VirtualBox alternative to avoid VT-x is not available (VERR_VMX_NO_VMX) error

[mrx79]

Hallo,
i was using VirtualBox (not sure about the version but presumably something <=6.0 (the version which comes with LM19.3) to run a Windows XP maschine for one single specific application i never was able to get going under wine and where there is no linux alternative so far.
So i stuck with the WinXP VM and everything was fine for me.

Now since i'am upgraded to LM21.1 yeasterday i noticed that the VM could not be opened due to error message: "VT-x is not available (VERR_VMX_NO_VMX)."
A quick google search showed that the support for non VTx CPUs (like my old Pentium B950) is suspended.
I was not able to install a virtualbox version 6.0 due to outdated dependency packages.
Also as the CPU does not support native virtualization there is nothing to enable or disable in the VB/BIOS to solve the issue.

So my question would be:
1) is there a workaround i haven't seen yet to continue running WinXP under VirtualBox
2) is there any alternative VM software which would allow me to run a WinXP VM under LM21 with my old hardware.

I hope there is ANY solution
Best regards
Malte.

[coffee412]

Hi,

Export your VM as an appliance and find another computer is probably going to be the ultimate solution.

Sorry.

[rickNS]

EDIT, sorry, babble removed.

[rene]

VirtualBox 6.1 (2019-12) did indeed end support for CPUs without hardware-assisted virtualization:

https://docs.oracle.com/en/virtualizati ... retirement

As someone on their forums formulated it; https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic ... 15#p470781

Yes. As declared at the time of release, VirtualBox 6.1.0 has discarded the old recompiler feature and now requires VT-x for all VMs.

VT-x has been available in all Intel processors made in the last decade or more, plus new Operating Systems (e.g. Windows 8.x and later) are tending to need certain CPU features that can only be virtualized using VT-x, so it's just not worth investing the resources needed to keep non VT-x solutions alive.

I take it the old build for Ubuntu 20.04 / Mint 20 directly from VirtualBox does not work for 21 anymore?

https://download.virtualbox.org/virtual ... _amd64.deb

If indeed not you'd supposedly be able to compile it from source on 21 via https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux%2 ... structions

As far as I'm aware QEMU can in fact run still without VT-x (maybe/probably with a 32-bit VM at least). VMWARE might -- but if you're not up for the self-compile of VirtualBox 6.0.24 as per above you might also just keep that system on Mint 20.3 and the binary VB 6.0.24.

[mrx79]

I take it the old build for Ubuntu 20.04 / Mint 20 directly from VirtualBox does not work for 21 anymore?
https://download.virtualbox.org/virtual ... _amd64.deb
If indeed not you'd supposedly be able to compile it from source on 21 via https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux%2 ... structions

Hallo Rene,
i tried to install the 6.0. deb Package but get some dependency conflicts (i can post the apt/dpkg response today in the evening) which could not be solved by APT.
A manual recompile would be a try, but i think if the dependent libs are not supported in LM21 this will most likely also fail - but i will give it a try for sure.

[rene]

A manual recompile would be a try, but i think if the dependent libs are not supported in LM21 this will most likely also fail - but i will give it a try for sure.

That's the thing; the problem with the existing build of 6.0.24 will be that it links against versions of those libraries as were available on the older version of Mint, but if you compile it yourself on 21 it will link against the newer versions found on Mint 21. Yes, it's always possible that the old code is in fact in a more fundamental sense than that incompatible with the new environment -- but that's the exception in cases such as this. Often building it yourself will work fine and solve the issue (i.e., the issue of "binary compatibility").

[rickNS]

i tried to install the 6.0. deb Package but get some dependency conflicts (i can post the apt/dpkg response today in the evening) which could not be solved by APT.

FWIW I also tried installing VB 6.0.24 in Mint 21, I got the two missing dependencies (libss1.1, libvpx6) from pkgs,org, but VB 6.0 still would not install, just showed a red bar at top of the installer, with no message ?

Similarly and recently I tried the to do the same with installing VB 5.2.18 on Mint 21, I believe it was missing the same two packages, I got from pkgs.org, and I did get VB 5.2.18 installed on Mint 21, but when the program launched there was an error that it "could NOT build the kernel module". So even though it installed it failed.

I've since solved my issue, so I don't need the older versions any longer. I even tried installing the newest version 7.*, ironically (or not) in a virtual machine. I like the new version, just for one it follows your system theme.

[mrx79]

i've tried to install the two missing packages.
This was the initial error text:

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dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of virtualbox-6.0:
 virtualbox-6.0 depends on libvpx6 (>= 1.6.0); however:
  Package libvpx6 is not installed.
 virtualbox-6.0 depends on python (<< 2.8); however:
  Package python is not installed.
 virtualbox-6.0 depends on python (>= 2.7); however:
  Package python is not installed.
 virtualbox-6.0 depends on python:any (>= 2.6.6-7~); however:
  Package python is not installed.

The libvpx6 i was able to install, but with the python package i have an issue.

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Package python is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
  2to3 python2-minimal:i386 python2:i386 python2-minimal python2 dh-python python-is-python3
E: Package 'python' has no installation candidate

[rene]

The Python thing is very annoying on Ubuntu 22.04/Mint 21. The VirtualBox 6.0.24 build for 19.04 and 20.04 depends on Python 2.7 which back then was on the package level called just "python" but 22.04 has fixed that by removing basically any and all sanity from it all. I tried wrangling apt/dpkg manually into submission a bit but was soon duly reminded of why apt/dpkg is one of the more major reasons I doubt I will ever again find myself back on a Debian based distribution.

You can force things with a dummy package so as to avoid e.g. sudo apt-get install -f believing there's a problem; without that part you can force things with dpkg -i --force-depends but with I haven't found a way without the dummy package. Tested on a clean Mint 21.1 VM.

1. Download the to the this message attached "python.tar.txt" -- the .txt extension is busy-work to have the forum software assume it to likely not be a dangewous virus -- to e.g. ~/Downloads/ and unpack it with

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cd ~/Downloads && tar -xvf python.tar.txt

This creates ~/Downloads/python/DEBIAN/control as

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Package: python
Version: 2.7.18-3
Depends: python2
Provides: python:any (= 2.7.18-3)
Architecture: all
Maintainer: <foo@bar.baz>
Description: Provide "python" for VirtualBox 6.0.24 on Ubuntu 22.04

which you build into a dummy package ~/Downloads/python.deb with

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cd ~/Downloads && fakeroot dpkg-deb -b python

2. Grab two other no longer supplied dependencies from Ubuntu and the VirtualBox 6.0.24 build from VirtualBox also to ~/Downloads

http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/m ... _amd64.deb
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/m ... _amd64.deb

https://download.virtualbox.org/virtual ... _amd64.deb

3. Install still supplied dependencies with

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sudo apt-get install python2 libqt5opengl5 libqt5printsupport5 libqt5x11extras5 libsdl1.2debian libsdl-ttf2.0-0

4. Install the in 1 generated dummy python.deb and the in 2 downloaded .debs with

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cd ~/Downloads && sudo dpkg -i python.deb libssl1.1_1.1.1-1ubuntu2.1~18.04.20_amd64.deb libvpx6_1.8.2-1build1_amd64.deb virtualbox-6.0_6.0.24-139119~Ubuntu~eoan_amd64.deb

Building of the kernel modules will fail but AFAIA this will not be an issue for you if you only aim to support a VM without VT-x.

VirtualBox 6.0.24 starts after that on Mint 21.1 but both because of not having a non VT-x CPU on hand and in fact doing this in a VM itself (am not on Mint) I could/did not test anything further. Hope it works for your use-case. If there's an issue I'm not sure I can help further due to the "am not on Mint" part.

[rickNS]

The Python thing is very annoying on Ubuntu 22.04/Mint 21. /CUT/
I tried wrangling apt/dpkg manually into submission a bit but was soon duly reminded of why apt/dpkg is one of the more major reasons I doubt I will ever again find myself back on a Debian based distribution.

That folks is quite an effort.
Even though I no longer have a need for older version of VB, on the behalf of all forum members I would like to THANK YOU for such effort.

[rene]

Well, thanks, but it did occur to me later that if poster wants 6.0.24 also more generally and for other VMs that the kernel module stuff might in fact be important to resolve after all.

For now no possibility to go look at that so I'll leave that upto feedback...

[EDIT] Just now briefly looked and fixing that VirtualBox kernel module issue is not easy; it's seemingly not a configuration issue but a fairly fundamental incompatibility between the 6.0.24 kernel modules and an even half-way modern kernel. I'll not myself try to port them, so this is at least AFAIC then to mean that the basic non VT-x (and I believe basic NAT only) VMs are all that's still possible with 6.0.24 on Mint 21.

I did by the way while testing run into the old python-is-python2 package which works to replace my own dummy package above, so I'll post a simpler rework of the above post below.

[rene]

Now posted as a general tutorial; please see viewtopic.php?f=42&t=389355

[rickNS]

[EDIT] Just now briefly looked and fixing that VirtualBox kernel module issue is not easy; it's seemingly not a configuration issue but a fairly fundamental incompatibility between the 6.0.24 kernel modules and an even half-way modern kernel.

Found something on VB forum,
https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic ... 63#p492715

If I read that right suggests that if you installed kernel 5.4 in Mint 21 (supported till dec '25) the kernel module would build ?
I just finished installing mint 21.1 in VB so I'm going to try, I have no incentive to do so...except it's raining.

[rene]

If I read that right suggests that if you installed kernel 5.4 in Mint 21 (supported till dec '25) the kernel module would build ?

Oh, you can in fact do that? Not on Mint now long enough that I don't know anymore; I though 5.4 was Mint 20. Yes, I believe I noticed that the "hard break" is at 5.8.

Just now checked Update Manager -> View -> Linux kernels on my from Mint 21 upgraded 21.1 VM and certainly there only 5.15 is offered.

[rickNS]

Just now checked Update Manager -> View -> Linux kernels on my from Mint 21 upgraded 21.1 VM and certainly there only 5.15 is offered.

Yes only 5.15 offered,
but could one not download one from here, https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/
That is a rabbit hole I don't wish to go down.

[rene]

Yes, you undoubtedly could, but that's indeed the point where I'd advise to for now stick to Mint 20 outright.

[mrx79]

Thanks Rene... i will try it out the next days and report if it was successful

[mrx79]

Hi,
i could get VirtualBox running, but unfortunately once i start the Windows XP VM i get the error message that kernel modules are missing.
If i understood correctly, i need to backport to a 5.4 kernel... at least at the moment i would also not want to go down that rabit hole

I guess i might give my old trusty WindowsXP application another try to port it to linux natively to get rid of the VM at all.
Maybe this will be a dead end too and then i would retry the VM efforts, but so far it seems easier then to go back to an old kernel if noone has an easy solution.

Please find my exact error message as reference (in case someone else might try and go from here in case he has the same issue like me):

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Failed to open a session for the virtual machine WindowsXP.

The virtual machine 'WindowsXP' has terminated unexpectedly during startup with exit code 1 (0x1).

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: MachineWrap
Interface: IMachine {5047460a-265d-4538-b23e-ddba5fb84976}

[RIH]

I've got a still working copy of Windows XP running on Mint 20.3.
VirtualBox 6.1.36 and using the 5.15.0.58 kernel..

[rene]

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Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: MachineWrap
Interface: IMachine {5047460a-265d-4538-b23e-ddba5fb84976}

That probably has in fact something to do with secuwity and is fairly undoubtedly something you could tweak with some well-chosen invocation of VBoxManage modifyvm [ ... ] but yes, that's something I'd only be able to try with the/a VM locally -- and I'll not try and dig up a Windows XP install ISO, also since I'm as said doing this in a Mint VM in the first place.

Shame it wasn't useful but I'd myself conclude to either

1. need a newer CPU or
2. an older distribution or
3. an alternative such as QEMU or
4. less need for the VM in the first place indeed.