Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
wmackey73
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by wmackey73 »

Could someone please step by step how to chmod -x and "run" this code so I can fix this kernal problame pretty please? :)
loukingjr
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

I think you are going to have to explain in a bit more detail. :)
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aikidoka25
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by aikidoka25 »

Has anyone had issue with VirtualBox on OS X Yosemite 10.10.4 hosts?
I cannot install version 4.3.30 or 5.0, the installation failed at the end.
From the console I notice the kexts were not loaded

2015-07-19 6:19:45.000 PM kernel[0]: VBoxDrv: Failed to open kernel symbols, rc=-226
2015-07-19 6:15:07.000 PM kernel[0]: Kext org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv start failed (result 0x5).
2015-07-19 6:15:07.000 PM kernel[0]: Kext org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv failed to load (0xdc008017).
2015-07-19 6:15:07.000 PM kernel[0]: Failed to load kext org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (error 0xdc008017).
2015-07-19 6:15:07.044 PM com.apple.kextd[43]: Failed to load /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox/VBoxDrv.kext - (libkern/kext) kext (kmod) start/stop routine failed.
2015-07-19 6:15:08.658 PM Installer[15823]: The Installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance.

Prior to those versions VirtualBox is working. My workaround is reinstalling the old version VirtualBox-4.3.26-98988-OSX
loukingjr
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

Did you use the VirtualBox_uninstall.tool to remove the previous version?

FWIW…
Installed VB 4.3.30 on a MBA running OSX 10.10.4 with no install issue
Installed VB 5.0 on a 2015 MacBook running OSX 10.10.4 with no install issue
Installed VB 5.0 on an iMac running OSX 10.11 with no install issue

You could try starting in Safe Mode and see if that helps.
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aikidoka25
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Joined: 21. Jul 2015, 06:51

Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by aikidoka25 »

Yes I did try to uninstall first.
I even built version 5 from the source code. I remember seeing the kexts unloaded before loading the new ones.
Repairing permission also didn't solve the problem.

I am thinking to try installing VirtualBox on a fresh OSX installation and see how it goes.
aikidoka25
Posts: 3
Joined: 21. Jul 2015, 06:51

Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by aikidoka25 »

Problem solved by deleting a remnant of the kernel (mach_kernel) in the root (/) directory.
loukingjr
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

Do you know where the "mach_kernel" came from? It hasn't been used since OSX 10.9 ( I think).
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manix37
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Joined: 11. Sep 2015, 02:53

Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by manix37 »

I am getting the same error message after installing Yosemite 10.10.5 I guess I will uninstall and reinstall VB, however I have a very basic question...I have several programs on VB that contain data. If I reinstall VB, will I also need to reinstall these other programs and lose the work that I have done, or is just the OS reinstalled and I will be able to open the existing programs?
manix37
Posts: 2
Joined: 11. Sep 2015, 02:53

Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by manix37 »

I am running VBox 4.2.4 r18684. this has worked flawlessly for 3 years plus.
noteirak
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by noteirak »

manix37 wrote:I am getting the same error message after installing Yosemite 10.10.5 I guess I will uninstall and reinstall VB, however I have a very basic question...I have several programs on VB that contain data. If I reinstall VB, will I also need to reinstall these other programs and lose the work that I have done, or is just the OS reinstalled and I will be able to open the existing programs?
VMs and their content are program data and are not removed by VirtualBox on uninstall, just like all your documents are not deleted when you uninstall any kind of office suite.
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loukingjr
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

As mentioned in the above posts, the mach_kernel file may be left over from your 10.9 install. It needs to be removed if it still exists.
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crj_lll
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Joined: 20. Apr 2015, 03:11

Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by crj_lll »

I had this same problem.

I reran the VB update and it fixed everything.

Just wanted to share to help anyone having this issue.
naresh_linux
Posts: 1
Joined: 6. May 2016, 08:59

Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by naresh_linux »

aegirth wrote:for Google's sake, thought I'd add here some code I found on Github that fixes this for me. It's a shell script that unloads all the Virtualbox kernel extensions and reloads them.

Code: Select all

!/bin/bash

unload() {
        kextstat | grep "org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB" > /dev/null 2>&1 && sudo kextunload -b org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB
        kextstat | grep "org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt" > /dev/null 2>&1 && sudo kextunload -b org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt
        kextstat | grep "org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp" > /dev/null 2>&1 && sudo kextunload -b org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp
        kextstat | grep "org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv" > /dev/null 2>&1 && sudo kextunload -b org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv
}

load() {
        sudo kextload /Library/Extensions/VBoxDrv.kext -r /Library/Extensions/
        sudo kextload /Library/Extensions/VBoxNetFlt.kext -r /Library/Extensions/
        sudo kextload /Library/Extensions/VBoxNetAdp.kext -r /Library/Extensions/
        sudo kextload /Library/Extensions/VBoxUSB.kext -r /Library/Extensions/
}

case "$1" in
        unload|remove)
                unload
                ;;
        load)
                load
                ;;
        *|reload)
                unload
                load
                ;;
esac
If you have this problem, save this to a file somewhere on your hard drive, chmod -x it to make it executable, and then run it.

please use the below command to fix the issue

/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup
drgreen
Posts: 3
Joined: 10. Aug 2016, 21:06

Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by drgreen »

Dear All (seasoned users of VB)

This may seem a long time after the last post.... but I have just upgraded my Mac laptop to El Capitan..... end result is that Virtualbox now will not start .... and I cannot access the Windows XP installation previously running..... solution? I have uninstalled the version of VB that was running VirtualBox-4.1.20-80170-OSX.dmg..... using the uninstall... and reinstalled..... this does not work for me and I get an error message about error in the install..... I tried another version I had already downloaded VirtualBox-4.2.18-88780-OSX.dmg ... same thing...... I realise this is an older version of VB - that was previously running ... but until I upgraded to El Capitan 10.11.4 everything worked fine....... is there a solution to this problem? Thanks in advance for any pointers you might be able to give me.... up until now I have had no problems with VB.. :(
loukingjr
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run.. kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

Yes, the solution would be to run a El Capitan version of VirtualBox, a 5.0.* version.
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