virtualbox.org

I have been attempting to move a physical Server to a VM.
Configuration
Host DELL 2950 2 4 core XEONs running Unbuntu 14.04 LTS Headless with phpVirtualbox
I have a SBS 2008 running very well in a VM on this machine. on 2 cpus

I created a new VM with 8 gig memory, 4 cpus
Server is a 2008 Standard with SQL Server Workgroup installed and Terminal services. one dell print driver.
I did a bare metal (vm) restore into the vm. and had to change a couple of the ide drivers in the registry to get it to boot. it "seem" to run find but then began to BSOD randomly with a
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
bccode: a
Param 1: 1
Param 2: 2
Param 3: 1
Param 4: 018df134

Caused by ntoskrnl.exe


I worked and searched the internet and finally came to the realization that there must be some hardware differences between the physical and virtual that is causing the problem.

SO - I created another VM and installed 2008 Standard it it from scratch. Then installed SQL Server and restored the dbs into it. got ALL updates from microsoft and installed them. BUT I get the same BSOD with a shorter frequecy between each. I get it every 4-5 hours then 3 hours, 2 hours then every hour then every 30 min. It just degrades into oblivion.

I have moved the server back to the physical machine where it is rock solid and runs great. But I'd really like to figure this out and run it in a VM. But I'm stuck as to how to trouble shoot this.
Steps I have done.
Uninstalled windows server backup (solved a BSOD on another machine I did a P2V on)
compaired drivers between the SBS 2008 and SBS 2008 Standard and they all match (device manager most all were virutal box drivers)
compaired registry on all *ide, pci etc dirvers in between the two machines.
did a bare metal restore and an install from scratch.
Changed the number of CPUs & memory allocated.
searched the web extensively for the error codes. But most dealt with disk drivers or video drivers all of which are VBox drivers on a vm so doesn't apply. right? How do I find out what is ACTUALLY causing it?

I seem to recall the phpVirtualbox may not be supported here - Might be wrong, though.
One thing folks will ask for is a log - See viewtopic.php?f=24&t=48476
I also know there's a program Microsoft supplies to troubleshoot BSOD's - google "windbg".

Thanks for the feed back.

Ok so based on that

1) phpVirtualBox is irrelevant to the discussion so we can ignore it.

Config:
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS amd64
VirtualBox 4.3.26
Win 2008 Server Standard. 64bit
exententions installed
vbox logs attached.

There are others who could see much more in the logs than I can yet, but so far I see version 4.3.26 and correct extension pack, 32GB memory and 26GB available, guest requested its shut down.

Do any of the logs show a run of the guest that results in a BSOD?

no I dont' see anywhere that the vbox logs even mention the BSOD crashes. I have minidumps from windows if that would help.

If anything in Virtualbox is contributing to the BSODs, we might be able to see the cause if you let the guest run until it crashes, take a screenshot of the BSOD, close the guest, and then post the log and screenshot.

I have learned that sometimes the BSOD's idea of what caused the crash isn't always accurate, and using windbg can dig deeper. That would be something you'd have to pursue inside the guest with Microsoft. There is a Migrating Windows FAQ on the main Virtualbox site that might point out something that was missed, and someone here might be able to guide you on what to do after you find the real cause of the BSOD with windbg.

One other thing, you mentioned that you installed Server 2008 fresh in a guest and it BSODed too? Post a log and screenshot of that also, differentiating it in the title somehow.

VBox.log (2).log is the log files from the the clean install vm

these logs were all running while the BSOD occurs. The system auto restarts on BSOD and it did it 10 times when these logs were running. There is no event in the VBox logs that I can see.

windbg does not give me any more information than what is already listed. I've used bluescreenview as well and it all shows the same info. What I was hoping for was additional tips on how to actually determine what is causing the error other than ntoskrnl.exe because I can't really remove that now can it.

I see a lot of "Reset initiated by ACPI"s in that log (probably when the auto-restart is activated) but it's beyond me what's causing it. Maybe some other more knowledgeable gurus can help?

thanks for your help. I do use the ACPI shutdown command and that is logged. -