On 10/25/2017 08:05 AM, Olaf Meeuwissen wrote:
> Using the virtualbox package from either jessie (4.3.36-dfsg-1+deb8u1)
> or jessie-backports (5.1.8-dfsg-6~bpo8+2) with a stock linux-image-amd64
> (3.16+63) from jessie works fine. That is, it installs without errors
> and virtualbox images start fine (based on my provisioning Debian jessie
> images and ssh-ing into them).
>
> Using either virtualbox package with the stock linux-image-amd64 from
> jessie-backports (4.9+80~bpo8+1) however does *not* work. Installation
> fails with a compile error of the vboxdrv kernel module. It looks like
> the kernel API has changed (unsurprisingly when going from a major
> version of 3 to 4). Neither virtualbox package seems to deal with this,
> not even the one from backports.
>
> Next move is checking whether things work in ascii because my laptop at
> the office doesn't really work with a 3.16 kernel.
>

Good luck with that. There is no virtualbox package in ascii/stretch. You
can get the packages from virtualbox.org, and those will work in ascii.

OK, that's weird - there's one in ascii-backports but not in
stretch-backports. I don't know what that's about. A few minutes of
googling tells me what I already know - it's not in stretch. Maybe someone
else knows the right words to search to find out why that is.

$   apt-cache policy virtualbox
virtualbox:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 4.3.36-dfsg-1+deb8u1
  Version table:
     5.1.30-dfsg-1 0
        100 http://pkgmaster.devuan.org/merged/ ceres/contrib amd64 Packages
         10 http://debian.csail.mit.edu/debian/ buster/contrib amd64 Packages
         10 http://debian.csail.mit.edu/debian/ sid/contrib amd64 Packages
     5.1.28-dfsg-1~bpo9+1 0
        100 http://pkgmaster.devuan.org/merged/ ascii-backports/contrib
amd64 Packages
     5.1.8-dfsg-6~bpo8+2 0
        200 http://packages.devuan.org/merged/ jessie-backports/contrib
amd64 Packages
     4.3.36-dfsg-1+deb8u1 0
        500 http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/merged/ jessie/contrib amd64
Packages
        500 http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/merged/ jessie-security/contrib
amd64 Packages