Win11 in a VirtualBox image fairly often (every couple of weeks or so).

Do you think this will work in OM when the kernel gets updated? Hoping so.
Thanks,

[ben79 (Ben Bullard)]

@raddevus

sudo rmmod kvm_amd 2>/dev/null

this is the problem in OM Cooker and possibly ROME, these commands are run in sequence:

$ sudo rmmod kvm_amd 2>/dev/null
[sudo] password for ben79:

$ lsmod | grep kvm_amd
kvm_amd               217088  1
kvm                  1302528  3 kvm_amd
ccp                   172032  2 i2c_designware_platform,kvm_amd

There is something preventing rmmod from removing these modules.