Author Topic: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox  (Read 26790 times)

Jean-Yves

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ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« on: May 17, 2017, 04:06:15 pm »
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!

Martin Iturbide

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2017, 04:20:04 pm »
Hi

Maybe it will be time to update (or create a new page) of OS/2 as a guest on VirtualBox:
http://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/VirtualBox_Guest

Which host are you using? Windows?

For what I know there should not be any important change between running OS/2 Warp 4.52, eCS 2.2 and ArcaOS 5.0 on a Virtual Machine.

USB: I tested the USB (from a Windows host) and it works, but you need to install on the "VirtualBox 5.1.22 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack" on the host.

Also enable the USB on the VM setting. http://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/VirtualBox_Guest#USB

After that the USB driver will be working and you can share an USB device from the host to the guest.

RAM: My VM RAM is set with 2048 MB and Firefox runs. I will see what happens if I lower it.

Regards
Martin Iturbide
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Martin Iturbide

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2017, 04:48:54 pm »
Update: About the RAM on the VM. I lowered it from 2012MB to 512MB. Firefox 38 still runs but it is a lot slower. I'm not sure which should be the RAM breaking point when you can have a decent experience with Firefox. For me, with 2GB or RAM works fine.

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Martin Iturbide
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Jean-Yves

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2017, 04:58:13 pm »
Thanks Martin,

I should have said that I do already have the oracle extensions package installed.

I had not spotted the VBox host USB setting - thank you for that.

Quote
After that the USB driver will be working and you can share an USB device from the host to the guest.
Do you know which USB items in the ArcaOS installer I need to select to get that working?  There is a huge list of options just for USB.

My host is Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan)


Jean-Yves

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2017, 05:03:04 pm »
One other thing - how much graphics RAM is normally needed? I put in 16MB which seems OK but that was just a guess based on my old OS/2 hardware of days gone by which had I think 2MB or 4MB graphics RAM.

Remy

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2017, 10:26:24 pm »
How to enable SMP mode ?
 

Dave Yeo

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2017, 03:02:08 am »
I'd think that 16MBs graphic memory should be fine. For Firefox, 1GB should  be plenty.
Hopefully Doug will show up, he did a lot of testing in vbox.

Doug Bissett

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #7 on: May 18, 2017, 04:18:11 am »
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.

Jean-Yves

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #8 on: May 18, 2017, 09:53:25 am »
Thanks everyone - I will do a new VBox installation today, noting down what I choose and report back on any issues.

Jean-Yves

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2017, 12:45:12 pm »
Second attempt, much better results. I remembered that VirtualBox allows you to attach the ISO of the CD, so I used that to boot from instead of the physical CD and it was much quicker as a consequence.

VBox Guest settings:
  • OS/2 Other
  • 2GB RAM
  • 8GB Storage (dynamic)
  • 24MB Video RAM
  • USB enabled
  • SoundBlaster 16 soundcard

ArcaOS installer:
I went for the single volume with default settings option at the start

I went with the defaults all the way through except for:
  • I chose SNAP over the generic video driver
  • I chose SoubdBlaster 16 PnP as the sound card

Result:
  • Everything works except sound - should I have chosend Non-plug and play? Is it possible to change this post installation?
  • USB: partially works. in fact it might be working correctly, but I can't select a USB stick without I think giving VBox full control of my USB host, which is currently being used to drive various things I don't use in VBox (eg external drives formatted as Mac HTFS). I will try later with everything else unplugged

Any advice re the sound card (which to use, how to change it without full re-install) would be gratefully received - thanks!

Jean-Yves

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #10 on: May 18, 2017, 12:47:52 pm »
Actually, once I know what Sound driver to use, I will do a final installation run with the generic video driver as Doug suggested, to get the OS/2 Additions working.


Martin Iturbide

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2017, 04:51:40 pm »
Hi Jean-Yves.

I have zero experience with VirtualBox host on Mac OS X. My only idea is to check this two parts, and I'm also curious to know if it is the same on a Mac.

1) Check which Audio devices are available on Virtual Box VM's preference. (Please post it back, since I want to know if there is any difference on Mac OS)

2) If you installed the latest UNIAUD, also post back how it recognizes the device on boot.

I'm just curious if it is different on MacOS X.

I also updated the Wiki page with the latest UniAud driver and the different VBox audio configuration on Windows:
http://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/VirtualBox_Guest#Audio_Testing

Regards
« Last Edit: May 18, 2017, 04:53:11 pm by Martin Iturbide »
Martin Iturbide
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Jean-Yves

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #12 on: May 19, 2017, 10:37:42 am »
Thank you for the info Martin.

On Macs, the VirtualBox 5.1.22 audio options are:

  • Null Audio driver
  • Core Audio

Obviously, I have chosen Core Audio

The Sound Cards are:
  • Intel Audio HD
  • ICH AC97
  • SoundBlaster 16

I have installed the Uniaud drivers from the netlabs site as per the instructions in the wiki page you linked to (v20170403).

I then switched to Intel Audio HD in the guest settings. No joy.

However, I then switched to the ICH AC97 sound card and I have sound. But the sound is slightly stuttering - I'm not sure if that is a known bug or something specific to my system.  I wonder whether it could it be due to the fact that I picked SoundBlaster16 PnP in the ArcaOS installer initially and there is some fragment of that left in my config.sys that is causing a problem.

Still, progress! Many thanks :)




Sigurd Fastenrath

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #13 on: May 19, 2017, 11:43:34 am »
My (perfect) result is documented here:

http://www.os2world.com/forum/index.php/topic,1368.msg13054.html#msg13054

That went really really well!

ak120

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Re: ArcaOS 5.0 on VirtualBox
« Reply #14 on: May 19, 2017, 01:03:46 pm »
I wonder whether it could it be due to the fact that I picked SoundBlaster16 PnP in the ArcaOS installer initially and there is some fragment of that left in my config.sys that is causing a problem.

Simply use SoundBlaster 16 (NOT PnP) with:
A220 I5 D1 H5