Questions I cant find answers for

[PinkPanther]

Two Questions.....

Is there any way I can save everything that comes up on the console. EG - Installing OS/2 is giving error messages but they scroll off the screen too fast to read.

I have set up a shared folder C:\transfer.transfer and enter the details in the settings but I do not understand how I can get at it.

I am a retired Systems Programmer more used to IBM's VM/370 but this looks like a great piece of software, and it is free !

Thanks, Andy

[mpack]

You say "E.G. - Installing OS/2". Do all your questions relate to OS/2, or is that just an example?

On the first question: only if OS/2 itself keeps an error log, or if you can redirect the output to a text file. VirtualBox itself is a hardware simulator, it doesn't know what guest error messages are.

On the second question. The details of how you access a shared folder depend on the guest. To use simple shared folders you have to install Guest Additions (GAs). In the case of OS/2 the GAs are somewhat cut down, and do not support simple shared folders. That leaves only a true network share with the host as a possibility, using host only or bridged networking. You would have to Google for OS/2 networking tips e.g. setting up shared folders with a Windows host.

[PinkPanther]

On the first question - I assume that there is no way of trapping what is sent to the screen? In VM/370 you can set it so every line is sent to a virtual printer and then log at that

On the second - I was trying to get a shared disk space with XP Pro. If I have to I suppose I can put the data on an a DVD and attach it to the XP Pro system.

Thanks for such a fast response, Andy

[mpack]

I'm sure the IBM 370 used text terminals, ASCII or EBCDIC, for which redirecting the text stream would be a simple matter. In VirtualBox the simulated display hardware is graphical - there is no text stream reaching the hardware level.

On the second question: if you had an XP guest then accessing a shared host folder would be trivial. OS/2 is not as popular hence not as well supported. Packing data into ISO files (image of data CD/DVD) is always possible as a way to get data into a VM, as is a floppy image of course. Of course it requires that your guest OS have generic drivers to support a CD/DVD drive.

You should get into the habit of thinking of the VM as a separate PC, that way you'll be less likely to assume that popping a disk into the hosts DVD drive is something you would want to do (it's possible, if you configure the VM right, it just IMHO isn't the best way - which is to pop the DVD into the guests drive!).

[PinkPanther]

IBM VM did use graphic terminals as well as text only for the master consule. Thats the operating system I did most work on. I do understand the difference between real and virtual but I suppose I was trying to copy how it worked on VM to Virtual box.

I now have the five systems I want so it is easier to test.

Many thanks for your help, Andy gm1mqe