Windows NT 4

[Quarmy]

Hi,
I would like to migrate an old NT 4 server to VirtualBox. I have tried using the VMWare converter which does a great job but when I try and run the vmdk file in VirtualBox I get missing OS error?? IN VMware workstation it works fine. The old NT server has SCSI drives in it

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

[michaln]

The devil's in the details, and I don't see any details here. What's the SCSI HBA on the physical system? What storage controller is used in the VMware VM? What storage controller is used in the VirtualBox VM? What size disks? Attached how? What logical geometry?

[Quarmy]

It is an IBM Server with SCSI Adapter IBM Netfinity ServerRAID 4M/4L Controller. I have tried the BusLogic controller in VB but still get Missing Operating System

The VMWare vmx file I have put below

.encoding = "windows-1252"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "6"
memsize = "1024"
MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"
MemTrimRate = "-1"
displayName = "Windows_NT_SERVER"
guestOS = "winnt"
floppy0.present = "TRUE"
floppy0.fileName = "A:"
floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"
usb.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
ethernet0.connectionType = "bridged"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows_NT_SERVER.vmdk"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
tools.upgrade.policy = "useGlobal"
ehci.present = "TRUE"
ide0:0.present = "TRUE"
ide0:0.autodetect = "TRUE"
ide0:0.filename = "auto detect"
ide0:0.deviceType = "atapi-cdrom"
ide0:1.present = "TRUE"
ide0:1.autodetect = "TRUE"
ide0:1.filename = "auto detect"
ide0:1.deviceType = "atapi-cdrom"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "buslogic"
buslogic.noDriver = "FALSE"
extendedConfigFile = "Windows_NT_SERVER.vmxf"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
uuid.bios = "56 4d 86 f6 b0 99 76 09-a3 7f a6 00 51 45 a3 e7"
uuid.location = "56 4d 86 f6 b0 99 76 09-a3 7f a6 00 51 45 a3 e7"
replay.supported = "FALSE"
replay.filename = ""
scsi0:0.redo = ""
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "32"
ehci.pciSlotNumber = "33"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0C:29:45:A3:E7"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "16777216"
cleanShutdown = "TRUE"
softPowerOff = "FALSE"
usb:1.speed = "2"
checkpoint.vmState = ""
ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
ide0:1.startConnected = "TRUE"
unity.wasCapable = "FALSE"
tools.remindInstall = "TRUE"
toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "3"

Thanks

[michaln]

Sorry, the content of VMware .vmx files means nothing to me.

Let me ask differently -- in the functioning VMware VM, what is the boot disk and how big is it? Do you know what its logical geometry is?

The problem is most likely caused by changing geometry of a disk. It may be fixable by editing the partition table.

If you can provide an .ova of the functioning VMware VM, we may be able to take a look at it, as at least in theory VirtualBox should be able to run such VMs.

[Quarmy]

Hi,
The logical view is
c - 2GB
m - 10GB
u - 21.8GB

TOTAL 34.7GB (NTFS)

I will provide an .ova file for you as I am just exporting it now

Thanks

[michaln]

Great.

The physical disk size is probably what matters... the thing is that for "big" disks (about 8GB and up), there's usually just one logical geometry, regardless of the actual disk size. For smaller disks, there are several ways to do things, and what's worse, with SCSI drives it's entirely up to the controller's BIOS how the logical geometry is created. In reality, SCSI drives have no geometry and never had, just logical block addressing, but for the sake of the PC, the controller needs to make something up. The geometry is then reflected in the disk's partition table, and if the disk is moved to another HBA with a different BIOS, bad things can happen. It's a mess, really

[Quarmy]

I have created the .ova but it is around 16GB so how do you want me to get it to you?

Thanks

[michaln]

I have created the .ova but it is around 16GB so how do you want me to get it to you?

Sadly, I've been informed that we no longer have a server where users could upload large files. Do you have anywhere to host the file? Possibly Dropbox or similar services? If not, I'll think of something...

[Quarmy]

I will upload it to sugarsync

What is you email address so I can send you the link?

Thanks

[Quarmy]

Or I could put a link on here?

[mpack]

I would not recommend putting up a public link. I would have thought a PM would suit.

[michaln]

What mpack said.

[michaln]

And you received my PM, right? (Just making sure.)

[michaln]

Just for the record... yes, the problem is indeed caused by a geometry mismatch. The disk contents assume 254/63 heads/sectors, but VirtualBox uses 255/63. The NT boot loader cannot cope with that because it does not initially use the INT 13h extensions (and hence LBA).

Why the disk uses 254/63 instead of the more common 255/63 geometry is another question.

Incidentally, does anyone know of a utility that can automatically fix the partition table(s) and boot sector(s) to adjust to a different logical geometry?

[mpack]

Incidentally, does anyone know of a utility that can automatically fix the partition table(s) and boot sector(s) to adjust to a different logical geometry?

It might be worth giving CloneVDI a run at it. If you increase the disk size to something over 8GB then CloneVDI should do all the relevant patches to the MBR and boot sector, especially if you also tick the "Resize partition" box. Of course I don't know if NT4 will be happy with a ~10GB disk, the function is only tested with XP and later.