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VirtualBox - any experienece?


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42 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

Does anyone have any experience of VirtualBox and if so is it reliable and stable in a Win 10 environment?

"Yes" and "Yes" in my experience. Ran Linux Ubuntu perfectly as far as I could tell and certainly well enough to allow me to make an informed decision about whether to have a dedicated Linux machine.

Adrian

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Used VB but only on Linux machines to run Windows and other Linux distro's) and remember Win10 has a Linux Virtual option anyway(WSL) - with limitations 🙂https://www.pcworld.com/article/3526472/windows-10-20h1-review-microsoft-boosts-linux-and-your-phone-but-cortana-slips-hard.html

Plus remember its Virtual so if you need special hardware devices/access VB might not work for you or be slow !

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1 hour ago, Adreneline said:

"Yes" and "Yes" in my experience.

 

52 minutes ago, stash_old said:

Plus remember its Virtual so if you need special hardware devices/access VB might not work for you or be slow !

Thank you both - the application that my son wants to run is this one and I am not sure how this works within VirtualBox as I would have thought it needed something else like Linux but I guess that is partially why I am asking here!!

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34 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

 

Thank you both - the application that my son wants to run is this one and I am not sure how this works within VirtualBox as I would have thought it needed something else like Linux but I guess that is partially why I am asking here!!

Databases are not "normally" a problem under virtual images and you will also most likely be able to access the data in the main Windows OS from something like MS OFFICE Exel etc programs or equiv if you wanted too.

For a <tenner not a lot to lose !

I did notice this http://www.obd2.com/ - dont know if that makes a difference. But it does say ask any questions at the bottom of Ebay sellers screen :-)

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Be aware that Virtualbox does not contain an operating system. It is only the "bones" that allows you to run another operating system within the one that is already running on your computer.

So, for example if you have a Windows 10 computer and you want to run another Windows (anything from W2K upwards) in a virtual machine, you will need to have another licensed copy of that Windows to install in the Virtual Machine that you create.

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4 minutes ago, pete_l said:

Be aware that Virtualbox does not contain an operating system. It is only the "bones" that allows you to run another operating system within the one that is already running on your computer.

So, for example if you have a Windows 10 computer and you want to run another Windows (anything from W2K upwards) in a virtual machine, you will need to have another licensed copy of that Windows to install in the Virtual Machine that you create.

Yes, I alluded to this above - does a 'virtual image' get round this or is the vendor only giving part of the story and an OS for use within Virtualbox is still required?

This from the website is now ringing alarm bells as I suspect that as well as the OS running natively on the PC, he will indeed require another copy of Windows, MAC or Linux!! Big hole in my knowledge here, if it runs in Windows within Virtualbox why on Earth doesn't it just run in Windows??:-

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Before you start, make sure your PC meets minimum system requirements:

 
  • Any Operating System with Virtualbox installed
  • Windows, MAC, Linux
  • Memory (RAM): 1 GB or above.
  • Hard Disk Space: 40gb free hdd space.
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1 hour ago, steppenwolf said:

does a 'virtual image' get round this or is the vendor only giving part of the story and an OS for use within Virtualbox is still required?

I have no way of knowing. Presumably the program runs on something like Freedos or Linux, with everything pre-configured. So it is just a case of install Virtualbox, load the image and hit Start.

Although VirtualBox does have its own limitations. It only works on x86 or i64 hardware. So Raspberry Pi's, for example are out.

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Looking at this which appears to be the same thing, it's a VirtualBox disk image with the software installed onto a Windows XP virtual machine.

All you'd need is a computer of any flavour with VirtualBox installed on it and it will work.

Licensing may be dubious....

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46 minutes ago, pete_l said:

Presumably the program runs on something like Freedos or Linux, with everything pre-configured. So it is just a case of install Virtualbox, load the image and hit Start.

Aha, yes, that would make sense - thanks

35 minutes ago, rogmet said:

Looking at this which appears to be the same thing, it's a VirtualBox disk image with the software installed onto a Windows XP virtual machine.

All you'd need is a computer of any flavour with VirtualBox installed on it and it will work.

Licensing may be dubious....

Thank you - and, yes licensing would be dubious.

I think, on balance, that I am going to get my son to look for a better solution. Thank you all for your kind input, much appreciated!

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You could also have a look to VM Ware player.  Virtual box or VM Player both will work well.  I use VM player to run Linux in my observatory under Win7 for testing and can control the mount and cameras. I use also VM player to run WinXP for an old scanner and several Linux flavors under Win10. Running a Mac  worked  for me under Virtual box.

The nice thing is that you can keep several virtual machines and copy/modify them as you like.

Just try and see how good Virtual box or VM Ware player works for you.  What's important is that you get the copy & paste working between the virtual machine and the host system.  You can copy also astronomical files to a disk and unmount it again so it becomes accessible to the host system but that's more cumbersone. You can also have a shared directory, but I never managed to get that running in either Virtual box or VM player.

An other problem can be the resolution. Some Linux distributions have problems to display the full resolution in the virtual machine. The host machine will require 4 gbyte minimum but 8 gbyte will works much better. The speed is slower but still reasonable good. Stability is good.

I assume you want run Linux under Win10.  I would suggest to use Lubuntu since it uses less resources then Ubuntu and the interface is more similar as Windows.

Han

 

 

Edited by han59
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I frequently run a Windows 10 virtual machine within Virtual Box running on a Windows 10 host. I do this to evaluate software before installing it on the host machine, so in my experience it works well. Pass-through of USB devices is pretty good, but I am not surprised if it doesn't work occasionally for devices other than the usual suspects.

 

9 minutes ago, han59 said:

I would suggest to use Lubuntu since it uses less resources then Ubuntu and the interface is more similar as Windows.

Han

Thankfully there's so many distributions of Linux that every person on the planet can have a unique one.

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vb runs quite okay and yes, you need a license for the guest OS. For AP, i head to move to vmware bc  the usb port sim was only running on single speed which was too slow for the orion starshoot autoguider.

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I've been a beta tester, working on reptile husbandry software and used Virtual Box to test installs on all windows OS's from 7 through to 10.  I already had genuine licences for 7 and 8, and you can run windows 10 without activation, even after 30 days.It's stable and makes for a decent means of running older software on modern machines without the need for additional hardware.

I doubt that the software in the link is genuine.  The VB image will have a "licenced" copy of the OS, plus the application.  Most database applications like that are either linked to a manufacture of a scanning tool, and have been hacked to make them work without that device attached, or it isn't hardware dependent and the software has been pirated with a genuine illegal copy of the serial number... either way that is a lot for ten quid.  I used to have a similar application that all Volvo dealers used for parts identifications, circuits diagrams and fault codes etc.  It didn't need hardware interfacing to the car, but with so many copies circulating apparently Volvo changed their database diagnosis system to a server client system, and now only registered dealers can log in, and when a car is connected apparently the servers communicate directly with it and send back info on the cars condition, along with any part references and wiring diagrams etc so I've been told.

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On 17/06/2020 at 11:56, steppenwolf said:

Does anyone have any experience of VirtualBox and if so is it reliable and stable in a Win 10 environment?

Thanks in advance.

I've been tinkering with virtual box on Windows for several weeks now.  I've found the VB software itself to be stable, but I haven't had any success with some of the particular programs that I've tried to run within it.

If you're hoping to use Virtual Box to run non-windows Astro programs on a PC, that may be the drawback, rather than VB being stable or not.

I'd created an Android virtual machine within it, to be able to run Skywatcher's SynscanPro app, to control my scope via the Synscan wifi dongle.

It probably sounds ludicrous, because Skywatcher also supply a Windows version of the app, which works perfectly on my PC.

The reason I need to run the Android version of the App on my PC is because if you want to run SkySafari Pro to control your scope's wifi, you have to have the SynscanPro app running in conjunction with it, (and SkySafari Pro isn't available as a Windows program).

The frustrating thing is that although the Android version of SkySafariPro runs beautifully within an Android machine in Virtual Box, when I try to tun SynscanPro, it flashes up, but then drops out immediately, with no error message.

So I'm thinking that Virtual Box may be able to emulate other OS environments, but some programs are able to spot that they're running on the wrong hardware and refuse to play....

( I've also tried running standalone Android emulators too, like Bluestacks, which run SkySafari and other Android Astro programs really well in windows, but frustratingly, none of those are able to run the Android SynscanPro app either.)

Edited by Astro-Geek
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Thank you all for your very useful input, as usual, SGL members with their wide range of knowledge have come up trumps!

Because of the dodgy licensing involved here (not VB's fault!) my son has decided to go mainstream and has started a one month trial on a proper paid for database service which he has already found invaluable.

Sadly, he is about to lose his 'dream job' at McLaren as the management decimate the development team in favour of F1 so, he has the skills, he now has the database and, separately, the scan tool so all he needs now are the customers!

Thanks all.

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