Issues with W2000 Migration to Virtualbox

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
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bendtho
Posts: 4
Joined: 12. Jul 2022, 22:58

Issues with W2000 Migration to Virtualbox

Post by bendtho »

Hello,

Relatively new to the Virtualbox scene (and VMs in general), but I've successfully migrated several VMs from an aging ESXI server to Virtualbox. The exception has been a lone Windows 2000 machine, however, which will boot to the CTRL+ALT+DEL login screen and then become completely unresponsive. Doing the Virtualbox hotkey for CTRL+ALT+DEL doesn't work, even in Safe Mode, though I am able to send an ACPI shutdown hotkey and it register just fine.

If I sit on the log screen long enough, a Service Control Manager error will pop up stating "At least one service or driver failed during system startup. Use Event Viewer to examine the event log for details."

The problem is I cannot access the Event Viewer because I cannot login -- I can't even boot to or pull up a command prompt.

I've attached my log. I would appreciate any advice on how to proceed with troubleshooting.
Attachments
Testing-BW2010-2022-07-12-16-56-07.log
(80.43 KiB) Downloaded 4 times
Screenshot 2022-07-12 170638.png
Screenshot 2022-07-12 170638.png (70.72 KiB) Viewed 1900 times
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Issues with W2000 Migration to Virtualbox

Post by mpack »

You are using the deprecated VBoxVGA graphics controller, plus you have 3D acceleration enabled.

The default graphics controller for Windows guests is VBoxSVGA. Don't change that until you know better than the devs who designed the template! Also 3D acceleration drivers are only available for Win7 and later.

I'm seeing signs that VirtualBox was maybe not installed properly on this host, i.e. with admin rights and all features selected.

Other than that I'm afraid the log is pretty useless, since it cuts off sharply just as the VM begins to boot. So, either you edited it, or you grabbed it while VirtualBox was still running (it is unwise to copy any of a program's open files while the program is still present in Task Manager).

How to provide a VM log file: Make sure the VM is fully shut down, then right click it in the manager UI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (no other file) to a zip file. Attach the zip here.
bendtho
Posts: 4
Joined: 12. Jul 2022, 22:58

Re: Issues with W2000 Migration to Virtualbox

Post by bendtho »

Thanks, and my apologies.

3d acceleration has been turned off, and I moved it back to VBoxSVGA but just as an aside, the Virtualbox UI is still suggesting that it's an invalid graphics controller (which is why it was changed in the first place). Either way, VM is still having the same issues.

I've attached a new log file after the VM was fully shut down. Let me know if you need anything else.
Attachments
Testing-BW2010-2022-07-13-08-16-14.zip
(28.46 KiB) Downloaded 5 times
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Issues with W2000 Migration to Virtualbox

Post by mpack »

Do I see a buslogic scsi hdd controller being used? That's an unusual choice. As an experiment you could try moving that drive onto IDE, or maybe try the LSILogic SCSI first, which I've seen used more often. A rarely used option is more likely to be hiding bugs.

It's worth a try, but unfortunately, I don't expect Win2K to like seeing a strange IDE controller, I expect a startup BSOD 0x7F - meaning it can't find the boot disk. The solution would be to run MergeIDE (i.e. mod the registry to make it like more versions of IDE), but you'd have to mount the drive in another VM to do that.

p.s. I notice that the VM has only been assigned a single CPU core. Was that always the case? Note that you can't just add a new core to XP and earlier, they must keep the same number of cores they were installed with. Otherwise you have to do a complex dance to switch HALs, again using another VM or a rescue CD booting in the same VM.
bendtho
Posts: 4
Joined: 12. Jul 2022, 22:58

Re: Issues with W2000 Migration to Virtualbox

Post by bendtho »

Yes, buslogic was used on the original server. Not sure why though. And this particular VM always had a single CPU core.

But I did manage to get this VM up and running, and I want to share how I did in case someone else has similar issues.

First, I mounted the storage to another VM and edited its registry in order to enable autologon. This allowed me to bypass the CTRL+ALT+DEL requirement to login.

Mouse and keyboard still weren't working, however. So I downloaded NIRCMD and sideloaded it and a batch script onto the VM via the same way I edited the registry. The batch script was placed in the startup location on the VM, and would automate a few ENTER and ALT+TAB keypresses as the VM was trying to install newly discovered hardware. So once I allowed this script to run a few times, I was able to interface with the VM normally.

Hopefully this helps someone in the same situation!
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Issues with W2000 Migration to Virtualbox

Post by mpack »

Well done.

Now that you have basic mouse and keyboard working, you should install the Guest Additions to make the whole experience better.

Your problems with mouse and keyboard will be because it had the VMWare tools installed (their equivalent of the VBox GAs).
bendtho
Posts: 4
Joined: 12. Jul 2022, 22:58

Re: Issues with W2000 Migration to Virtualbox

Post by bendtho »

Yes I really appreciate the help! For what it's worth though, this VM was exported with and without VMWare Tools installed during the troubleshooting process, and neither had M+KB support. Either way, I'm just glad it is working now :D Thanks again.
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