virtualbox.org

I'm attempting to install VirtualBox 4.2.36 for OS X and I'm getting an installation failed error. I can't seem to find the reason why. Any suggestions?

I attempted to post a link to the image, but it's not letting me. The error is the generic "The Installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance."

VirtualBox 4.2.36 is way too old for El Capitan and therefore not compatible. You should try to install the latest VirtualBox, 5.0.24 as of this writing.

socratis wrote:VirtualBox 4.2.36 is way too old for El Capitan and therefore not compatible. You should try to install the latest VirtualBox, 5.0.24 as of this writing.

So this means that Mac OS 10.4 & 10.5 can no longer be emulated on a Mac running "present day" software, correct, as guest compatibility for those died with VB 4.3.6?

Sorry for coming late to this, I might have missed it the first time around.

@DashingDave: I'm not quite sure how you drew that connection. Just because 4.2.36 is way too old for something like El Capitan, it doesn't mean that the 5.x series (we're now to 5.1.14) won't run older OSX guests. They do, and they do it fine. I personally have as low as 10.5 running fine and the only reason I don't have 10.4 is because I never had it to begin with. I have 10.4 for PPC, not Intel. But other users have it and they use it just fine.

You have a lot more to worry about Apple's hardware/OSX's interoperability than about VirtualBox. OSX (mainly the installers) are way too picky about what hardware to run on (CPU), and since VirtualBox passes through the CPU information (only, the rest is fake), OSX installers of the yesteryear fail to install on newer CPUs. There are several tricks to overcome this, but this is not the thread.

socratis wrote: @DashingDave: I'm not quite sure how you drew that connection.

@socratis I saw in a post that OSs 10.4 & .5 weren't supported by any of the VB 5.x.x versions, so I guess I incorrectly presumed that meant they couldn't be installed. Sorry about that!