Server 2003 hangs at boot - acpitabl.dat

[pmprogrammer]

This W2K3 server is part of a 'legacy' system being preserved 'as-is':
-- Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition SP2
---- 564 MB RAM (yes MB)
---- 32bit
---- Intel Xeon CPU E5-2690 0 @ 2.90GHz
---- Physical Address Extension

-- was P2V'd circa 2010 to VMWare

-- was migrated to HyperV 2015

-- now migrating it from a HyperV vm to VirtualBox (Version 5.0.30r112061)
---- Virtualbox is running on a HyperV VM host (see Host info below)
---- used vboxmanage to clonehd from .vhdx to .vdi

When booting, option for OS to start shows - choices are:
-- Windows Server 2003, Enterprise
-- Microsoft Windows Recovery Console

Then Hardware Profile 1 or 2 is presented. After choosing Windows Server 2003 above, then choosing either Profile 1 or 2, server hangs at completion of the white-on-black progress bar.

When attempting to boot in safe mode, last driver to show before hang is 'multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows\system32\acpitabl.dat'.

VirtualBox Host is a HyperV VM - Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard
-- 16GB RAM
-- 64bit
-- Intel Xeon CPU E5-2690 0 @ 2.90GHz
Which is running on a HyperV Host - (Manager version 6.3.9600.16384) - Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
-- 192GB RAM
-- 64bit
-- Intel Xeon CPU E5-2690 - @ 2.90GHz (2 processors)

Appreciate any assistance getting this server to boot.

Zipped logs attached.

Thanks.

[scottgus1]

Couple of things that I see might be a problem.

Choosing pre-existing hardware profiles might not work because the hardware the profiles is setting the computer up for doesn't exist anymore, and the OS has new hardware.

I am not certain how VMware and Hyper-v work. But all the hardware Virtualbox presents to the guest, except the physical CPU itself, is simulated. Motherboard, controllers, etc., all virtual. Switching hypervisors is like taking the drive out of one physical computer and putting it into another computer. All the hardware is new, and the OS will have to recalculate itself.

Your Server 2003 was P2V'd to VMware, that's one hardware change. Then from VMware to Hyper-V, that's the second hardware change. Now Hyper-V to Virtualbox is the third hardware change for this OS. Likely the pre-existing hardware configurations are for previous hardware. You need to set up a third for Virtualbox's hardware.

Server 2003 is XP with server add-ons (or is it the other way round - XP is 2003 without the server stuff?) So this may help: Migrate existing Windows installations to VirtualBox XP is known to have issues if the drive controller changes. maybe 2003 does too?

Further, it appears from this:

VirtualBox Host is a HyperV VM...Which is running on a HyperV Host

that you are running "nested virtualization": physical machine -> hyper-V guest -> Virtualbox guest. Virtualbox was not designed to run like this in another hypervisor's guest, so things may not work and if they don't the forums and developers wouldn't know where to start to fix it. Nested virtualization is not supported. With this configuration you'd be on your own if problems come up.

Third, Hyper-V hogs VT-x and doesn't share with the other children, so if you run Virtualbox on a Hyper-V-enabled host OS, Virtualbox will not be able to present VT-x to the Virtualbox guest, so only 32-bit OS's Windows 8.0 or earlier (not 8.1 or 10; unsure about Linux needs) less than 4GB memory and only one virtual CPU. And slow. If you're set on running your posted configuration, make sure the Server 2012 Standard Hyper-v-guest-Virtualbox-host has Hyper-V turned off and rebooted.

[pmprogrammer]

Appreciate you taking the time to look this over. I'll do some homework on it and post answers.

Paul