Kernel 2.4 Mandriva

[carlosmscabral]

Hello there,

I would like to know your experiences with legacy 2.4 Linux kernel. I'm currently studying a possible solution to virtualize a legacy system using a version of Mandriva with the kernel 2.4, and I would like to know how is VirtualBox handling a case like mine.

Thanks!

[fixedwheel]

how is VirtualBox handling a case like mine.

Generally, all 2.4 and 2.6 kernels work; however, we recommend 2.6.13 or above for better performance. Kernels 2.6.18 to 2.6.18.2 contain a race condition (which was unfortunately backported to the Ubuntu 6.06 Server and 6.10 kernels) that can cause boot crashes in virtual machines.

IMO the remark "recommend 2.6.13 or above" is missing a "for the 2.6 series" as there was a change in the hardcoded timer interrupt frequency from 100Hz in 2.4 to 1000Hz in 2.6, and with later 2.6 the timer interrupt could be configuered at kernel compile and most distributions except the Red Hat family defaulted for 250Hz.
The 1000Hz timer interrupt rate results in high CPU load on the host, 250Hz guest kernel is ok and 100Hz even better ... anyway, your 100Hz 2.4 kernel will not give such a problem to the host

for the guest additions i dont know, try and report here please but its optional if you dont need its features

[Technologov]

There is only one 2.4 kernel-based Linux distro that is *fully* supported by VirtualBox: RHEL 3.9

It has all the goodies: guest additions, dynamic resolutions, seamless mode, virtIO drivers, ... (expect OpenGL)

Mandrake should work too, but not sure about Guest Additions.