Author Topic: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing  (Read 61381 times)

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #75 on: May 21, 2018, 04:04:11 pm »
Hey Doug,

...The trap happens every morning when I first boot up, but sometimes also happens on reboot during the day...

Sorry if I missed it in one of the previous thread posts, but what module are you trapping in?

I'm asking because I had something similar happen to me when experimenting with the SNAP and Panorama drivers. I was switching between them (somewhat of a re-install, but not a clean 'by-the-book' one) and ended up trapping right during a re-boot. Took me a while to research but I ultimately tracked this one down to a config file (the name of course escapes me now, but I probably have it somewhere in my notes).

Soo...I'm hoping that your module name may ring a bell here?

Doug Clark

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #76 on: May 22, 2018, 06:15:34 am »
Dariusz,

I was trapping in OS2KRNL.

I submitted a bug report and got a response and a fix from ArcaNoae on Sat.

The short version is

"The trap is occurring when PM is attempting to load LEDPANEL.FON which is
installed by PMDCALC.WPI.  The font file itself is OK, but it exposes a defect
in _ldrGetMte..."

So far the fix has been working.

Andi B.

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #77 on: August 05, 2018, 12:12:16 pm »
> It seems "enable VT-x / AMD-V" are enabled by default in the settings. I was not sure about that previously in my posts to Valery in the thread "VirtualBox Problems" as the original VM I had created (Windows XP) was done under Windows 7 and Windows VirtualBox v5.0.22, so I wasn't sure if I had fiddled with the settings at some point.

No, I just created the new VM from scratch, VT-x/AMD-V is disabled. In any case, disable it if it enabled, for some weird reason (unless you have one of the latest OS/4 kernels).
I came over this again as I set up a new VM with a FreeBSD image. VT-x/AMD-V was enabled here. This is with v5.0.6_OSEr143. A slightly newer version as the official linked at http://trac.netlabs.org/vbox/wiki.

I know this thread is about v5.0.51 but I think VBOX for OS/2 lacks some update on the official wiki page (and the included readme). Although I'm running some VMs inside VBOX I didn't remember the proper settings anymore. Valery please update the wiki page. Especially the necessary/recommended settings for VT-x, IO-APIC, PAE/NX, preferred network mode (which one works reliable), best network adapter setting (I read somewhere some Intel server card should be choosen), ... Of course settings for ArcaOS/eCS are needed. Special instructions for unofficial kernels may need an own paragraph. It's really hard to read all postings to find them out. At least a link at http://trac.netlabs.org/vbox/wiki to the current (updated) readme would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Valery Sedletski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #78 on: August 05, 2018, 04:06:42 pm »
2Andi B.:

v.5.0.51 is an unofficial leaked version (though, it works quite well). I uploaded it for someone for testing purposes. So, it is not listed on wiki page and it does not include README. README is a bit updated, but not significantly, so a README from latest official version can be used. The current README is always located in the SVN repository in sources: http://trac.netlabs.org/vbox/browser/trunk/doc/ReadMe-OS2.txt (note that SVN trunk is a bit newer version, not yet working and not yet released).

VT-x/AMD-V can be enabled in newly created VM if your system supports hardware virtualization. Though, if it is not the OS/4 kernel, hardware virtualization will not work and the VM will likely panic, if you enabled it. So, if you don't have the OS/4 kernel or your system does not sipport VT-x/AMD-V (like my main system, I have Athlon 64, single core Socket 939 without AMD-V), you should disable it too. You simply need to uncheck the checkbox AMD-V/VT-x. PAE/NX can be checked, it should always work, and doesn't caause VM to crash. IO-APIC is recommended to be disabled for WinXP guest. Otherwise, it may be useful in some cases (depends on a guest OS). NIC depends on guest OS too (for OS/2 guest this may be Intel 1000/Pro MT, as well as AMD PCNet). The only network sharing mode working is simple NAT. TAP driver is currently broken. OS/4 kernel is needed for hardware virtualization support. Note that the official version avaiable for download from the wiki page, does not include hardware virtualization. Unofficial v.5.0.51 supports it. Nothing special is needed. Just enable AMD-V/VT-x in BIOS and in VBox settings. Otherwise, these two versions should be the same.

OK, I'll try to update the wiki. I thought it is evident thing that hardware virtualization is unsupported on IBM's kernels. As it never worked on them and it lacks the "CPU rendez-vous" feature which alows to run code on all CPU cores in parallel. This is essential for enabling AMD-V/VT-x. So, it is experimental feature with OS/4 kernels. Of course, VBox enables it if it finds that it is enabled in BIOS and it is supported by your prosessor. But it cannot check which kernel you have installed.

« Last Edit: August 05, 2018, 04:55:30 pm by Valery Sedletski »

Doug Clark

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #79 on: September 26, 2018, 03:35:05 am »
The Import Appliance feature never reaches completion but appears to work OK.

I used File - > Export Applicance to export an WinXP virtual machine I had created on an AMD machine.

I used File -> Import Appliance to import that appliance/virtual machine (the WinXP VM) on an Intel based laptop (Lenovo T530i). The import got to 99% 2/3 and never completed. Or I should say the dialog box never got past 99%.

I used WatchCat (a process monitor) to terminate the vbox session.
 
When I restarted vbox the imported "appliance" was there - i.e. the WinXP VM. It started and appears to be running fine. I had to re-import the guest additions, but other than that it is running fine.

So it appears the import works correctly, even though it never gets past 99% on the progress dialog box.

Kudos to all who are working on this project. Very very nice.

Valery Sedletski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #80 on: September 26, 2018, 01:56:13 pm »
2Doug Clark: I tried to import one appliance, and it worked for me. Probably, it waited for something at the end (some resource was not free). On my machine,I did not observed any wait, it terminated ok. Why do you need to use WatchCat? Is "Close" button not working?

Lars

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #81 on: September 27, 2018, 09:29:32 am »
OK, I'll try to update the wiki. I thought it is evident thing that hardware virtualization is unsupported on IBM's kernels. As it never worked on them and it lacks the "CPU rendez-vous" feature which alows to run code on all CPU cores in parallel. This is essential for enabling AMD-V/VT-x. So, it is experimental feature with OS/4 kernels. Of course, VBox enables it if it finds that it is enabled in BIOS and it is supported by your prosessor. But it cannot check which kernel you have installed.

Hi Valery: I have written a device driver that would do "CPU rendez-vous" to set up "SYSENTER" entry point on all cores, see:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/system/drivers/misc/syscall.wpi
It comes with full source. It basically issues an IPI to all cores and the cores will then run an interrupt routine, in this case, to set up the necessary MSRs on all cores to being able to use the "SYSENTER"/"SYSEXIT" instructions. This driver works with the standard OS/2 kernel.

I think that you could do about the same to set up virtualization on all cores.

Valery Sedletski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #82 on: September 27, 2018, 10:25:55 pm »
2Lars: I tested your driver some time ago. The problem was that the OS/2 kernel cannot guarantee the required number of GDT selectors. So, it failed to allocate these selectors and I could not test the driver further. So, if you resolved these problems, I could try. Though, I'm working on other projects now, than VBox. And VBox is currently broken, so before I fix it, I cannot work on CPU rendez-vous with IBM kernel (I updated VBox sources to a newer version and something got broken).

Doug Clark

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #83 on: October 06, 2018, 08:38:50 am »
Valery,

I did it twice - the first time I used the close button. For some reason, which I cannot remember now, I didn't think the import worked and so tried a second time, which is when I used watchcat. Looking back it think the import probably worked the first time, even though the dialog never reached completion.

Doug Clark

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #84 on: October 06, 2018, 09:01:30 am »
I am using vBox on my Lenovo laptop to run Windows 3.1 programs, since WinOS2 wont run on this laptop.

I installed Improv in a Windows XP virtual machine in vBox. The install hung at the very end when it was creating icons in a Program Group. But it appears that Improv runs OK, except for accessing shared folders.

The Improv File Open dialog does not show any shared folder "drives". And I cannot successfully map a local drive to drive on a remote machine using the native Windows XP method, either to a SAMBA server on the remote machine or throught  NetBEUI (after installing the NETBEUI driver in the WinXP box)

Valery Sedletski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #85 on: October 06, 2018, 09:46:30 am »
2Doug Clark:

Regarding the import/export the appliance: On my side, all is ok. Please try providing more details, so I could reproduce the problem on my machine, otherwise I cannot fix it. Are you sure it is OS/2 port problem? Maybe, the same problem is with windows/linux versions. This functionality seems to be generic for all platforms. If so, you need to reproduce it on other platform, supported by Oracle, and complain to them.

Regarding shared folders: Is Improv a win16 program? Are you sure WinXP provides support for network drives for Win16?

Are you sure network works in VBox at all? Is network enabled in VBox? By default, it uses NAT networking. I'm not sure if VBox supports NetBEUI. For Samba case, it may work only in case you have network settings the same as in host network: the same subnet mask, IP addresses from the same subnet, the same workgroup. Can you reach the machines of your host network from the guest Win32 programs? (not Win16 programs). Is Internet accessible from the guest system?

PS: I suspect that with NAT networking, you'll not be able to access the SMB network drives from the host network. You'll need a fully functional network support in VBox. There's TAP driver support in VBox, but currently it is not working. The only working option is NAT networking.
« Last Edit: October 06, 2018, 09:58:40 am by Valery Sedletski »

Doug Clark

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #86 on: October 06, 2018, 09:40:32 pm »
Valery:

I imported the same "appliance" (virtual machine) in Windows 7 vBox and it imported OK.

I tried to import the same appliance on an AMD desktop running AOS (as opposed to the Intel Lenovo laptop) and it "hung" at what appears to be the same point - the very end. (First attachment.)

Clicking on the red X - to stop the process, doesn't do anything. (Second attachment) The status/dialog changes to "canceling" and then never goes away.

However after killing the VirtualBox process, and then restarting vBox, the imported appliance/virtual machine is there, and runs correctly.

Since it appears to work I am ok. If you are sitting on a beach soaking up some rays and get bored listening to the waves lapping on the sand and want to work on something then perhaps it is worth fixing. Otherwise maybe it is more appropriate to note in a read.me or something.

Improv is a Windows 16 bit application. I installed it a few minutes ago on a laptop running Windows XP and it can see and access network drives. (third attachment). But when running in a Windows XP virtual machine, the shared folder drives do not show up in the File - Open dialog box. That same issue is also true in Improv running in Windows XP in vBox on Windows 7.

I cannot share a network drive inside of a Windows XP virtual machine using either Samba or Netbeui. Now that I have had some sleep I seem to remember you, or someone else, saying that doesn't work. And with shared folders I really don't need to directly share a drive using networking facilities.  I only tried that because the shared folders/drives did not show up in the Improv File Open dialog.

The workaround is to copy the file(s) I need to use with Improv to a local drive in the virtual machine and access them from Improv there. PITA but it works.

(I will point out that FrameMaker v 5.5 running in Windows XP mode (i.e. Microsoft Virtual PC) on Windows 7 occassionally has problems accessing shared folders/drives out.)

If you do want to attack either problem and there is some information I can send you then please let me know.

In the interest of documenting what happens for the one or two other people in the world who might want to run Improv on WinXP on vBox on OS/2 - I will note that the Improv install hangs at the very end - necessitating rebooting the virtual machine. (attachment 4). But once the machine is rebooted Improv appears for work fine - other than the whole shared folder deal. And you probably want to run IMP20W.EXE instead of IMPROV.EXE; IMPROV.EXE has some issues in WinOS2 that IMP20W.EXE doesn't - so I assume the same might be true on Windows XP.

Finally I will repeat that vBox on OS2 is pretty darn impressive. The problems I have run against are pretty minor compared to the function and preformance of the product. Thanks again.




Dave Yeo

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #87 on: October 07, 2018, 01:54:26 am »
Another option for running Win3.1 may be DosBox though our port might need updating. Advantages include being able to mount OS/2 directories. I've never tried it but have seen it talked about on the net. Of course you need Win3.1 to install.

Doug Clark

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #88 on: October 09, 2018, 06:35:13 am »
Thanks Dave for the suggestion of DosBox.

My observations on DosBox are:

1) Once DosBox starts you can mount a network drive and have that drive accessable inside DosBox, which also means accessible inside a Windows 3.1 application running in Windows 3.11 running in DosBox.

2) While DosBox has a mount command to mount a floppy drive, the Lotus Improv install program doesn't think it is a floppy drive. Which means the installer will not run.

I manually installed by copying the files and editing WIN.INI and the other *.INI files.

3) When you click the mouse in the DosBox, the mouse pointer is "captured", just the same as in vBox and Virtual PC without guest additions. Ctrl-F10 releases the mouse pointer.

4) I found a Windows 3.11 with SoundBlaster installed as a *.rar packaged for DosBox - which worked great and saved a lot of time. I believe all the Warp 4, eComStation and AOS licenses come with license for Windows 3 - so I don't think licensing is an issue when using that method to install Windows 3 that is running in OS/2.

5) What I ended up with is my  Windows application running in Windows, running in Dos. In all its glory, and all its agony. Meaning I saw a divide by zero error in a worksheet that never experienced that before. And at one time Windows wouldn't load the application saying it had run out of application memory. Ah - the good old days.

6) OS/2 really is a better windows than windows. It has been such a long time since I ran a real windows 3 machine I had forgotten how well OS/2 runs Windows 16 bit (and some Windows 32 bit) programs.

7) What you lose in both vBox and DosBox when running windows 3 apps is the ability to cut and paste between windows and OS/2 applications, along with DDE and named pipes. Along with a truly seamless Windows application running on the OS/2 desktop.

But both vBox and DosBox offer the ability to run Windows 3 applications on my lenovo laptop that currently will not run WinOS2.

I don't think you can print - at least directly - from a Windows 3 application running in DosBox. You could create a PDF on a mounted drive and then print that PDF from OS/2.

With vBox running WinXP running Improv I can print from Improv directly to my color HP m452dn printer, which only has drivers for Windows XP and above.

DosBox on OS/2 is pretty impressive, and it will probably run games, and perhaps some applications, that vBox running Windows XP wont. But for Win 3.1 applications that need to print I think that vBox running WinXP is probably a better choice.

Dave Yeo

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #89 on: October 09, 2018, 04:28:52 pm »
Interesting, thanks for the report as I'd never actually tried it. Luckily here, WinOS2 continues to work, though it complains about unsupported resolution.