windows server 2008 aborted on heavy installation

[wassy83]

goodmorning,

System
host DEBIAN 7
guest WINDOWS SERVER 2008 x64 r2 updated
virtualbox running headless V 4.3.2
all extensions and addiction updated
VTx enabled on 2x XEON 4core 3GHz 5470 proccessor
3GB ram assigned
VDI is dinamically 250GB assigned

Problem:
every time I'm trying to install an heavy software about to 6.8GB after 10 minutes system will abort, no bsod only black screen and machine istantly aborted

Log is attached

many thanks

[loukingjr]

I don't know if there is a problem with hosts with multiple CPUs but there have been a few posts where guests abort apparently randomly. You might want to create a ticket on Bugtracker

[wassy83]

I have same version of virtualbox with same hardware and hosts/guest software and I don't have any problems.. but I will try with a ticket yhanks anyway

[loukingjr]

Welcome. And thanks for mentioning you have a multi-CPU host that's working. Of course I have trouble understanding how the two hosts could be identical including software seeing one works and one doesn't. Hardware problem on one perhaps?

[wassy83]

that hosts are for a client that have two different offices that are using same softwares, so this is why systems are identical, only difference is that
the fauty one has 2x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5160 @ 3.00GHz, 2 cores
the good one has 2x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5420 @ 2.50GHz, 4 cores

on the good one I have 3 guest "asterisk,server 2008, debian6LTS"
on the faulty one only guest is server 2008

cannot figure out. maybe this is related to the windows installation and not to virtualbox? motherboard chipset selected is pix3, maybe I will get any improvement if I will start a new installation of windows with ich chipset? I have tried everything

[loukingjr]

By any chance did you try running only one core on the faulty guest? My thinking is if you only had one 2 core CPU assigning both to a guest would be problematic. The good one has 4 cores and assigning two wouldn't be a problem. I'm speculating.

[wassy83]

I will try and post results tonight.. thank you

[wassy83]

Goodmorning, assigning one core fixed the instability.. but obviously performance is not that I was expecting.. it's frustrating that virtualbox have so a terrible incompatibility with multi phisical cpu... but at last I fixed the problem and today my client is working fine. thank you for your usefull suggestion..

[socratis]

it's frustrating that virtualbox have so a terrible incompatibility with multi phisical cpu

I wouldn't go that far to call it "an incompatibility with multiple CPUs", since a lot of users are using multiple-CPU guests (including myself; all of my guests have at least 2-CPUs). It is most probably something funky going on with your specific hardware, something that could be fixed if you file a bug report in the Bugtracker.

[wassy83]

thank you a created a ticket number #13764

[loukingjr]

it's frustrating that virtualbox have so a terrible incompatibility with multi phisical cpu

I wouldn't go that far to call it "an incompatibility with multiple CPUs", since a lot of users are using multiple-CPU guests (including myself; all of my guests have at least 2-CPUs). It is most probably something funky going on with your specific hardware, something that could be fixed if you file a bug report in the Bugtracker.

I think somewhere along the line people have gotten lost. The OP has two physical CPUs. 2 Xeon processors to be exact on both his machines. One has two 2 core Xeons and the other two 4 core Xeons. Socratis, unless you have nothing but Mac Pros the number of cores you assign to a guest isn't the issue. As I tried to explain I think what is happening is, even though the OP has 4 total cores, (split between two physical processors), it seems with 2 cores assigned, one CPU's cores are "filled" by guest and the second CPU is not utilized, or both CPUs are using 2 cores for the guest causing his problem. The fact switching to 1 core for the guest fixes his problem seems to bear this out.

[loukingjr]

Goodmorning, assigning one core fixed the instability.. but obviously performance is not that I was expecting.. it's frustrating that virtualbox have so a terrible incompatibility with multi phisical cpu... but at last I fixed the problem and today my client is working fine. thank you for your usefull suggestion..

I'm glad it resolved your problem. I'm not sure if it's a VirtualBox problem just yet. It might be how the guest OS handles multiple CPUs. Your second machine was working just fine.