virtualbox.org

Hi,

I wanted to try windows 3.1 to see how 'bad' it is , but when i started it it says: no ip pcnet32 timed out on transmit.
No Ip.No IP.No IP
No Server found.
FATAL: Could not read from the boot medium! System Halted:?:
i didn't know what is means, so please, can anyone help me?

matthijsv98

Minimal information needed for assistance
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=48476

Windows 3.1 ran on top of DOS. You would need to install DOS with CD support before you could read the 3.1 installation disk.

BillG wrote:Windows 3.1 ran on top of DOS. You would need to install DOS with CD support before you could read the 3.1 installation disk.

My Win 3.1 setup disks aren't on CD, they're on floppy. DOS does of course have to be installed first tho, given that Windows in this era was not an OS by any definition, it was just an secondary installable GUI for DOS.

The OP seems to be attempting to do something over a network - though what it is I have no idea.

mpack wrote:The OP seems to be attempting to do something over a network - though what it is I have no idea.

The OP probably doesn't either...

These "No IP" messages have come before the VM attempts to boot from a disc (whether floppy, CD or HD). They must have been generated by the VB quasi-BIOS (if I can call it that).

It looks like the machine has first attempted to boot from a (disconnected) network, then when this has failed it has attempted another boot, this time from a non-bootable disc.

Have you actually managed to install Windows 3.1 (which you have to do by running the setup.exe program from DOS), or are you getting these messages from an empty VM?

I haven't found any problems installing Windows 3.1 (or 3.11) under VirtualBox, though the process is rather fiddly (because I have floppy disk images for both DOS and Windows, and you keep having to change floppy disks. There are no Guest Additions so you have to release the mouse each time to do it (or something equivalent)).

In my setup they run perfectly well, except that the mouse is very difficult to control and the pointer keeps jumping about.

Yes, he must have enabled "Network boot" on the boot order panel - this is disabled by default. Perhaps he thought that "network boot" might somehow access those operating system ISOs that obviously weren't part of the install?

Sorry Matthijsv98: all operating installs start from a setup ISO, which are always either non-free or too bulky to bundle - or both. There are some time limited demo/test editions of some Microsoft products available for download - and of course Linux is freely available as both an ISO (setup CD/DVD) or a pre-cooked virtual HD image.