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Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 3. Jul 2020, 09:20
by whatshisname
I'm trying to run an old game from like 2003 onto my Windows XP (SP3) OS because it can't run on my Windows 10 no matter how much I tweaked the settings. I've enabled 3D Acceleration but I just get this error: (Attached)

- Error
- Capture.PNG (9.95 KiB) Viewed 2061 times
and then it closes.
Here's some extra details:
1.) VirtualBox version: 6.1.10
2.) Host: Windows 10 // Guest: Windows XP (Service Pack 3)
3.) Guest additions installed.
4.) Hardware Virtualization is Enabled
I had also enabled VT-x/AMD-V but it still wouldnt work.
I appreciate any responses !
--
Also, I did not like the sign up page at all, why would I have to give out my address , real full name, job title and company to sign up for the forum? It's really unneccessary and violates privacy. No forums I've been on in the past had ever had a sign up page like that.
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 3. Jul 2020, 09:45
by mpack
VirtualBox no longer provides accelerated 3D graphics for XP guests. For that you'd have to go back to VirtualBox 6.0.x, choose the VBoxVGA graphics chip (not VBoxSVGA), and install the GAs with 3D acceleration in safe mode.
Or, run your game on Win7-32bit.
whatshisname wrote:
I had also enabled VT-x/AMD-V but it still wouldnt work.
Uh... no you didn't. VirtualBox 6.1.x has no such option. It does have an option for
nested VT-x/AMD-v, which allows you to run one VM inside another. It won't help with graphics problems in any way (neither would the old VT-x option for that matter).
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 3. Jul 2020, 10:52
by whatshisname
Thank you for your reply, I was referring to "Nested VT-x/AMD-v", I'll revert my virtualbox to 6.0 and I'll let you know what happens
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 3. Jul 2020, 11:05
by whatshisname
Direct 3D Experiemental.. or basic?
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 3. Jul 2020, 13:26
by mpack
The experimental driver usually gives more extensive support, so I'd go with that. Back up the VM before you do it if you aren't sure.
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 3. Jul 2020, 14:20
by whatshisname
mpack wrote:The experimental driver usually gives more extensive support, so I'd go with that. Back up the VM before you do it if you aren't sure.
I did this on both my Windows 7 and Windows XP OS but the error still occurs.
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 3. Jul 2020, 18:45
by scottgus1
In order to do this successfully for XP, you'd need to install Guest Additions in safe Mode.
That said, games don't work well in a Virtualbox guest. Virtualbox's video system was not designed to handle the stresses games put on video. You might need to boot XP natively, or if the game can use 7, then 7 will likely still work on more modern PCs and be usable for some more years.
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 4. Jul 2020, 05:06
by whatshisname
Just installed the 3D experimental thing on Safe mode in XP. Error still occurs, what is booting xp natively? I have tried to run it on Windows 7 but the error is the exact same. I should point out that the game came with a "checksys" file that tests the systems processor to see if its ok with running the game, two options come up and both of them fail to pass it.
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 6. Jul 2020, 08:17
by whatshisname
So nobody has a solution for this? The game is very very lightweight
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 6. Jul 2020, 09:20
by mpack
Please stop the verbatim quoting. Please use the quoting mechanism correctly (i.e. to highlight a specific point you want to address), or not at all. It would be a lot easier for me to simply delete your posts instead of having to edit them every time.
Provide a VM log file. With the VM fully shut down, right click it in the GUI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (no other file) to a zip file. Attach the zip here.
And you are saying the error is unchanged? The availability of hardware accelerated graphics made no difference? In that case, ultimately, you should be going to the game people or a game forum for support.
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 6. Jul 2020, 10:02
by multiOS
It might help if you said what 'the game' is as someone might then recognise it and it's hardware requirements. No guarantees as, as already been stated, virtualised environments are not best suited to either retro or modern-games playing because of the specific hardware requirements, i.e. games programmers of the late 1990s and early 2000s often bypassed the Windows operating system and addressed the PC's hardware directly to extract the best performance they could from the hardware of that era (and earlier), especially in the areas of graphics/motion and sound; and games software that may now look 'lightweight' may not have been so back then, or if you had an 'average' PC of that age.
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 11. Jul 2020, 02:50
by whatshisname
Okay, my posts were deleted
Re: Running old games on VirtualBox
Posted: 11. Jul 2020, 08:33
by mpack
Try again, this time don't ignore the requests about verbatim quoting.