BIOS version of ISO doesn't work in VBox7, but does in VBox6

[grdnman]

Hi, I'm unable to boot a BIOS version of an ISO in VBox 7. The same ISO works in VBox 6. It's from Paragon Backup & Restore 14. The backup program has both BIOS and UEFI versions of the ISO. The UEFI version works, but I want to use the BIOS version. It crashes.

I've tried a few different versions of 7 since it came out. None have worked, so I haven't updated yet. I'm trying once again. I don't know if the issue is VBox itself, or something I'm doing.

I'm not sure what logs to post but I've included one that may be useful.

Steps I've done:
- Create a New VM.
- Name it Test.
- Choose the ISO Image: C:\Users\Username\Desktop\Paragon Recovery BIOS.iso
- Set Base Mem to 8192 MB.
- Set Processors to 4 (out of my .
- Create a small hard disk since this is just for testing, 4MB. I've tried with 30GB too, doesn't make a difference.
- Check Pre-allocate.
- Finish.
- Boot it, and the ISO crashes. I see weird characters gradually take over the whole screen.

[scottgus1]

You'll probably want the VM's log:

Start the VM from full normal shutdown, not save-state. Run until you see the problem happen, then shut down the VM from within the VM's OS if possible. If not possible, close the Virtualbox window for the VM with the Power Off option set.

Right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show in Explorer/Finder/File Manager. In the "Logs" subfolder, zip the VM's "vbox.log", and post the zip file, using the forum's Attachments tab. (Configure your host OS to show all extensions so you can find the "vbox.log", not "vbox.log.1", etc.)

FWIW both "EFI" and "BIOS" are BIOS's. The non-EFI version is commonly called "Legacy": EFI BIOS and Legacy BIOS.

[grdnman]

Thank you for the reply.

I deleted my test VM to be sure that everything is reset. I recreated it and booted. It's not possible to shutdown from the VM's OS since it crashes. I have to Power Off. I've attached the log.

Every second a new vertical line of "funny" chars are added to the screen one place to the right.

ss.jpg (52.84 KiB) Viewed 2048 times

The only reason I really want to boot the Legacy BIOS version of the ISO is because my "real" system is 13 years old, and it's a Legacy BIOS system. I like to know what to expect from the ISO when using it on my real system. The EFI version is a little different.

[scottgus1]

That looks eclectic...

The log seems to be OK, though 2 processors and 2-4GB RAM might be better to try.

A curious thing happens with the display:

00:00:13.986047 Display::i_handleDisplayResize: uScreenId=0 pvVRAM=0000025a80000000 w=640 h=480 bpp=8 cbLine=0x280 flags=0x0 origin=0,0

Normally the "bpp" bits per pixel is 32 bits. This is dropping to 8-bit, which is that 256-color palette thing they used to do long ago, if I process this correctly.

We'd need a forum guru to think this one through more.

[grdnman]

I used the same setup but changed it to 2 processors and 2048GB of RAM. Unfortunately, same result. New log attached in case more info may help provide an answer.

Similar line in new log:

00:00:13.779602 Display::i_handleDisplayResize: uScreenId=0 pvVRAM=0000023e059a0000 w=640 h=480 bpp=8 cbLine=0x280 flags=0x0 origin=0,0

Thank you, I'll wait for additional replies from others.

[fth0]

The Display::i_handleDisplayResize log messages indicate resolution changes requested by the guest OS. The first few resolution changes originate from the VirtualBox legacy BIOS, and the last one originates from the ~160 kB software read from the ISO. Since it requested an 8-bit graphics mode, I'd suggest to change the VM configuration to use the VBoxVGA graphics controller (note that VBoxVGA != VBoxSVGA).

[grdnman]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Test VM -> Settings -> Display -> Graphics Controller ->
- VBoxVGA --- Unfortunately, same crash.
- VMSVGA --- Same crash.
- VBoxSVGA --- Same crash.
- None --- Black screen.

Changed it back to VBoxSVGA for now.

[fth0]

Thanks for trying!

The background idea was that in the VirtualBox 7.0 graphics implementation, the VBoxSVGA/VMSVGA 3D part was extensively changed, the VBoxSVGA/VMSVGA non-3D part was somewhat changed and the VBoxVGA part was changed the least.

Since your issue also exists with the VBoxVGA graphics controller, I'd suggest to create a ticket in the Bugtracker.

Is the ISO file freely available, so that others can reproduce the issue?

[The Raven]

Same problem here with Paragon Hard Disk manager 15 ISO (physical install CD).
This is actually trying to boot a stand-alone Linux system to run HDM and I also see
the bpp=8 value in the log and the strange screen corruption.

I think HDM 15 was the last version where Paragon were using their own Linux kernel.
HDM 17 which I use all the time on bare-metal, uses Ubuntu 14 under the covers.
I ran that in a VM and can see bpp=32 and it works as expected.

[grdnman]

Thank you, I have submitted a bug report.
https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/21827

Thanks for the info The Raven. It sort of confirms this is a bug.

The ISO is generated by Paragon Backup and Recovery 14 Free. You won't find the ISO by itself. The (older) backup program is free and can be found online on various shareware/freeware sites. It has an ISO creator called Paragon Media Builder. Steps I used to create the ISO: Uncheck the first two options, choose Next, choose Linux and BIOS, choose Next, choose ISO image and fill in the filename, choose Next to finish.

Paragon Backup & Recovery 14 Free Edition (369MB)
Filename is usually: br14-free_eng.exe
SHA256: e6200829640824199aa13b7f88fefe92c646f88c9cd6700b5abb99834dad99fa
https://filehippo.com/download_backup-r ... e-edition/

The 63.9MB ISO generated from the program (using the steps above):
SHA256: 741136188e735222c84ce77ce56eb2d668ec736dd77c485e0df7bd49e6f207a2

============================================================

Using the same exact ISO file with VirtualBox 6.1.36 r152435 (Qt5.6.2), it works fine and is fully functional. Screenshot:

VBox6.jpg (36.23 KiB) Viewed 1788 times

[fth0]

Thanks for the link and the instructions!

FWIW, I could also reproduce the issue, which means that it's not limited to your setup.

[Martin]

Why did you chose Windows10_64 as guest os type when the recovery ISO is based on Linux?
Does the crash also happen when you use a current Linux guest OS type?

[fth0]

FWIW, the issue happens with "Debian 11 Bullseye (64-bit)", "Debian (32-bit)", "Other/Unknown", "Other/Unknown (64-bit)" and "Linux 2.6/... (32-bit)", to name a few. The guest OS is 32-bit and uses a Linux kernel 2.6, but only when getting past the issue (e.g. using VirtualBox 6.1.46).

The issue happens in a boot manager shown in the screenshots in this thread. The "Normal Mode" would boot into a Linux kernel, the "Safe Mode" and "Low-Graphics Safe Mode" would boot into PTS DOS.

[grdnman]

fth0, thanks for reproducing and verifying the issue.

Martin, the backup software is for Windows. While the ISO is Linux, it restores the files, then Windows boots. I've always use "Windows 64" as the type in Virtual Box 6, and it works. I also thought about that too, so I tried Linux once and it didn't make any difference. I don't remember the exact settings I tried, but it didn't work.