Windows XP guest - Need help

[anair]

Hello,

I am new to VB. I am trying run Win XP as guest inside Sol x86 host. I am having issues to boot XP. Here is the VBox.log. Any help is appreciated. I used this command to create raw disk access.

VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename /.VirtualBox/HardDisks/xp.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/rdsk/c0d1p0 -register

I can boot natively into XP. XP is installed on a second drive and Solaris 10 x86 is on the primary drive. VB is installed on the global zone. XP is not generating any dump file when it crashes.

Please let me know if I need to provide additional information.

Thanks
Ashok

Here is the VBox.log

00:02:10.458 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=cbc00000 w=640 h=480 bpp=0 cbLine=0x140
00:02:23.203 RTC: stopped the periodic timer
00:02:23.204 Changing the VM state from 'RUNNING' to 'RESETTING'.
00:02:23.232 CPUMSetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled APIC
00:02:23.232 CPUMSetGuestCpuIdFeature: Disabled x2APIC
00:02:23.232 PIT: mode=3 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
00:02:23.240 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: finished processing RESET
00:02:23.240 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: finished processing RESET
00:02:23.240 Changing the VM state from 'RESETTING' to 'RUNNING'.
00:02:23.248 Guest Log: BIOS: VirtualBox 3.1.0
00:02:23.248 PIT: mode=2 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
00:02:23.330 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: RESET, DevSel=0 AIOIf=0 CmdIf0=0x30 (-1 usec ago) CmdIf1=0x00 (-1 usec ago)
00:02:23.331 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#0: finished processing RESET
00:02:23.334 Guest Log: BIOS: ata0-0: PCHS=16383/16/63 LCHS=1024/255/63
00:02:23.336 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: RESET, DevSel=0 AIOIf=0 CmdIf0=0xa1 (-1 usec ago) CmdIf1=0x00 (-1 usec ago)
00:02:23.336 PIIX3 ATA: Ctl#1: finished processing RESET
00:02:23.337 PIT: mode=2 count=0x48d3 (18643) - 64.00 Hz (ch=0)
00:02:23.357 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=cbc00000 w=640 h=480 bpp=32 cbLine=0xA00
00:02:25.827 Display::handleDisplayResize(): uScreenId = 0, pvVRAM=00000000 w=720 h=400 bpp=0 cbLine=0x0
00:02:25.834 PIT: mode=2 count=0x10000 (65536) - 18.20 Hz (ch=0)
00:02:25.850 Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from Hard Disk...
00:02:26.302 Guest Log: BIOS: int13_harddisk: function 15, unmapped device for ELDL=81
00:02:33.454 Changing the VM state from 'RUNNING' to 'SUSPENDING'.
00:02:33.456 Changing the VM state from 'SUSPENDING' to 'SUSPENDED'.
00:02:34.596 Console::powerDown(): A request to power off the VM has been issued (mMachineState=Stopping, InUninit=0)
00:02:34.596 Changing the VM state from 'SUSPENDED' to 'POWERING_OFF'.
00:02:34.596 ****************** Guest state at power off ******************

[mpack]

By accessing a raw partition you have effectively migrated that partition from physical to virtual hardware, and all the usual Windows P2V / migration problems will apply (including the one you have discovered). Google for "migrate", "MergeIDE" and P2V using site: virtualbox.org.

Incidentally, it isn't clear to me whether you host has simultaneous access to the same XP filesystem, e.g. with an NTFS driver - that would be a very bad idea. In adapting the XP installation to a virtual environment you need to be very careful not to trash the native boot profile. Check out Howto: Windows XP in both VM and native.

[anair]

Thanks for your reposse. I did ran MergeIDE inside XP. I will google more and see if there is help. BTW, I am not using NTFS driver. Is there anything from VBox.log that stands out as a configuration issue?

It is not a new install, but a migration of an existing XP install.

Thanks
Ashok

[mpack]

Is there anything from VBox.log that stands out as a configuration issue?

Well, yes there is, which is the line "Guest Log: BIOS: int13_harddisk: function 15, unmapped device for ELDL=81", which seems to imply that the VM BIOS doesn't like how the disk is addressed by the MBR (first sector of the disk, containing early boot code and the partition table).

Reading between the lines, I suspect that XP is installed on a second hard drive in your host, hence it's addressed as "hard drive 1" in the MBR (0x81, where 0x80 would mean "hard drive 0"). However your VM only knows about one hard drive, so it expects to see 0x80 used to select that drive. This is all guesswork - without being able to view the sectors on your hard disk there is no way I can be sure about any of this.

One thing you could possibly do is create a new uninitialized and unformatted virtual drive, attach that as the first drive in your VM. Make the VMDK drive the second drive in the VM, that might resolve the issue. Btw, I have never tried booting a VBox VM from a second hard drive, so I don't know that this will work.

[anair]

Thanks.I'll try your suggestion. One additional bit of information I want to add is that when XP is booting up it gets to a stage where it shows the Windows logo and then it dies. Frustrating part is where Windows has no logs or crash dumps to indicate why it died.

Thanks
Ashok

[mpack]

Can you confirm that XP is installed on a second physical drive on your host? That would reduce some of the guesswork I'm having to do.

[anair]

Yes. XP is installed on the second drive.

[MarkCranness]

"Guest Log: BIOS: int13_harddisk: function 15, unmapped device for ELDL=81"

I think that's harmless. I have similar in my logs every time I boot (but with ELDL=82).

I think it only means that there is not a second hard disk present in the VM (80 will be the first disk, 81 will be a second disk, 82 = third etc).
I have two virtual disks attached, (80 & 81?) so get an error when the BIOS checks for a third.

Have you enabled IO APIC for the VM? (Settings>System>Motherboard)

[anair]

Thanks Mark. I tried with both settings. When not enabled when I try to start XP I get a black screen and nothing happens from that point, When enabled XP tries to start with the horizontal bar at the bottom completing and the Windows XP logo come on after a while it crashes. When it crashes there is not enough time to even see what the blue screen says, immediately everything flips back to XP boot options. I would have been useful if blue screen information given by XP is captured somewhere in VB.

Ashok

[MarkCranness]

Often bluescreen info is captured in Windows, particularly if the screen doesn't stay.

If you can somehow access the XP VM's disk drive, using a Linux Live CD ISO for example, or a BartPE/UBCD4WIN ISO, then look in C:\Windows\Minidump\ folder for a file with a recent date and that minidump file might help diagnose the problem (or not...)

Maybe try turning VT-x/AMD-V off? (Settings>System>Acceleration)

[mpack]

I tried with both settings. When not enabled when I try to start XP I get a black screen and nothing happens from that point, When enabled XP tries to start with the horizontal bar at the bottom completing and the Windows XP logo come on after a while it crashes. When it crashes there is not enough time to even see what the blue screen says, immediately everything flips back to XP boot options.

Boot up your native XP installation, go into "My Computer | Properties | Advanced tab", click the "Startup and Recovery" Settings button and in the System Failure panel of the next dialog, uncheck the "Automatically restart" checkbox. Apply etc all the way out again. Now when there's a crash the blue screen should stick around long enough for you to read it.

Have you read that "Howto" yet? I suspect the solution to your problem will involve making changes to your hardware profile - in which case it will then be correctly configured for the VM, it may or may not still work for the native boot.

[anair]

I was able to get a screen capture. i have attached it.

I have read many documents, I am not sure which "how to" you are referring to, if you give me a pointer I can read it again. I will search for hardware profiles in this forum and see if that gives me any docs.

Mark: I can boot into XP directly with no issues. When I search for minidumps, I don't see any. XP is configured to do minidumps.
I am currently running with turning VT-x/AMD-V off. I read that Xeon processor that I am running does not support Intel Virtualizatiion features. Even when it was on result was same.

Ashok

[mpack]

I am not sure which "how to" you are referring to, if you give me a pointer I can read it again.

Read my first reply (2nd message in this thread) again - the link is there.

[anair]

OK. Thanks. Will do.