Help a noob on Vista

[Sup3rkirby]

Alright, well Vista has be claimed to be optimized for virtualization and such. With its various compatibility modes and MS VirtualPC out, it would seem that they are on the right path.

But I seem to be having some trouble here.

I'll start with what I think my problem is. I'm trying to install Linux as a virtual OS. I believe it is the version of Linux I am downloading and not any of my settings or set up(pc wise). So could someone tell me what would be the best version to download. I'm using DSL as my test OS so I can figure out what type of Linux download I need.

I have an AMD Turion 64 X2 processor(which is 64-bit), and an ATI Radeon x1250 graphics card. 2 GB of RAM(approx. 1.75 available). I'm running Windows Vista(the 32-bit version however).

So I think that the type of linux iso I'm getting might be wrong. This is my first time ever trying to run linux on a vista pc or any pc with dual core. I had an amd athlon 64 3400+ processor on my old pc and I ran all my linux cd/dvds on there just fine. I also ran VirtualPC and VirtualBox smoothly too.

I tried booting my PC with my Sabayon Linux PE dvd and it doesn't work. So it would explain why it doesn't work when running it under a virtual pc. I just didn't think the OS would make any difference and I'm still using a 64-bit processor with a 32-bit os. the only difference is the fact that i'm on a dual core processor now. also i'm curious about my graphics card. VirtualPC gave me an error message about switching between full screen because of my graphics card. I updated the drivers and directX. Still no results.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[theNURSE]

Hi Sup3rkirby, Yep, Vista has been tweeked and you have a good machine to run it on. Even though your machine is 64 bit, try and run the 32 in VirtualBox (vb). Best to start with something popular like ubuntu or kubuntu (I like the kde interface and had no problem installing it so I use kubuntu, had some problems with ubuntu)

Sounds like your problem is in selecting the linux os not with windows host. Let us know what problems you might have using k-ubuntu. You can also check section 1.3.2 of the manual for "approved" guest linux versions.

There was something else about x64 but can't remember now. Sure someone else will. Don't think VB supports x64 guests yet.

[Sup3rkirby]

thank you, theNURSE.

Actually I'm really curious and confused right now. I have a new PC and a new laptop. Both AMD 64 dual cores and they both have the same graphics card. But for whatever reason I just tried feather linux on my PC and it worked flawlessly. I will have to get my laptop back and try feather on it as well, but it seems that none of my linux distros worked with my laptop. Even if I booted the laptop from the disc it would freeze up. When I try to boot the disc in a virtual machine i'd get the BSOD(blue screen of death). Not sure what is going on but I'm beginning to think there is some simple/minor setting I need to find for my laptop. Whether it is an update or something I need to change, there is a reason for linux not running on my laptop.

[theNURSE]

Hi S3k, Well, keep trying, will check myself. Maybe check with the manuf. site. Good luck and keep us posted!!

Sure some of the controler cards are different, some chip sets also, but have found very few that won't run some form of Linux.

Any other ideas from anyone else on this?

[Sup3rkirby]

ahhh.... now that I have my laptop back I'm really confused. I did notice that I could pretty much run any linux distro on my PC, but nothing is working on my laptop. I know I've sometimes had trouble with installing some linux distros under a virtual pc, but i can't even get one to run on my laptop.

Both my PC and laptop are Acer. Same processor and same graphics card. Not sure about the motherboards. I know they obviously aren't the same, but I would guess two computers by the same company released at about the same time with the same specs would have motherboards with similar capabilities.

So yea...

Sabayon - No
Ubunutu - No
DSL - No

Those are the three i tried on my laptop. I tried several more on my PC and they all at least ran. I got Ubuntu to install. DSL had trouble actually writing to the HDD(virtual)(something with the bootloader). But still, my PC has had virtually no problems running any version of linux(Ubuntu(Kubuntu), Sabayon(PE and Mini), DSL, Feather, Berry, Mandriva, and maybe a few more).

So.... something is up with my laptop here. I tried using the 'Enable VT-x/AMD-v' option but that changes nothing. Even with all the same settings I get problems.



If this helps:
When I run any disc, I will get to the start menu(i'll use Ubuntu as an example). Then I choose to 'Start or Install Ubuntu'. I've also tried it in safe graphics mode.
Then once it leaves this screen my resolution seems to get a bit funny and VirtualBox goes full screen. At this point my screen remains black and I might occasionally see my mouse, usually the loading/busy cursor for a few seconds at a time. But essentially at this point my laptop is frozen.
I can try to alt+ctrl+del but my laptop is running incredibly slow at this point(64 bit dual core AMD with 2GB RAM??!?) so I can move my mouse and wait about 30 seconds for the screen to refresh so I can see where my cursor moved.
So I can't really get to my task manager to close VirtualBox.
So then a few seconds later I get the BSOD and a memory dump, then my computer restarts and of course I am told it was not properly shut down, but I run Windows as normal and everything works normally.

[J2R]

I'm getting exactly the same problem on my HP6715B laptop, which has the spec you mentioned. When booting a Linux live CD, at some point the screen goes black with the occasional flash of a mouse pointer. It is completely unresponsive to the Ctrl-ALt-Del, I suspect because some process (VirtualBox.exe?) is taking 100% of the CPU. I need a hard reset to get my machine back. I managed to install Kubuntu Gutsy after a while, and it's running extremely well, but other distros are tripping up in the install. I'm wondering whether it is some conflict between VirtualBox and the ATI Radeon X1250 display driver.

Any feedback from Innotek would be most welcome.

[J2R]

Just to confirm that this is specific to VirtualBox - I tried the various Linux distros out with VMWare on the same machine without the problem occurring.

[Joerg78]

I have exactly the same problems as Sup3rkirby and J2R with the same machine (3GB RAM); catalyst driver version 9.3.

Host: Vista Business SP1

Windows XP SP2 as guest: No problem
Ubuntu 7.10: Crash (as described in the postings above)
Kubuntu 8.04: The same as with Ubuntu 7.10

It makes no difference if "VT-x/AMD-v" is enabled or disabled.

Crash (black screen, then blue screen ) occurs at least with virtualbox 1.56 and 1.60.

regards,
Joerg

[Ivy]

I have a HP HDX with Vista Ultimate as a host and with guests:
XP pro SP3 on Virtualbox 1.6.0 (512 MB RAM)
Ubuntu 8 on Virtualbox 1.6.0 (512 MB RAM)
Both with Guest Additions
All working fine, Vista, Ubuntu XP at the same time.
Now I am trying Solaris 10...
Ciao,
Ivy

[ElGrunon]

Same here (crash and BSOD)...

HP Compaq 6715s
AMD Turion 64 X2 T-58
ATI Radeon X1250 (Catalyst v8.476)
2 GB RAM

I also started a new topic on this without knowing that this one already existed. Sorry. Here's the link:

http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=6150

[J2R]

An update on this...I tried 1.6.0 on my Vista host and was unable to start my Kubuntu 7.10 VM (which I have been using under 1.5.6). If AMD-V was unchecked, nothing would happen on booting up - it would just hang there, saying 'Running' but just showing a black screen. With AMD-V checked, it would begin the startup procedure and then quickly go to the same problem as reported above, the entire screen going black apart from an occasional flashing mouse pointer, and completely unresponsive to any input, requiring a hard reset of the computer.

I have had to revert to 1.5.6 as a result, which is disappointing.