Want to understand running a virtual machine...
 

I'm actually running Puppy Linux 528.005 & would like to virtually run other OSs (or try). The problem's that I don't understand the tech involved.

I read from wikipedia, have searched in some forums for some info but it's so dispersed that it seems that I cannot put one foot in front of the other.

First of all, I would like some tip/link to a reputable/good info source for VirtualBox. I was thinking of using VirtualBox, if I should be thinking of using something else this's a good moment for anybody here with the knowledge to tell me so.

Second, I'm thinking of trying some linux distros like TinyCore, VectorLinux, DOS (kind of) & Win8CP. I would like to try a virtualization yool that could handle all of these &, possibly, more.

Am I looking in the wrong pot? Thanks in advance for any help!

VirtualBox is one of the most friendly and popular of the virtualisation software and is commonly used to do what you have in mind so it should be a good choice.

Puppy is more likely to be an issue. Normally people run Puppy on low hardware spec systems. When a VM is run on a low hardware spec system, the hardware has to be shared between host and VM so there's less available for each and performance is low, especially if the processor does not support instructions for virtualisation.

Even if your hardware is powerful so that's not an issue, few people will have run virtualisation software on Puppy so bugs are more likely and there will be little information shared on the 'net.

I occasionally use VirtualBox for playing older Windows games. It supports a large number of guest operating systems including modern versions of Windows and Linux. Its user manual, accessible here, has a lot of information. Do you have any more specific questions?

VirtualBox may or may not support running DOS. For that I use DOSBox, which is a virtual machine intended mainly for running DOS games (though other DOS programs should work too). The best documentation I've seen for DOSBox is its wiki.

Note that DOSBOX comes with its own built-in version of DOS, whereas VirtualBox requires that you have an installation disk or disk image for whatever system you want to run.

Your system is a poor choice to use for virtualbox because of the hardware and because of puppy linux.

Just get a usb flash drive and load OS's on it would be my suggestion. Cheap and easy and fast.

Could use qemu. It is a better choice for you than virtualbox or another full vm.

Virtualbox runs dos.

If you want old dos then dosbox can run some older things or use freedos.

Trying by live cd or live usb is the best way for you I'd think.

You need more ram to run W8.

While you are at it see www.netboot.me for a few live network loads.

Thanks to all of you for responding, catkin, everest40 & jefro!

First to catkin: I'm glad you say that Virtualbox is a good choice because it means NOT a left-foot entrance by my part; not so good that, apparently, Puppy isn't much used as a host for this.

I'll browse within some forums to try to estimate the available info on this subject before committing myself to it (GOOD POINT).

To everest40: I already invested > 1hr reading the impressive online manual as your first link (VERY VERY GOOD, INDEED). This will be an invaluable piece of info, much appreciated. At this moment can't tell you what or how many questions specific on this I'll have, I'll wait until I've consumed & digested >50% (possibly > 66%) of the document.

After I've taken Virtualbox for lunch I'm going to separate DosBox for dinner...

In your last paragraph you already answered one of my most important questions: Where it should be my Guest OS for Virtualbox?

To jefro: I've a usb adapter for sdcards & a pair of cards around, the VAIO also has a slot for them; can I use these in one of the two connection variants to do what you say? I think I've been in contact with QEMU many centuries ago, I'll fetch for some more info on it (much appreciated).

Now, I've a lot to read & assimilate. I need to do both before I try any one of the alternatives. I'll post in a few days any questions that may arise. Thanks in advance!

"I've a usb adapter for sdcards & a pair of cards around, the VAIO also has a slot for them; can I use these in one of the two connection variants to do what you..."

Maybe is the answer. The issue is how well does the bios support booting to newer devices such as usb or slot. I'd guess yes but you'd have to tell us more about the laptop. If this is pretty new then I'd say yes. The usb to sd sometimes works and sometimes is a booger to get. An internal slot on a laptop may also be a stinker but I'd think easier.


Qemu and Bochs from ages ago are basically the same. The only reason I say qemu is because it tends to use swap file. It will be rather slow so consider other ways to load new OS's.

After reading much of the info available in different sites/sources about Virtualbox I've decided to give it a try (just to see how well/bad it fits my immediate needs.

Before finally committing myself to this I would like to know if there're some of you that has installed & ran Virtualbox from a Puppy, lets say PL511 or above, & virtualized, lets say Windows 98. Would like your experience with it.

Thanks for any input on this!

If you can get vmplayer on your system and if it does support the VM by using machine support then Windows 98 would work fine.

I'd guess the windows 98 would run on a newish system as a client under a host at about 90% or better of the native speed. That is only a wild guess. It could lower down on an unsupported machine to maybe 65% of native speed. But W98 is pretty easy on resources to it should be fine.

I've d/l already the devx sfs file but, after looking around I found out that there's a virtualbox sfs file by way of Quickpet. As mentioned at: https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02.html#idp11343328 I've to d/l also Qt 4.4.0 or higher as well as SDL 1.2.7 or higher; the problem is that I don't know where to look for them. In addition, there's http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/vie...12823d4a04cbd9 which points to another repository & this's getting a little confusing.

I know there're some pre-requisites as mentioned at the first link above right from the beginning but after reading the mentioned thread I might have been tangled in a way that spawns my confusion. Sorry to ask this: starting by using PL528.005 (this I intend to make my host) what & where I should d/l in the required order for minimizing troubles?

Thanks for any help on this!

Edit: Downloaded virtualbox-4.1.14.sfs from http://182.164.208.211/puppy/opt/ (this's not the latest - did I make a mistake in doing this? Should I d/l the latest ...1.18 instead?)
What about the dkms module, the gnu make & those 'header' packages? Are these contained within the sfs file already d/l?

Any of the last 5 years vm's would be OK for your use. 4.1 is only 6 months or so old. It would be fine.

I was going to d/l the Qt 4.4.0 or higher version for Puppy but can't find a suitable/working version/site, the same thing with libsdl 1.2.7. If I can find these based on ubuntu it should be easier to install in puppy. Is there any one of these as a pet or sfs file already?

On the subject of Windows 98 it does run in VirtualBox but, if I recall correctly, you have to change the sound card and possibly network card VirtualBox presents to it and even then there is some software you need to install in Windows 98 to make things work properly.
Benny7440, if the machine you are planning to use is the one in your sig then I would expect virtual machines to be very slow, and you may get lots of swap usage with that little RAM, slowing it down more. If you can live without Windows and DOS I'd say the option of playing with Linux distros booted from USB or SD card is a better bet.

Still, I need the Qt 4.4.0 & libsdl 1.2.7 things. Where can I find puppy versions for those?

Thanks in advance!