Installing Ubuntu 8.04 under Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

Update: Nov. 10, 2008 – New blog post on installing Ubuntu 8.10 is now out: http://tinyurl.com/vpcubuntu810

I’m pleased to say that Ubuntu 8.04 is probably the easiest install I’ve had to do with VPC yet! One quick reminder before we begin, when working inside the VPC your mouse will get “trapped” or captured by the virtual computer. You won’t be able to move outside of it. To get it released, just press the RIGHT side ALT key. Left side won’t work, has to be the RIGHT side of your keyboard.

To start with, create a new Virtual PC. For a tutorial, see either my step by step tutorial or the video tutorial if you need more instructions. Since I had the space, I was using 768 meg of ram, and left the disk space at the default of 16 gig. If you can, try and use at least 512 meg of ram for good performance. Use the CD menu option to capture the desktop ISO you downloaded from Ubuntu, or if you have a real CD put it in the drive and capture that. When it launches, you’ll see this screen. (By the way, you can click on any of the screens to see the full size graphic, these have been resized slightly to fit in with most common browser sizes).

[image - Select Language]

Pick your language, I just took the default of English.

[image - Safe graphics mode]

Now press F4 to select an alternate starting mode. When it pops up, change to Safe graphics mode, as you see above, and press Enter. Now pick “Try Ubuntu…” (should already be selected) and press enter. Do NOT pick the Install Ubuntu option, I kept getting VPC errors when trying to install directly.

Additionally, don’t be alarmed if the screen goes black for a while, then you see some garbled graphics. This is perfectly normal, it is just passing through and will be OK when Ubuntu gets done doing it’s thing. It took me about 7 minutes to get from the previous screen to the next one.

[image - live environment]

After it boots you should be in the live session trial environment. Double click the Install icon to begin the install process.

[image - Installer welcome screen]

Screen 1 is just a welcome screen, although you can change your language here if you need to. Press Forward to continue.

[image - Installer Set Time Zone]

Next it wants to know where you are, at least time zone wise. I’m in the central time zone, but set yours appropriately and click Forward.

[image - Installer Pick your Keyboard]

Next you can specify your keyboard. Since I’m using a typical USA style keyboard, I just clicked Forward.

[image - Installer Prepare Disk Space]

Next it asks how you want your disk space partitioned. Since we’re in a virtual environment, it made the most sense to just take the defaults and click Forward.

Be aware, after clicking forward my mouse went into the “I’m busy” mode, and there was a delay while the disks were prepared. Mine went about five minutes. Don’t be alarmed, just wait a few minutes and you’ll then proceed to the next screen.

[image - Installer Who Are You]

On this screen, first supply your name; this will be used in documents and the like. The next text box is the important one – it is for your Ubuntu user name. By default it uses your first name, now is your chance to change it. I rather like mine so will accept it. Next you’ll need to key in a good password and confirm, and finally name the computer. When you are happy, click Forward.

Now is where you may get confused. In the screen above, you are on step 5 of 7. When you click forward, you are suddenly on step 7 of 7. I’m not sure what happened to step 6, I even ran the installer yet one more time just to make sure it was gone. Perhaps it was kidnapped by space aliens?

[image - Installer is Ready]

Apparently even without the missing step 6, the installer has everything it needs. Just click Install to begin the install process. Kick back and wait. Don’t be alarmed if the screen goes black during the process, it’s just the screen saver kicking in. Just click in the VPC and wiggle your mouse and your display will return. I had it kick in several times during the 45 (or so) minutes it took to get everything installed.

[image - Install complete time to reboot]

Eventually Ubuntu will complete it’s install, then give you the above message. On the Virtual PC menu click CD, then release the cd. Then click on the big Restart now button inside VPC.

This was the only real snag I hit in the whole install process, I waited a while and it never did restart on its own. I gave it about five minutes, then in the Virtual PC menu I clicked Action, Reset. I figured since it’s already installed, I wouldn’t lose anything, and I was right.

The boot process does take a few minutes; you’ll see some text then a black screen for about 90 seconds. Then it comes up to the big Ubuntu logo and the orange bar as it loads. You’ll see some garbled graphics for a few seconds, then the login screen finally appeared. I gave it my user id and password, and minutes later I was in Ubuntu.

One last piece of business, fixing the networking. First make sure the network card is mapped to a real network card in your computer. For more instructions on this, see my video, Virtual PC Advanced Settings. After that, click on the network icon in the upper right side of the toolbar, as you see below.

[image - Fix Networking]

Then just pick Wired Network. Once connected you’ll be free to visit your favorite websites!

[image - Ubuntu open for business]

I haven’t had much time to check out other features, or get the sound working so if anyone has a quick fix for that by all means leave a comment below.

279 thoughts on “Installing Ubuntu 8.04 under Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

  1. Did you do the install off the root menu or from the live cd environment? When I tried to do the install from the initial menu you get, that is the exact error I received. I had to first launch the live cd environment, then install from there.

  2. Hi! I was getting the same error message trying both booting into live environment and install mode.

    Adding boot parameters noapic nolapic and vga=791 solved the problem for me.

  3. I’m trying with Kubuntu and I get the same error message. I’ve tried adding the boot parameters. The window size increases but then I still get the error.

    I’m not sure my syntax is correct though. Do I simply press F6 and add at the end of the line: “noapic nolapic vga=791”?

  4. Helge, could you please post a step-by-step on how you made it work, I’m sure there are a lot of us who’d greatly benefit from it.

  5. Have tried all the recommendations above but am still getting the error message ‘An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered’.

  6. Press F4 to select an alternate starting mode. When it pops up, change to Safe graphics mode.
    Then Press F6 and add “noapic nolapic vga=791” at the end of the line but in front of “–”

    That parameters added I was able to install ubuntu but I can’t boot after that. I will try to add the same parameters to grub’s menu.lst

  7. Yeah, I’m having the same reset issues.

    I solved it by using the vga=791 to get to the live CD install, and then following the 8.04 Beta post instructions.

    Only problem left is the lack of sound…

    1. which of course is absolutely no help at all because no one actually knows what that even means.

      f4 is not “alternate boot” it is “modes” you get three choices only: normal, insert floppy, or oem. no option to add boot modifiers. God I hate Linux. This is the perennial problem. The video driver system is incredibly hopeless. No one with anything but the most simple vanilla systems has any prayer of makeing the thing work because the entire system is a kludged together crapfest. And it’s getting worse not better.

  8. Wish I could be more help, but I tried my instructions above on two different systems, one Vista and one XP, and it worked on both. Not quite sure what’s different about ya’lls systems versus mine.

  9. OK, I’ve solved the sound issue. I’ve no idea how it works, but it does:

    Within Ubuntu, hit Alt-F2 to open the run box.

    Type (without quotes) “sudo nano /etc/rc.local”. Select run in terminal, and hit run.

    Type your password when asked, and carriage return.

    At the end of the # lines, but before “exit 0”, type on a new line (again without quotes) “modprobe snd-sb16”

    Ctrl + O to write out, carriage return to accept the name, Ctrl + X to close.

    Then shut down and restart Ubuntu, and you should have sound.

    –This worked for me, but this advice is given “as is” without guarantees or liability for any problems.

  10. Helge thank you so much, I followed your instructions and it worked without problems. First thing I did after the install was complete was to edit Grub and it boots up just fine each and every time now.

    IAP thank you as well, I have my sound thanks to you.

    Hopefully I’ll be able to join it to my AD domain (found these two articles http://www.screenage.de/blog/2008/02/13/joining-an-active-directory-domain-with-ubuntu/ & http://anothersysadmin.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/howto-active-directory-authentication-in-ubuntu-804/) and the testing will begin.

  11. I keep trying to use the safe graphics mode, and it makes a green dot for not even a second. So, I normal install, and it goes through perfect! I reboot, and first, it says something to do with a checksum on something like “isansp” or something like that, and labels each with a number, all the way to 38! then it goes green! So, I typed in vga=0x314, and it goes through almost perfect, except THERES NO BOOT SCREEN! So, all it is is black, then you see the normal garbled screen. So, I log in, press Ctrl+Alt+F1, type in the line for the default depth, and… well… it’s not there.At this point, is there anything I CAN do? It’s weird… I don’t get whats wrong…

  12. OK, now i got the color depth and stuff fixed, but now, i come to find a little black dot – or more like rectangle – that looks like the same size as if you typed a letter in. Is this a common problem?

  13. I managed to install Ubuntu following Helges instructions above. I then had the same issue that after installation, Ubuntu wouldn’t boot.

    If you managed to install Ubuntu, here is a workaround to boot it sucessfully:

    1. Press “esc” while grub is visible.

    2. You should now see 3 entries to select from. Leave the first one “Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic” selected and press “e”.

    3. On the next page, select the entry that reads “kernel /boot/vmlinuz…” and press “e” again.

    4. You will see a command line that ends with “xforcevesa”. Hit “space” and add “noapic nolapic vga=791” to that line and press “enter”.

    5. You are now back at the previous selection screen with the entry “kernel /boot/vmlinuz…” still selected. Now press “b” and it should boot correctly.

    I am new to Ubuntu and still need to find out how I can permanantly add those options to grub. Also, I would like to know how I can set the default resolution of Ubuntu to 1024×768. If anyone has help for that, please post.

  14. Ubuntu 8.04 Server has the same unrecoverable processor error problem. Supplying “noapic nolapic vga=791” to the end of the kernel parameters fixes the issue for me. Just thought I’d post for those trying to install the Server Edition.

  15. Interesting folks are having the issue and having to add the “noapic nolapic vga=791” to the boot line. What OS are you running, and I guess I should confirm you are on VPC 2007, and not Virtual Server 2005 or VPC 2004?

  16. Many people have been experimenting Mac operating system to run on window machine. Some are successful and some are miserable. On April 5 2008, a friend decided to do the same. He had figure out how to run Mac operating system on window box. First thing he did was to change the Bios setup to be able to recognize the Mac operating system on the installation. After he has run the install after creating the image he downloaded. The installation was a success and now running Mac on a Gateway laptop. What an amazing hacking process knowing that it can be done.

  17. Is Kubuntu packaged any differently than Ubuntu, cause I dont see the option to install safe graphics mode neither do I see an option to Try Ubuntu when attempting to install.

    Arcanecode, any other options I can pick from for Kubuntu ? I kinda like the KDE desktop.

  18. Running Vista SP1 and VPC 2007.
    Tried Knoppix 5.3 the other day in VPC 2007 and it ran flawlessly without any modifications necessary.

  19. I tried add “noapic nolapic vga=791” and it didn’t work.
    Here is what I see when I press F6…
    Boot Options seed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash —
    So I typed noapic nolapic vga=791 like this…
    Boot Options seed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash noapic nolapic vga=791 —
    Is this correct? I also typed it at the end after — with and without a space. Still no luck.
    Any suggestions?

  20. Aylwin, any luck installing Kubuntu ? I am not able to see the basic options which everyone see’s with the iso image. Are you using the image with KDE 4 or KDE 3 ?
    Can anyone please point to a link which is working with all the options available as given in the tutorial. I am looking for Kubuntu install

  21. I downloaded the wrong installation copy, now I am able to see all the options but like Rob above, I am having the same problem, none of the options suggested by anyone are working…
    Arcanecode, I am using Virtual PC 2007 on a win Vista ultimate OS, any suggestions for us to try out

  22. Hi, I tried booting off the live cd with safe graphics, it came up after about 15 min. saying “[35099.513097] isapnp: checksum for device 1 is not valid (0x89)” and then the next line “[35099.531208] isapnp: checksum for device 2 is not valid (0xbe)” It then just sits there doing nothing. Any ideas?

    BTW: I’m using Vista Ultimate, Virtual PC 2007 and I gave the virtual machine 400Mb ram (I only have 1Gb total) and a 10Gb Harddrive. My processor is an AMD 64 X2.

    Thanks!

  23. Okay, I’ve gotten it to install 2 times now, but can’t get much further. First, when I boot up the live CD (actually an iso file) I selected Safe Graphics and then pressed F6 and added the string that Helge suggested. FYI, you have to insert it between the two dashes that are at the end. Where it has “–” you put “-noapic nolapic vga=791 -” with the spaces exactly like that. Anyway, it let me boot into the live CD with 1 glitch – there were about 3 small black dashes over the top bar in Ubuntu that would disappear when the mouse hovered over them. So then I installed normally inside it (took about 1/2 hour – also I enabled networking before installing). Then rebooted and tried to follow the instructions listed in the “installing the beta” section (https://arcanecode.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/installing-ubuntu-804-beta-under-virtual-pc-2007/). The first time I was able to successfully boot into the main screen, however it would not boot after that. I just reinstalled and it is stuck at the black screen for about 20 min. Guess I’ll go kill it and see what else I can do. Any ideas?

  24. Running Windows XP, Virtual PC 2007.
    I got that “isapnp: checksum for device 1 is not valid” error, too.
    Did F4 on “Try…”, selected “Safe graphics mode”. Hit F6 then typed: noapic nolapic vga=791
    (right at the end of the line, so after the two “–” – not sure if that matters).
    Once it booted, I double-clicked the “Install” option, and it worked fine.
    Seemed to lock up on reboot (black screen for a while), so I reset it.
    I hit “esc” at grub, then I selected the “kernel” option, and hit “e” to edit, and added vga=791 to the end of the line (since noapic and nolapic already seemed to be on the line), then hit enter. Then I hit “b” to boot it.
    One it came up, I went to Applications->Accessories->Terminal
    I then typed: sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst
    I then scrolled to the bottom, and edited the two “Ubuntu 8.04 kernel” entries and added vga=491 to the end of their kernel lines.
    I then hit Control-X, followed by “Y”, then “enter” to save the file.
    I then ran: sudo update-grub
    Then I rebooted to check, and it all came up fine.

  25. Thanks to all you fine people’s advices, I managed to install and get the sound to work. Right now, I have two things to solve:
    1. Screen (VPC window) size – it is too small. How can I get it larger.
    2. network – I am wired and using static IP addresses, no DHCP. Should I use the (correctly recognized) real adapter or the NAT option? Is the IP address the same as for the host system. I tried (I think) all combinations, but cannot connect.

    Will appreciate your help.

  26. I have now managed to get the network to run. However, the screen resolution is still a problem. What video driver is the Virtual PC emulating? What monitor?

  27. About the screen resolution: I guess there are changes in the xorg.conf file necessary. Any help would be greatly appreciated…

  28. Anyone able to get the above suggestions working with Kunbuntu ? I have tried every possible combination with noapic nolapic vga=791 and —

    no go. anyone have a successfull install with kubuntu

  29. I have tried the F4 and F6 suggestions, but I’m stilling getting the same error. I’m running Vista with 2GB RAM and VPC 2007. Will someone post step by step instructions please?

  30. ok I put noapic nolapic vga=791 before, between and after the – – dashes and it still doesn’t work. I am using vista business VPC 2007 and unbuntu 8.04.

    Could it be vista business problem or what?
    I’ve had VPC for 7 months. Should I re-download bth VPC 2007 an Ubuntu or what?

  31. I am having the same problem as Rob, I have tried the “-noapic nolapic vga=791 -” and it doesn’t work. I am also running Vista Business, VPC 2007 & Ubuntu 8.04

  32. Vista 32-bit SP1

    I only needed to add ‘vga=791’ to the very end of my kernel line but I had upgraded from 7.10

  33. I’m trying to install Ubuntu 8.04 Server with Virtual PC 2007, but having the same problem “An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered. The virtual machine will reset now.”. I have tried the “noapic nolapic vga=791” and it doesn’t work… Ubuntu 7.10 Server works fine… Any help??

  34. I guess the problem are somewhere after this line “[144.010948] SMP alternatives: switching to UP code”… I see this line using F6 options and removing “quiet”… Have any options to change this or skip this process??

  35. How do you setup the audio system for this Ubuntu in MS virtual PC? (Ubuntu iso download version 8.04 desktop-i386 + 1GB memory +50GB hard drive + virtually)

    Is there any way to make it run faster?

    My computer is an AMD 64 X2 3.0 GH in Vista business. I only need to have the C++ gcc compiler only, but it runs extremely slow. Note: I had to reboot my computer time before I can install this Ubuntu successfully using the “OEM install” option

  36. I’m using Vista ultimate 64-bit, 64-bit MS Virtual PC, kubuntu-kde4-8.04-desktop-i386.iso. I used 1024mb of ram to setup the virtual drive since I have a total of 4gb.

    I chose English, hit F4 and chose Safe Graphics Mode, arrowed down to Install Kubuntu KDE4, I hit F6 and typed in….

    noapic nolapic vga=791

    ….at the very end of the line with no quotes or hyphens. I then hit enter. I went through the install just fine and my problem was (until a few minutes ago) after the reboot I’d get back to the same isapnp error.

    After the reboot I hit escape to go into grub. Under Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic I hit e to edit. I went down to the second line that starts with the word kernel and hit e to edit that line. It took me to the end of the line and it already had noapic nolapic. I typed in vga=791 at the end and hit enter. I then went to the last line that said quiet and deleted it then hit b to boot and it went into KDE just fine.

  37. I’m going back to 7.10. I’m still getting the error with all of the post solutions. I’m running an XPS M1330, 4 GB Ram, CoreDuo2, Vista Ultimate Edition 32bit. Maybe I’ll try OpenSuse.

  38. Hi there,

    I’m facing the same issues like Rob is facing up there. I have Vista Ultimate on a 2 gig ram machine. Is there any other method at all?

    Thanks for your help,

    Ram

  39. Ok, here is a solution for the screen resolution issue.

    Since Knoppix 5.3 worked fine for me, I simply copied its xorg.conf and placed it in Ubuntu’s /etc/X11 folder. Rebooted Ubuntu and now I can finally work with a resolution of 1024×768.

  40. To get rid of the garbled graphics, use vim to add a DefaultDepth 16 entry to the Screen section in the /etc/X11/xorg.xonf.

  41. My experience was doing a “Distribution Update” upgrade from 7.10 and the 24.16 kernel won’t boot, getting “unrecoverable” error, but if I switch back to the 22.14 kernel, it seems to boot fine.

    I have 4 GRUB entries: 2 for 2.6.24.16 and 2 for 2.6.22.14. I have tried adding “i8042.noloop clock=pit noapic nolapic vga=791” (no hyphens and no quotes) and it still fails. Only adding “i8042.noloop” to the 22.14 kernel entry allows the Ubuntu 8.04 VM to start and run just fine…

  42. I keep on getting the unrecoverable error. Nothing is logged in the event logs, and I tried adding the paramaters everywhere suggested. I also choose safe mode graphics. I also tried the “Try Ubuntu” and “Install”. I don’t get it. I’m running Win XP sp2. The VPC image I created had 1100 MB of memory and 20GB HDD.

    Any ideas on how to get to the real error that VPC is encountering and/or get past it?

  43. I try install Ubuntu server on VPC 2007, but I still get “unrecoverable processor error”. Any help please? I have same problem as André. Please, help ..

  44. I was having the same problems with XUbuntu and none of the boot options (noapic nolapic vga=791) helped. I was able to successfully install XUbuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) and then do the upgrade process to 8.04.

  45. Some peoples said to add noapic nolapic vga=0x314 before the double dash (-) of the option command line but it doesn’t work too on a Lenovo R61

  46. Weirdness, I couldn’t get it to work with the ISO image on VPC 2007 and XP SP2 at all. Got 7.10 installed find, upgraded to 8.04. I can boot 8.04, but I have to use the old kernel from 7.10 to get it to boot.

    noapic nolapic vga=791 in Grub didn’t help with the newer kernel either.

  47. I gave up. Same issues – I think it’s hardware AND VPC – tried with and without hardware virtualization.

    Went to Innotek Virtual Box – installing fine right now…

  48. Hey folks,

    Here’s another workaround for the processor error issue:

    – At the prompt, press F4 and select “Safe graphics mode”.
    – Then press F6 and delete the part that says “quiet splash –” and replace it with “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”.

    You can read about the “noreplace-paravirt” option in the Linux kernel documentation.

    It will take a couple minutes to boot up. Technically you could leave the “quiet splash …” part in, but it would be easier to debug problems if you can see the kernel messages (the splash screen doesn’t work anyway). The vga=791 is also not absolutely required, but I find that it allows the system to boot a bit faster since it doesn’t have to rescan the video resolution.

    Hope it helps.

    Steve

  49. Steve – you are a life saver, none of the previous options worked for me and now I just booted into KDE4 without a problem.. those commands worked like a magic spell and they do sound like some in harry potter…
    thanks a ton

  50. Actually Steve, whilst I thought it was working, it did get a lot further, but it locked up. I’ve swapped to VirtualBox – worked first time, no parameters!

  51. Tks SteveZ!! “noreplace-paravirt” works with Ubuntu 8.04 Server too… no more error with Virtual PC 2007. Cya!!

  52. Thank you Steve; that did the trick of getting around the processor error on my Win XP SP2 machine.

  53. I got it working after the vga trick above, but am unable to get networking to work. It recognizes that there is an eth0 interface, but I can’t get it to work. I have a home router at 192.168.1.1 but Linux doesn’t see it, I have dhcp enabled but it won’t use it. I generally know what I’m doing but I have no idea why this won’t work.

  54. Thanks SteveZ. Adding “noreplace-paravirt” worked for me, but I had to do it during the install (via F6), after (each) reboot (via GRUB) and then had to change the menu.lst file in /boot/grub to make it permanent.
    The last bit was tricky as I’m not a Linux guy. Had to get root access. “su” would not accept my user password. Found that you can change root password using “sudo passwd”. It then promts you for your user password then allows you to set a new root password. Then you can “su” toas root, navigate to cd /boot/grub and edit the menu.lst with the editor of your choice. I added “noreplace-paravirt” after xforcevesa in the kernel line of the 2.6.24-16-generic menu option.

  55. After spending five hours fighting with this with no complete resolution in sight, I gave up and switched to VirtualBox. It just plain worked. Stop wasting your time with VirtualPC before claims more precious hours of your life.

  56. Thanks Steve, the Ubuntu 8.04 install worked perfectly with Virtual PC running under Vista (SP1) using the “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt” config line . However, I am still getting the processor error when I restart Ubuntu.

    Paul, could you publish a step by step guide to editing the Grub file to make the fix permanent.?

  57. Thanks Steve… But as Russ said to Paul, can we get a step by step permanent fix solution… Much appreciated!!!

  58. At Ubuntu server isn’t “Safe graphics mode” for some reason, so I installed desktop.

    I don’t want to get damn kde-desktop, I need server :/

  59. Using ‘Steves’ Fix:
    F4 – Safe Graphics Mode
    F6 – added “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”

    I edited the file below to make permanent:
    vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

    add the same “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”
    write and quit (:wq)
    at the kernal bootline (near bottom of file)

    Also did sound fix from “IAP”
    sudo vi /etc/rc.local

    add “modprobe snd-sb16”
    (before exit 0)
    write and quit (:wq)

    Reboot – Works Great!!
    Thanks Steve & IAP!

  60. Thanks Ken, but I don’t understand what you are doing and how you got there.
    I have Ubuntu 8.04 installed via Steve’s fixes. However, I can’t get Ubuntu to boot from Virtual PC without the “processor error” message.
    By pressing esc during the boot process I can get to the Ubuntu 8.04 Kernel menus. What do I do from there? How do I edit the “vi /boot/grub/menu.lst” file? Thanks

  61. Here is my work around for the “processor error” problem. I am running Virtual PC in Vista Ultimate with service pack 1 installed.

    1. Install Ubuntu 8.04 as Steve suggests in his May 2 post.
    2. When Ubuntu is up and running you will need to make the “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt” fix permanent.
    3. If you have installed Ubuntu and have not yet rebooted the OS, go to step 10. Else continue with step 4.

    4. Press ESC quickly when you reboot. You should drop to a command mode interface.
    5. Select “Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic” from the menu and press “e” to edit.
    6. Select “kernel /boot/” etc, from the menu and press “e” to edit.
    7. Add “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt” after “quiet splash” so the end of the line now reads “quiet splash vga=791 noreplace-paravirt xforcvesa”.
    8. Press ENTER to finish the edit and then “b” to boot the system.
    9. Ubuntu should come up with no problems. Log in with your username and password.

    10. To make the fix permanent, open the Terminal window from the Applications/Accessories menu.
    11. Type the command “sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst” and press ENTER.
    12. You will be prompted for your password. Enter it and press ENTER.
    13. The Text Editor will then open. Add the same “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt” after “quiet splash” in about the 15th line from the bottom of the file.
    14. Save the file and restart the system. Ubuntu should start with no problems.

    That’s it.

  62. Using guidance from a number of participants on this blog I’ve successfully managed to install Ubuntu 8.04 on two separate PC’s running VPC 2007 and I have it running at 1152 X 768 @ 55Hz with working sound.

    The notes below are nothing original, they are just summarized from previous entries and maybe clarified.

    To get the CD to load,
    Press F4 to select an alternate starting mode. When it pops up, change to Safe graphics mode and press Enter.
    Select F6 and add “noreplace-paravirt” to the end of the command line and press Enter.
    Now pick “Try Ubuntu…” (should already be selected) and press enter. Do NOT pick the Install Ubuntu option,

    Once Ubuntu is loaded from CD, select install from the desktop and it’ll build the system on the VPC disk.
    After you press restart, it just kind of hangs there. I shut the VPC session down and told it to save state, then started it again and it booted fine.

    Once it gets to GRUB, interupt the boot and add the “noreplace-paravirt” to the kernel boot line.

    1. Press “esc” while grub is visible.
    2. You should now see 3 entries to select from. Leave the first one “Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic” selected and press “e”.
    3. On the next page, select the second entry that reads “kernel /boot/vmlinuz…” and press “e” again.
    4. You will see a command line that ends with “xforcevesa”. Hit “space” and add “noreplace-paravirt” (without the quotes) to that line and press “enter”.
    5. You are now back at the previous selection screen with the entry “kernel /boot/vmlinuz…” still selected. Now press “b” and it should boot correctly.

    Once Ubuntu has loaded, open a terminal window (Applications. Accessories, Terminal) and on the command line enter “sudu nano /boot/grub/menu.lst”
    Enter your password and page down to near the bottom and locate the “kernel /boot/vmlinuz… in the “Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic” section

    Move the cursor to the end of the line after xforcevesa and add “noreplace-paravirt” (no quotes)
    Ctrl + O to write out, enter to accept the name, Ctrl + X to close

    While you’re editing, you might as well fix the sound while you’re at it.

    sudo nano /etc/rc.local

    At the end of the # lines, but before “exit 0″, type on a new line (again without quotes) “modprobe snd-sb16″
    Ctrl + O to write out, enter to accept the name, Ctrl + X to close.

    Reboot Ubuntu. The reboot should be clean, and the sound icon should come up without an error indication.

    Screen size is a little tricky. Go to https://arcanecode.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/installing-ubuntu-804-beta-under-virtual-pc-2007

    Find the entry from pb dated April 27 and cut the xorg.conf file from this entry and past it into the Ubuntu text editor. (Applications, Accessories, Text Editor). Save the file as xorg.conf in your user folder.

    Open a terminal window.

    Backup the old version of xorg.conf
    sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup

    Copy the new one you created to the same location
    sudo cp xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf

    Reboot.

    When Ubuntu reboots, your get a black screen with a X in the middle, then you’ll get a dialog message to saying “Ubuntu is running in low graphics mode, screen and graphics card coud not be detected”.

    Take the option to configure graphics mode.
    In the drop down where it says plug & play, select “Monitor 1280 X 1024”.
    Select 1280 X 1024 @ 60Hz as your resolution.
    Select Test
    You should get a larger ‘gray’ window with option to keep the confguration. Select the option to keep it.

    Ubuntu will start as normal and will be exactly the same size as before. Before you reboot, take alook at /etc/X11/xorg.conf …. it’s not the one you just created. Creating the new one appears to force Ubuntu to create a new one with more options.

    Reboot again and you shold have a Ubuntu session runing at 1152 X 768 @ 55Hz.

    Last couple of things…. in System, Preferences, Sound, set the playback options to ALSA. It’s pretty crappy but works better than OSS and certainly better than Auto detect which generates a stream error when you try to play MP3’s or movies.

  63. SteveZ’s workaround worked for me: –

    At the prompt, press F4 and select “Safe graphics mode”.
    – Then press F6 and delete the part that says “quiet splash –” and replace it with “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”.

    Just adding the noapic nolapic vga=791 at the end of the line did not work for me — I was still getting the processor error.

    Thanks!

  64. I installed Ubuntu 7.10 and upgraded til to version 8.04 LTS but when I try to boot I get the error message:
    “An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered. The virtual machine will reset now.”
    I have tried to add “noapic nolapic vga=791” but whichout luck. What do I do?

  65. hey guys I had the same “An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered.” error::::
    these were the final steps,

    as SteveZ said,
    “- At the prompt, press F4 and select “Safe graphics mode”.
    – Then press F6 and delete the part that says “quiet splash –” and replace it with “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”.”

    then, when you finish installing and reboot, ou wood have the same problem, so you have to edit the grub to fix it, do like this,
    after entering ubuntu, goto terminal
    type this gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst then give your password to access the editor.
    find the same lines as you edited in the first place here. add noreplace-paravirt there. your done.

  66. Hey Russ and Fred, when you reboot, you need to press ‘esc’ to see the grub menu.

    once on the grub menu, press ‘e’ over the first boot option.

    Once editing the option, press ‘e’ over the kernal line adding: noreplace-paravirt replacing quiet splash.

    ‘press enter’ to save your changes to that line.

    then press ‘b’ to boot that option.

    That should get you into ubuntu, but once in, you have to find a terminal, and edit the grub menu.lst the same way.

    Hope this helps,
    -Sean <

  67. Instead of adding “modprobe snd-sb16” to rc.local you can just edit /etc/modules and add “snd-sb16” on its own line at the end of the file. Save it and reboot.

    Screen resolution changes have to be made by manually editing /etc/X11/xorg.conf and adding the following to your “Screen” section:

    DefaultDepth: 16
    SubSection “Display”
    Depth 16
    Modes “1280×1024” “1024×768” “800×600”
    EndSubSection

    And add the following to your “Monitor” section

    Option “DPMS”
    HorizSync 30-70
    VertRefresh 50-160

    And that should get you up and running.

  68. arcanecode Says:
    “Interesting folks are having the issue and having to add the “noapic nolapic vga=791″ to the boot line. ”

    Hi, folks. I was having the same problem either trying to upgrade my Virtual PC 2007 (base environment; Windows XP SP2, now SP3 on an Intel Core2Duo 6400 processor on an INtel 965 motherboard, with 2 GB of RAM and 1TB of hard drive space) from Kubuntu 7.1 to Kubuntu 8.04, or installing 8.04 in a fresh virtual instance.

    Now that I have added the “nopic…” line, it seems to be installing perfectly.

    And thanks to IAP, I’ll probably be able to get the sound working, which has NEVER worked in the VPC environment.

    Thanks, everyone!

  69. I haven’t quite made it through the installer based on these instructions. I’m using the alternate disk, text-based installer. The program will just go out to lunch for extended periods. The OS is still running in Virtual PC, since I can switch to another busybox console and start it up. The network activity icon is still flashing. No progress in the actuall install, though. I’ve tried this several times and there are a few trouble spots where it is likely to stop. More memory allocated to the VM appears to let me get further. I’m up to 384M and am stuck at “configuring bug-buddy” on the installer screen, and l”d-config deferred processing now taking place” in the Ctl-Alt-F4 screen. It’s been stuck for 17 minutes now.

  70. Well, Kubuntu 8.04 is running, and it continues to work through a reboot. The sound isn’t there yet, but I did hear one short squeak before it threw another error, so I have high hopes that I’ll get it yet, if I keep copying all of you folks who (unlike myself) seem to actually KNOW what you’re doing.

    I do have one remaining problem, which hardly seems worth mentioning. But….. The scroll wheel on my mouse doesn’t work in Kubuntu, while it does work in WinXP (both natively, and in a VPC environment). The mouse itself seems to work fine; it’s just the scroll wheel that’s not playing nicely.

    Any suggestions? Thanks!

  71. Hi Robert
    all you write may 8 , was everything good, but when i copy the xorg.conf file in /etc/x11 dir the system says that i don’t have the necessary permissions
    I try to change the permissions but without succesfull
    how it’s possible to do it?
    Thanks in advance

  72. This is a big thanks to Graham Laverty for his 04/26/2008 @ 3:03 am post on how to get around the checksum for device 1 error and how to edit the kernel lines to keep the issue from repeating during new boots. The instructions are clear and do not omit any steps, which many other posts do. I am writing this from my Ubuntu 8.04 virtual pc that I just installed a few hours ago. So it’s a testament that his instructions works. Thanks again for helping me improve myself.

  73. hi
    I am currently doing ma 4th year project as “A management server for distributed virtual machines” so i need to know whether can i install Microsoft virtual PC into any linux or other O/S?

  74. CyrusTR,
    I was able to get the server working.
    I got the same error, So I had to change the Kernal to linux-386 instead of Linux-Server.

    1) Install System with the noreplace-paravirt fix.
    2) Reboot with CD and select Resuce a Broken System.
    3) Answer all the setting questions, then ‘Execute a Shell a Shell…’
    4) Execute these commands: (in this order)
    apt-get update
    apt-get install linux-386
    apt-get remove linux-server
    (Note: These Updates/Installing/Removing may take a while)
    5) When Done, Reboot and check grub file to ensure your booting in the Linux-386 kernal.
    (You still need to use the noreplace-paravirt fix – I also added vga=791)
    6) after the system boots up fix the grub file for good:
    vi /boot/grub/menu.lst
    (edit the kernal string – near the bottom of file)
    write & quit!

    Enjoy…

    I run a virtual LAMP box and it works great!

  75. Ken, thanks a bunch for the instructions 🙂

    Though i actually did an install from the alternate cd, just selected a CLI installation and used the instructions from above with noreplace-paravirt and editing grub. Though i will try the server -> linux-386 instructions you wrote.
    … again .. thanks 🙂

  76. I managed to install Xubuntu 8.04 on VPC 2007 running on Vista Home Premium with the “noreplace-paravirt” option. However, I couldn’t install Xubuntu 8.04 on VPC 2007 running on Windows XP with SP2. The kernel boot stopped at certain point, most of the time at “checking if image is initramfs…”. FYI, I have tried the virtual machine created on my Vista by copying the vpc files to my XP machine, but the same problem persists. It works on VPC running on Vista but not on XP.

  77. Thanks to Steve, Russ & Robert. I managed to get Ubuntu 8 running in VPC 2007. I’m new to linux and was pretty stoked to get it all up and running.

  78. Hey I even got the ubuntu-studio 8.04 working using above fixes.

    Now if I can only get SCO openserver 5.0.4 working…
    hehehehhe…. don’t ask..

  79. hi..my screen resolution is default into 1152×768. when i select 1024×768 the display goes garbled. then when i restart it goes back to 1152×768, any ideas anyone? thanks.

  80. Hey buddies I followed the tutorials and followed Steve’s codes. after a few minute as the screen appears i get error ” There was an error starting the GNOINE setting Daemon. Some thing, such as Themes sounds, or back ground wont’ work”
    plz help

  81. Hello all…. I have been working on this for days now, and have exhausted everything I can find on all of the forums and blogs here. When I boot the system, the login screen pops up at a higher resolution. However, as soon as I login the screen resizes and when it goes into the main screen and desktop everything is “garbled”. I have no problem getting it to work at 800×600, I can get it there again by wiping the xorg.conf file. I just can;t get the OS to work at anything other that 800×600. Can someone help?

    Nic
    nicholastabor@earthlink.net

  82. Hey guys still I get the same error ” as the creen appears where it says to install it a small box opens at top left ” saying ” some thing, like sound, vga, bla bla might not working properly.
    and there is only one option cancel….it can’t go ahead than that….plz any one help by the way I installed it succesfully manually not under virtual pC.

  83. Hi Mauro, (May 14th, soory for the delay getting back to you..)

    are you preceeding the copy with ‘sudo’? This should promt you for your password and give you temp ‘almost’ root access.

    sudo cp xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf

  84. Hi Guys,

    Trying to install Ubuntu on Virtual Machine but i’m still getting the processor error. I have applied all the possible answers which are mentioned in this blog, but unfortunatly they didnt help me.
    I am stopping now, sorry Ubuntu!

  85. According to this site (http://blogs.technet.com/austria/archive/2008/05/13/ubuntu-8-04-unter-virtual-pc-2007.aspx) Try the following:
    instead of or after “quiet splash –“:
    vga=791 noreplace-paravirt

    The documentation is written in german and describes also the sound- part, graphics resolution and so on…

    when you was able to setup your system, you have to edit the boot parameters manually (/boot/grub/menu.lst) to the same.

    I’m not a Linux guru, but this worked for me, so, if you are a little bit computer- skilled, give it a try…

    Regards
    Jimmy

  86. I too, have been having issues trying to get Ubuntu to boot up after installing it.

    System: Dell Precision M65 (like D820) Core 2 Duo/4gb RAM

    Originally, I was able to install it (8.04) with “noapic nolapic vga=791” but it would never boot after the installation.

    I finally reinstalled using “noreplace-paravirt” (which worked) and then edited the grub menu upon booting and entered “noreplace-paravirt” and volia! Booted successfully!

    Now, to make the change permanent by editing menu.lst, I guess…I am a nubie!

    Russ

  87. once again, the nest of spaghetti comments on this blog have saved the day! I have no definite advice as to what worked for me (Vista (pronounced Vishta, means Chicken in Lithuanian) 32bit/Intel running Ubuntu 8.04 upgraded on VPC 2007), but the /etc/X11/xorg.conf comment above led me on the right path to pick and Test until one worked.

  88. (Repost from beta thread)
    Has anyone been experiencing performance issues with VPC 2007? I get occasional keypress repetitions and the mouse isn’t always smooth. I have 1 gig ram allocated to the vm (out of 2 total) and have tried running the vpc at max speed also. The ubuntu heron build uses an average of 50% cpu from my host. I may have to investigate tuning ubuntu for performance or using another vm.

  89. Why not use VMware Player instead ?

    There are thousands of ready to run apps (and OS’s) that work out-of-the-box.

  90. Thanks to Russ Cain for the clear precise instructions, I had already managed to install using the vga=791 fix right at the beginning of the posts but was looking for the permenant fix for booting. Just need the audio fix now, never managed to get it working in 7.10, I think I remember a post at the top of the bog re:audio, I’ll take a look!

  91. After putting up with the VirtualPC 2007 performance issues for as long as I could stand, I tried an alternative… VirtualBox. I don’t think I will ever attempt linux guests in VirtualPC again, since VirtualBox was so much simpler and the performance was smoking.

    Nonetheless, thanks for the steps on getting it working in VirtualPC in the first place.

  92. I was having the same problems getting Ubuntu 8.04 live CD to run in VPC 2007. followed suggestions above and solved that problem. Still have a problem though. Screens and Graphics crashes. anyone know how to fix that?

  93. I have VPC running with XP, but could not get Ubuntu or SUSE to run on it. I spent lots of time trying the suggestions above and it just would not work on my laptop. I installed VirtualBox VM from Sun and it worked perfectly the first time. Oh well.

  94. I got this to work on a Dell D630 with 3GB Ram running Vista Enterprise SP1. Had to make the edit’s for video to work! I’ll try the sound edit next. THANKS

  95. SteveZ, thanks for the tip. Had been trying since release to get this to work. None of the other suggestions resolved the processor error. You saved me many headaches and a bunc of time.

    Thanks again!
    BrianC

  96. Hi Guys,

    Trying to install Ubuntu on Virtual Machine but i’m still getting the processor error. I have applied all the possible answers which are mentioned in this blog, but unfortunatly they didnt help me.
    I am stopping now, sorry Ubuntu!

  97. Hey,
    I didn’t read all replies but for me to fix the boot problems I need to add the following to the boot options (F6)
    noreplace-paravirt

    this seemed to solve the problem.

  98. Hey, I finally got the Internet, sound, and screen resolution working, but I messed up when doing the screen resolution part. I think it’s because I only added the 1024×768 resolution, and since it was originally at 800×600 it doesn’t support that res any more, so I get all this garbled gunk when I sign in. I get the 1024×768 res at the login screen, but once I log in then I’m screwed. Any ideas?

  99. After my own problems with the unrecoverable processor error and the maddening and addictive nature of this ordeal I can say that I am on edge. Now, Does anyone, anywhere actually know the root problem of the unrecoverable processor error? What is the computer itself seeing or running into that it would relay an issue?
    Is it a problem with my processor or a problem processing corrupted code?
    Do I need to reinstall the VPC or trash my new t-61 with a t-9500>
    I am running XP sp2 and I have tried everything including prayer.
    Thanks for any insight.
    David

  100. I installed 8.04 server ok using the noreplace-paravirt but cannot now boot up. I have esc’d into the grub to alter line 2 (the boot line) to containg the noreplace-paravirt command but all I get on screen is

    BUG: Int 6: CR2 00000000

    followed by a hex table and what looks like a stack trace.

    any ideas?
    ta,
    Ben

  101. When I click in install ubuntu or try ubuntu (…), i have this error:

    “…Buffer i/o error on device sr0, logical block…”

    Anybody can help please !

    Thanks!

  102. I have a question. When I look at the settings on the vpc 2007, it states that hardware virtualization is not available on this computer. Is this an issue?
    It also states that I am running a pentium III, although I am running a core 2 T9500. I ran it on a pent. 4 and it recognized it correctly.
    And for anyone else’s information, I could not get Ubuntu version 8.4 to install at all, I had to get the 7.4 version and it installed up to the interface and froze.
    Any insight would be appreciated if you have the time.
    David
    Staged18@gmail.com

  103. hi, jus wonder I using the sun virtual box, my version of ubunto is version 8.04 LTS. When i type the /grub/menu.lst, it show blank. My kernel version is this 2.6.24-19-generic. Any ideas?

  104. SteveZ you are the man..
    that solved my problem with kurumin 8.06(NG)
    thank you

    SteveZ Says:
    May 2, 2008 at 9:57 am
    Hey folks,

    Here’s another workaround for the processor error issue:

    – At the prompt, press F4 and select “Safe graphics mode”.
    – Then press F6 and delete the part that says “quiet splash –” and replace it with “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”.

    You can read about the “noreplace-paravirt” option in the Linux kernel documentation.

    It will take a couple minutes to boot up. Technically you could leave the “quiet splash …” part in, but it would be easier to debug problems if you can see the kernel messages (the splash screen doesn’t work anyway). The vga=791 is also not absolutely required, but I find that it allows the system to boot a bit faster since it doesn’t have to rescan the video resolution.

    Hope it helps.

    Steve

  105. Thanks, Robert, for the wonderful advice about how to change the su root password on a fresh debian install.

    It was frustrating the hell out of me 🙂

    PS. I’m not even running debian under Microsoft Virtual PC, it’s native. D’oh!

  106. Well thank you all for none of the support you provided.
    Here is some solid advice for all of the frustrated users of VPC 2007: Take it and shoot it in the head, it is worthless.
    After you do that go download VirtuaBox from Sunmicro and you will be happy again.
    It is a professional and well written program that runs flawless and is well documented.
    Again, thanks to all of the individuals that could not provide even the slightest bit of direction in my experience.
    Staged18@gmail.com

  107. An other prblem with Steve’s way:

    – At the prompt, press F4 and select “Safe graphics mode”.
    – Then press F6 and delete the part that says “quiet splash –” and replace it with “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”.
    – Enter, then black screen foever,

    any idea?

  108. I installed Ubuntu 7.10 and upgraded til to version 8.04 LTS but when I try to boot I get the error message:
    “An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered. The virtual machine will reset now.”
    I have tried to add “noapic nolapic vga=791″ but whichout luck. What do I do?

    http://www.vielegruesse.com

  109. Hi
    anyone has any experience with sun virualbox?

    I Completely installed it without any problems, but after the first reboot I get the message:
    This kernel requires the following features not present on the CPU:
    0:6
    unable to boot – ple&ase use a kernel appropriate for your cpu

    anyone has an idea

  110. Pingback: Not So Wise
  111. thane Says:
    April 30, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    I gave up. Same issues – I think it’s hardware AND VPC – tried with and without hardware virtualization.

    Went to Innotek Virtual Box – installing fine right now…

    Thanks for that… Every single suggestion here failed miserably except the one to dump Virtual PC 🙂

    I switched to VirtualBox, and am having absolutely zero problems.

    Woot!

  112. Hi

    I’ve read almost every comment on this page and still having problems getting xUbuntu 8.04 installed on vpc 2007.

    Like many others, I get the process error from vpc when trying to boot from the live cd. Using Steve’s “noreplace-paravirt” suggestions, I can get the live cd to start booting, but it never finishes.

    After watching a bunch of boot information scroll across the screen for awhile, a screen with glitched graphics appears. (It reminds me of a broken NES) A couple minutes later, more boot information lines appear in the background and the screen disappears. Then the desktop and mouse pointer appear. After wating some more, white bars appear at the top and bottom of the screen like the ubuntu menu bars are about to load. These bars then turn black. A few minutes later, the entire vpc screen turns black and the vpc eventually stops showing activity. At this point, the windows task manager on my XP host shows the processor running at 90-100%, but after letting it do this for an hour, I gave up and shut down vpc.

    I’m trying to run xUbuntu 8.04 using Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1 and Windows XP SP3 as the host OS. My host computer has an Intel Pentium III 650Mhz Processor and 256 MB of RAM. 128 MB of RAM is allocated to the Virtual Machine. Any help would be appreciated. My experience in Linux is limitted to changing the theme.

    Also, trying to be of whatever help I can, Windows Vista SP1 and XP SP3 are said by Microsoft to be unsupported as host operating systems by Virtual PC 2007 without SP1 installed. SP1 for Virtual PC 2007 will not appear on Microsoft Update. To obtain this update, you must redownload and reinstall Virtual PC.

  113. Ok, So I have followed the Graphics Workaround and as of now, my Virtual PC 2007 is not SP1 but it works fine on Windows Vista Home Prenium SP1, it works pretty well. I am now trying to get openSUSE 11.0 to work but I am not going to dual boot… yet. But this is a good guide and anyone who had the noreplace-paravirt thing, thanks for placing that, up, it helped me too much.

  114. Thanks to everyone for getting Ubuntu up and running. My only problem now is that I cannot get networking up and going (I’ve tried all wired adapters) .

    I’m using Vista x64 (/ducks) and running as a non-administrator. Could this be causing any issues with the networking? I have an XP image that connects to the net fine so I’m at a loss.

    Thanks for any help,
    Brian

  115. For some reason when trying to boot into ‘safe graphics mode’ by pressing ‘f4’, this is not an option. I am only getting ‘normal’ as an option. I also do not see a live cd environment. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

  116. I’m getting the same problem as many others

    “An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered. The virtual machine will reset now.”

    I disabled quiet splash and saw that it stopped on

    [ 270.284804] SMP alternatives: switching to UP code

    Here’s my specs

    Intel Core2 Duo 5250 2×1.5ghz (merom)
    2x1gb DDR2 PC2-5300
    2x120gb SATA-150 8mb cache 5400rpm
    Windows Vista Home Premium sp1 (all updates)
    Virtual PC 2007 (latest version)

    I have Solaris 10 in one virtual machine and Windows xp in another. I’m trying get Ubuntu 8.04.1 (i386) running. Any help?

  117. Tried Ubunto 8.04.1 on 64 bit MS Virtual PC SP1. Running Vista 64 bit with Radeon HD3870 card.

    Thanks to all who mentioned special boot settings, and how to modify boot settings permanently. It all worked except that my ATI card is not detected. I wonder if this is the root of the problem.

    I have tried and abandoned other distros in past years because of Linux’s inability to do basic things such as find video and audio devices – especially high-end devices. I tried Sun’s Virtual Box as suggested above, and was able to get the sound going (it’s part of the VM config, but no video joy – I’m stuck at 800×600 with both VM packages.

    Interestingly, the splash screen during boot is at the correct resolution, so there must be a way to force this to 1024×768 or higher. Does anyone know how to do this or know who might know? I’ve checked the Linux forums, but no luck yet.

  118. I’ve found the vga codes at http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/blog/archtoad6/2007-12-29/VGA_Resolution_Codes_for_GRUB_Lilo

    Here they are:
    Colors bits 640×480 800×600 1024×768
    256 8 vga=769 vga=771 vga=773
    32000 ? vga=784 vga=787 vga=790
    65000 16 vga=785 vga=788 vga=791
    16.7M 24 vga=786 vga=789 vga=792

    Colors bits 1152×864 1280×1024 1600×1200
    256 8 vga=353 vga=775 vga=796
    32000 ? vga= ? vga=793 vga= ?
    65000 16 vga=355 vga=794 vga=798
    16.7M 24 vga=795 vga=799

    But I still can’t get past 800×600 after the boot is finished. I’ve found other things to check, and I’ll report back if they’re successful.

  119. I had very little trouble getting it to install only having to use the safe graphics workaround.

    The sound fix has been hit or miss so far it was interesting that it worked fine in my privileged user but the unprivileged user I haven’t quite gotten straightened out. Odd thing is that both the workarounds are for global files.

    And for the resolution I found the best fix so far was at the site suggested to just download the VPC files also has a technical guide for installing it yourself which has all the best suggestions from this forum plus at the end it has the most complete fix for the screen resolution. My virtual machine operates at a convenient size in windowed mode but easily becomes real seamless full screen as well.

    Also in case anyone was interested I have used the package manager to switch from the generic flavor of Ubuntu to using edUbuntu and have had no issues with that outside of the main issues noted by the rest in the forum.

    Thanks for all the good advice

  120. “noreplace-paravirt” option worked for me (Vista Business x64). Thanks Steve, and ArcaneCode, and others for the walkthrough.

  121. I’m trying to install unbuntu 8.04 on my virtual pc 7.10. I’m getting this message “an unrecoverable processor error has been encountered.
    The virtual machine will reset now.” when I click ok, virtual pc resets and does the same thing. I’m in a loop! what do I need to do to get this installed on virtual pc?

  122. Thanks thanks thanks to SteveZ and others, well done.
    I had hard time to install ” Ubuntu 8.04 under Microsoft Virtual PC 2007″, but now…i am happy.

    Yasser

  123. it doesn’t work!!!
    ubuntu doesn’t boot
    microsoft virtual pc is a bad program, is there another program in wich i can run linux?

  124. I’ve tried to install ubuntu in windows virtual pc on a vista system using the downloadable version as the iso. I have been unsuccessful. I’ve tried several command line codes found on various forums to no avail. If I cannot install unbutu from the downloadable file and don’t want to mess w/ another vitural program… is there any reason why requesting the cd and installing the OS from a physical cd would make a difference in whether windows virtual pc gave me unrecoverable error messages???? Sorry if that’s a dumb question but it’s the only other thing I can think of….

  125. I’m trying to install unbuntu 8.04 on my virtual pc I’m getting this message “an unrecoverable processor error has been encountered.
    The virtual machine will reset now.” when I click ok, virtual pc resets and does the same thing. I’m in a loop! what do I need to do to get this installed on virtual pc?

  126. I have a problem with the first step lol…

    Now press F4 to select an alternate starting mode.

    When i hit alt f4 i have options of

    Normal
    OEM Install (for manufacturers
    Install a command-line system
    install an LTSP server

    ….Where is the option i need? when i just hit Install Ubuntu, i only get those… ?

  127. I’m having the same troubles as most everyone. The lovely “an unrecoverable processor error has been encountered.
    The virtual machine will reset now.” error. With ‘quiet’ removed it does indeed fail on (or after) the “SMP alternatives: switching to UP code” line. It doesn’t seem like there’s any hope for any of us – i’ve tried all the boot params as mentioned. Would VMWare do this better?

    http://www.samalamadingdong.com

  128. Guys,

    I’d like to thank you a bunch for your help.
    I’ve just installed ubuntu on a vpc 2004 under windows xp and have a mouse and sound aswell as a machine that actually boots up properly.

    Good job fella’s.

  129. i cant get the networking to work nither the sound help me i installed the way he did but all i get in right clicking the network icon is find wireless networks whe i dont even have a wireless networking card only wired

  130. I got the message:An unrecoverable processor error has been
    encountered the virtual machine reset now can u help me fix the problem?

  131. please help me
    sir i have linux and windows installed and whenever my windwos is crashed, i again install the windows and then the “linux(ubuntu)” boot menu is not there and “windows xp” start itself and there is no more linux option and last option is to again install the linux to get its name in boot menu or linux boot menu.and my data get erased.
    please help me

  132. Same problem with the “…unrecoverable process error…the virtual machine will now reset”.

    I have the following:
    Vista SP1
    VPC 2007
    ubuntu-8.04.1-desktop-i386.iso

    I tried the alternate modes and entering the vga=791 lines etc. but to no avail. Any ideas?

  133. I tried VirtualBox by Sun xVM and that worked like a charm. No special setup or config required. It was also nice to see Ubuntu listed as one of the “OS types” when creating the virtual setup. Hopefully VPC gets up to speed on this.

  134. To get the CD to load,
    Press F4 to select an alternate starting mode. When it pops up, change to Safe graphics mode and press Enter.
    Select F6 and add “noreplace-paravirt” to the end of the command line and press Enter.
    Now pick “Try Ubuntu…” (should already be selected) and press enter. Do NOT pick the Install Ubuntu option,

  135. To get the CD to load,
    Press F4 to select an alternate starting mode. When it pops up, change to Safe graphics mode and press Enter.
    Select F6 and add “noreplace-paravirt” to the end of the command line and press Enter.
    Now pick “Try Ubuntu…” (should already be selected) and press enter. Do NOT pick the Install Ubuntu option,
    – Perfect thank you it works great for me : )

  136. this blog saved my life. after reading all the post and all the helpful comments I now have a working Ubuntu 8.0.4 installation on Virtual PC 2007 with the resolution at 1024*769 running on a WinXP Lenovo Thinkpad with 1440*900 resolution. Thank you all.

  137. VirtualPC2007 SP1 works for me with the following tricks:

    At the prompt, press F4 and select “Safe Graphics Mode”.
    Then press F6 and delete the part that says “quiet splash –” and replace it with “vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”. And now works!!! I’m using Ubuntu 8.04 which work fine for me 😉

  138. Absolutely nothing that I’ve tried allows me to boot from the CD. I’ve tried the noreplace-paravirt option, the noapic nolapic vga-791 thing, Safe Graphics Mode, etc. NOTHING WORKS.

  139. To permanent change the Grub command line, you can follow these:
    1. After logging in Ubuntu, open Terminal window, back up the current menu by typing “sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.bak”
    2. Then open the editor, type in “sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst”
    3. You should find the command line where the line ends with “xforcevesa”, add following to it ” noapic nolapic vga=791″. Save and exit, then you are done.

  140. ok blah try this & watch out carfuly
    At the prompt, press F4 and select “Safe Graphics Mode”.
    Then press F6 and delete the part that says “quiet splash –-”
    replace it with “- vga=791 noreplace-paravirt”
    without quots & u can get it thats how it worked for me after i tried all methods

  141. When I first tried to install Ubuntu 8.04.1 (LTS), I had the same problems others have been having. I got Ubuntu to install by choosing Safe Graphics Mode (when you press F4), adding the line that Raouf has in his last post (when you press F6), and selecting ‘Install.’ Anyway, thanks everyone!

  142. I get to the install and everything but it cant find a kernal to install or something. this is my first time ever using linux. I get past the install and have to select a boot and all there is, is a memtest thing

  143. I followed your steps and I succeded to install ubuntu.The problem seems to be that i could not change the advanced setting for this…I still have to make a change to network adapter to function the internet connection…

  144. Hi all,
    I got curious and decided to try Ubuntu by installing on VPC 2007 I had the same difficulties as everyone else but got it to run in the end -my issue now is I keep getting thise errors on startup -in addidtion I cannot enable visual effects -I get the error “Desktop effects could not be enabled”
    My Question is are these two related? -and how do I resolve them?

    [ 34.572296] PCI: 0000:00:0c.0: class 401 doesn’t match header type 01. Ignoring class.
    [ 54.340527] isapnp: checksum for device 1 is not valid (0x89)
    [ 54.354966] isapnp: checksum for device 2 is not valid (0xbe)

    I’m Running a Tablet Laptop- AMD Athelon x2 64 (in 32 bit mode) and Ati Radeon 3200

  145. Great article~ I still get an error though. I followed your instructions, and those in the comments, and I managed to boot (after the unrecoverable processor error).

    However, after installing and rebooting, I get the error again. Any ideas how to combat this?

  146. hi arcane,

    Im using windows xp media center professional and ubuntu (8.04 i386 desktop edition) just stops loading after i choose “Try Ubuntu…” in safe graphics mode. the kernel loaded but it’s still on black screen.

    my vpc settings are:

    RAM 760 – (I just used the scroller to randomly pick)
    VHD – default

    i have an external hard drive like you and followed the instructions but it doesn’t seem to install

    Ive even tried installing my recovery disk (media center xp). it went in and loaded until windows was about to install, it didn’t work as well.

  147. Thank You. This blog is really helped alot to get it running in VPC after you captuer the iso image. But there is one thing that I found out besides the errror that people say was a loop. After Ubuntu installs, it is going to ask you to restart, but after you release the CD and reset VPC, you get the error again in a loop. Why is that? If anyone knows why this is going on then keep adding to this already helpful and excellent blog.

  148. SteveZ thanks “noreplace-paravert” worked just fine, i needed this to simulate 2 gns3 to have multiple areas connecetd with OSPF and IS-IS, and as GNS3 works well with linux, this just saved my day.
    Thanks all of you guys

  149. I never had a problem booting, but I had the low resolution and sound problems. Roberts change to the menu.lst along with Ruthsarian’s manual changes to the xorg.conf file resolved the resolution problem. Still no sound, but I can live with that for now…

  150. Yeah!! About the same thing. I’ve tried to run Intrepid Ibex … the latest, and it gives errors like these … http://technil.com/doubt.jpg.
    Is this problem related to something like hardware compliance to virtualisation. I run a Dell XPS M1330. Centrino 2.16 GHz Dual Core with 3 GB RAM.
    Help please … I wanna run Ubuntu through XP.

  151. Well, I did it on vista and guess what happened…… It worked thats why you read all comments alot then it works like in youtube, see if it works in the vid. and thanks again 🙂

  152. Has anyone successfully installed the Ubuntu alternate cd or server iso?

    I was hoping to do both but when I tried the alternate, it just hiccupped and never would get past the loading beldocs message.

    Thanks.

  153. OMG you people have ever heard of live cd’s? 1. go to try,
    2.go to third or second one in the menu (f4) first. then go wait.

  154. The problem with Virtual PC is that it does not provide help for a lot of errors that come up during installation.
    Here are three great tools to run Ubuntu on Windows XP or Windows Vista.

  155. UBUNTU SERVER

    There are two steps to getting it to work, the first is what I mentioned above about adding the extra boot options by pressing F6 before starting the install. But all you need to add is: “vga=771 noreplace-paravirt”

    The second part is the tricky bit – and you have to do this before the end of installation. So on the last stage of installation, where it says “Press continue to complete installation”, you have to press the “Go back” button instead and you’re provided a menu – choose the option to launch a Shell.

    Type the following commands:

    * chroot /target /bin/bash
    * aptitude install linux-generic
    * aptitude remove linux-server linux-image-server linux-image-2.6.24-16-server linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-16-server
    * exit

    http://digg.com/d1Vq5g

  156. Installing Ubuntu 8.04 Server on Virtual PC 2007

    Virtual PC is infamous for it’s inability to support Linux installations. There are always hacks required to get through the installation, but once installed your Linux machine should work fine.

    So I wasn’t completely surprised when I ran into issues while trying to install the latest server version of Ubuntu 8.04. A quick Google search lead me to find out (via a comment left in a blog post) that to get the installation working you need to do the following:

    * Boot off the CD (ISO) and then choose your language
    * Press F6 on the next screen and you’ll see a long string of text near the bottom of the screen.
    * Type the following before the trailing dashes: noapic nolapic vga=791
    * Press enter and continue the installation.

    So far so good.

    And remember, that Ubuntu 8.04 is a LTS (long term support) version, which means that Ubuntu will provide support and updates for 5 years for the server version.

    Update: looks like I’ve got more trouble shooting to do, as the virtual machine doesn’t boot after the installation appeared to complete successfully. Getting a heap stack error with lots of hex characters.

    UPDATE 2!!! I’ve found the solution to this problem from this link: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/32307

    There are two steps to getting it to work, the first is what I mentioned above about adding the extra boot options by pressing F6 before starting the install. But all you need to add is: “vga=771 noreplace-paravirt”

    The second part is the tricky bit – and you have to do this before the end of installation. So on the last stage of installation, where it says “Press continue to complete installation”, you have to press the “Go back” button instead and you’re provided a menu – choose the option to launch a Shell.

    Type the following commands:

    * chroot /target /bin/bash
    * aptitude install linux-generic
    * aptitude remove linux-server linux-image-server linux-image-2.6.24-16-server linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-16-server
    * exit

    Now we have to edit the Grub menu to add the same options to the boot command that we did before:

    * nano /target/boot/grub/menu.lst

    Look for the line that says: “title Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-18-generic” and then add the same boot options to the end of it so it looks like this:

    * kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-18-generic root=UUID-XXXXXXXXXXX ro quiet splash vga=771 noreplace-paravirt

    Press Ctrl+X to Exit the editor and choose Yes to save. Then type the following commands:

    * chroot /target /bin/bash
    * update-grub
    * exit

    And then return to the installation menu by typing “exit” again, the select “Finish the installation” and “Continue”. After the system reboots, you need to press Esc while the Grub menu is launching and select the generic boot option that we just edited.

    Hope you enjoy your new Ubuntu Server!

  157. I have the same problem as mrgcat. A bunch of text scrolls too fast to read and pause doesn’t work, so I can’t find the error. but the last sections line like this:

    [0.388024] —[ end trace 4eaa2a86a8e2da22 ]—

    I just downloaded 8.10 desktop, maybe I should try 8.4? I figured the 8.10 would be fine. I didn’t understand the language around extended support for 8.4. I assume this means 8.10 could be unstable.

  158. No sound (which is a major problem for me). Tried all the tricks listed here and elswhere – no dice. Sound works fine for all ms OS’s – I can here sound when it asks for name and passowrd at login, but once up sound icon has an error symbol.

    sudo modprobe snd-sb16

    returns nothing

  159. No matter which version of Ubuntu I try, I get the same result as Jordan, a couple screens worth of text scroll by ending in: [0.388024] —[ end trace 4eaa2a86a8e2da22 ]—
    and the vpc freezes there. I’m running XP Media Center edition and Virtual PC 2007. Any ideas?

  160. People have many problems getting linux to work in vpc due to not being able to find and follow clear advice.
    Too many people are posting comments under good blogs like this one with very sloppy error-prone code to type and also just copying and pasting incorrect code from other blogs etc.
    Everyone would find it very easy if people just posted clear, correct solutions and then the people having trouble actually took the time to read carefully the solutions and follow them to the letter. Its a shame that blogs like arcanes are full of comments from people having problems, but it’s even worse when people offering solutions dont even proof-read their own advice – editor by the name of selena springs to mind.
    Only rule you need with computers is –
    Follow things exactly and be sure the instructions have no mistakes first!

    I will do another post over the next few days just giving complete solution to getting ubuntu 8.04 onwards working in vpc 2007 with sound, correct screen res and easy install with no errors.

    I am a self admitted geek but do possess social skills and do accept that most of us on the planet follow clear, correct adivce best and not half hearted attempts at assisting people when you cant even be bothered to check your advice for errors!
    Sorry if this seems like an attack on just one person but it is regarding all people who put out rubbish. I for one am tired of ‘fixes’ that arent even right in the first place.

    Easy to follow solution in my next post -WITH NO TYPOS!

    Btw I have installed ubuntu 8.04 LTS in vpc 2007 no probs with sound, internet and good high res and now doing the same for ubuntu studio 9.04 (this is my first look at linux but im now getting the hang of putting them on vpc)

  161. jonnyT,
    My best advice as I had the same thing last night with Ubuntu Studio 9.04 is to make sure you are using vpc 2007 sp1 but check that it is the very latest version as im sure Ii found that I had vpc 2007 sp1 but not the latest version/build -use wiki to find out latest version but dont always trust EVERYTHING on wiki as sometimes it gets vandalised or has errors.
    The other thing I only found out last week was that microsoft has a patch out for the latest version of vpc 2007 sp1 as well (for 32 bit and 64bit pcs) so try googling that also to make sure you have the latest tools for the job so-to-speak.
    Just so you have an idea of what vpc you should have my vpc 2007 sp1 shows version/build no 6.0.210.0 -that can be found under help, about virtual pc

    It seems that the only major difference from 8.04 upwards and 9.04 linux is that xorg.conf seems to be blank when you go to edit it in 9.04 (i believe its due to it being able to auto detect some settings, however under vpc that just doesnt work fully hence we all still need to edit xorg.conf to get good screen resolutions eg 1024×768)

    I will post next full clear easy steps to follow from start to install ubuntu on vpc but to quick answer your problem you need to make sure that you add
    clock=pit noreplace-paravirt vga=791
    to the end of the line
    (this advice is only partial but refers to after running ubuntu disc and first screen for the install where you can F4 and F6 for options -i believe it is under F6 then press escape which allows you to add code to the boot line.
    Feel free to wait for my next post though as it will be written clearly and fully, this is just a quick answer for you.

  162. These directions were very helpful and I succeeded in getting the Virtual machine and ubuntu set up and running using them. Thanks for publishing them. There was a bit of squirrleiness when I tried to use the actual CD ROM drive for the setup but when I selected “Capture ISO image” and just used th image downloaded from ubuntu it worked. The CD will work for a reboot of my actual machine but gave me some issues on the virtual. Now I am trying to figure out the Windows Addtions thing and not really finding any love.

    Cheers and thanks again.

  163. Thanks for the good guide, I managed to get Ubuntu 9.10 running with this guide. The only thing is that I can’t get Virtual Machine Additions installed, since the ISO it loads has only Windows files. I was wondering if you knew how I could add the Virtual Machine Additions for file-sharing. Thanks.

  164. hi,
    I’m trying to Install Ubuntu 8.04 under Microsoft Virtual PC 2007.
    but I’m gating an error msg, as like…..
    “An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered.
    The virtual machine will reset now.”

    I’ve used 300 MB RAM and 16 GB HD for virtual pc.

    Plz help me…

    Thanks

  165. to some dude asking about networking on non admin accounts it seems on the newer operating systems have disable that on non admins i tried using my guest account on my computer to get on the internet so i can limit what some hacker keeps doing to my computer and it failed i know who the hacker is to payback time 😛
    P.S. i subscribed

  166. The problem is hardware-assisted virtualization. You must disable it in order to install ubuntu. My system is windows Xp sp3 and i am using virtual pc 2007. none of the other solutions posted above worked and this was the only remedy i could find. Check the settings for your virtual machine, go to hardware virtualization and disable it. vga=791 did not work for me from the installation boot screen. instead i will try to update menu.lst immediately after ubuntu installation.

  167. Re:“An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered”.
    To fix I disabled “hardware virtualization” and all worked OK.

  168. Using the steps posted in the link above, the installation actually works without disabling “hardware virtualization” … or at least it worked for me. Still, I prefer to use VM Linux only for support interface or (if needed) if someone wants to hire a Dedicated Virtual Server. Otherwise nothing beats a proper installation of any OS directly on the hardware.

  169. I installed Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition on Virtual-PC2007, on Windows 7. Installed success but when i try to open Mozilla web browser Ubuntu stop, you can only navigate on menu bar, you cant power off ubuntu, you have to Stop Running virtual machine in Virtual-PC menu. I’ll try VirtualBox.

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  172. Thanx for the tip on Ubuntu and Windows virtual PC. I still have a few questions. How does your PC work when you have two operational systems installed. Do they crash more often or are there any more troubles? What about the hardware resources? Can it run say on Celeron 700 Mhz? And RAM 500?

  173. Thanx for the tip on Ubuntu and Windows virtual PC. I still have a few questions. How does your PC work when you have two operational systems installed. I already knew that…

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