Problems with nt 3.1

edited December 2016 in Software
I was just wondering, does anybody have an windows nt 3.1 setup that works (preferably made in virtualbox). i'm getting tired of running into so many errors.

Comments

  • Everytime i boot up the computer, it crashes with a blue screen
    inaccessable_boot_device
  • It will not be so helpful without screenshot or description of your virtualbox environment.
    I recommend to contact on forum of virtualbox.

    https://forums.virtualbox.org/
  • Make sure you're using a compatible disk controller (with the right drivers) for your vm. IDE and SCSI should be fine.
  • ubuntuxp wrote:
    Make sure you're using a compatible disk controller (with the right drivers) for your vm. IDE and SCSI should be fine.

    I think we are past that point. Setting up the CD-ROM as a BusLogic SCSI, and 2 GB IDE hard disk works fine for installation as I just tried it myself now. On the login screen all appears fine including after entering your user password. The kernel grinds to a halt though about the time PROGMAN.EXE is loaded into memory, just like Nathan's screenshot.

    I haven't tried yet, but I'm going to look at the EAX register value as stated in the OS/2 Museum blog.

    It's actually my first to attempt to install NT 3.1 in VirtualBox, so I'm learning as well. Normally I only bother with NT 3.51.
  • Yeah, NT 3.1 can't use ATAPI CD-ROMs, meaning you need to provide it an ATAPI driver, or better yet, attach the CD drive to SCSI instead. VMware and VirtualBox should emulate a compatible adapter.

    With 3.1, you also need to modify the setup files to make it not care about CPU, or set advanced options in VirtualBox/QEMU to force a CPUID of an original Pentium.
  • still doesn't work even if i force the cpuid to act like an original pentium
  • I've been playing around with this today, and some of the YouTube videos don't explain the kernel crash experienced. I was beginning to think this may have something to do with the version of VirtualBox used.

    I installed as normal and when it asked to remove the floppy disk and restart, I instead booted up a DOS floppy and edited SETUP.INF, INITIAL.INF, and NCPASHEL.INF before continuing with the GUI portion of Setup. All files had the the following:
    STF_PROCESSOR = "" ? $(!LIBHANDLE) GetProcessor
    
    I then replaced in all 3 files to:
    STF_PROCESSOR = "" ? $(ProcessorID_I586)
    

    I was still getting issues with NTOSKRNL.EXE crashing after logging in using VirtualBox 5.1.10. I then downloaded VirtualBox 4.3.40 and installed that in a separate location without replacing the network components from the newer version. Interestingly enough, this made NT 3.1 just work. I didn't get any success adjusting the CPUID using the vboxmanage command with 5.1.10.

    I guess this brings the question as to what changed with version 5?

    winnt31_tpman.png
  • I've discovered that VirtualBox 5.0.30 appears to be the latest where the kernel doesn't crash on startup. As soon as you upgrade to 5.1.x then the crashes reappear. Viewing the change log at a guess I'm thinking maybe it's got to do with the APIC implementation that was introduced.
  • As of virtualbox 5.1.2 it works ~85% of the time.
  • My only comment is that I used NT 3.1 as soon as it showed up back in the day. It was always rock solid on compatible hardware. Truly an amazing OS in my book.
  • As of virtualbox 5.1.2 it works ~85% of the time.

    May I ask what you did for it to work? I just went up to 5.1.2 and NT died again without changing anything else like it did before.

    Mine's set up as:
    VT-x/AMD-V disabled - single processor
    1GB IDE HDD (PIIX4 as type)
    32 MB RAM
    SCSI with CD-ROM (BusLogic as type)
    Floppy
    SoundBlaster 16
    Bridged Networking enabled (PC-Net Fast III as type)
    Serial and USB ports disabled
  • @thinkpadman said:
    Nathan22587 wrote:

    As of virtualbox 5.1.2 it works ~85% of the time.


    May I ask what you did for it to work? I just went up to 5.1.2 and NT died again without changing anything else like it did before.

    Mine's set up as:
    VT-x/AMD-V disabled - single processor
    1GB IDE HDD (PIIX4 as type)
    32 MB RAM
    SCSI with CD-ROM (BusLogic as type)
    Floppy
    SoundBlaster 16
    Bridged Networking enabled (PC-Net Fast III as type)
    Serial and USB ports disabled

    Sorry I never responded, The VM (And the computer that ran it) are long gone now, I think the setup was:

    VT-x disabled
    500MB SCSI HDD
    16 MB RAM
    SCSI CD-ROM, BusLogic
    Floppy
    SB16
    No network
    Serial enabled (used modem emulator to telnet bbses)
    USB disabled

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