VirtualBox update from 6-1-22 to 6-1-26 breaks dkms and Virtual Machine not recognized

Thoughts & Feedback
#1

Just a quick message (I did not save error logs and deleted the Virtual Machine). When I ran an apt upgrade tonight, I was offered the new update for VirtualBox (6-1-26). It ran with all kinds of dep mods for dkms and when it installed the new update, it loaded a virtualbox dkms that seemed to replace the standard Mate offering. (Took a long time to compile, but threw no errors)

Once it was all done, VirtualBox was not loaded in the menus or the desktop. Had to go to console and remove, then went to Software Boutique and installed from there.

VirtualBox was loaded into the OS, started normally, but when the previous Virtual Machine (Win 98 SE) was added back to the VirtualBox menu, the VM drive was not recognized. And the Windows 98 SE would not load (crashed with error at the VirtualBox Console).

I was just playing with Windows 98 SE to see if it was stable in a virtual machine. It never really was..... just too old code.

Ubuntu Mate.... who could ask for anything better. Your OS runs reliably on every machine I own! Grrreatt!

#2

Hi CarlF,
In order to reinstall VB version you like, you must delete all previous dkms:
Installion: How To Uninstall virtualbox-dkms On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Later you can install VB directly from web page, including correct extension pack. I never install last version, better a few previous for ubuntu compatibility.

Cheers

#3

Hi Tim,
Thank you very much for the quick reply! Not really sure why my machine waited from -22 to -26 in the upgrade apt channel. I did not push the install, it just came down in the regular upgrade channel. Dependencies matter! Have a pint for me next time you go, if you do that. Cheers as well mate!

#4

If W98SE run with previous VB before, it must run with updated version, with no crash. Never think is "too old". So the problem I don't think were relative to machine (vdi,vmdk,raw...).
I never install since beginning VB from Ubuntu repos, because time ago I had same problems similar like yours. I Always do from web. If it can helps you anytime, uninstall dkms first, and install VB again:
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

Cheers again!

#5

Thanks Tim, I will keep that information for the future. I have seen that circumstance before, sometimes programs only run right if they come from a flavor repository (like pdf readers) and other times, like VB, they run better from the actual VB website.
Cheers Again,
Carl