I wondered whether anyone who has successfully installed ArcaOS on VirtualBox could provide the settings that they used here? I could not see this in the Arca wiki
I am getting loads of errors on boot to do with drivers being ignored in CONFIG.SYS as they were not loaded.
Before I restart the installation process, I'd be grateful for the following info:
- Sound card , both in the VBox settings and in the ArcaOS installer - I picked Universal in ArcaOS and SB16 in VBox, this failed - I got a message about the uniaud32 driver failing and the UNIAUD16.SYS not being loaded
- which of the USB controllers options to pick in the ArcaOS installer (I picked all first time and had loads of errors, eg USBEHCD.SYS not loaded)*
- In the VBox settings, how much RAM and storage (I initially set this to 256Mb and 4GB respectively), but I see in the Wiki that Firefox wants 2GB RAM and 8GB Storage. Seems a lot?
- What Mouse/keyboard types to choose? USB or PS/2 - I can't recall the intaller options off the top of my head right now
- C:\OS2\MDOS\VCOM.SYS is also ignored ?
- As is PSCOM.SYS (I forgot to note the source folder)
- Anything else you can think of
* Speaking of USB - does ArcaOS support USB in VBox - do the OS/2 guest additions need to be installed, are these even compatible with ArcaOS?
On the positive side:
- the DANI drivers appear to work without issues
- Graphics - I assumed SNAP and this works very nicely
VirtualBox Version: 5.1.22 r115126 (Qt5.6.2)
Any help most welcome!
There are some problems with VBox, but it usually works well. If you use the VBox selections for OS.2 Warp 4.5 (I am using VBox 1.22, under win 10), and install using the default install selections for ArcaOS, it will probably work. However, there are better settings, IF they will work with your particular setup. I used my Lenovo ThinkPads T510, and L530. The L530 was working okay, until it got a BIOS update. After that, the more advanced features (mainly AHCI) won't work any more. That is not an ArcaOS problem, because eCS 2.2b2 also quit working. So far, I haven't followed up on that. The T510, on the other hand, works well, using the following VBox settings:
General: what VBox sets for Warp 4.5.
System:
Motherboard:
800 to 1000 MB memory. It MUST fit in free. real, memory.
Boot order: whatever works for you.
Chipset: PIIX3
Pointing device: PS/2 mouse.
Enable I/O APIC
Processor:
1 CPU (you can try more than one, up to the number of real processors, but that has always resulted in hangs, for me, when using older versions of OS/2).
Execution cap: 100%, but try 50%, if you have trouble installing.
Do not enable PAE/NX
Acceleration:
Paravirtualization: Default
Hardware Virtualization:
Enable VT-x/AMD-v (must also be enabled in BIOS).
Enable Nested paging (disable, if you have problems).
Display:
I use 24 MB, but 8 MB should be enough for most purposes.
Monitor count: 1
Scale factor: 100%
Acceleration: don't enable.
Storage:
This one is a bit tricky. Configure it exactly like you would configure a real machine, but remember that the virtual disks take room on the real disk. Start with a single hard disk, and use it as a primary C: partition. You can experiment with other configurations later. I have one VBox set up with 3 virtual disks, plus a virtual CD/DVD drive. All use SATA with AHCI support, and that works well on the T510, and not at all on the L530 (since the BIOS update). You can also increase performance by telling VBox that they are SSD drives (if that will work).
Audio: Enable it, and use the suggested Host audio driver.
I select the SoundBlaster 16 for the guest. That seems to use a lot less resources, and works much better with guests that will support it.
Network: Enable Adapter 1, and disable the rest (play with it later, if you want).
Attached to: Bridged adapter is the most flexible, but NAT is the most likely to work.
Name refers to the host adapter.
Click Advanced
Adapter type works best with Intel PRO/1000 MT (use the MMLEM driver in ArcaOS).
Serial ports: start with it disabled.
USB Enable, and select USB 2.0.
Shared folders won't work.
User Interface: leave it alone, until you learn more about VBox.
I think that should cover most of the VBox setup.
If you use the default settings (not mentioned above), and use the Virtual Machine defaults in ArcaOS, it should work. If you use the settings above, select to install to a modern ACPI machine, and it should do it. You probably need to select the SoundBlaster 16 audio driver (the second one, as I recall). I also suggest using the GENGRADD (GRADD) video driver. When you install the VBox additions, it will replace GENGRADD.DLL, which interfaces to the host video support. Using Panorama, or SNAP, is just extra overhead, and really doesn't do anything useful.
Remember that the VBox computer is just like a real machine, and the guest software really doesn't know the difference, except for the VBox additions, which make the interface to the host seamless. When you configure the I/O (SB16, for instance), you must use the guest support for the devices, UniAud does not support the SB16 device, and will not load, if you choose that (and I don't think the installer will select SB16, because it isn't easily identified).
I use win 10, as a host. Apparently Linux, and Mac, introduce other complications with things like network, and USB (possibly other things). You must read the VBox documentation, to find out what you may need to do to allow the guest to use those devices (permissions).
Sorry if I missed anything, but I think I covered most of it. The only way to learn how to use VBox, is to use it, and experiment.