Author Topic: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing  (Read 61406 times)

Mark Szkolnicki

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VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« on: April 09, 2018, 07:52:29 pm »
Hi All!

Thought I'd start a new topic related to testing the new VirtualBox development drop, both successes and failures.

I did some more testing on the weekend.

I have two physical optical drives in this machine (Drives S: and T:, DVD and BluRay), and was able to mount either one or the other when the Windows XP VM is active, using Drives | Optical Drives | Host Drive S: or Host Drive T:. I was able to download files, and install programs successfully using either mounted drive.

One thing I did note. After shutting down the VM, I removed the CD from one of the drives and attempted to start  up the VM again. It initially started with
the opening window, but after about 5-10 seconds later it aborted with an error window opening:

"PIIX3 cannot attach drive to Secondary Master VER_IO_NOT_READY".

I've attached a JPG of the error below.

It seems that a disk (any disk) must be in the mounted drive to restart the VM again.

I tried the ejection signal from Windows XP on the disk, while the VM was running, which was successful and then, shutting down and restarting the VM, got the same startup error.

If you are not planning to keep the disk in the drive, I found the correct sequence seems to be Drives | Optical Drives | Remove Disk From Virtual Drive, prior to closing, which clears any of the drives and ISO's that are mounted.

Don't know if that's a feature common to all versions of VirtualBox on all platforms but haven't run into that with VPC, which I'm very familiar with.

Also. as a test, created a VDI based Windows 2000 VM as I happened to have one lying around. The virtualization was extremely slow (took about 3 hours to install the OS, while I was doing other things. Again don't know if that is typical of installation on VBox or not, but worth noting.

Best to all!

Mark

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Mark Szkolnicki

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2018, 09:56:40 pm »

Also. as a test, created a VDI based Windows 2000 VM as I happened to have one lying around. The virtualization was extremely slow (took about 3 hours to install the OS, while I was doing other things. Again don't know if that is typical of installation on VBox or not, but worth noting.



I think I found the problem related to the virtualization being slow, as per above.

I created two new VM's on the weekend (Windows 98, Windows 2000) but did not check the settings.

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.

These two brand new unused VM's both had "enable VT-x / AMD-V" checked, when I reviewed the settings, which can cause problems in OS/2 / eCS / ArcaOS based systems (not OS/4)

I've since disabled them, as per Valery's instructions previously. I suspect that will show a marked improvement in install times, as I plan to try installing Windows 2000 again (ran into problems the first time).

Mark
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Valery Sedletski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2018, 10:38:43 pm »
> "PIIX3 cannot attach drive to Secondary Master VER_IO_NOT_READY".

Did you removed the CD from your CD/DVD drive? If so, insert it back, or detach from "Media" menu. Note that Physical media support is unstable, yet. For example, you can easily fail to boot from physical media.

> Also. as a test, created a VDI based Windows 2000 VM as I happened to have one lying around. The virtualization was extremely slow (took about 3 hours to install the OS, while I was doing other things. Again don't know if that is typical of installation on VBox or not, but worth noting.

You need to use HW virtualization, to run heavy-weight OS-es (but it currently does not work on IBM kernels, so OS/4 kernels only for now)

> 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).

win2000 may run ok without VT-x enabled, but win7 or ubuntu are slow like hell, and work conveniently only with VT-x enabled

PS: Why did you created the second topic? Is not the previous one good enough?

Mark Szkolnicki

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2018, 10:47:34 pm »
Hi Valery!

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Valery Sedletski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2018, 11:17:29 pm »
2Mark Szkolnicki:

Ah? Yes, just tried on an IBM kernel: It enables AMD-V/VT-x by default. Not sure why, but ok, just disable it for now.

Mark Szkolnicki

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2018, 11:55:12 pm »
Hi Valery!

> "PIIX3 cannot attach drive to Secondary Master VER_IO_NOT_READY".

Did you removed the CD from your CD/DVD drive? If so, insert it back, or detach from "Media" menu. Note that Physical media support is unstable, yet. For example, you can easily fail to boot from physical media.

> Also. as a test, created a VDI based Windows 2000 VM as I happened to have one lying around. The virtualization was extremely slow (took about 3 hours to install the OS, while I was doing other things. Again don't know if that is typical of installation on VBox or not, but worth noting.

You need to use HW virtualization, to run heavy-weight OS-es (but it currently does not work on IBM kernels, so OS/4 kernels only for now)

> 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).

win2000 may run ok without VT-x enabled, but win7 or ubuntu are slow like hell, and work conveniently only with VT-x enabled


Regarding physical media support - I have not ran into any difficulties at all at this testing phase - all files and installations proceeded without any errors, and I can only report that all physical optical media has booted correctly and flawlessly, as of now, for the optical drives tested.

Regarding the tests creating VM VDI's - running the same test creating the Windows 2000 VM, once the AMD-V was disabled, installation proceeded and completed in under 40 minutes. Previously the install needed 3 hours and 20 minutes to complete. I noted that I only have an upgrade version of Windows 7 so will have to wait until a full test version that have ordered arrives.

Regarding "enable VT-x / AMD-V" - as a tester I can only report what occurs, Valery, based on the testing that is being done. The VM's created consistently have the feature enabled. Perhaps one of the other testers can confirm this occurring as well, by:

1) Creating a new VM
2) Hilighting the new VM (prior to installing the OS) and going to Settings | System | Acceleration
3) Seeing whether the feature is enabled or disabled by default.

The VirtualBox package I downloaded was vbox-os2-i386-v5.0.51.zip dated 22/3/2018 following the link Martin created. Might there be another package floating about or that you are using? Or perhaps a global setting that enables or disables this feature, causing what I have observed?

Regarding your P.S. question - The VBox topic has generated a lot of interest, based on the number of views.

I started the new thread as one of the big problems we always have in the OS/2 / eCS / ArcaOS community is getting people to test new items or contribute to the conversation. The focus should not only be on the problems which developers and the highly technical or experienced users discuss, but also how to use and test the software properly, to allow other useful or important feedback to be obtained.. Perhaps, with a little encouragement, especially with a lot of the new users coming on-board with the release of ArcaOS, We can get a lot more testing done, which would certainly help you and others advance development of what I personally consider an important piece of software that could help my business, as VirtualPC definitely needs a more robust and flexible follow-on for our community.

"Problems" in the title always get people to shy away from testing or even asking questions, thinking their questions may be dumb, untechnical or not pertinent. We will also seriously need some documentation for VirtualBox, as the solutions we are coming up with need to be captured to allow people to consistently install and use it successfully, especially if you or others coming up with new drops in future.

Hence this testing thread and Best!

Mark





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Mark Szkolnicki

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2018, 12:16:11 am »
2Mark Szkolnicki:

Ah? Yes, just tried on an IBM kernel: It enables AMD-V/VT-x by default. Not sure why, but ok, just disable it for now.


Hi Valery!

I'm not sure how many in the community are using OS/4 consistently or not at the moment.

I myself do not use it, and I suspect the majority of users here are using a version of the IBM kernel, especially with the ArcaOS release, so you may find many testing reports varying significantly from what you may see on OS/4.

I actually would like to test it (OS/4) at some point, but I suspect if something varies significantly from what you have experienced, testing on OS/4, the difference between kernels and structures is probably the culprit. (including the slowdowns I mentioned previously with AMD-V enabled on the IBM kernel or physical media being unstable).

That why wide testing could be very important, as this VirtualBox development continues.

As I said in my previous post I think we in the community need some formalized "prototype" and "final" documentation to distribute out with the OS/2 VirtualBox even if it comes in two flavours - OS/2 / eCS / ArcaOS and another for OS/4, as YMMV.

Best!

Mark
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Valery Sedletski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2018, 12:37:57 am »
2Mark Szkolnicki:

> Regarding physical media support - I have not ran into any difficulties at all at this testing phase - all files and installations proceeded without any errors, and I can only report that all physical optical media has booted correctly and flawlessly, as of now, for the optical drives tested.

Yes, reading the attached media from within the VM is good, once booted. But if you try to boot from a physical floppy, or physical CD, you can encounter some problems (possibly, VM will crash).

> The VirtualBox package I downloaded was vbox-os2-i386-v5.0.51.zip dated 22/3/2018 following the link Martin created. Might there be another package floating about or that you are using? Or perhaps a global setting that enables or disables this feature, causing what I have observed?

No newer version was released. so far. I'm not aware of any global version, which disables it for all VM's. Just disable it for every VM created for now. Possibly, I'll try to disable it globally if required features are missing on your kernel, in the future.

Quote
Regarding your P.S. question - The VBox topic has generated a lot of interest, based on the number of views.

I started the new thread as one of the big problems we always have in the OS/2 / eCS / ArcaOS community is getting people to test new items or contribute to the conversation. The focus should not only be on the problems which developers and the highly technical or experienced users discuss, but also how to use and test the software properly, to allow other useful or important feedback to be obtained.. Perhaps, with a little encouragement, especially with a lot of the new users coming on-board with the release of ArcaOS, We can get a lot more testing done, which would certainly help you and others advance development of what I personally consider an important piece of software that could help my business, as VirtualPC definitely needs a more robust and flexible follow-on for our community.

"Problems" in the title always get people to shy away from testing or even asking questions, thinking their questions may be dumb, untechnical or not pertinent. We will also seriously need some documentation for VirtualBox, as the solutions we are coming up with need to be captured to allow people to consistently install and use it successfully, especially if you or others coming up with new drops in future.

Hm, I don't think the word "Problems" will get people shy away from the thread. But indeed "Testing" is better name than "Problems", I agree.

PS: BTW, in the end of older thread I added some CONFIG.SYS options to try for you. You said that you had to close Seamonkey, to run VBox successfully. I'd suspect that if you try these options, you will be able to run both at the same time (if you'll make everything correctly)

Quote
Hi Valery!

I'm not sure how many in the community are using OS/4 consistently or not at the moment.

A big number, in fact.

Quote
I myself do not use it, and I suspect the majority of users here are using a version of the IBM kernel, especially with the ArcaOS release, so you may find many testing reports varying significantly from what you may see on OS/4.

I actually would like to test it (OS/4) at some point, but I suspect if something varies significantly from what you have experienced, testing on OS/4, the difference between kernels and structures is probably the culprit. (including the slowdowns I mentioned previously with AMD-V enabled on the IBM kernel or physical media being unstable).

That why wide testing could be very important, as this VirtualBox development continues.

Indeed, not so big difference. OS/4 kernels contain some enhancements. For example, consistent hi-res timer support, based on HPET timer; Special KEE's for consistently getting curent CPU number (no -1018 error), support for CPU rendez-vous (which allows to use HW virtualization, etc., etc.)

Quote
As I said in my previous post I think we in the community need some formalized "prototype" and "final" documentation to distribute out with the OS/2 VirtualBox even if it comes in two flavours - OS/2 / eCS / ArcaOS and another for OS/4, as YMMV.

I don't think that we need two separate documentation files. Only some special notes. I think, README.OS2 file is sufficient. It did not updated since version 5.0.6. It should be enhanced more, of course, and contain OS/2-specific notes. Otherwise, documentation from Sun/Oracle applies.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2018, 12:40:34 am by Valery Sedletski »

Mark Szkolnicki

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2018, 03:05:46 am »
Hi Valery!


2Mark Szkolnicki:

PS: BTW, in the end of older thread I added some CONFIG.SYS options to try for you. You said that you had to close Seamonkey, to run VBox successfully. I'd suspect that if you try these options, you will be able to run both at the same time (if you'll make everything correctly)

Quote

I did review your post in the "Problems" thread, and it is something I plan to test in the next few days, when I get a chance.

Best!

Mark
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Mark Szkolnicki

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2018, 09:10:36 pm »
Hi Valery!


PS: BTW, in the end of older thread I added some CONFIG.SYS options to try for you. You said that you had to close Seamonkey, to run VBox successfully. I'd suspect that if you try these options, you will be able to run both at the same time (if you'll make everything correctly)


I did have some time today to test modifications to my Config.sys, to see if it would free up memory, as per your suggestions as follows

VIRTUALADDRESSLIMIT=3072 (previously 2560)
THREADS=511
PROCESSES=156

Rebooting and at start-up, I found no difference, prior to running any programs, related to available memory:

Available shared memory remained at 254 Mb
Available unused total memory remained at 90% (as displayed by SysInfo 0.9.0).

Testing as per previous, with both SeaMonkey and VirtualBox open showed the "-1018" error still occurring regularly, unless I still delayed the 15 seconds, prior to starting the VM.

I don't know where a current OS/2 version of Theseus is, to allow me to do other memory tests. I have used Theseus in tests in the past, but that was WAY past (15 years?).

Regarding ifs=d:\os2\jfs.ifs /autocheck:* /cache:128000 /lazy:8,60,5 /p1 - for the moment I will hold off on this test, as I've learned in the past not to change settings on IFS's until I fully understand what may happen. This being a working business machine, formatted almost entirely as JFS and having things to do at the moment, I would prefer to test this on one of my experimental machines first.

In regards to other tests:

I installed Windows 2000 successfully on a VM yesterday and added the VirtualBox additions from 5.0.6 there as well. For people wanting to test earlier editions of Windows, the additions both work and are a great help in using the system, as especially the video is only available in 16 colours, 800 X 600 maximum. Currently running that VM at 32 bit color resolution and 1280 X 1024.

I plan more tests over the next few days, but sporadically - running your own business does require some attention to things other than testing.

Mark

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ivan

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2018, 09:40:05 pm »
Hi Mark,

Look for the version of Theseus here http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/h-browse.php?dir=/pub/os2/util/memory

Valery Sedletski

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2018, 11:43:44 pm »
2Mark Szkolnicki: Changing JFS cache to a lesser value can only cause it to perform slower. So, I doubt that if will have catastrophic consequences ;) It if set too large, it can remain insufficient memory for other needs. But if set lo a lower value, then no harm. And with VAL=3072, and JFS cache not set explicitly, it will be, most probably, still insufficient memory for kernel and drivers, so, it may be some weird system behaviour. So, I don't expect anything better with VAL/PROCESSES/THREADS set, but JFS cache not set. Error -1018 will not go away until you use IBM's kernel, and I doubt that waiting 15 seconds would be of any help. Maybe, pressing "Cancel" or "Continue" will help temporarily, but I'm not sure, as I had no such error on my machines.

Available shared memory is memory in lower shared memory arena. It does not change when you change VAL. VAL can add more high shared or private memory to userland address space if VAL is moved up to the maximum of 3072 MB, so that, VBox can allocate more high private memory for VM's.

Mark Szkolnicki

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Re: VirtualBox v5.0.51 Testing
« Reply #12 on: April 11, 2018, 12:14:07 am »
Hi Ivan!

Hi Mark,

Look for the version of Theseus here http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/h-browse.php?dir=/pub/os2/util/memory

Got it, Sir and Thanks!

M
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Doug Clark

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VirtualAddressLimit
« Reply #13 on: April 14, 2018, 10:46:59 pm »
I have been following the posting on this thread, and the VirtualBox problems - especially the parts about starting up vbox and settings in CONFIG.SYS

Yesterday I set VIRTUALADDRESSLIMIT=2048, installed and started VBOX multiple times. I tried to create a new virtual machine using a *.VHD from VirtualPC. Which was not successful. But I successfully started VirtualBox.exe multiple times, and attempted to start the new VM I created multiple times.

This morning when I booted up I received the error

Unable to allocate memory for mode info cache!
Fatal error in driver. Use Alt-Ctrl-Del to reboot.

I finally resoved this by changing my VAL back to its original setting, set VIRTUALADDRESSLIMIT=1536

I could then boot up the machine, start VirtualBox.exe, and create a new virtual machine using a Windows XP CD.

I also experience an error after VirtualBox.exe is running, when I start the VM. If I wait the 15 seconds suggested by Mark (I believe) the VM will start.

I am running ARCAOS 5.02. SNAP with dual head. I ran the YUM install lines from the readme.os2 from version 5.0.6 and I do have the
SET LIBCX_HIGHMEM=2
in my CONFIG.SYS from reading the other posts, although I do not think I have that experimental LIBC package installed.

I also noticed, which I think Valery has now seen, that the default for new VMs has  VT-x / AMD-V enabled.

I did not see a way to turn off AMD-V in my BIOS.


Doug Clark

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Networking in Vbox
« Reply #14 on: April 14, 2018, 10:55:11 pm »
Does networking work in Vbox?

I created a new VM and installed Windows XP from a CD. Windows XP of course now wants me to activate it.

I have tried NAT and BRIDGE options, and cannot ping any other machine on my local network or on the web.

And the Windows activation is failing - probably because of networking.

It has been awhile since I setup networking in Windows XP so this is probably operator error on my part.

BTW: VBOX looks pretty good so far - with my very limited usage at this point.

Doug