Another case of Guest Additions installation failing

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
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Philip Goddard
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Joined: 6. May 2021, 20:49
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows 98 SE
Location: Exeter, UK
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Another case of Guest Additions installation failing

Post by Philip Goddard »

Being a noobie with virtual machines, I was so pleased today to get Windows 98 SE installed in VBox 6.1, and even getting my ancient Digital Orchestrator Pro MIDI sequencer to install and run in it.

However, inevitably I had to hit an apparent roadblock somewhere, and it became apparent when I wanted to transfer some files from host to guest OS. Drag / drop didn't work of course, so I clicked on 'Insert Guest Additions' - but after a pause I got this error message:
ScreenShot005.gif
ScreenShot005.gif (2.33 KiB) Viewed 2165 times
...And when I OK'd that, another, identically worded, one replaced it, and then another one saying "A device attached to the system is not functioning". And of course I still couldn't drag / drop, nor have a functioning shared folder.

I searched for solutions and noted some in the forum here, but they were either not relevant to my own setup or were things I tried or found weren't available to try, such as changing the display controller from vboxvga to ...svga, were unavailable on my system.

I followed reporting instructions from another thread, and have attached the zipped relevant logs created after I'd fully shut down the guest and then restarted it - reproducing the issue and then collecting the reports. I hope this all helps... :-)
Attachments
Windows 98 SE.vbox.zip
(1.54 KiB) Downloaded 4 times
VBox guestAdditionFailure log.zip
(17.51 KiB) Downloaded 4 times
scottgus1
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Re: Another case of Guest Additions installation failing

Post by scottgus1 »

There are no Guest Additions for DOS/95/98/ME. Other options are here:
Tutorial: Windows 95/98 guest OSes
Philip Goddard
Posts: 3
Joined: 6. May 2021, 20:49
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows 98 SE
Location: Exeter, UK
Contact:

Re: Another case of Guest Additions installation failing

Post by Philip Goddard »

Thank you. It's been a struggle getting there, but at last this evening I've got easy file-sharing set up between my Win98SE guest and Win10 host, with bridged network connection, a folder on the guest system configured as a shared folder (via its right-click menu), and finally SMB 1.0 enabled in the host's Add / Remove Windows Features applet.

I have to admit to being a little surprised that, considering the big number of people hitting up against the brick wall of no Guest Additions functionality for Win9x guests, the VB developers STILL haven't had the common sense and consideration for the VB users, to warn those installing / running Win9x guests, that drag / drop, shared clipboard and all other functionality imparted by the Guest Additions, isn't available for those guest OSs. That would have saved a huge number of users a lot of hair-tearing and time-wasting trying to install / run Guest Additions.
scottgus1
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Posts: 20965
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Re: Another case of Guest Additions installation failing

Post by scottgus1 »

Philip Goddard wrote:the VB developers STILL haven't had the common sense and consideration for the VB users
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch03. ... tossupport
Table 3.1. Guest Operating Systems With Full Support
Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Insider preview builds are not supported
Windows 8 and 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Server 2019 (64-bit)
Windows Server 2016 (64-bit)
Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 (64-bit)
Solaris 11 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Solaris 10 8/11 Update 10 and later (32-bit and 64-bit)
Oracle Linux 8 (64-bit)
Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, CentOS 8
Oracle Linux 7 (64-bit)
Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, CentOS 7
Oracle Linux 6 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, CentOS 6
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) (32-bit and 64-bit)
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) (64-bit)
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) (64-bit)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (64-bit)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (64-bit)

Table 3.2. Legacy Guest Operating Systems With Limited Support
Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Vista SP2 and later (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows XP (32-bit)
Windows Vista (32-bit)
Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Oracle Linux 5 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, CentOS 5
Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (32-bit and 64-bit)
OS/2 Warp 4.5
No mention of 95/98/ME as supported...

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Guest_OSes
....
Windows 98/98 SE/ME Works, no Additions available
.....
Seems like they have reported no Guest Additions for 98, so no Guest-Additions-supported capabilities?

Maybe it's necessary to ask questions and read the documentation before hurling denunciations?

The developers have to do what the bosses say to do, and developing for old OSs that have no use in the modern business world is just not going to happen. Hobbyist users of free Virtualbox are entitled to zero (0) support.

Care to withdraw that comment, sir?
Philip Goddard
Posts: 3
Joined: 6. May 2021, 20:49
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows 98 SE
Location: Exeter, UK
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Re: Another case of Guest Additions installation failing

Post by Philip Goddard »

Nothing has been 'hurled', I have made fair comment, and thus my answer, sir, is 'no'.
--
Philip

If you understand, things are as they are.
If you don't understand, things are as they are.
mpack
Site Moderator
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Re: Another case of Guest Additions installation failing

Post by mpack »

Understand that VirtualBox has no idea what code is running inside a virtual PC. It has no magic powers, it just simulates hardware. The guest OS is not simulated, it is real and running very real code.

YOU loaded a virtual CD image (*), and YOU launched an executable located there. That executable was from a far future era and so the guest OS couldn't load it. The guest OS gave you an error message to say so.

It isn't clear to me at which point VirtualBox was supposed to understand what you were doing and even then why would it intervene? Perhaps to protect you from the crushing disappointment of the guest OS error message?
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