VirtualBox piix4_smbus Error

VirtualBox 3.2.10 gives me the following error message when booting Ubuntu 10.10: -

piix4_smbus 0000.00.07.0: SMBus base address uninitialized - upgrade bios or use force_addr=0xaddr

This error is caused by VM having no smbus but Ubuntu always trying to load the module. It doesn’t affect anything but is a bit annoying – to fix: -

1. Check module is being loaded: -

lsmod | grep i2c_piix4

2. If so, blacklist it in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf, by adding the following to the end of the file :-

blacklist i2c_piix4

3. Update the initramfs

update-initramfs -u -k all

29 Responses to “VirtualBox piix4_smbus Error”

  1. gvjensen  on December 5th, 2010

    worked perfectly… thanks

  2. JeanHenri79  on December 8th, 2010

    Thanks for this help.

  3. Bikkel  on December 10th, 2010

    Very interesting topics you have. You and I share the same interests. I’m always looking for blogs like this. I’ve added your RSS feed to my Reader.

    Thanks!

    Regards,
    Bikkel.

  4. Craig  on January 7th, 2011

    Fantastic!!

  5. Nox  on January 16th, 2011

    Worked perfectly! Linux Mint is now running 100% perfectly in VirtualBox without that nag message. Thank you.

  6. Great  on January 21st, 2011

    Great, thanks!

  7. Mirko  on January 25th, 2011

    Thanks, it worked!

  8. CaArRi91  on January 26th, 2011

    Thanks!

  9. nataliehan  on January 28th, 2011

    thanks for your timely help!!

  10. Akshay  on February 1st, 2011

    Hi !
    Was facing the same problem. I’m a first time user of linux, was thinking of reinstalling ubuntu.

    But you saved the day !
    thanks!

  11. fb  on February 2nd, 2011

    super thanks!

  12. flashfletch  on February 6th, 2011

    Sounds great, and simple — except I’m just moving from Windows to Maverick Meerkat (Ubuntu 10.10) and I have NO IDEA how/where to make these changes! I wouldn’t even call myself a newbie …

    Anyone care to guide me through it … or point me to a place that will help me get there (without having to learn everything about linux before I can do it ;-) )

    Thanks guys

    flashfletch

  13. flashfletch  on February 6th, 2011

    Oh. Running Oracle VB 4.0.2 on a Samsung N220 netbook with 2Gb under Win 7 Starter.

    (My intention is to move to Meerkat entirely once I become familiar enough with it on the VB …)

    flashfletch

  14. Karl Foley's Blog : Ubuntu boot error in VirtualBox - piix4_smbus 0000.00.07.0: SMBus base address uninitialized - upgrade bios or use force_addr=0xaddr  on February 19th, 2011

    [...] on functionality, but it possibly had an impact on speed of boot.I managed to find the answer here:http://finster.co.uk/2010/11/16/virtualbox-piix4_smbus-error/Essentially, you do the following:Start a terminalsudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.confAdd the line [...]

  15. qayshp  on February 23rd, 2011

    Thanks for the solution :)
    Helped make my VM boot screen cleaner.

  16. Ubuntu Hyper-V Guest piix4_smbus error | Emanuele Filardo  on March 11th, 2011

    [...] un pò sul web mi sono imbattuto in questo blog, anche se è riferito a VirtualBox, il principio di fondo è lo stesso, quindi ho seguito le [...]

  17. meep  on March 17th, 2011

    Works perfectly, thanks a bunch!

    That error message was extremely annoying.

  18. Antony  on March 28th, 2011

    Thanks for the guide. I’ve used the same steps on Ubuntu 10.10 x86 and x64 virtual machines in virtualbox. Fixed the nag message on both.

  19. apveening  on March 29th, 2011

    blacklist: command not found

    Using Ubuntu 10.10

  20. anono  on April 29th, 2011

    @apveening, read step #2 carefully.

  21. johnnyb0y  on May 10th, 2011

    Excellent work, my bootscreen is now pruned nicely.

    Thanks a lot for the post.

    Cheers

  22. Error during boot  on May 23rd, 2011

    [...] @ Reply Hi there, Check out the following link: http://finster.co.uk/2010/11/16/virt…4_smbus-error/ [...]

  23. ifrenzyc  on June 3rd, 2011

    Works perfectly, thanks a lot!

  24. VirtualBox Ubuntu Server 11.04 piix4_smbus Error | Brainiac  on June 27th, 2011

    [...] Credits: http://finster.co.uk/2010/11/16/virtualbox-piix4_smbus-error/ This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. [...]

  25. jim  on July 13th, 2011

    thx!

  26. PedroPalhoto  on September 15th, 2011

    In Arch Linux, replace step 3 with:

    # mkinitcpio -p linux

    Check https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mkinitcpio for more information.

  27. ra216  on September 23rd, 2011

    cool

  28. okanbasoglu  on November 28th, 2011

    Thanks Pedro just as you say I changed the step3 with your command and it worked for Arch Linux.

  29. hellbound  on February 9th, 2012

    where do i type these? im using damn small linux as a firewall and VB for Ubuntu when i try to install Ubuntu i get that right underneath the Name and d/l bar on screen then it goes into install mode everything goes well until i either power down for my VB too save or when i skip that and install all my updates it stall on smd client then i just freezes and i have to repeat everything over


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