Unable to insert vboxvideo.ko module in both CentOS 6 and 7.

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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harisund
Posts: 33
Joined: 30. Oct 2008, 23:53
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows XP, Ubuntu-10.04

Unable to insert vboxvideo.ko module in both CentOS 6 and 7.

Post by harisund »

This happens on both Linux and Windows host. Here's what happens -

1. Install either the CentOS 6 or the CentOS 7 minimal server version that ships with no GUI in a VirtualBox 5.1.8 VM
2. yum install epel-release
3. yum install kernel-devel make gcc perl bzip2 xorg-x11-server-Xorg xorg-x11-xinit xorg-x11-drv-evdev icewm
4. Attach Guest Additions ISO via the VirtualBox GUI
5. mkdir -p /media/cdrom
6. mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom
7. /media/cdrom/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Everything builds successfully. No errors, nothing. All good so far.

8. reboot
9. lsmod | grep vbox

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vboxsf
vboxguest
10. ps ax | grep vbox

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/usr/sbin/VBoxService --pidfile /var/run/vboxadd-service.sh 
WHY ISN"T VBOXVIDEO running?

11. On CentOS 6

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find /lib/modules | grep vboxvideo
/lib/modules/2.6.32-642.6.2.el6.x86_64/misc/vboxvideo.ko 
insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-642.6.2.el6.x86_64/misc/vboxvideo.ko
insmod: error inserting '/lib/modules/2.6.32-642.6.2.el6.x86_64/misc/vboxvideo.ko': -1 Invalid parameters            
On CentOS 7

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find /lib/modules | grep vboxvideo
/lib/modules/3.10.0-327.36.3.el7.x86_64/misc/vboxvideo.ko
insmod /lib/modules/3.10.0-327.36.3.el7.x86_64/misc/vboxvideo.ko
insmod: ERROR: could not insert module /lib/modules/3.10.0-327.36.3.el7.x86_64/misc/vboxvideo.ko: Invalid parameters
WHY? If vboxvideo is not added to the list of kernel modules, I am not able to get auto-resize of my VMs, among other benefits that I lose.

Can anyone help me out here?
bobr11905
Posts: 1
Joined: 24. Jun 2017, 12:08

Re: Unable to insert vboxvideo.ko module in both CentOS 6 and 7.

Post by bobr11905 »

I'm having the same problem running VirtualBox with a Red Hat Server 7.3 as guest, by way of a brand-shiny-new install.

In summary: I did a little experimenting and got something to work, but not for latest release of xorg-server.

I tried inserting vboxvideo by way of the xorg.conf file and when X did not start, the Xorg.0.log file said the 'ABI' version of the module did not match the server. (I don't even know what ABI means). So I downgraded my xorg-server to 1.17 instead of 1.19

First off I forgot completley about needing vboxvideo.ko kernel module to load. Modprobe would not insert it, and when I tried it said 'invalid argument'. So instead of that used xorg.conf directive like the following:

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Section "Device"
	Identifier "BobsDevice1"
	Driver "vboxvideo"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier "BobsMonitor1"
	DisplaySize 1366 768
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "BobScreen1"
	Device "BobsDevice1"
	Monitor "BobsMonitor1"
	DefaultDepth 24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth 24
		Modes "1366x768" "1024x768"
		Virtual 1366 768
	EndSubSection
EndSection 
This loads different (xorg variety?) module when X loads.
Here is the module I think is working

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ls -l /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/drivers/vboxvideo_drv.so
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 50 Jun 25 00:35 vboxvideo_drv.so -> /usr/lib64/VBoxGuestAdditions/vboxvideo_drv_117.so
And If you look at VirtualBox source code for vboxadd-x11, it has no logic for xorg-server version beyond 1.18

Anyway after downgrade + reinstall guest additions + change to xorg.conf file, I rebooted and I get full screen display on guest, which was my whole objective in the first place.

Maybe if someone knows what ABI class is?, they can alter the source and get vboxvideo working on latest xorg-server?

Hope this helps,
Bob
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