SimplyMepis 6.5 Doesn't Start/Boot From Virtual Hard Drive

[CountyPyr]

Hi

I have never installed nor used a Virtual Machine program before. I am an average Windows user with average skills, and I have never installed nor used a Linux distribution before. If you have any questions or if you need any information, please consider my knowledge level to be that of a newbie with limited computer knowledge and skills.

I installed VirtualBox 1.3.8 on a computer with a host operating system of Windows XP Pro SP-2. The installation of VirtualBox was uneventful. The computer has 3-GB of RAM, and the drive on which VB is installed is 36-GB.

Under VB, I created a Virtual Machine named MEPIS 65 with a guest Operating System Type of Linux 2.6. I gave it a fixed 30-GB hard drive and 512-MB of Base Memory. Video Memory is 8-MB; ACPI is Enabled and IO APIC is Disabled; Network has Adapter 0 and NAT is activated; Both the USB Controller and the Remote Display are Disabled.

In VB, when I press the Start button for MEPIS 65, and I have selected it to boot SimplyMEPIS 6.5 from an ISO file (Live CD), the system works correctly. That is, The Virtual Machine boots into Simply Mepis, and I can run programs and access the internet. From the ISO file's SimplyMEPIS desktop, I click on the "MEPIS Install" icon, and the ISO file proceeds to automatically format and partition the virtual 30-GB hard drive. Then, it installs the operating system. It asks a few questions, such as do I want to install GRUB (No), give the system a User Name and Passwords, etcetra. At the end of the installation, I was given a choice to Reboot or Not. I chose to Reboot. I ended up stalled at a window. (I describe the window in the next paragraph)

Since the window sat for 5+ minutes with no activity, I closed it. Back in the main InnoTek VirtualBox window, I reset the Boot Order for the hard drive to boot first, and then I clicked on the Start button. Within a few seconds, I was stalled at the same window as before. In the title bar, it has "MEPIS 65 [Running] - InnoTek VirtalBox". In the menu bar, it has "VM, Devices, Help". In the window, the background is black, there is a NON-flashing cursor in the top left corner. In the status bar, there are various VB icons.

With VMware, I have noted discussions that emphasize the need to add something called "headers" to the installation. Is it possible that these "headers" are needed with VirtualBox, as well?


Any assistance with this problem is greatly appreciated.

[bodhi.zazen]

Well, I am not sure about the exact nature of your problem, however you can not boot a linux distro without a boot loader, gurb in this case.

If you are not familiar with Linux, I suggest :

1. 10 Gb is plenty of space for Mepis

2. Boot the mepis iso and re-install, this time install grub (to the MBR). Don't let the terminology fool you, you will be installing grub onto the MBR of the virtual hard drive

[CountyPyr]

Hi

I removed the original virtual machine that was constructed for Simply MEPIS 6.5, and then created a new virtual machine for it. This time, as recommended by bodhi.zazen, I installed GRUB to the MBR, and the installation was successful.

The only problem that occurred was getting the virtual machine's hard drive to format. However, that is another issue, and I shall cover it in different thread.

Thanks for the help.