Problem with virtual machines: "The VMMR0.r0 module version does not match VBoxVMM.dll/so/dylib"

[boxino]

I reinstalled the vers. 7.0.10. I am getting this strange message "The VMMR0.r0 module version does not match VBoxVMM.dll/so/dylib. If you just upgraded VirtualBox, please terminate all VMs and make sure that neither VBoxNetDHCP nor VBoxNetNAT is running. Then try again. If this error persists, try re-installing VirtualBox. (VERR_VMM_R0_VERSION_MISMATCH). Exit code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0X80004005) Component: ConsoleWrap Property Interface: IConsole {6ac83d89-6ee7-4e33-8ae6-b257b2e81be8} And the stain does not start. Some, after several attempts, have started the same others not, where probably Guest Addition are not updated.
Solutions to restore normal operation

[scottgus1]

I'm going to guess that the previous version of Virtualbox was not cleaned out thoroughly, and some files remained from the old version. Maybe something of Virtualbox was still running?

Try uninstalling and purging Virtualbox using the normal Linux methods, especially the purge.

Then reboot the host a couple times, then try the prerequisites https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02. ... nux-prereq then Virtualbox 7.0.10 again.

[Dr. T]

Has this problem ever been solved? I'm having the same problem with VirtualBox 6.1.50 on Debian Bullseye.

I was running VirtualBox 6.1.38. I had been upgrading it from time to time. I noticed recently that some virtual machines stopped working. I thought it might be a bug in my current version of VirtualBox, so I upgraded to the latest one (7.0.14). That didn't work at all. It insisted that I sign the kernel modules, which I don't know how to do. So I deleted (purged) 7.0.14 and installed VirtualBox 6.1, which was now at version 6.1.50. And now I get this VMMR0.r0 etc. error. I can't get any virtual machine to run at all, no matter which available version of VirtualBox I try to run. I've purged both VirtualBox 6.1 and VirtualBox 7.0 and reinstalled. Nothing works. I can't have a usable install of VirtualBox on my Debian computer now at all, and earlier today it was working fine (except that some virtual machines weren't working). And before I upgraded to 6.1.38, all the virtual machines were working. Is VirtualBox getting worse and worse?

[boxino]

Hello, personalment I solved by reinstalling everything, including the operating system. I had a backup copy and restored from there. I have solved this problem and others with other applications. At the moment, it is the only effective way I know.
Bye

[Dr. T]

Thank you. In my case, this VirtualBox is running on a server on which the entire network depends, so the machine has to keep running, i.e. reinstalling the O.S., switching the server off or rebooting the server is not an option. Currently this means that there is no way to run virtual machines on this server. Seems pretty bad.

[scottgus1]

Dr T, please see my suggestion above re purging & reinstalling, and report back what happens.

[boxino]

In my case it had no effect, unfortunately.

[Dr. T]

Thank you. Yes I had purged both VirtualBox 6.1 and 7.0 and reinstalled just 6.1, which used to work, but now fails with this strange error.

[fth0]

Yes I had purged both VirtualBox 6.1 and 7.0 and reinstalled just 6.1, which used to work, but now fails with this strange error.

Then purging didn't really purge everything. Please open a Linux terminal, execute the following commands and provide the output:

Code: Select all

sudo find / -type f -name "VMMR0.r0"
sudo find / -type f -name "VBoxVMM.so"
ls -l /usr/lib/virtualbox
ls -l /opt/VirtualBox

[Dr. T]

With VirtualBox 6.1 installed (if I don't use -xdev, find gets stuck in a loop going through the /proc filesystem):

Code: Select all

# find / -xdev -type f -name "VMMR0.r0"
/usr/lib/virtualbox/VMMR0.r0
# find / -xdev -type f -name "VBoxVMM.so"
/usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxVMM.so
# ls -l /usr/lib/virtualbox
total 56946
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root        2 Jan 11 18:14 additions
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     7926 Jan 11 18:12 check_module_dependencies.sh
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root        8 Feb 16 22:24 components
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   448360 Jan 11 18:14 DbgPlugInDiggers.so
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root        4 Feb 16 22:24 dtrace
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root        3 Feb 16 22:25 ExtensionPacks
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   453048 Jan 11 18:15 kchmviewer
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   126032 Jan 11 18:14 libvboxjxpcom.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    20137 Jan 11 18:12 LICENSE
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     4278 Jan 11 18:12 postinst-common.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     2722 Jan 11 18:12 prerm-common.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    13013 Jan 11 18:12 routines.sh
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root        3 Feb 16 22:24 sdk
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 36473640 Jan 11 18:14 UICommon.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  5005779 Jan 11 18:14 UserManual.pdf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    39376 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxAuthSimple.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    14496 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxAuth.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   126336 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxAutostart
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     4133 Jan 11 18:12 vboxautostart-service.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   175920 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxBalloonCtrl
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     6498 Jan 11 18:12 vboxballoonctrl-service.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    97576 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxBugReport
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     1507 Jan 11 18:12 VBoxCreateUSBNode.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   179560 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxDbg.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  8751000 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxDD2.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   244576 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxDDR0.r0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  4103944 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxDD.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   439104 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxDDU.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    39208 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxDragAndDropSvc.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    30823 Jan 11 18:12 vboxdrv.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    60784 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxExtPackHelperApp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    30952 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxGuestControlSvc.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    43472 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxGuestPropSvc.so
-r-s--x--x 1 root root   162368 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxHeadless
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   117800 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxHeadless.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    18496 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxHostChannel.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1931984 Jan 11 18:15 vbox-img
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   127080 Jan 11 18:15 vboximg-mount
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    78248 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxKeyboard.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1409456 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxManage
-r-s--x--x 1 root root    31408 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxNetAdpCtl
-r-s--x--x 1 root root   162368 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxNetDHCP
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   257480 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxNetDHCP.so
-r-s--x--x 1 root root   162368 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxNetNAT
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   299264 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxNetNAT.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   205600 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxPython3_9.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   205600 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxPython.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  3530824 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxRT.so
-r-s--x--x 1 root root   162368 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxSDL
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   192104 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxSDL.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    64128 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxSharedClipboard.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    64088 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxSharedFolders.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   122296 Jan 11 18:12 vboxshell.py
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  7633568 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxSVC
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   244376 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxSVGA3D.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    60016 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxTestOGL
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  4237064 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxVMM.so
-r-s--x--x 1 root root    14536 Jan 11 18:15 VBoxVolInfo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     6441 Jan 11 18:12 vboxweb-service.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 29002424 Jan 11 18:15 vboxwebsrv
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    47736 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxXPCOMC.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    31480 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxXPCOMIPCD
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1102048 Jan 11 18:14 VBoxXPCOM.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2336704 Jan 11 18:14 VirtualBox
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  3315878 Jan 11 18:14 VirtualBox.chm
-r-s--x--x 1 root root   162368 Jan 11 18:15 VirtualBoxVM
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1691872 Jan 11 18:14 VirtualBoxVM.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1971648 Jan 11 18:14 VMMR0.r0
# ls -l /opt/VirtualBox
ls: cannot access '/opt/VirtualBox': No such file or directory

After I purge it:

Code: Select all

# find / -xdev -type f -name "VMMR0.r0"
# find / -xdev -type f -name "VBoxVMM.so"
# ls -l /usr/lib/virtualbox
ls: cannot access '/usr/lib/virtualbox': No such file or directory
# ls -l /opt/VirtualBox
ls: cannot access '/opt/VirtualBox': No such file or directory

Yes I had purged both VirtualBox 6.1 and 7.0 and reinstalled just 6.1, which used to work, but now fails with this strange error.

Then purging didn't really purge everything. Please open a Linux terminal, execute the following commands and provide the output:

Code: Select all

sudo find / -type f -name "VMMR0.r0"
sudo find / -type f -name "VBoxVMM.so"
ls -l /usr/lib/virtualbox
ls -l /opt/VirtualBox

[fth0]

@Dr. T:
Thanks for the directory listing, which didn't show a version mismatch which I suspected. Looking into the VirtualBox source code, I found an easier way to get more details about the mismatch:

Please provide a (zipped) VBox.log file from a VM run that failed with the error message.

[fth0]

@boxino:
Your VBox.log file shows "VMMR0InitVM: Revision mismatch, r3=158379 r0=157775". VirtualBox release versions were 7.0.8r156879 and 7.0.10r158379, and the VMMR0.r0 module could be from a VirtualBox 7.0.9r157775 test build install.

Did you perhaps either not uninstall the test build or uninstall it while some VirtualBox component was running?

[Dr. T]

My log file also contains:

Code: Select all

00:00:00.800925 VMMR0InitVM: Revision mismatch, r3=161033 r0=155177
00:00:00.800855 VMM: R0 init failed, rc=VERR_VMM_R0_VERSION_MISMATCH (-2704) - The VMMR0.r0 module version does not match VBoxVMM.dll/so/dylib. If you just upgraded VirtualBox, please terminate all VMs and make sure that neither VBoxNetDHCP nor VBoxNetNAT is running. Then try again. If this error persists, try re-installing VirtualBox.
00:00:00.888752 VMSetError: /home/vbox/tinderbox/build-VBox-6.1/svn/src/VBox/VMM/VMMR3/VM.cpp(321) int VMR3Create(uint32_t, PCVMM2USERMETHODS, PFNVMATERROR, void*, PFNCFGMCONSTRUCTOR, void*, VM**, UVM**); rc=VERR_VMM_R0_VERSION_MISMATCH
00:00:00.888754 VMSetError: The VMMR0.r0 module version does not match VBoxVMM.dll/so/dylib. If you just upgraded VirtualBox, please terminate all VMs and make sure that neither VBoxNetDHCP nor VBoxNetNAT is running. Then try again. If this error persists, try re-installing VirtualBox.
00:00:00.888936 ERROR [COM]: aRC=NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005) aIID={872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed} aComponent={ConsoleWrap} aText={The VMMR0.r0 module version does not match VBoxVMM.dll/so/dylib. If you just upgraded VirtualBox, please terminate all VMs and make sure that neither VBoxNetDHCP nor VBoxNetNAT is running. Then try again. If this error persists, try re-installing VirtualBox. (VERR_VMM_R0_VERSION_MISMATCH)}, preserve=false aResultDetail=-2704
00:00:00.892079 Power up failed (vrc=VERR_VMM_R0_VERSION_MISMATCH, rc=NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0X80004005))

Also, after I quit and purge VirtualBox, two processes seem to continue to run which may be related to VirtualBox and which I cannot kill:

Code: Select all

# ps gax | grep -iE "v.*box.*" | grep -v chromium | grep -v brave
   9172 ?        I<     0:00 [iprt-VBoxWQueue]
   9173 ?        S      0:00 [iprt-VBoxTscThr]
1666011 pts/19   S+     0:00 grep -iE v.*box.*

@boxino:
Your VBox.log file shows "VMMR0InitVM: Revision mismatch, r3=158379 r0=157775". VirtualBox release versions were 7.0.8r156879 and 7.0.10r158379, and the VMMR0.r0 module could be from a VirtualBox 7.0.9r157775 test build install.

Did you perhaps either not uninstall the test build or uninstall it while some VirtualBox component was running?

[fth0]

Ok, the revision numbers belong to VirtualBox 6.1.50r161033 and 6.1.42r155177. If you cannot find another VMMR0.r0 file with a date around 2023-01-17:

You mentioned that you cannot/didn't reboot the host, perhaps it's an overwritten and still open file findable with lsof. Please let us know what you'll find out.

PS: The VirtualBox-related kernel threads are also running on my hosts, without any other VirtualBox component running, so this seems to be normal.

[Dr. T]

OK, thank you, that was super helpful. After purging all the installed versions of VirtualBox, I now installed VirtualBox 6.1.42 from a manually downloaded .deb file. Now everything works again. Before doing this, lsof did not find any open files with a name containing VMMR0 (using case-insensitive grep).

Ok, the revision numbers belong to VirtualBox 6.1.50r161033 and 6.1.42r155177. If you cannot find another VMMR0.r0 file with a date around 2023-01-17:

You mentioned that you cannot/didn't reboot the host, perhaps it's an overwritten and still open file findable with lsof. Please let us know what you'll find out.

PS: The VirtualBox-related kernel threads are also running on my hosts, without any other VirtualBox component running, so this seems to be normal.