Since Microsoft made Virtual PC free, I've got myself a nice long list of different versions of Windows running under XP (for no particular reason of course, just like virtually everyone else sad enough to do it). They all work flawlessly and at reasonable speed - even Vista runs at a useable speed after VPC additions are installed. I've recently started (or rather, would like to start) dabbling in Linux. I've tried Ubuntu, Mandriva, Debian, NetBSD and Damn Small Linux. Problem is, with the exception of NetBSD (which has a text based installer) I can't get any of them to work - either the installer doesn't start properly, or it crashes partway through, or the install completes but the system never succesfully boots. Live CDs that should theoretically boot straight to a working desktop don't work either. The bits of the installer that do run suffer from abysmal performance (images that fade in taking an age to do so etc)
The sole system I can get to work, NetBSD, will only work as long as the screen remains in text mode. So it seems that there is a problem with the screen being in graphics mode.
The internet however is litted with screen shots of Linux running under the earlier VPC 2004, but this was a commercial product which would only work for 30 days unless bought. I also ran a Linux distro (can't remember which one) under that a few years ago, and it ran like a dream.
Does anyone know if in the free VPC 2007 the hardware emulation has been crippled so that only Windows installs work properly on it now?
Virtual PC 2007 - Have Microsoft Crippled It?
I haven't really dabbled much with VPC 07 and Linux, so the following could be an endless sea of poo, but, it appears to me that you'll need to poke at your X11 config quite a bit to make it happy (seeing as it usually needs quite a bit of poking to do much of anything).
If you're able to get to bash and edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf (assuming it's there), it might be worth trying things like lowering the colour depth to 16 bit. A little looking around suggests that VPC doesn't support 24-bit, which a lot of distros default to.
If you're able to get to bash and edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf (assuming it's there), it might be worth trying things like lowering the colour depth to 16 bit. A little looking around suggests that VPC doesn't support 24-bit, which a lot of distros default to.
VPC is great fun. I have a VM of every MS OS to date, excluding the Pre-NT4 NT OSs. And, just once mind you, it was actually extremely useful!
Mainly I use VPC as a sandbox, for running potentially dangerous code. I also use SandboxIE which is superfab but I don't trust it 100% and many programs block it since it amounts to reverse engineering.
VPC doesn't run a certain colour bit which many Linuxes require, but you can disable that requirement by a kernel command and I have no idea which. It was about a year ago I played around with this, and only got Fedora working (my attempts to install Ubuntu failed miserably).
Mainly I use VPC as a sandbox, for running potentially dangerous code. I also use SandboxIE which is superfab but I don't trust it 100% and many programs block it since it amounts to reverse engineering.
VPC doesn't run a certain colour bit which many Linuxes require, but you can disable that requirement by a kernel command and I have no idea which. It was about a year ago I played around with this, and only got Fedora working (my attempts to install Ubuntu failed miserably).
The pre-NT4/Windows 95 versions are the most rewarding! Browsing the internet and playing MP3s (accessed by networking with the Windows XP host system without the guest system being aware of it) in 16 bit Windows 3.1 with code written in 1992 and which in turn runs on top of MS-DOS with code dating back to 1981 is cool in a sad computer geek kind of way.VPC is great fun. I have a VM of every MS OS to date, excluding the Pre-NT4 NT OSs. And, just once mind you, it was actually extremely useful!
Anyway, I managed to find (not that it was ever that deeply hidden admittedly) an option to install Mandriva in a text based mode. The installer progressed further, but eventually I just ended up with a blank screen. Also, if I let the usual graphical installer run but opt for verbose mode so I see the messages, it has the screen running at 800x600 in 16 bit colour, which VPC supports. It would appear that graphics are not the issue.
As I said in my original post, with VPC 2004 I did once install a Linux distro and it installed and ran flawlessly with default options and no messing about with anything. MS VPC started out as commercial product Connectix Virtual PC which Microsoft purchased. The last Connectix version was 5.2. When Microsoft bought it VPC 2004 reported itself as version 5.3 indicating that it was nothing more than a rebrand of the same Connectix code. Although VPC 2007 looks identical to its predecessor, it's now version 6.0.156. Considering also that this version supports Vista properly wheras the previous one didn't, it appears that Microsoft have re-written some low level code, and I'm becoming convinced that, either deliberately or not, in the process they have done something to stop it from properly supporting non-Microsoft operating systems. I can see no other reason why you'd be able to throw any version of DOS or Windows at it and have it run like a dream (Windows ME in particular seems to be more stable in a virtual computer than a real one), but Linux (which traditionally has quite modest hardware requirements) would suddenly become such a problem when it wasn't before.
Looks like the only way would be to reinstall VPC 2004 trial and find a patch somewhere...not that I'd for a second actually consider doing that for real of course
Ah, I do have Win3.1 and Win95 set up on it, just not Win NT3, etc (I am totally unknowledgable about pre-NT4 NT).
A google search reaveals that there seem to be plenty of people who have Linux working in VPC.
BTW, equally fun is the Windows Mobile Device Emulator. You can actually get WMDC (ActiveSync), the internet and a fake phone working on it, it's rather fab.
A google search reaveals that there seem to be plenty of people who have Linux working in VPC.
BTW, equally fun is the Windows Mobile Device Emulator. You can actually get WMDC (ActiveSync), the internet and a fake phone working on it, it's rather fab.
The installation process for NT3.51 is near enough identical to NT4. Only a year separated the two releases and there is little difference between them beyond the user interface. It comes with all the drivers you need to get decent graphics, sound and network access and these are all automatically configured in the setup just like NT4. It can also run most 32 bit software that Windows 95 and NT4 can - usually only software which specifically needs the new UI will fall over (with some interesting oddities like it can happily run Office 97 and Publisher 98 but will only run the 16 bit Window 3.1 version of Internet Explorer).Ah, I do have Win3.1 and Win95 set up on it, just not Win NT3, etc (I am totally unknowledgable about pre-NT4 NT).
Indeed, but all the ones I'm reading refer to people using VPC2004 or VPC7 (a Mac product). I did come across a person trying to install Ubuntu in VPC2007, and he gets exactly the same problem as me. It looks like VMware is the way to go if you want to run a virtual Linux machine.A google search reaveals that there seem to be plenty of people who have Linux working in VPC.