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Public Discussions => General Discussion => Topic started by: eirik on October 17, 2015, 10:17:37 am

Title: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: eirik on October 17, 2015, 10:17:37 am
Sadly, my employer is forcing everybody to Windows to (the computer dept. claims) to lower costs and increase security.  For me this means installing eCS under Virtual Box (ver 5.0), and I am having some difficulties.  The main problem is that the eCS installation program asks to format the virtual disk to install.  When doing so, I am asked to restart the installation program. 
I think (2) is the way to go, but then I need some way of telling the installer that I actually have a formatted virtual disk ready for the install.  Anyone here with some advice on how to proeed?
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Greggory Shaw on October 17, 2015, 11:52:10 am
I haven't seen that before and just tried vBox 5.06 with a good install of eCS 2.1

http://os2notes.duckdns.org/os2virtualbox.html


Greggory
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: ivan on October 17, 2015, 12:44:40 pm
Hi Eirik,

So your IT department are happy with everyone's personal information being sent to the Microsoft servers in the US then (one of the latest 'updates' to win7 has added the win 10 data slurp), maybe they should think again in the light of the safe harbour agreement being found illegal by the EU court. 

Now, which boot order are you referring to, the vBox order or the CD order?

If it is the vBox order that should remain at CD, HD, other until eCS is installed just as you would install to a normal PC.
If it is the CD order then again you should do what you would do on a PC.

To all intents the the vBox image is your install PC and you treat it as such.  You shouldn't shut it down until you have installed eCS in full and set it up.

Just in case there is a problem with vBox 5.0 you should try the latest version as that may work better with the version of windows your IT department want you to use.
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Martin Iturbide on October 17, 2015, 02:34:44 pm
Hi Eirik

I don't know if you are trying to do something special with Virtualbox on Windows, because I installed eCS 2.2 B2 without issues on VirtualBox 5.0.6 without any special tweaking.

This is how I do it.
- Create the VM saying it is eCS. I just select the defaults and create a 2Gb virtual HDD with the defaults.
- Start the VM.
- It asks for the eCS ISO so I point it to it.
- eCS boots normally
- On the first boot it asks to "fix the disk" and reboot.
- reboot
- Run the installer for the second time, it accepts the disk and installs on the virtual disk and starts Installation Phase 1.  Here you will format the drive and the installation starts normally.
- On the next reboot (Installer Phase 2) select "Boot from Hard disk" on the eCS CD boot menu (Check Picture) and it will continue the installation.
The next reboot is the same ( "Boot from Hard disk") it will show you the eCS desktop and you can "unload" the ISO image.

I posted some comments about OS/2-eCS as guest on Virtualbox here:
http://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/VirtualBox_Guest

I hope this helps.

Regards

Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: eirik on October 17, 2015, 08:09:43 pm
Hi Martin and Ivan,

thanks for the guidance.  I will try your suggestions once I am back at the office (and given your comments, I expect it will work right away :-) .  I'll also check for the Virtual Box 5.0.6 to have the newest one available.

Eirik
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Greggory Shaw on October 17, 2015, 08:21:42 pm
Hi Martin and Ivan,

thanks for the guidance.  I will try your suggestions once I am back at the office (and given your comments, I expect it will work right away :-) .  I'll also check for the Virtual Box 5.0.6 to have the newest one available.

Eirik

Really, I have a 30+ step by step install of eCS for vBox

Ok
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Martin Iturbide on October 18, 2015, 01:55:01 am
Really, I have a 30+ step by step install of eCS for vBox

Sorry to be redundant Gregg, your guide kicks ass !!! (http://os2notes.duckdns.org/os2virtualbox.html) Thanks for taking the time on creating it.
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: ivan on October 18, 2015, 12:23:29 pm
Hi Greggory,

I'm not trying to put your work down but I have seen too many people that are new to vBox restarting vBox itself when they should be restarting the install CD.

I also wanted to get across the fact that Eirik's IT department are not keeping up with what is going on in the real world regarding the Microsoft slurp of data to servers in the US and the fact the EU court has declared the safe harbour illegal so it is illegal for organisations to knowingly allow personal data to flow from them to the US - in fact the IT department could find itself in court trying to defends its actions.
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Greggory Shaw on October 19, 2015, 02:52:08 am
Hi Martin and Ivan,

A bit sorry about that post, but just a little put off .  I'm asking for help if using vBox 5.06 & my guide if something is wrong ( send in corrections, but works here).

If there is a better way for vBox, Mplayer, FireFox, or DVD/CD issues which are asked time & again.

Help me and the community out & post corrections :)

1) VirtualBox 5.06 - http://os2notes.duckdns.org/os2virtualbox.html
2) MPlayer/2 - http://os2notes.duckdns.org/os2mplayer.html or http://os2notes.duckdns.org/Smashing-MPlayer.html
3) DVD or CD - http://os2notes.duckdns.org/os2cdcreator.html
4) And why are we still having issues with installing FIREFOX ? - http://os2notes.duckdns.org/os2firefoxdd.html

Also, Jan-Erik idea is excellent too.  I was thing about using IBM's migrate DB as a starting point.

But, ended up being smaller (my eJava project with auto installs and utilities ). 

And Martin you put up an awesome amount of great information !!!

My idea is to put up a weekly post (like a featured article section) on the front-page of OS2World of your work wiki and articles you do ! 


And / or a list of top Howto links at the end of the page ?

Thanks for all the great work :)


Greggory
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Greggory Shaw on October 19, 2015, 03:16:06 am
...

I also wanted to get across the fact that Eirik's IT department are not keeping up with what is going on in the real world regarding the Microsoft slurp of data to servers in the US and the fact the EU court has declared the safe harbour illegal so it is illegal for organisations to knowingly allow personal data to flow from them to the US - in fact the IT department could find itself in court trying to defends its actions.

Yes, it's crazy what MS is doing and people are letting them do (login using email @Outlook.com with monitoring).  And MS downloading Win 10 in the background ??? Just crazy stuff.
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: ivan on October 19, 2015, 11:27:57 pm
I would have thought that if MS were going to force win 10 on people then they would also have an ISO image available for download.  They do have the ISO image but you have to pay for it so we won't be using it as a guest OS (if it would even run) on the OS/2 vBox host we have.

I also hear from several industry sources that win 10 will eventually end up as a subscription OS just as office 365 is.
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Martin Iturbide on October 20, 2015, 12:41:06 am
Hi Ivan.

From what I have seen on Windows 10 you can download the ISO image using a MS software called "Windows 10 Media Creation tool " that only works on Windows. But I guess it does not mean that you can legally use it a guest on a VM....but I don't know.. I don't have time to read all the license disclaimer. .

It also a seems that MS is pushing advertising on Windows. I had read that MS is making "Suggested Apps advertising" on the Windows start button.

Regards
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Pete on October 20, 2015, 02:07:59 am
Hi All

My understanding of Windows10 is that the *free* (???) upgrade applies to the Win7/8 system in use ie if you have 3 Win7 systems then you need to perform the upgrade download and install on each system.

If you want to pay for a Windows10 Licence then you can download the ISO - installing from the DVD requires the input of a Licence Key.


Regards

Pete
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Doug Bissett on October 20, 2015, 07:23:26 am
Quote
My understanding of Windows10 is that the *free* (???) upgrade applies to the Win7/8 system in use ie if you have 3 Win7 systems then you need to perform the upgrade download and install on each system.

What I found, was a selection of three ISO downloads. One that is 32 bit, one that is 64 bit, and a third that is both. The update path is from win7, or Win 8.1 (you must update Win 8 to 8.1, apparently). The update will migrate a 32 bit system to a 32 bit Win 10, and a 64 bit system to a 64 bit Win 10. These ISO files are made for those who maintain multiple systems (download once, update many systems), but they are also recommended for those who are having trouble getting the Win 10 update in the normal way (I kept asking, they kept saying I would get it, but two months went by with no results, so I went looking further). FWIW, my nephew got Win 10 installed, without asking, and he couldn't stop it once it got going. He had to back out, but, as I understand it, his machine is now registered as having Win 10, so he should be able to install again, at any time (even after the cut off date). He does, of course, need to start with Win 7 installed, since that was his update path. Of course, the license is tied to the machine. if the machine changes, it is no longer licensed.

I did install Win 10 on my Lenovo ThinkPad L530 (using the 64 bit DVD). I must say that the update looked pretty good, initially, however, trying to actually use it was an adventure in frustration. No virus ever caused that many problems. They give you 30 days to be able to use Win 10 to revert back to the previous version. From what I hear, Win 10 is better than Win 8.1, but IMO it is certainly not as good as Win 7. Good thing I made a complete backup, because the reversion program missed a few things. That should mean that I can update again, at any time. I intend to backup my other machines, install Win 10, then back them out (restore if necessary). If that doesn't work, I really haven't lost much, because I can still use Win 7, when I need it (not much).

I should note, that I never did create a logon ID for the MS login thing, which may have something to do with my troubles with Win 10. Of course, that also appears to have prevented it from storing all of my information on the MS servers, where you need to authorize them to look through it so they can send you the appropriate advertizing. My windows systems have very little information on them, but windows users are giving away their whole life history, and most of them don't even know it.

Quote
installing from the DVD requires the input of a Licence Key.

True, IF you need to do a clean install. It will update Win 7, or Win 8.1, without a license key. It then reports to MS that your machine has whatever updated version you used, and records your machine information for future reference. Apparently, they don't even care if the Win 7, or 8.1, is a legal install, although I am not sure that I would want to test that.

I think it is not legal to install to a VM without doing a clean install, which would require a purchased key. As I understand it, if Win 7 will run, so will Win 10 (but I never tried).
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: eirik on October 22, 2015, 01:36:13 am
Special thanks to Martin, Ivan, and Gregory for their input.  Gregory's 30 step guide was very useful (recommended for others).  So, no I am almost there: eCS is up and running in the Virtual Box, but wide screen activation remains for it to be useful (working on a "stamp" in the middle of the screen does not cut it).  Internet access (even through the host system WiFi) works, and I am hence quite enthusiastic.

With Gregory's advisory is almost there, but when I try to extract the files (they are not extracted for space concerns) I run into problems.  My system (a Dell Latitude E5450) comes with Win 8.1 64 biit Executive preinstalled from the university computer dept.  When I try to extract either the 32 or 64 bit files from an eCS window under the Virtual box (using the command VBoxWindowsAddition-XXX /extract /D=F:\Drivers, where XXX is either X86 or amd64 from the Install Additions under VBox on S:), I get a old OS/2 Windows error message in the eCS window that the files are not extractable.  Is there a problem that I named my virtual disk F: for this process, or am I doing something else wrong?

Any advice on how to proceed is much appreciated.

Otherwise, I agree with statements on this site about the computer department's folly on arguing for WinXXX for safety reasons, but I have few options given that network disks and full email access from clients like ThunderBird (on the bright side, they have not forced me to use Outlook) when running the preinstalled WinXXX.

Eirik
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Doug Bissett on October 22, 2015, 03:52:13 am
Quote
When I try to extract either the 32 or 64 bit files from an eCS window under the Virtual box (using the command VBoxWindowsAddition-XXX /extract /D=F:\Drivers, where XXX is either X86 or amd64 from the Install Additions under VBox on S:), I get a old OS/2 Windows error message in the eCS window that the files are not extractable.  Is there a problem that I named my virtual disk F: for this process, or am I doing something else wrong?

I think you are doing something wrong. To install the extensions, you simply attach the extensions CD (ISO) by clicking the VBox menu option Devices-> Insert Guest Additions CD image. Then, open the CD drive (in eCS), and look in the \OS2 directory. The instructions are in readme.txt. Be careful with the LIBCxxx.dll files, they are now down level, so don't replace the later ones, if you have them installed. Note that it says to use the GRADD driver, not SNAP, or Panorama. Apparently, they both work, but do nothing but add unnecessary overhead.
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: eirik on October 27, 2015, 10:43:01 am
Doug and others,

thanks for providing advice on how to get the screen resolution right.  It now works.  I will come back with some comments related to install instructions on that matter.

My next issue is sharing folders.  Here, it looks as if I am up against a dead end in the sense that according to the VBox help system, shared folders is not possible when OS/2 (eCS) is running as the guest OS.  Is this correct, or have someone figured a smart way to solve this?

Eirik
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: Doug Bissett on October 27, 2015, 03:47:39 pm
Quote
Is this correct, or have someone figured a smart way to solve this?

At one time (years ago), I did get it to work, but I don't remember exactly how. I think you need to use the old NETBIOS over TCPIP, and connect to //vboxsvr/share (share is the name you put into the configuration). I haven't been able to do that with SAMBA (they may have changed something in VBox that broke it), but a normal network share works as well as it works in a real machine (meaning that you may need to turn off a bunch of security stuff in windows networking).
Title: Re: Installing eCS under Virtual Box
Post by: eirik on October 29, 2015, 11:51:55 am
Doug, thanks for a swift response.  Unfortunately, "networking" from the VBox eCS to the rest of the system will not work as I cannot adjust the security settings (we no longer have full administrator rights - so much for trusting employees).   On the bright side it appears I may still be able to run eCS using boot manager and keep the Win 8.1 setup.  With a shared VFAT partition, that will work for me (I hope).

Eirik