Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Discussions about using non Windows and Linux guests such as FreeBSD, DOS, OS/2, OpenBSD, etc.
jimoe
Posts: 126
Joined: 20. Jul 2009, 05:59
Primary OS: openSUSE
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: os/2, win-xp, win-10

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by jimoe »

>Just a post to say that the last version of VirtualBox where I can
>make everything work under OS/2 is 2.0.4
>
I finally got os/2 v4.52 to install in Vbox v3.0.2. No eCS version I have (1.1, 1.2[r], 2.0 rc4 or rc6a) would install; they all quietly ceased functioning.

I posted another thread about Peer networking. It is the only basic component that I have not gotten going yet.
emn8w8
Posts: 45
Joined: 27. Mar 2008, 18:15
Primary OS: openSUSE
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2 (Warp 4-4.52), eComStation (1.2...2.0RC7, IBM PC_DOS, Windows XP
Location: Netherlands

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by emn8w8 »

Hi,

The first eComstation that has let itself install entirely and without problems in VBox (v3.0.6) is RC7, a.k.a. Silver Release....!
I hope Serenity Systems won't break this with their GA version... :P

Best regards, Erik
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: OSE Debian
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Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

I too can confirm that VBox 3.0.6 has best support for OS/2 of all versions.

Regarding eCS: could you please also post the VM settings (I genarally observe "SEINST error)?
emn8w8
Posts: 45
Joined: 27. Mar 2008, 18:15
Primary OS: openSUSE
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Location: Netherlands

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by emn8w8 »

Hi, Ingo,

These are the VM settings I have used to succesfully install eCS2.0RC6a & the Silver edition.

General: Basic
- Operating system: IBM OS/2
- Version: eComStation

System: Motherboard
- BaseMemory: 512 Mb
- Extended Features: - Enable ACPI: NO
- Enable IO APIC: NO
System: Processor
- Processor(s): 1
- Extended Features: - Enable PAE/NX: NO
System: Accelaration
- Hardware Virtualization: - Enable VT-x/AMD-V: YES
- Enable Nested Paging: NO

Display:Video
Video Memory: 32Mb
Extended Features: - enable 3D Acceleration: NO

Hard Disks
- IDE Controller type: PIIX3
IDE Primary Master: a Dynamic VDD of 2 Gb

- CD-ROM: attached the iso image.

- Floppy Drive disabled.

- Audio adapter Disabled.
Whatever virtualized adapter you choose: it will not be autodetected during install. It could be added after the install was complete.

- Network adapter Disabled
The network card is correctly autodetected during install but I have chosen to keep the install as minimal as possible to avoid possible problems. This adapter could also be added after the install was complete.

- Serial Ports Disabled.

- USB support Disabled.

- No Shared Folders.

I did observe the failure of the installation program (SEINST) also. It turned out that this not related to the VM settings but occured when HPFS was used as filesystem. It seems that HPFS and VBox don’t get along too well: I have seen more strange disk/file behaviour or even severe errors when using HPFS.
This problem appears to be totally absent when using JFS.
So: After choosing the first option from the very first CD menu (default settings) and using JFS as fs eCS installed within 15 minutes...

I will leave it to the virtual die-hards to add USB support, ACPI, SMP and more processor cores....For now I’m happy with a normal functioning OS/2-eComStation in VBox..:-)

Best regards,
Erik
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: OSE Debian
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Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

Thanks Erik, that really works!

My guess for the SEINST errors is now
# either HPFS (against JFS)
# or netwoking during initial installation

However my good old Warp5 (actually a Warp4 + all features of 4.52 exept LVM + latest drivers, updates, kernel 104a_UNI, TCP/IP 4.x+ + +)

runs really smooth and with minimal CPU-load in VBox 3.0.6 (I just upgraded fron 2.0.8 since Bootmanager-bug is fixed now). It uses the NE2000 network adapter (Amd PCnet) and ICH6 southbridge).

It also works fine with OS2Additions installed (only SeaMonkey does not start, needs SNAP).
It even works perfectly with the guest-additions:
some of the mouse oddities with SNAP are gone, graphics reacts faster, ...

Just GREAT - THANKS to VBox (=Innotek?)-Team
Ingo
ingo2
Posts: 192
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Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox - disk error!

Post by ingo2 »

Just by accident I found out a very strange thing:

on my system partition (2nd logical = hda6) which is formatted HPFS I just wanted to install uniaudio driver:

copying 'uniaud32.sys' from a temp-directory -> \mmos2 works fin, but:

subsequent compare claims > 10 differences, see here:

Code: Select all

[E:\uniaud]copy uniaud32.sys E:\mmos2\uniaud.sys
        1 Datei(en) kopiert

[E:\uniaud]comp uniaud32.sys E:\mmos2\uniaud.sys

Datei E:uniaud32.sys und Datei E:\mmos2\uniaud.sys werden verglichen.

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 8FFC
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = 23
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = 1

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 8FFD
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = 1C
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = 74

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 8FFE
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = 89
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = 13

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 8FFF
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = 1
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = 88

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 9000
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = 74
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = C4

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 9001
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = 13
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = 80

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 9002
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = 88
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = E4

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 9003
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = C4
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = FE

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 9004
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = 80
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = 88

Während der Ausführung des Befehls COMPARE ergab sich ein
Fehler bei OFFSET 9005
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 1 = E4
Abweichendes Byte bei Datei 2 = A1

Beim Vergleich der Dateien wurden mindestens 10 Abweichungen
festgestellt. Der Befehl COMPARE wird vom System beendet.
That's really odd, can anybody confirm that - if yes it is probably worth a bug report?

(I presume it is not necessary to translate int English, at least > 10 differences)

Ingo
ingo2
Posts: 192
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Primary OS: Debian other
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Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

Probably worth to mention:

this VDI was a "growing disk" with 3 Snapshots taken. (5 partitions + Bootmanager, all HPFS formatted)
If I recall well, OS/2 is very susceptible with EA's and does not like to have them separated from the file. Maybe something like that happened when the VDI was split into several files by the snapshot?

I am right now trying to perform the same actions with a VDI of fixed size - this should keep file and EA's together?

Ingo
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
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Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

Appears that VBox 3.0.6 has a memory leak:

after comparing some 3GB of data on a DVD-image with data on a virtual HD, 5.5GB of my RAM (total 6GB) was filled. It is not released on shuting down the VM and closing VBox. Only a reboot of the host (Hardy-amd64) frees menory.

Please note:
there have almost no data been written to the HD of the host (just some 80MB the Snapshot file increased, which I discarded at shutdown of the VM).

Ingo
emn8w8
Posts: 45
Joined: 27. Mar 2008, 18:15
Primary OS: openSUSE
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2 (Warp 4-4.52), eComStation (1.2...2.0RC7, IBM PC_DOS, Windows XP
Location: Netherlands

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by emn8w8 »

Hi, Ingo,

I haven't done the file comparison test yet, but your results could very well explain what's going wrong....
Since you compared the files binary, I'm not sure EA's which are possibly corrupted could cause these differences. (Just curious: did you perform the test while booted from HPFS or another FS..?)
I see no difference between the use of dyamically or static VDI's. When booted from a HPFS drive the major problems I see are:
- loading device drivers during boot phase generate errors "like program not containing valid device driver" or "the system could not find xxx.xx"
- Java programs cannot start because the JVM cannot be started.
- Mozilla programs (Firefox, Thunderbird) behave strange and generate errors.
These last 2 are unable to read their .jar files properly. IHMO there might be a problem how HPFS handles compressed files; during installation of OS/2- eCS there's also a lot of decompression going on...
I do agree with you: something's quite buggy, but by submitting a bug report to the makers of VBox you might be barking up the wrong tree...
It is possible that the HPFS driver of Serenity Systems behaves unreliably in a virtualised environment....maybe they deserve the ticket...:-)

Best regards,
Erik
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
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Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

Hi Erik,

thanks for your ideas - based on that I made some more tests with my 'Warp5 installation' on HPFS partitions with amaizing results:

1. the COMP-error does not directly depend on file size. Checked with large (10MB) and small (50kB) files:
The chance to get that error is about 50% independent of file size.

2. Verifying the original and copied file by md5sum tells: both files are identical! (though COMP reports diffs).

3. The executable 'COMP.COM' in my Warp5 is the very same as in eCSrc7: 35,881 Bytes, md5sum ......a5f1

4. I payed with the CACHE of HPFS - even with no cache (/CACHE:0) the errors persist.

5. I waried RAM for my Warp5 from 48MB - 1GB: no difference.

6. I did copy the file, verify it by md5sum and shut down. After reboot COMP tells they are differen???

7. I downgraded HPFS.IFS from BldLevel 14.093 to 14.056 (as in MCP): the same.

8. I tested all with a fixed size *.vdi - so disk does not matter

9. I tested with a fixed disk in VMDK format, no snapshots - the same

10. I tested different filnames for source and copy - no difference

11. I did compare by SHA-1 hash (instead of md5sum) the same = identical

What I do observe is: the copying the file happens immediately, while a COMP takes 10 sec. or even more?
(md5sum takes a second, not more)

I verified my whole installation:
I have tar-archives of each partition on a DVD-ROM for quick and easy restore (in case of problems).
The DVD can boot, contains some Tools like FDISK, FORMAT, TAR.
Of my whole virgin installation from that DVD (extracted tar-archives) I immediately made a snapshot. After reverting to that snapshot and booting from DVD I made a tar-compare (tar -dppP -f <archive>) of all partitions - with absolutely ZERO diffs!!!

So the whole story is really obscure:
copying several GB of data and verifying with tar is fine, copying single files within OS/2 is fine, verify by md5sum is fine - just COMP fails (the very same as you have) :oops:

This COMP-bug even survives shutdown of the VM, powering it off, closing the VBox application, and even reboot of the host (Ubuntu-Hardy-amd64).
After reboot it is the same story.

So the only things remaining are
HPFS itself and my partition scheme

---------------------------------------------------
Finally I just found a workaround:

1. copy the file (say uniaud32.sys) to another place
2. just calculate md5sum of the source-file (not the copy)
3. now COMP.COM reports correctly identical files - even after subsequent copies or whatever!

If you have rebooted the VM (or shutdown+power off inbetween), it is necessary to calculate md5sum of both files, source and target to make COMP happy. Doing that with only one of them is not sufficient.

Any explanations ??? To me it is mysterious :shock:

Ingo
emn8w8
Posts: 45
Joined: 27. Mar 2008, 18:15
Primary OS: openSUSE
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2 (Warp 4-4.52), eComStation (1.2...2.0RC7, IBM PC_DOS, Windows XP
Location: Netherlands

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by emn8w8 »

Hi, Ingo,

I'm as baffled as you are....you must have stumbled upon 1 of the deepest buried bugs ever....:-)
Apparently it only shows up when running in virtualised mode, not when run native....I haven't seen anything you described
on native installs....or using JFS in a virtualised environment...That would point to HPFS doing strange things when run virtualised..
Oh, well...since I'm limited in time and can run eCS without worries for now I might tackle this problem in the future...

A bit off (file)topic: What is the reason you are using BootManager and 5 partitions..?

Best regards,
Erik
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: OSE Debian
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Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

Erik,

this morning I tried also following hints -> see manual paragraphs 11.1.2 and 11.1.3 (pages 143 + 144) - witout success.
When applying both options:

Code: Select all

$ VBoxManage setextradata Warp-test "VBoxInternal/Devices/piix3ide/0/LUN#0/Config/FlushInterval" 1
and
$ VBoxManage setextradata Warp-test "VBoxInternal/Devices/piix3ide/0/LUN#0/Config/IgnoreFlush" 0
the md5sum calculation outputs:

Code: Select all

File error: 110
Regarding your question about my 5 partitions:

This is just a copy of my earlier PC (PIII, 1GHz, 256 MB RAM) which I used with OS/2 natively. I just transferred all partitions of that PC by packing them in a tar-archives and un-packing them in a VBox vdi. That way I have preserved all my data, programs, registrations,.... I really do not have the intention to perform a fresh installation of OS/2 from scratch :-)

The partitions are used as follows:

sda1: C:, formatted FAT for compatibility with DOS, used it earlier to start with MCP2 from scratch
sda5: D:, HPFS service system (just 300MB to repair, modify locked files of the main system
sda6: E:, HPFS OS/2 system for daily use
sda7: F:, HPFS programs
sda8: G:, HPFS data

(additionally all other data from that PC like backups, ..,. reside on a separate (virtual disk) which is only attached on demand, gets drive letter H: and is formatted JFS).

BTW: my OS/2 is up to the latest fixes/updates and runs kernel 14.104a_UNI already since years.

Parallels I also had some time ago (PW 2.2) and it still can be activated, but it does not run on 64-bit hosts and PD 4.0 for Linux has major deficiencis like no support for German keyboard, no timer ticks (RTC), so clock in OS/2 stands still, which leads to funny things.

Best regards,
Ingo
emn8w8
Posts: 45
Joined: 27. Mar 2008, 18:15
Primary OS: openSUSE
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Guest OSses: OS/2 (Warp 4-4.52), eComStation (1.2...2.0RC7, IBM PC_DOS, Windows XP
Location: Netherlands

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by emn8w8 »

Hi, Ingo,

I see why you use this setup...and what predicament you're in....something like a devil and a deep blue see comes to mind.... :(
You can't even work through the back-up system, for you have to work in HPFS which apparently makes the disk data unreliable....
I'm afraid I can be of little help for you in this respect....My knowledge of (failing) file system device drivers is 0...

Best regards,
Erik
ingo2
Posts: 192
Joined: 28. Feb 2008, 14:15
Primary OS: Debian other
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Location: Germany

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by ingo2 »

Hi Erik,

some interisting news. using 'dd' to copy the files works fine:

Code: Select all

[E:\mmos2]dd if=uniaud32.sys of=g:\temp\uniaud32.sys
1168+1 records in
1168+1 records out

[E:\mmos2]comp uniaud32.sys g:\temp\uniaud32.sys

Datei E:uniaud32.sys und Datei g:\temp\uniaud32.sys werden verglichen.

Die Dateien sind identisch.
Unfortunately I do not have any Unix-port for 'cmp' or 'diff' to futher confirm the odd beheaviour of 'COPY'

Then: searching for the binary and its version I was astonished that there is absolutely NO 'copy.com' or 'copy.exe' in any of my OS/2-systems :shock:
emn8w8
Posts: 45
Joined: 27. Mar 2008, 18:15
Primary OS: openSUSE
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: OS/2 (Warp 4-4.52), eComStation (1.2...2.0RC7, IBM PC_DOS, Windows XP
Location: Netherlands

Re: Running OS/2 under Virtualbox

Post by emn8w8 »

Hi, Ingo,
Then: searching for the binary and its version I was astonished that there is absolutely NO 'copy.com' or 'copy.exe' in any of my OS/2-systems :shock:
...

As far as I can remember: Some disk related commands (like making and removing dir's & copying/removing files are buried in the Command Interpreter itself.
This brings me to the idea: Maybe the original one could be replaced with 4OS2....
I have to wipe off the dust of some old cd's......it's more than 12 years ago I've used it....don't know if cd's from that time live that long.....:-)

Best regards,
Erik
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