Stuck on black screen after Windows logo loading screen on XP VM startup

[peej]

Hello all,

I've been following the old instructions to migrate an existing Windows XP installation (from an 2006 Dell Optiplex GX620) to Virtualbox 7.0.10 r158379 (Qt5.15.2) on MacOS Ventura 13.1 (on an Intel MacBook Pro).

I need to migrate rather than start a fresh XP install as I don't have the installers for the software I need to use (and they're no longer available/supported).

I ran MergeIDE before shutting down the machine. Then pulled the drive and used the following to make the disk image and then the vdi:

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=/dev/disk2 of=~/p3windowsxp.img.dd bs=512

VBoxManage convertfromraw p3windowsxp.img.dd /Volumes/external_hd/p3windowsxp.img.vdi

After getting a BSOD on the first boot of the VM, I booted from a Windows XP ISO, which seemed to repair/reinstall Windows, albeit very slowly. But, since the repair appeared to complete and the VM restarted, it gets stuck on a black screen after the Windows logo loading screen (the hard disk icon at the bottom of the window continues to show activity for a while, but eventuall just stops).

I've had a dig around a bunch of 'XP doesn't boot' threads, but haven't managed to figure out what the issue is (e.g. I have the right template, IO-APIC is enabled, Hyper-v shouldn't be a problem according to this thread).

If anyone can help shed any light on the problem, it'd be greatly appreciated!

Log file:

P3 Windows XP-2023-10-20-15-27-30-log.zip

(20.09 KiB) Downloaded 31 times

[mpack]

What was the BSOD?

And yes, Hyper-v can't be a problem for you because it doesn't exist on your MacOS host. And as a guest API it isn't relevant to XP either, as XP is way too old to understand that API.

You do however need to worry about the Apple equivalent of Hyper-v that Apple enables on Ventura and Sonoma.

This is a problem:

00:00:01.266341 Host RAM: 8192MB (8.0GB) total, 3131MB (3.0GB) available
...
00:00:01.332431 RamSize <integer> = 0x0000000100000000 (4 294 967 296, 4.0 GiB)

RAM has to be available before you can assign it to a VM. You should reduce the allocation to 2048M, and probably free up some host RAM too.

Cut the number of allocated cores to 2 - the host needs CPU too.

Increase graphics RAM to 64MB.

I'm seeing lots of big lags. Possibly this could be the over commitment of CPU cores, but... what kind of drive is the VM located on? Note that slow USB flash drives are not suitable for running an OS from. Especially not a disk-busy OS like XP.

[peej]

Thanks v. much! Good spot with the RAM size.

Unfortunately, I didn't make a note of the BSOD. I could start again and make sure to, if it could be important in diagnosing the issue?

The setup is at work, so I'll try changing the memory/cores settings on Monday.

The VM is on a 2021 4TB Western Digital Passport, so not as quick as the SSD in the MacBook, but I would have thought it should run OK?

What is the Apple equivalent of Hyper-v, and what do I need to do about it?

[mpack]

The VM is on a 2021 4TB Western Digital Passport, so not as quick as the SSD in the MacBook, but I would have thought it should run OK?

I would not expect that drive to be OK. The WD Passport is a slow mechanical drive designed for transporting data. There is also the question of how well it's cached by the host OS (usually: not well at all, those USB drives will be optimized for fast removal). IOPS (max outstanding I/O transactions is also very low on such a USB drive).

If possible - and just as a test - copy the VM onto your SSD. See if that cures the lag problem.

[peej]

Thanks!

I moved the VM to the MacBook's internal SSD, changed the RAM allocation to 2GB, the graphics RAM to 64GB, and reduced the allocated cores to 2.

Still no change in behaviour (other than the progress bar moving a little more quickly on the Windows logo loading screen). The VM appears to start up, but the screen goes black after the Windows logo loading screen.

New log attached below in case it reveals anything.

P3 Windows XP-2023-10-24-11-55-05-log.zip

(18.96 KiB) Downloaded 37 times

[mpack]

Still a huge lag.

00:07:15.802887 TM: Giving up catch-up attempt at a 60 005 760 730 ns lag; new total: 60 005 760 730 ns

Also, only part of a log has been provided. I can tell very little from it. The VM needs to be properly closed down before you copy out log files.

[peej]

Ah - apologies. I have to use the 'power off the machine' option to shut the VM down - hopefully that still gives you the full log:

P3 Windows XP-2023-10-24-13-00-20-log.zip

(28.93 KiB) Downloaded 31 times

[peej]

Guessing there was nothing useful in the log?

If anyone has any suggestions I could try, I'd be glad to hear them!

[mpack]

Perhaps try booting the XP guest up in safe mode, and toss out any drivers that are for hardware that doesn't exist in the VM.

Or, you could consider installing XP from scratch, then see if you can migrate your apps by copying folders and registy sections.

[multiOS]

I did notice some mentions of 'Soundflower' in the Log which, I seem to remember, was causing various compatibility issues several years ago; and which would also support mpack's suggestion that there may be hardware drivers installed in the VM that need to be removed, given that XP was always 'sensitive' to unexpected hardware changes.

[peej]

Wonderful - thanks! I did try booting in safe mode already, but it doesn't start up. I just got a list of some items that were being loaded, and then it stopped.

Will try moving folders across to a fresh install.

Thanks again!