Configuring the BIOS DMI information

std071708 · Post by **std071708** » 17. Jul 2008, 17:13

I would like to configure the BIOS DMI information for my Windows XP guest. THere are 4 items in the user manual under this topic that I am not sure what they correspond to in the output from dmidecode.
These are the following settings that are in question:

Code: Select all

VBoxManage setextradata "My VM" \
"VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSReleaseMajor" 1
VBoxManage setextradata "My VM" \
"VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSReleaseMinor" 2
VBoxManage setextradata "My VM" \
"VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSFirmwareMajor" 3
VBoxManage setextradata "My VM" \
"VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSFirmwareMinor" 4

Can anyone explain these 4 commands to me. Thanks

By the way, I have seen a couple of other posts relating to these commands but I don't know if they got it to work or not. I am trying to set this information so the vm will install XP or Vista from the original disks that came with the computer without having to activate. I saw a post that said additional information was needed in the BIOS settings for Vista.

Post by **TerryE** » 18. Jul 2008, 12:45

See the User Guide Sec 9.13

std071708 · Post by **std071708** » 18. Jul 2008, 18:10

The above lines were taken from the user manual section 9.13. I want to know what they correspond to in the output from dmidecode -t0 and/or dmidecode -t1

Post by **TerryE** » 19. Jul 2008, 03:41

Google for any DMI specification, but preferably one for your current M/B manuf. This came out 3rd my list and has the tables you need.

http://132.199.3.228/hardware/TECHDOK/BIOS_DMI_20.PDF

std071708 · Post by **std071708** » 20. Jul 2008, 23:37

I looked over the information in that link, thank you.

I also tried to do the commands. When I tried the first command it got the following errors:

[stdavis@Davis03 ~]$ sudo VBoxManage setextradata "NetAdmin" "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DMIBIOSVendor" "Phoenix Technologies LTD"
VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 1.6.2
(C) 2005-2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All rights reserved.

[!] FAILED calling virtualBox->FindMachine(Bstr(argv[0]), machine.asOutParam()) at line 6742!
[!] Primary RC = NS_ERROR_INVALID_ARG (0x80070057) - Invalid argument value
[!] Full error info present: true , basic error info present: true
[!] Result Code = NS_ERROR_INVALID_ARG (0x80070057) - Invalid argument value
[!] Text = Could not find a registered machine named 'NetAdmin'
[!] Component = VirtualBox, Interface: IVirtualBox, {2d3b9ea7-25f5-4f07-a8e1-7dd7e0dcf667}
[!] Callee = IVirtualBox, {2d3b9ea7-25f5-4f07-a8e1-7dd7e0dcf667}
[stdavis@Davis03 ~]$

Now when I used VBoxManage to change the Resolution capabilities in the Virtual Machines, that worked fine. One difference is that I set it globally and not for a specific vm. What is the reason for this output. The vm "NetAdmin" is created but no operating system has been installed into it yet. It is setup for a Windows XP install.

std071708 · Post by **std071708** » 24. Jul 2008, 17:50

Never mind I found that it was because I was running it using sudo.