VirtualBox not an i386 binary! Wrong name!

[inox]

VirtualBox 4.2.6 for Linux has nor i386, neither i486 compatible binaries. Using Conditional Move (CMOV) compiler instruction (for example the GNU Compiler with its -march=i686 option) makes it an i686 binary and causes Illegal instruction on i486 kernels. It should be stated clearly on the download page (rather than calling the deb file eg. that way virtualbox-4.2_4.2.6-82870~Ubuntu~precise_i386.deb).

It would be nice to run VBox on modern embedded chips lacking the full i686 instruction set, but if you aren't going to compile to i486, please - at least - don't confuse people with the package name.

[frank]

i386 is used as a synonym for the 32-bit x86 architecture on Debian.

[inox]

Debian's hardware compatibility list  http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch02s01.html.en - section 2.1.2.1. CPU - clearly states that all i486 and later processors are supported. VirtualBox is not i486 compatible. If it is compiled for i686 instruction set, it should be named appropriately. I'm aware that naming is a minor case as long as you face such a problem on a real hardware. I hope this topic helps someone to address his Illegal instruction error.

[frank]

From the same page:

... However, Debian GNU/Linux squeeze will not run on 386 or earlier processors. Despite the architecture name "i386", support for actual 80386 processors (and their clones) was dropped with the Sarge (r3.1) release of Debian[2]. (No version of Linux has ever supported the 286 or earlier chips in the series.) All i486 and later processors are still supported[3].