Win7 64 Guest will not install on Win7 64 Host

[TheOtherPhilC]

I am totally new to VBox. I assumed virtualizing Win7 64 on Win7 64 would be a cinch, but I can't seem to get off the ground. Every time I try to boot the ISO image, it dies as soon as the "Starting Windows" screen appears. There were OpenGL warnings early in the log, which I doubt are fatal:
00:00:03.224 OpenGL Warning: Render SPU: WGL wants these visual capabilities: RGB, Doublebuffer, Z
00:00:03.235 OpenGL Warning: Render SPU: WGL chose these visual capabilities: RGB, Doublebuffer, Z, Stencil, Accum
00:00:03.235 OpenGL Warning: Render SPU: WGL wants these visual capabilities: RGB, Doublebuffer, Z
00:00:03.235 OpenGL Warning: Render SPU: WGL chose these visual capabilities: RGB, Doublebuffer, Z, Stencil, Accum

In any event, there does not seem to be any way I can change settings like that until the OS is loaded.

I am running Win 7 RC 64 on an Intel E8400, with Intel G31 chipset. VT is enabled and VBox recognizes it is enabled, per the log:
00:00:03.296 VMX - Virtual Machine Technology = 0 (1)
...
00:00:03.598 HWACCM: 32-bit and 64-bit guests supported.
00:00:03.598 HWACCM: VMX enabled!

I found further down in the log the following entries that seem to be relevant:

00:00:06.114 Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from CD-ROM...
00:00:06.123 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000000000000 w=720 h=400 bpp=0 cbLine=0x0
00:00:06.267 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=0000000008650000 w=1024 h=768 bpp=24 cbLine=0xC00
00:00:11.544 Guest Log: BIOS: int13_diskette: unsupported AH=41
00:00:13.617 VERR_VMX_UNABLE_TO_START_VM: CPU0 instruction error 7
00:00:13.617 VERR_VMX_UNABLE_TO_START_VM: CPU0 exit reason 0
00:00:13.617 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
00:00:13.617 !!
00:00:13.617 !! Guru Meditation -4005 (VERR_VMX_UNABLE_TO_START_VM)

Anybody know what this stuff means?

[Perryg]

How about giving us the HOST memory and how much you have allocated to the guest?

[TheOtherPhilC]

How about giving us the HOST memory and how much you have allocated to the guest?

The host has 4 Gigs (which is max for this box). I gave 1912 MB to the guest. VBox puts up a red flag if you go over half of installed RAM.

I am now wondering if OpenGL is in fact the issue. On a normal boot of Win 7, the very next thing to appear after "starting windows" (like immediately after) is the Windows logo, which uses some fancy glowing effects.

At the point the host boot dies, Win 7 has put up the starting windows message, but no logo.

In the host event log I found an error event that occurred shortly after I installed VBox:

Faulting application name: VirtualBox.exe, version: 2.2.4.0, time stamp: 0x4a202184
Faulting module name: VBoxOGLrenderspu.dll_unloaded, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x4a202148
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000005023c98
Faulting process id: 0x75c
Faulting application start time: 0x01c9f81d83bea0fc
Faulting application path: D:\PROGRA~1\Sun\XVMVIR~1\VirtualBox.exe
Faulting module path: VBoxOGLrenderspu.dll

This event only happened once, not each time I try to boot.

Am I a pioneer on this guest/host combination?

[Perryg]

I doubt that OpenGL would stop it from booting the Win 7 at all. What I am confused about is you saying that the box will not allow you to have more than 4 gig of RAM. Do you know why?

Also have you looked at the bios yourself and seen that the hardware-V is there and that it is turned on?
The other suggestion I would give you is to set the guest memory to 1024 and see what happens. Will it load?

Also look at the last few links in this to see check your processor. http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic. ... 743#p70743

[TheOtherPhilC]

I doubt that OpenGL would stop it from booting the Win 7 at all. What I am confused about is you saying that the box will not allow you to have more than 4 gig of RAM. Do you know why?

The physical box was designed for 4 gigs max, which is what I installed. Two slots, two gigs per. Why? I guess the physical size of an x-box mobo does not permit acres of RAM slots.

Also have you looked at the bios yourself and seen that the hardware-V is there and that it is turned on?

Been there many times. It is ON. MS Virtual PC runs fine. (Except it wasn't designed to support 64 bit guests, which is why I am here instead)

The other suggestion I would give you is to set the guest memory to 1024 and see what happens. Will it load?

Identical results with 1024. I have tried a variety of other memory settings. Identical results at every setting. I seriously doubt RAM is the issue. It appears to be an instruction problem.

Also look at the last few links in this to see check your processor. http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic. ... 743#p70743

I don't need to check the processor. <g>

I built this box from barebones. I selected and installed the processor, RAM, and HD myself. I specifically chose the E8400 processor because it specifically supports VT. (And the VT feature definitely works with VirtualPC. I have run Win 7 RC 32-bit and it runs a variety of software cleanly. Virtual PC will not run without VT.)

Looking through the VBox log, VBox appears to recognize every nuance of the processor and chipset.

I don't understand this line in the log:

00:00:14.770 Guest Log: BIOS: int13_diskette: unsupported AH=41

I assume this is a virtual floppy provided by VBox, so I don't understand "unsupported". I have tried with the guest box floppy disabled and enabled. No difference. Probably a red herring. There is a good 2 seconds before the next message in the log.


The very next thing in the log is the "CPU0 instruction error 7" line which ends the boot. I have no idea what "instruction error 7" is. This is when Windows 7 is supposed to be putting up some fancy 3d graphics on the screen with its silly logo. (Why can't they at least wait until the OS is booted to try out graphics? Yeesh!) I am leaning heavily toward a belief that Windows is trying to do some graphics that VBox doesn't support on a 64 bit guest.

[Perryg]

Out of ammo my friend. I do not have Win 7RC installed as a host and probably will not until it is released. There could be a ton of reasons why this is not working but for me the cup is dry. Sorry!

[baf]

For verification try installing something else thats 64-bit say some linux. Just to see if that works.

[Sasquatch]

00:00:13.617 VERR_VMX_UNABLE_TO_START_VM: CPU0 instruction error 7
00:00:13.617 VERR_VMX_UNABLE_TO_START_VM: CPU0 exit reason 0

It appears that VB can't handle your CPU properly, or the Host can't. You say that VPC won't run without VT, but that's not true. MS would shoot themselves in the foot if they didn't allow non-VT processors to run the program. Checking their website, it seems that they did. I was thinking that maybe W7 didn't support VT-x passthrough yet. Obviously, it does, else VPC wouldn't work.

However, you want to run the 64 bit version inside a VM, while you run the 64 bit version as Host, with the maximum amount of RAM your system can work with, 4 GB. What is the advantage in doing that? You can't give the VM more than 4 GB anyway, so the whole point of 64 bit is gone. Is there a different reason why you need to run 64 bit as Guest, instead of just a 32 bit one? And to be safe, disable 3D, it doesn't do any good on Windows anyway, as it's all DX.

[TheOtherPhilC]

For verification try installing something else thats 64-bit say some linux. Just to see if that works.

Good idea. I D/L'ed Fedora 64 ISO image. It installed OK, and runs OK. The issue is with 64 bit Windows 7, not with anything on my machine.

[baf]

Ok then the answer unfortunately becomes. Win7 is just a release candidate and is not (officially) supported yet.

[TheOtherPhilC]

Ok then the answer unfortunately becomes. Win7 is just a release candidate and is not (officially) supported yet.

And, why would I be surprised that Sun's VM would run Linux OK? <g>

I was going to say: Possibly, there is some reason other than the stated Microsoft reason for not supporting a 64 bit virtual machine. (MS says the sole reason for VPC is to convince businesses to upgrade their XP or whatever to Win 7. VPC is a means to a very limited end, not something to make them the kings of virtualization. The old OSes run on 32 bits so that is all they support.) But, I recall reading that VMWare supports 64/64, 64/32, 32/64, etc..

you want to run the 64 bit version inside a VM, while you run the 64 bit version as Host, with the maximum amount of RAM your system can work with, 4 GB. What is the advantage in doing that? You can't give the VM more than 4 GB anyway, so the whole point of 64 bit is gone. Is there a different reason why you need to run 64 bit as Guest, instead of just a 32 bit one?

The "whole point" of virtual machines, my young friend, is to avoid spending tons of money on real machines to run various OS environments. There are reasons for needing various environments you probably have never thought of. In my case, the reason is software testing. Sure, I already have a real 64 bit windows system, but I need to test a certain software in a "clean" environment. Virtualization is a fantastic tool.

I think VMWare offers an eval version. I guess that is where I head next. Any port in a storm.

[baf]

Win7 will have support when it is released. So far no one really knows what it will be when released.
Also this happens for a lot of Linux distros while they are in beta. Is it smart for the developers to put a lot of effort into something that might be completely changed before it is released?

And remember most of us at this forum has nothing to do with sun. We just use their great product virtualbox and wants to help when others have problems, and learn a lot of new things ourselves.

[Sasquatch]

Have you tried without 3D yet? You didn't say you tried that yet, or not as clear. Still, the error I quoted about the CPU is troublesome. There is one thing you can try, and that is to install a dual boot with Linux and try Win7 on that in 64 bit mode. Or if you have it, Vista 64 bit with Win7 as VM.

[TheOtherPhilC]

Have you tried without 3D yet? You didn't say you tried that yet, or not as clear. Still, the error I quoted about the CPU is troublesome. There is one thing you can try, and that is to install a dual boot with Linux and try Win7 on that in 64 bit mode. Or if you have it, Vista 64 bit with Win7 as VM.

The guest default is 3D acceleration disabled. I have only tried it once with 3D acceleration enabled.

I have about run out of room on my HD for more partitions to multiboot from. Running Win-7 64 on Linux is possibly a good suggestion though. Another thing I haven't tried, but should have done yesterday, is boot the Win 7 32 ISO from a VBox. I just assumed...

[Sasquatch]

Well, you can try Linux with a LiveCD and install VB on that, but it might not work because of some missing packages. Hopefully, you can install them from the CD itself. It should be possible, as sometimes users need to build their own driver before they can access the internet.