Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Discussions about using non Windows and Linux guests such as FreeBSD, DOS, OS/2, OpenBSD, etc.
Liv2cod
Posts: 11
Joined: 17. Aug 2009, 09:48
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: eCS, OS/2

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by Liv2cod »

Apart from how many GPL angels can dance on the head of a pin...

The fact remains that I cannot get eCS 2.0 Silver (rc7) to install on ANY version of Virtualbox for the Mac (including the latest just released). No way, no how. I have tried endless variations of video drivers and other settings without any success at all. Most attempts end with a fatal error when the system is copying from the eCS CD-ROM to the hard disk (phase 1 of the install).

So, since eCS is the only guest operating system I care about, does this Virtualbox stuff work at all on the Mac or is it hopeless? (My Mac is a late edition MacBook with OSX 10.5 and an Intel Core2Duo with the virtualizing extensions.)
Liv2cod
Posts: 11
Joined: 17. Aug 2009, 09:48
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: eCS, OS/2

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by Liv2cod »

I found the trick to installing eCS Silver guest on to my Mac OS-X host. I have to select "JFS" for the install drive. That seems to be the installation-killing bug from h*ll that I have battled over three generations of VirtualBox.

Now that I can install eCS I find I can't use any reasonable display resolution. The built-in resolutions for every graphic driver seem to be set to 4:3 mode. I tried adding my own resolution under SNAP but it would not save the added resolution (gamode 1280 800 16 -- returned "resolution not set!")

The "guest additions" come with a new DLL for gengradd, so I loaded that. No difference.

Is there any way at all of adding the default resolutions in the new widescreen world? I need 1280x800 for sure, but I can see needing 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 as well. And probably 1920x1080 for the new cheaper 24-in monitors.
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: OS/2, WinXP-10, Linux
Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

The "guest additions" come with a new DLL for gengradd, so I loaded that. No difference.
The manual says: OS/2-additions require GENGRADD for graphics. NOT SNAP!

I have no problems with any of the gengradd resolutions.
Ingo
Liv2cod
Posts: 11
Joined: 17. Aug 2009, 09:48
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: eCS, OS/2

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by Liv2cod »

ingo2 wrote:
The "guest additions" come with a new DLL for gengradd, so I loaded that. No difference.
The manual says: OS/2-additions require GENGRADD for graphics. NOT SNAP!

I have no problems with any of the gengradd resolutions.
Ingo
I was not clear.

I tried ALL video drivers under VB. I tried GenGradd using the special DLL, too.

My problem is that I cannot CHANGE the resolutions that are offered. There are NO WIDESCREEN resolutions available. That means I cannot "full screen" OS/2 to run on any Mac laptop as they all have resolutions like 1280x800 or 1680x1050. The 4x3 resolutions look really horrible on a widescreen computer.

SNAP has a feature where you can add a custom resolution which works under Parallels and Microsoft's VM, but does not work under VB. I really, really, REALLY don't want to buy Parallels again because of this.
bjh
Posts: 14
Joined: 19. Mar 2008, 06:20
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2, Linux, Windows, OpenSolaris, FreeBSD
Contact:

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by bjh »

I run my OS/2 VM at 1280x800 so I can assure you it is possible. I set it up a long time ago so I don't remember 100% what I did but I do remember:
- I used VBoxManage setextradata to add the custom video mode (see section 9.5 in the manual)
- I edited \OS2\MONITOR.DIF file to add the custom mode to one of the defined monitors then selected that monitor on the OS/2 System/Screen settings page.

This is after installing the guest additions video driver files of course.
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: OS/2, WinXP-10, Linux
Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

A real usefull thing is now available in VBox 3.1.0:

it can read and write Parallels *.hdd images!

I just confirmed:
took an old os2.hdd image from my old PW 2.2 installation, attached it to VBox 3.1.0 and it boots and runs flawlessly.

The only thing I had to do was changing/adopting the network card in config.sys. So for those situations where VBox can't handle the installation because the guest performs some rarely used and dirty tests (like os/2 or eCS), I keep my old Parallels-Workstation 2.2 on an old 32-bit Linux host, perform installation there and then move the HDD to VBox!

THANKS to the VBox-Team for this release,
Ingo
Liv2cod
Posts: 11
Joined: 17. Aug 2009, 09:48
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: eCS, OS/2

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by Liv2cod »

bjh wrote:I run my OS/2 VM at 1280x800 so I can assure you it is possible. I set it up a long time ago so I don't remember 100% what I did but I do remember:
- I used VBoxManage setextradata to add the custom video mode (see section 9.5 in the manual)
Wow, I could kiss you on the lips, bjh! The above step is really all that's needed with eCS 2.0. When I select "no monitor" it lets me choose any of the defined resolutions, including my new spiffy 1280x800 size. Awesome.
8)
smurfcorpse
Posts: 28
Joined: 6. Oct 2009, 20:08
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2 Warp 4.5

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by smurfcorpse »

ingo2 wrote:A real usefull thing is now available in VBox 3.1.0:

it can read and write Parallels *.hdd images!

I just confirmed:
took an old os2.hdd image from my old PW 2.2 installation, attached it to VBox 3.1.0 and it boots and runs flawlessly.

The only thing I had to do was changing/adopting the network card in config.sys. So for those situations where VBox can't handle the installation because the guest performs some rarely used and dirty tests (like os/2 or eCS), I keep my old Parallels-Workstation 2.2 on an old 32-bit Linux host, perform installation there and then move the HDD to VBox!

THANKS to the VBox-Team for this release,
Ingo
I get an error when I try to import the image in the VMM, I am informed that the image is a directory. It is a 3.X image and I am running a MAC OS 10.5 host.
smurfcorpse
Posts: 28
Joined: 6. Oct 2009, 20:08
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2 Warp 4.5

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by smurfcorpse »

I posted too soon. With the MAC I r click on the *.HDD and show package contents. There is a *.hds file in there. I copy it to another folder and rename it to *.hdd. It imported without errors but I get a critical error when trying to boot.
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: OS/2, WinXP-10, Linux
Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

Ok, maybe you used one of the new images from PD 4.0.

I was using an "old" image from PW2.2 which is a single plain data file *.hdd.
Probably they changed something in newer versions, or added some meta data. I did take part in the beta phase of PD4.0 for Linux, but due to many shortcomings never used it, nor bought a license - VBox is 'open source' and allows for any possible configuration, that's what impresses me!

Ingo
smurfcorpse
Posts: 28
Joined: 6. Oct 2009, 20:08
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2 Warp 4.5

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by smurfcorpse »

After several attempts I have a desktop. I have no idea why I got the error. I tried about 4 or 5 times and each time the boot process seemed to go farther. I'd need to do some work uninstalling Parallels tools and switching the network cards but I can confirm you are correct. You just have to get the actual HDD out of the package contents. This step is probably only needed for MACs.
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: OSE Debian
Guest OSses: OS/2, WinXP-10, Linux
Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

smurfcorpse wrote:You just have to get the actual HDD out of the package contents. This step is probably only needed for MACs.
I searched the VBox-manual and found this information:

Image files of Parallels version 2 (HDD format) are also supported.4 For lack of
documentation of the format, newer formats (3 and 4) are not supported. You
can however convert such image files to version 2 format using tools provided
by Parallels.


That should explain the story,
Ingo
smurfcorpse
Posts: 28
Joined: 6. Oct 2009, 20:08
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2 Warp 4.5

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by smurfcorpse »

It was a parallels version 3 image but I had tried version 4. I think version 4 converted the version 3 HDD image to a version 4. Like everyone else using OS/2 with version 4, I had to uninstall it and put back version 3. I didn't use any tools to convert my image. I have added guest additions and changed my NIC to the Intel pro 1000. Everything seems to boot and run fine. I don't use that image daily as it was just a test so I can't speak to it's stability. I did use it for a few hours with out problems. I don't have any Windows host so I can't confirm if newer versions of Parallels for Windows HDDs work but I did get the Parallels Desktop for MAC version 3's HDD to run in VB 3.10.
TrevorPH
Posts: 55
Joined: 30. Sep 2008, 02:37

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by TrevorPH »

I'm finally happy to report that 3.5 years after first writing the original post in this thread, VB 4.2.0 has fixed the problems I was having. Admittedly I had to revert to using os2apic.psd instead of acpi.psd but that doesn't concern me in the least. What I have now running under CentOS 5 is an OS/2 system with dual processors, 2GB RAM, 2 virtual disks and it has functioning network and USB hard disks. Even the video has no problems running with SNAP 3.1.8.

:D

I should add that I think that I have tried every version of VB that's been released since 2.0.4 and each time I have come across something which stops me from upgrading permanently. Either the network works but USB doesn't or the video doesn't or it hangs trying to open the desktop. That's without even trying to utilise the SMP support that came in around VB 3.x. So far, 4.2.0 seems to allow use of all of them though I have had a few hangs on PM startup creating the desktop but those used to happen anyway before, they just seem a bit more frequent now than before... but a quick Ctrl-Alt-Del almost always fixes it next time around so...
ydario
Posts: 5
Joined: 29. Sep 2012, 17:34
Primary OS: Other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ydario »

Hi Trevor,
TrevorPH wrote:What I have now running under CentOS 5 is an OS/2 system with dual processors, 2GB RAM, 2 virtual disks and it has functioning network and USB hard disks. Even the video has no problems running with SNAP 3.1.8.
could you post VM configuration details and kernel/drivers used inside guest? here I'm trying to get the same using a Ubuntu 12.04 host, but only single CPU configurations are working well. After I enable SMP using os2apic or acpi, I get trap 8 at random places (even while booting), or solid hangs of the system. (ecomstation 2.1 as guest).

thanks!
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