Windows NT, 2000, XP - how to install them as guest?

[Torinde]

Question

Version 0.84.0 among other things "fixes problems with the IDE driver in Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP and allows them to boot properly"

At NOTES there are mentioned:

• WinNT 3.1 - workaround making it possible to boot since long time ago
• WinNT 3.51, NT4, 2000 - couldn't boot in the past
• WinXP - copies a few files and gives an error

My attempts with 0.84.0 are unsuccessful so far. Following the NOTES files, after first installing MS-DOS 6.22 I ran "WINNT.EXE /b" from an NT4 ISO and setup finished properly - but on first boot I got a crash:

From what I see floppy emulation is still missing (#3436), correct? So, it's either via MSDOS and WINNT.EXE /b - or via CD.ISO boot, correct?

I get "El Torito bootable floppy not found" when trying "imgmount a -bootcd d" - for ISOs of NT4, 2000, ReactOS, Vista. Strangely OS/2 4.52 ISO was accepted as bootable, but crashes:

Haven't tried NT3.1, NT3.5 and XP yet.

After mounting some of the CDs and looking inside DOSbox finds only a README.TXT file stating 'your OS needs to support UDF', 'your OS needs to support Joliet' - not sure if I do something wrong? would be nice if DOSbox-X can read those directly.

Will there be guide(s) added to the wiki about those? @rderooy

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[joncampbell123]

Make sure when installing Windows NT that the hard disk and CD-ROM drive are both imgmounted as IDE devices. -ide 1m for the hard drive, -ide 2m for the CD-ROM drive.

Make sure there is enough memory. Windows NT 4.0 should have 16MB, Windows 2000 should have 32MB-64MB, Windows XP should have 128MB.

I tested these OSes with a hard disk image that is 900MB, except Windows XP, which needed a hard disk image that was larger than 1GB. The disk was formatted FAT16. Windows XP was tested from a FAT32 partition on a 4GB hard disk image.

All but Windows XP worked properly. Windows XP could never get OOBE to work and could never log in even as Administrator.

[joncampbell123]

As for OS/2 none of the versions I tried (from 1.0 through 4.0) were able to boot in DOSBox-X. Getting OS/2 to run is going to take more work. OS/2 1.0 to 2.x use their own protected mode drivers that talk directly to the floppy controller, however floppy controller emulation does not seem to work with whatever way OS/2 expects, which prevents OS/2 1.x and 2.x from even booting at all.

[Torinde]

Thanks, will try like that. Tests above I made with the default IDEs (e.g. just imgmount c: HDD.IMG, imgmound d: CD.ISO). So, if I use "-ide 1m", "-ide 2m", then CD will be bootable? Because that was my problem for most attempts. Or should I still try to go via MS-DOS and WINNT.EXE /b?

ReactOS - CD isn't recognized as bootable and also from DOS6.22: dir show files, but no other commands can work with them:

Same CD.ISO boots and installs OK in VirtualBox. Windows ISO CDs I mentioned above also boot and install OK in VirtualBox.

[BridgeHeadland]

I did not know that Windows XP is an operating system that could theoretically run in DOSBox.
Now it happens that some of us, especially me, have no idea how to install a single Windows operating system, even if we do research, and if we are lucky, we will find pre-installed OSes, even if they are not higher than 2GB (intended for regular DOSBox and DOSBox SVN Daum), and there is little for us who want to play big games for 9x, NT, ME, 2000 and XP, and if I am not mistaken, one can install all these Windows, maybe except XP, in 8GB image files or higher, in DOSBox-X. Even though we are all fond of nostalgic PC experiences, and maybe even PC nerds (not meant to offend anyone), there will still always be some of us here who do not know the computer language like that 100% . Wikipedia articles on PC-related stuff are formulated in a very advanced way, which is difficult to interpret for us who are very simple, and who prefer nostalgic games and entertainment than other things. Therefore, I hope that someone could upload pre-installed Windows operating systems in 8GB image files or higher, and add download links around here, so that we simple people do not have to struggle to get the operating systems installed without success.

[rderooy]

@BridgeHeadland there are step-by-step instructions on the wiki for installing Windows from 1.0 up to ME, and you can create them with a HDD size of your liking (within limits of the OS in question).

Providing pre-installed versions is out of the question for me. Apart from the legality, there is also way to many possible variations. Apart from the Windows version, there is the language (English, French, German, Japanese, etc) and OS updates. And then people will want their favourite tools/utils pre-installed, etc. Or a different model video or sound card, which implies different drivers. Hopeless.

[BridgeHeadland]

@rderooy I tried to install Windows 98SE once while following the instructions, but still got some errors during the installation. I have always thought that I have misinterpreted the instruction, and I misinterpret things very often. I have never managed to install old Windows in DOSBox anyway, nor do I know any computer experts who are available to me 24/7 and who can help me.

[kero990]

Make sure when installing Windows NT that the hard disk and CD-ROM drive are both imgmounted as IDE devices. -ide 1m for the hard drive, -ide 2m for the CD-ROM drive.

Make sure there is enough memory. Windows NT 4.0 should have 16MB, Windows 2000 should have 32MB-64MB, Windows XP should have 128MB.

I tested these OSes with a hard disk image that is 900MB, except Windows XP, which needed a hard disk image that was larger than 1GB. The disk was formatted FAT16. Windows XP was tested from a FAT32 partition on a 4GB hard disk image.

All but Windows XP worked properly. Windows XP could never get OOBE to work and could never log in even as Administrator.

Can you give a configuration file that can start win2000 or xp?
I use the default configuration file, start directly re-simulating dosbox
If you use the configuration file written in the win98 guide, win2000 can run a part of the installation process, and after a certain restart, it gets stuck on the black screen cursor. I think it must be configured incorrectly.

[BridgeHeadland]

I know some XP compatible games support Dolby Digital 7.1 (and maybe higher too), but do Windows XP and DOSBox-X support Dolby Digital 7.1?

[rderooy]

Windows NT versoins, such as XP are not supported at this point. You are on you're own if you want to try it.

And no, DOSBox-X does not support any kind of surround-sound. Only regular Stereo.

[BridgeHeadland]

@rderooy Will it ever be fixed? I just did some research, XP supports Dolby Digital and so do the games that are compatible with XP. Even Windows 9x supports Dolby Surround.
https://en.freedownloadmanager.org/Windows-PC/SSP7-1-FREE.html

[rderooy]

I left my crystal ball in my other pocket.

This is a community project, not a commercial software product. It could be added, if there is a developer who wants to develop such a feature for DOSBox-X.

[BridgeHeadland]

I have yet to install or own Windows XP for DOSBox-X, and besides, I know that the Windows 32-bit versions of DOSBox-X can run in Windows XP. Does that mean that one can run a Windows 32-bit version of DOSBox-X in XP, which in turn runs in DOSBox-X (any version, or some of them)?
Not that I absolutely have to, I'm curious, plus I'd think it would be fun to try.

[Torinde]

I tried using imgmount with -ide 1m for the hard drive, -ide 2m for the CD-ROM drive. Using DOSbox-X SDL1 MinGW64 2022-11-20 "artifact".
Also, for the HDD image - I used "imgmount 2" instead of "imgmount c". Is that OK?
For the CD image - not sure if CD.ISO can be used with “imgmount 3” – gives message such as ‘geometry not recognized’? So for it I used imgmount d:

Those got me to:

• WinNT4
  
  Despite the discoloration (and the confusing "no mass storage found"), clicking ENTER allows to continue and finish setup (strangely with TTF the bottom instructions line was invisible/unreadable, so I had to switch to Surface on-the-fly).
  Eventually got to:
  

What should I do differently?

• WinXP - as per NOTES linked above - initial setup (text mode) copies some files and then seems to hang? Is Booting from CD-ROM #182 relevant - maybe setup will work if not run from inside MS-DOS 6.22... or is MS-DOS 7.10 better?

• Win2K - "MS-DOS part of setup" successful (although needed much more time than NT4). Restart, then:
  

Now a few more oddities and questions:

• When using imgmount without drive letter (but with drive number) – it’s unclear how boot (e.g. nominally there are no drive letters) although “boot c:” booted from drive 2
• During MS-DOS 6.22 install – after disk3 finishes, I press ENTER – then DOSbox-X bootup screen appears (the one before the blue title screen) and DOSbox-X silently crashes (no error message, the program window just disappears)
• Imgmount 4 results in “primary slave” instead of “secondary master” (as written in the wiki)
  
• DOS menu "IDE controller assignment" shows HDD and CD, but "Mounted drives" shows only HDD
  
  

[Torinde]

Win 2003 R2 SP2 - outcome similar to WinXP:

When mounting as drive number:

Z:\>imgmount 4 "Windows 2003 Server R2 SP2 Enterprise Edition (x86).iso" -t iso -ide 2m
Could not extract drive geometry from image.
Use parameter -size bps,spc,hpc,cyl to specify the geometry.
Drive number 4 mounted as ...\Windows 2003 Server R2 SP2 Enterprise Edition (x86).iso

But then I don't see how to boot from it.

When mounting as driver letter - CD-ROM contents are accessible from the drive letter, but then:

Z:\>imgmount a -bootcd d
El Torito bootable floppy not found

Can DOSbox be made to recognize the bootable part of WinXP/2003 CDs?

Also why "Could not extract drive geometry from image." appears only when mounting as number? D drive when mounted as letter works, files are accessible.

Next attempt - IMGMOUNT as A/C/D a Win98 floppy (MS-DOS 7.10, MSCDEX, etc.), VHD image, the Win 2003 ISO -
boot a:
DOS boots, CD contents are visible, WINNT.EXE runs (mentions that lack of SmartDrive will make installation slow), copies some files, and reaches a screen when for a lot of time nothing happens:

Host Task managers shows 10% CPU utilization from DOSbox
Console has one line: LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinning down

"Reboot guest system" - same thing happens. LOG shows some errors while booting DOS:

LOG: ISA Plug & Play BIOS enabled
LOG: VGA ROM BIOS init callback
LOG: BUG: DOS kernel is disabled (booting a guest OS), and yet somebody is still asking for DOS's current PSP segment
LOG: BUG: DOS kernel is disabled (booting a guest OS), and yet somebody is still asking for DOS's current PSP segment
LOG: Booting guest OS stack_seg=0x7000 load_seg=0x07c0
LOG: Alright: DOS kernel shutdown, booting a guest OS
LOG:   CS:IP=0000:7c00 SS:SP=7000:0100 AX=0000 BX=7c00 CX=0001 DX=0000
LOG:  966950013 ERROR BIOS:Disk 1 not active
LOG:  966950069 ERROR BIOS:Disk 1 not active
LOG:  966963431 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=4101
LOG: 1199601696 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601710 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601724 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601738 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601752 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601766 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601780 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601794 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601808 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601822 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601836 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601850 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601864 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601878 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601892 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: 1199601906 ERROR BIOS:INT15:Unknown call ax=D800
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: triggered to spin up from idle
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinup complete
LOG: 1760989752 ERROR BIOS:INT1A:Undefined call AF
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinning down
LOG: Limit check 110000+4-1 = 110003 > ffff ES:DI
LOG: Segment limit violation
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: triggered to spin up from idle
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinup complete
LOG: CDROM: GetAudioTracks, stTrack=1, end=1, leadOut.min=84, leadOut.sec=39, leadOut.fr=9
LOG: Track 1 attr=0x40 00:02:00
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinning down
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: triggered to spin up from idle
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinup complete
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinning down
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: triggered to spin up from idle
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinup complete
LOG: ATAPI CD-ROM: spinning down

Next - started DOSbox with:

imgmount a WIN98DOS.img
imgmount 2 W2003.vhd -t hdd -ide 1m
imgmount 4 Windows 2003 Server R2 SP2 Enterprise Edition (x86).iso" -t iso -ide 2m

Used menu Drive \ D \ Boot from drive -> drive not bootable
Used menu Drive \ C \ Boot from drive -> booted into Windows setup (which was placed on the drive by WINNT.EXE in the previous attempt)
Copied some files, got stuck again.
Changed CPU cycles to 407000. Otherwise I was using core=normal, Pentium3, 512MB RAM
LOG got CMPXCHG8B message:

LOG: Warning: PAGING_NewPageFault() more than one level, now using level 2
LOG: Warning: PAGING_NewPageFault() more than one level, now using level 3
LOG: Pentium CMPXCHG8B emulation is enabled

Why is that dependent on the CPU cycles?

"Reboot guest system" - stuck at:

LOG: ISA Plug & Play BIOS enabled
LOG: VGA ROM BIOS init callback
LOG: BUG: DOS kernel is disabled (booting a guest OS), and yet somebody is still asking for DOS's current PSP segment
LOG: BUG: DOS kernel is disabled (booting a guest OS), and yet somebody is still asking for DOS's current PSP segment
LOG: Booting guest OS stack_seg=0x7000 load_seg=0x07c0
LOG: Alright: DOS kernel shutdown, booting a guest OS
LOG:   CS:IP=0000:7c00 SS:SP=7000:0100 AX=0000 BX=7c00 CX=0001 DX=0080
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: 2707684368 ERROR INT10:Function 12:Call  1 not handled
LOG: 2707684478 ERROR INT10:Function 2000 not supported
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: 2979072848 ERROR BIOS:Disk 3 not active
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: 2979131233 ERROR INT10:Function 12:Call  1 not handled
LOG: 2979131343 ERROR INT10:Function 2000 not supported
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: APM BIOS: OS attempted to connect to real-mode interface when already connected
LOG: 3003447234 ERROR BIOS:Disk 3 not active
LOG: 3003674868 ERROR BIOS:Disk 1 not active
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: INT13: Check Extensions Present for drive: 0x80
LOG: Warning: PAGING_NewPageFault() more than one level, now using level 4
LOG: Warning: PAGING_NewPageFault() more than one level, now using level 5
LOG: Warning: PAGING_NewPageFault() more than one level, now using level 6
LOG: Warning: PAGING_NewPageFault() more than one level, now using level 7
LOG: Warning: PAGING_NewPageFault() more than one level, now using level 8

Those "using level" message increase the number every time I click outside DOSbox and then back onto its window.

Next attempt - IMGMOUNT as A/C/D a Win98 floppy (MS-DOS 7.10, MSCDEX, etc.), VHD image, the Win 2003 ISO
WINNT.EXE started from DOSbox shell. Complains about SmartDrive, but copying is much faster than when run from guest MS-DOS.
Stuck at:

LOG: 1158831229 ERROR IOCTL:DOS:IOCTL Call 0D:4A Drive  2 volume/drive locking IOCTL, faking it
LOG: 1158831273 ERROR IOCTL:DOS:IOCTL Call 0D:6A Drive  2 volume/drive locking IOCTL, faking it
LOG: 1158835624 ERROR IOCTL:DOS:IOCTL Call 0D:4A Drive  2 volume/drive locking IOCTL, faking it
LOG: 1158835669 ERROR IOCTL:DOS:IOCTL Call 0D:6A Drive  2 volume/drive locking IOCTL, faking it
LOG: 1158835732 ERROR IOCTL:DOS:IOCTL Call 0D:4A Drive  2 volume/drive locking IOCTL, faking it
LOG: 1158835777 ERROR IOCTL:DOS:IOCTL Call 0D:6A Drive  2 volume/drive locking IOCTL, faking it
LOG: 1158907238 ERROR IOCTL:DOS:IOCTL Call 0D:4A Drive  2 volume/drive locking IOCTL, faking it
LOG: 1158907282 ERROR IOCTL:DOS:IOCTL Call 0D:6A Drive  2 volume/drive locking IOCTL, faking it

Wow... and now while I was copying that from the LOG - setup proceeded by itself! The yellow bar and percentage and file copying. Reached the following (without new LOG entries):

Retry didn't help. Skip proceeds. Complains about other files, but also copies some.
Could it be that reading a 700+ MB ISO image is a problem? The same ISO boots and installs OK in VirtualBox.

Now I'm at about 23% yellow bar, but too many "skip file" to press... I doubt Windows will boot with so many missing files.

Maybe I should try instead:

• using 407000 cycles and waiting more when running WINNT from guest MS-DOS
• using 407000 cycles and waiting more when running Windows Setup from Drive \ C \ Boot from drive
• adding SmartDrive to guest MS-DOS before running WINNT
• adding SmartDrive to DOSbox shell before running WINNT
• starting SETUP.EXE from Win9x instead of WINNT.EXE from DOS.

[Torinde]

Also interesting - blue background color looks different:

• DOSbox Capture folder - Red 48, Green 0, Blue 171
• DOSbox running on screen - Red 0, Green 0, Blue 170 (looks OK to me)
• DOSbox Capture folder - pasted in Github comment - Red 68, Green 0, Blue 180
• DOSbox running on screen - pasted in Github comment - Red 52, Green 0, Blue 179

RGB values taken via Sniping tool and then Paint.

[Torinde]

When trying to "boot c:" from VHD where Win 2003 is installed via VirtualBox:

IMGMOUNT -ide 1m (both as letter and as number - same result)

[BridgeHeadland]

Thanks, will try like that. Tests above I made with the default IDEs (e.g. just imgmount c: HDD.IMG, imgmound d: CD.ISO). So, if I use "-ide 1m", "-ide 2m", then CD will be bootable? Because that was my problem for most attempts. Or should I still try to go via MS-DOS and WINNT.EXE /b?

ReactOS - CD isn't recognized as bootable and also from DOS6.22: dir show files, but no other commands can work with them:

Same CD.ISO boots and installs OK in VirtualBox. Windows ISO CDs I mentioned above also boot and install OK in VirtualBox.

Sorry if I'm asking a silly question, but how do I use "-ide 1m" and "-ide 2m"? I've done some research but can't find any tutorials or anything, and I was thinking of trying my hand at installing Windows XP in DOSBox-X.

[Torinde]

imgmount 2 "HDD.vhd" -t hdd -ide 1m
imgmount d "Windows 2003 Server R2 SP2 Enterprise Edition (x86).iso" -t iso -ide 2m
imgmount /?

https://dosbox-x.com/wiki/Guide%3AManaging-image-files-in-DOSBox%E2%80%90X#_mounting_harddisk_images

In my attempts so far CD images for me are bootable in VirtualBox, but not in DOSbox-X. So I run WINNT or setup from DOSbox shell or guest MS-DOS floppy. As you can see above - no success, so I'm interested what you'll get.

[rderooy]

There are multiple ways to create bootable CD images, not all are supported in every environment. This was even true of real PCs back in the day, as the PCs BIOS may not support every CD boot option. In particular DOSBox-X only supports bootable CD images that use the "virtual floppy" method, as used by select OEM versions of Windows 9x/ME.

[SuperPat45]

I found this article explaining the journey to install XP as guest:
https://fabulous.systems/posts/2023/07/installing-windows-xp-in-dosbox-x/

[Torinde]

Fantastic! I'll try as well (install Win98SE, upgrade it to Win2000 Update Rollup, upgrade that to WinXP).

I think WinXP emulation will become relevant, because hypervisors will lose support for 32-bit operating systems and 16-bit applications when x86-S CPUs become a reality. To preserve software not running on Win9x and not running on 64-bit Windows (e.g. XP games using a 16-bit installer or something else missing in Vista+)

Intel recently announced also APX (adding 16 extra general purpose registers).

Also, the x87, MMX, and 3DNow! instruction sets are already deprecated in 64-bit modes - thus it's likely CPUs will lose support of those if AVX gets quad-precision floating point support (to cater for the software that needs 80-bit x87).

x86-S, APX and a hypothetical AVX-FP128 together would make a sensible cut-off point for CPUs/Windows to move forward.

Does somebody know a place listing the software potentially affected?

• does not run on Win9x, does not run on Vista+ or 64-bit Windows
• does not run on Win9x, requires x87 or MMX or 3DNow!

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde I want to confirm that I tried to upgrade to Windows 2000 from Windows ME, because WME is better than W98SE, but that's my opinion. It looked like it didn't work. In a couple of hours or so, I'll install Windows 98SE onto a VHD file, to see if I have better luck upgrading to W2K then, W2K actually came between W98SE and WME after all. On the other hand, there is probably something I have misunderstood during the tutorial that SuperPat45 has linked to, the thing about upgrading from 9x to NT is actually very new to me.

[BridgeHeadland]

After a long time it has succeeded for me to install Windows 2000, from Windows ME, it obviously takes a long time to start up this NT-Windows for the first time. The memory size is 128, the core is at normal, and the CPU type is Pentium MMX. Could the reason why Windows 2000 takes a long time to start up be because of the values ​​I mentioned, or could it be because the VHD file is 16GB? Is there anyone who knows?

[joncampbell123]

I test installation using the MS-DOS based initial install program in I386/, you don't have to install from Windows.

Make sure you have a formatted hard disk image mounted as drive C: for it to install to. You may use FAT32 only if installing Windows 2000 or higher, older Windows NT systems cannot handle FAT32.

[BridgeHeadland]

@joncampbell123 Wow! Can you describe the configurations during the installation? There is nothing in the wiki about how to install Windows 2000 in DOSBox-X.

[nathanpbutler]

Here's my config, based on the Windows ME config from the wiki but with a few tweaks:

[sdl]
autolock=true
output=openglpp

[dosbox]
title=Windows 2000
memsize=128

[video]
vmemsize=8
vesa modelist width limit=0
vesa modelist height limit=0

[dos]
ver=7.10
lfn=auto
hard drive data rate limit=0
floppy drive data rate limit=0

[vsync]
vsyncmode = on
vsyncrate = 60

[voodoo]
voodoo_card   = software
voodoo_maxmem = true
glide         = true
lfb           = full_noaux
splash        = true

[cpu]
cputype=ppro_slow
core=dynamic_rec
cycles=max

[sblaster]
sbtype=sb16vibra

[fdc, primary]
int13fakev86io=false

[ide, primary]
int13fakeio=true
int13fakev86io=false

[ide, secondary]
int13fakeio=true
int13fakev86io=false
cd-rom insertion delay=4000

[render]
scaler=none

[autoexec]
imgmount c hdd.img -t hdd -ide 1m
imgmount d "win2000.iso" -t iso -ide 2m

Copy the contents of D:\I386 to C:\I386, run the following commands in dosbox-x:

c:
cd I386
WINNT.EXE /s:c:\i386

I can't report on its success as I'm currently in the process of installing, but so far so good...

(ignore the Windows XP title, that was set before I decided to try Windows 2000 instead)

[joncampbell123]

Here's my config, based on the Windows ME config from the wiki but with a few tweaks:

[sdl]
autolock=true
output=openglpp

[dosbox]
title=Windows 2000
memsize=128

[video]
vmemsize=8
vesa modelist width limit=0
vesa modelist height limit=0

[dos]
ver=7.10
lfn=auto
hard drive data rate limit=0
floppy drive data rate limit=0

[vsync]
vsyncmode = on
vsyncrate = 60

[voodoo]
voodoo_card   = software
voodoo_maxmem = true
glide         = true
lfb           = full_noaux
splash        = true

[cpu]
cputype=ppro_slow
core=dynamic_rec
cycles=max

[sblaster]
sbtype=sb16vibra

[fdc, primary]
int13fakev86io=false

[ide, primary]
int13fakeio=true
int13fakev86io=false

[ide, secondary]
int13fakeio=true
int13fakev86io=false
cd-rom insertion delay=4000

[render]
scaler=none

[autoexec]
imgmount c hdd.img -t hdd -ide 1m
imgmount d "win2000.iso" -t iso -ide 2m

Copy the contents of D:\I386 to C:\I386, run the following commands in dosbox-x:

c:
cd I386
WINNT.EXE /s:c:\i386

I can't report on its success as I'm currently in the process of installing, but so far so good... (ignore the Windows XP title, that was set before I decided to try Windows 2000 instead)

Having replied before I got up this morning... yes, that's basically how I do it too. :)

[BridgeHeadland]

Windows Server 2003 Small Business runs fine with the Pentium Pro as well.

[BridgeHeadland]

Turns out I could use xp_activate32.exe in Windows Server 2003 anyway, I obviously had to slow down the cycles. Another thing is 8140000 was an rdtsc rate value, not a cycleup value, I felt I had to correct myself there.

[joncampbell123]

DOSBox-X by default follows DOSBox SVN behavior regarding RDTSC. Whatever cycle count you use is the time base of the RDTSC instruction.

In DOSBox SVN, changing cycle count can cause the RDTSC timestamp to wildly jump forwards or backwards which can really screw with anything using it as an absolute time stamp, including Windows XP.

DOSBox-X has code so that changing the cycle count at least prevents it from going backward, it's just visible then as a clock that has changed tick rate.

If a constant TSC is required, there is a dosbox.conf option to set one. DOSBox-X will then use that constant as the RDTSC time base instead regardless of cycle count.

[Torinde]

@BridgeHeadland, I doubt problems are due to lack of internet, but what's preventing XP/2003 from going online?

It should be possible for Win9x #5074, wiki?

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde There is nothing that prevents XP/2003 from going online, it's just that I don't have perfect knowledge of things related to hardware, software and the internet, which again is the reason for not being able to use the internet in DOSBox. I'm not even able to use the internet in Windows 9x or any other kind of Windows, I barely know how to even begin to be able to play Doom, Wacky Wheels and Duke Nukem 3D against others over the internet in DOSBox, otherwise I would I used the internet in DOSBox-X 24/7. 🙂

I thought about it a bit and realized that installing Service Pack 1 and 2 for WS2K3 doesn't require internet after all. The first thing I did was to install Service Pack 2 in Windows Server 2003 Small Business, which did not have Service Pack before, during the extracting the files needed to install SP2, Windows crashed with Blue Screen - 0-0000000A -, I don't know what file caused DOSBox-X to react, but Delayed Write Failed error obviously wasn't, I mean, because SP2 is too much compared to SP1, that's obviously also the reason why I couldn't install the Datacenter Edition, or other versions with SPx, without Blue Screen crashes.
I was sneaky and backed up (copied) the VHD file with WS2K3SB before trying to install SP2, WS2K3 didn't crash on next boot since I couldn't install SP2, but it did silly nonsense because of the failed extraction.
Then I was going to install SP1 in WS2K3, I experienced that I was going to get our old, familiar Delayed Write Failed error, if I installed SP1 to WS2K3 in a dynamic VHD file, so I had to convert it to fixed first (phew! 🤪). I was able to extract everything except for a few things, as you can see (the pictures below are in the correct order), then I installed SP1, it worked, the DOSBox restarted, but on startup Windows crashed, as expected, the Blue Screen went so fast that I didn't have time to see what written there, wondering if I should video record certain procedures, to see what I can't see otherwise, which causes crashes, I've never video recorded something this way before, so I don't know if it will work for me.

[BridgeHeadland]

I found that starting Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 installed (apparently around 99.9%, according to my poor calculations), in DOSBox-X as of today, will cause the boot of the mentioned operating system to appear for a tiny while, and that a Blue Screen with PFN_LIST_CORRUPT error will suddenly appear, for a tiny while there too, then the virtual machine (DOSBox-X of course) will restart by itself.

[BridgeHeadland]

Because you can run Windows XP in DOSBox-X while emulating Pentium 3, it is also possible to run DOSBox-X, the one that can run in Windows XP, but only MinGW builds as of today.
Literally, MinGW builds of DOSBox-X can run themselves.
I just have to mention it.

[BridgeHeadland]

Running games with DOSBox-X for Windows XP, which is run as a guest with DOSBox-X, which in turn is run in Windows 11, which is my host operating system, is also possible, there is also a way to run Doom, by the way (registered v1. 1).
In my case it's slow, no doubt because 3.8 virtual Ghz is more than what my PC is capable of, WXP with Pentium 3 works with 3.8 Ghz too.

[BridgeHeadland]

And now finally I have done my third and last experiment with DOSBox-X for Windows XP, in DOSBox-X. I have taken 3 Print Screens of the startup. Because it will take an infinite amount of time to boot Windows XP with Pentium 3, with DOSBox-X in Windows XP with Pentium 3, with DOSBox-X in Windows 11, because the basic speed of the PC is 3.8 Ghz, I started Windows XP (as in the second time I mentioned it in this comment) with Pentium Pro (Slow), with cycles at max, so that it would go faster. Windows XP booting up with a modern taskbar, without any nonsense, while the CPU type is Pentium Pro, is almost like winning the lottery, so icons on the desktop happened not to appear this time, but there was no need, since this was a test, and the fact that I have secured you proves that it is entirely possible.
I've recently realized the obvious reason why I can't install Service Pack X for Windows Server 2003 (or the latter operating system with SPX included at all), it's for the same reason you can't install Service Pack 3 to Windows XP, because DOSBox-X does not have SSE2, and certainly not SSE3. I don't know if SSE2 is enough and that SSE3 is necessary to install SPX to WS2K3. Windows Longhorn (Windows Vista Beta) doesn't include Service Pack, judging by the files in the ISO files, but that doesn't mean that SSEX is unnecessary to install WL, it's not long since I last tried to install WL, also this time I failed, I think the WL files require SSE2, most likely SSE3 I think, even though the WL files are not from SPX. WL may also require a full ACPI (at least 6.0 or higher), although I highly doubt it is necessary in this case.

[Torinde]

@BridgeHeadland, screenshots will be even more impressive if you make them on your host, so that the "outer" DOSbox is also visible - show Win10 with DOSbox window with XP running in DOSbox and inside that XP, another DOSbox, also with XP, etc.

Of course, I assume performance in the second level DOSbox will be abysmal, but it's nice to see it works, however slowly!

As for Service packs. What is known so far:

• Vista requires ACPI (from some version after Longhorn build 4051), DOSbox-X doesn't support ACPI yet.
• Pentium 3 (that has SSE) is listed as official requirement for Windows Home Server (based on Win2003) from 2007
• SSE2 is listed as official requirement for Win8 (2012), DOSbox doesn't support SSE2 yet.
• SSE2 is actually required for Windows updates after 2018 (for XP, Win2008, Win7)
• SSE4.2 is listed as official requirement for Win11 24H2 (where the actual requirement is only the POPCNT part of it)

It seems you have success with:

• XP first release
• Win2003 first release

Then the further tests to do are:

• on a working XP installation:
  • install SP1
    • install SP2
      • install SP3
        • install further Windows updates up to the first one from 2018 that will fail (due to lack of SSE2)
• on a working 2003 installation:
  • install SP1
    • install R2
      • install SP2
    • install SP2
• install fresh XP from ISO with SP1 integrated/slipstreamed
• install fresh XP from ISO with SP2 integrated
• install fresh XP from ISO with SP3 integrated
• install fresh 2003 from ISO with SP1 integrated
• install fresh 2003 from ISO with SP2 integrated
• install fresh 2003R2 from ISO (that has SP1 integrated)
  • if that works, try installing SP2 on top
• install fresh 2003R2 from ISO with SP2 integrated
• install fresh Windows Home Server
• install fresh ReactOS

I have seen no reports/evidence that any of those XP/2003 Service packs requires any SSE. Obviously, something in the Service packs may be troublesome for DOSbox (or the settings you use), but I doubt that's related to SSE.

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde Until now I have successfully installed Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2, and Windows Server 2003 Small Business SP0.
I haven't done installing Windows XP completely without the Service Pack yet, I may well try it, then install SP1, then SP2, and then SP3, although I doubt it has anything to do with it.
I actually tried to install SP1 and SP2 in Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition SP0, without success, it seems that the Standard Edition does not support SPX at all, then I installed WS2K3 Small Business Edition SP0, then installed SP1 and SP2 - i backed up the VHD file first of course. After installing SP1, WS2K3 crashed, and after I restarted it crashed as well, and during the extraction of the files for the SP2 installation, before I knew it, it crashed and WS2K3 became unstable.
The reason I think the lack of SSE2 (which like SSE3 was introduced with the Pentium 4) is why I can't install SP3 for WXP, and SPX for WS2K3, is because of what you wrote last November 30: "Windows XP with SP3 and all updates until May 2019 or August 2019 (some of the later updates require SSE2)". I'm not particularly good at remembering what others have written in the past, and English is not my native language, but I have searched for the words "SP3" and "SSE2" on this very issue here, to find possible reasons for why certain SPs cannot be installed as of today.
As far as I know, SP1 to WS2K3 was released in 2005, SP2 to WS2K3 in 2007, and SP3 to WXP in 2008, all were released after SP2 to WXP in 2004.
ws2k3.zip
I just added the configuration. :)

[Torinde]

@BridgeHeadland, OK, so my comment (and links therein) shows that "some updates after SP3 require SSE2, specifically updates from 2018/2019 - way after SP3 or any of the XP/2003 release dates". XP/2003 service packs themselves don't require any SSE (per what I know so far).

2003 Standard edition definitely supports 2003 SP1/SP2 (not XP SP1/SP2/SP3) - I don't know if there are different Service packs for Standard edition vs Small Business, but I think it's better to do tests on the Standard edition.

If 2003 Standard crashes after installing "SP1 for 2003 Standard", then it's worth to try a fresh installation of 2003 ISO that has SP1 integrated/slipstreamed.

As you have XP MCE 2005 installed in DOSbox-X - this proves XP SP2 works in DOSbox-X. Please make a backup of the MCE DOSbox installation and then try installing SP3 on top of it. Separately you may try installing on top of MCE2005 first the "MCE 2005 Update Rollup 2" and then SP3.

Also, the service pack numbering is different for 2003 and XP, e.g.

• XP SP2 ~ 2003 SP1
• XP SP3 ~ 2003 SP2
  Since you have already XP SP2 running, I would expect at least 2003 with SP1 also to run...

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde I've tried various updates for Windows XP, also "MCE 2005 Updates Rollup 2". It's KB898461, which according to catalog.update.microsoft.com is from May 27, 2008, which is the last update that can be installed in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 today, if run with DOSBox-X (later updates appear to be corrupt, which I have no faith in), and unfortunately SP3 cannot be installed after installing said update. KB2749655 should probably be the last update that doesn't require SSE2, if the sources are correct, so it should actually be possible to install it with just SSE, I should think. I don't know why I can't update WXP with updates after KB898461, maybe SSE and/or Pentium 3 are not complete, maybe it's something else. According to WXP, the Pentium 3 in DOSBox-X is a Xeon processor. I don't know if Pentium 3 also exists in other processors, if it does, maybe there are better processor alternatives with Pentium 3, now I'm not an expert on exactly such things, unfortunately.
The obvious reason why I can't install SPX in Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition SP0 is probably because this version of WS2K3 is an RTM version. There is only one version of each Service Pack for WS2K3, from what I could see on the said website, and I searched for "2003 Service Pack".
I'm also not an expert on text documents that appear in the Windows folder, but I'll add all of them from today and tomorrow (DOSBox-X was set to Turbo mode), some of them are logs.
WXPTXT.zip

Edit: Here is more TXT files and updated SchedLgU and WindowsUpdate.
WXPTXT2.zip

[Torinde]

the last update that doesn't require SSE2

That will be up to July 2018, so after KB2749655

if Pentium 3 also exists in other processors

SSE exists in other processors, yes. And I don't think the problems you encounter with Service packs are related to SSE or Xeon vs P3.

So, two paths for further testing:

1. do fresh installations from ISO that has a Service Pack integrated/slipstreamed
2. install updates via Windows update (or manually) one by one, chronologically, so that you identify exactly which one is the first to break (and hopefully that'll give a clue where the problem is, e.g. if the update "fixes crashes when using PS/2 mouse", then maybe DOSbox mouse emulation is incomplete, etc. - you may try https://legacyupdate.net/

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde I simply tried the Legacy Update, I thought I would find the answer to the update issues this way. I started Legacy Update, and got the message that Service Pack 3 could not be installed. That came as no surprise, because all the other times I tried to install Service Pack 3 was via the installation file, which caused Windows XP and DOSBox-X to crash. I tried several methods to update Windows XP via Legacy Update without Service Pack 3, but was told that the Windows Update Agent failed to download. The server name or address could not be resolved (12007).
I compared DOSBox-X with VirtualBox to find out how Windows XP handles the two different virtual machines. I know that even though both virtual machines are different, it doesn't mean that one is better than the other, both have different disadvantages and different advantages, It's not a bad idea to lead by example. DOSBox-X can install .Net v1.1, VirtualBox cannot, and VirtualBox can install Service Pack 3, DOSBox-X cannot. It's possible my brain is jammed now, and may be silly, but after the comparison between the virtual machines, it seems quite obvious to me that the reason KB898461 is the last update for Windows XP that can be installed in DOSBox-X is because it's the last one that doesn't require Service Pack 3, I tried later updates, but they requiers Service Pack 3, they don't work without it, I've tried..
I don't know the reason why I can't install Service Pack 3, nor why the Windows Update Agent fails, the latter could probably be because the Internet is not connected, because I am not able to connect to the Internet in DOSBox, because I don't know how. I reckon the answer lies in one of the text documents I uploaded two days ago, I may not have used the correct configuration in DOSBox-X, I use the same configuration for Windows XP as I use for Windows Server 2003.
I can also do a clean install of Windows XP, then install one update file at a time, but after the comparison of the virtual machines, I doubt if I will succeed if I use this method.

[Torinde]

I am not able to connect to the Internet in DOSBox

Maybe you should open a Discussion/Issue question specifically about that - hopefully somebody can give hints there.

Some generic advice about installing updates, restarting, etc.

Can you try "Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD VL (English)" from here?

And 2003 with SP1 from here or here?

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde I have read through the generic advice link. Judging by the title, someone had trouble updating KB898461, which I can't see being related to my problem. Updating to KB898461 I manage to update without problems, also with DOSBox-X. Based on the link, the problem was that KB898461 had already been updated/installed already.
I can try to install Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD VL (English). I installed Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with Service Pack 3 (x86) earlier this summer, unfortunately I didn't back it up, or take care of it, but from what I remember, it started up with low resolution (I remember not whether it was 640x480 or 800x600), classic taskbar, no sound (maybe I'm remembering wrong), and no desktop background, where Bliss is the expected desktop background in this case, there was just a blue color there instead. I was unable to open/run Windows Explorer, and I was unable to change resolution. It is possible that SP3 and WXPMCE are crashing with each other in the DOSBox-X case.
I was going to start an install of WXPMCE2K5SP3, but first I wanted to see what is causing the crash of extracting the Service Pack 3 installation files, so I made a video recording with Debut, with some scrolling in the finished video, it stopped during or after the extraction of mqad.dll, and the BSOD appeared under one second with this message.

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Disable or uninstall any anti-virus, disk defragmentation or backup utilities. Check your hard drive configuration. and check for any updated drivers. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.
Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x00000024 (0x001902FE, 0xF78C650C, 0xF786208, 0xF7404383)
*** Ntfs.sys - Address F7404383 base at F740

The last four digits are actually four out of eight digits, the rest have unfortunately been "wiped" away.

[BridgeHeadland]

I just ran CHKDSK using the "CHKDSK /F" command in Windows XP, restarted Windows XP, then ran CHKDSK, and extracted Service Pack 3 again, without crashing this time. I was just about to start Service Pack 3, when I got Service Pack 3 Setup Error. I didn't get to press Print Screen, because DOSBox-X crashed and terminated itself, but I secured the message. It said "This Service Pack requires the machine to be on AC Power before setup starts.", and the ACPI is not complete yet, because it is experimental.

[Torinde]

trouble updating KB898461, which I can't see being related to my problem

That's why I said "generic advice" - I think the ideas mentioned at the link are generic and may be applicable for any update problem, not only for KB898461.

Also, yes, I think making a fresh installation of regular XP with integrated SP3 is a good next step. MCE2005 has additional things inside, which we would like to isolate first.

This Service Pack requires the machine to be on AC Power before setup starts.

DOSbox-X supports APM, the predecessor to ACPI, which also deals with AC Power signal, I think.

In some of your screenshots above XP/2003 is on battery power (batter icon in the taskbar tray) and in others - on AC power (plug icon). Do you change some .conf setting or setting in XP/2003 or it's just taking that from your host? Are you using a laptop (or desktop via UPS)? Just to be sure, plug it in.
Will SP3 install crash if you do it while you have the plug icon?

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde

In some of your screenshots above XP/2003 is on battery power (batter icon in the taskbar tray) and in others - on AC power (plug icon). Do you change some .conf setting or setting in XP/2003 or it's just taking that from your host? Are you using a laptop (or desktop via UPS)? Just to be sure, plug it in. Will SP3 install crash if you do it while you have the plug icon?

I don't know what's going on, I've really thought about it a lot, it's like sometimes the battery icon appears, and other times the plug icon appears. I don't do anything special in the Windows XP guest system or in the configuration. It didn't take long between each time I tested the flexibility of DOSBox-X to see if DOSBox-X can be run in Windows XP, which runs in DOSBox-X. When I tested the integrated DOS, the plug icon appeared, when I tested games, where Doom was a natural choice, since it has always been a thing among Doom fans (like me) to test whether it is possible to running Doom in weird and peculiar ways that are untested, no icon appears at all, and when I tested Windows XP itself, the battery icon appeared. I think this thing with random icons comes from the host system (Windows 11 Pro), as far as I know, I don't do anything in the host system that is related to power. What was it supposed to be?

Edit: Here is my AP Power releated config.

acpi = 6.0
acpi rsd ptr location = ebda
acpi sci irq = -1
acpi iobase = 0
acpi reserved size = 0
apmbios = true
apmbios pnp = false
apm power button event = suspend
apmbios version = 1.2
apmbios allow realmode = true
apmbios allow 16-bit protected mode = true
apmbios allow 32-bit protected mode = true

[BridgeHeadland]

Today I tried to install Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD VL in fixed VHD, and both Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 in fixed VHDs - the fixed ones are far more flexible.
When there were 12-13 "minutes" left in the installation of Windows XP, this BSOD appeared.

When the process was about to start during the first step of the Windows Server 2003 installation (WINNT.EXE), this BSOD appeared. This applies to both versions. As for the 8-in-1 ISO, I thought it natural to try to install the Retail version of the Standard Edition.

I forgot to mention that the PC I use is a desktop gaming PC.

[Torinde]

Hopefully @joncampbell123 or somebody else can chime in. Maybe they can advise what debug log may help to understand the problem.

Here's what I find:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

• abnormal memory address access behavior.

PFN_LIST_CORRUPT

• Most common causes are a faulty driver, hard drive issue and system damage.
• page frame number (PFN) list becomes corrupted. The PFN is used by your hard drive to determine the location of each one of your files on the physical disk.

And least for the PFN error - it may be worth to try with the smallest HDD image you can, try with both FAT and NTFS, try installing on pre-formatted image (formatted by IMGMAKE, formatted by VHDMAKE, formatted by FORMAT in DOSBox, formatted by FORMAT in MS-DOS booted in DOSbox, formatted by FORMAT in MS-DOS booted in VirtualBox/elsewhere, formatted by your host as FAT, formatted by your host as NTFS), try with formatting the image in Windows setup.

What CPU, RAM, HDD are you using inside DOSbox?

Also I wonder if DOSbox-X supports the watchdog timer required for Win2003 - probably yes, since you can install the initial release.

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde The smallest HDD image (VHD) I could was 1.5 GB (1536 MB), even then I got a BSOD, I can't format the file system to FAT32 or to NTFS because the BSOD appears when the process is about to start, which is before I could format it. I have recently tried to install Windows Server 2003 with SPX in a preformatted VHD file - fixed - created with DOSBox-X, like last autumn, this time I also got BSOD.

Here is the full final CPU section layout I usually use to install WS2K3 with PSX:
core = dynamic_rec
fpu = true
cpuid string =
processor serial number =
rdtsc rate = 0
segment limits = false
double fault = true
clear trap flag on unhandled int 1 = false
reset on triple fault = true
always report double fault = false
always report triple fault = false
mask stack pointer for enter leave instructions = auto
allow lmsw to exit protected mode = auto
report fdiv bug = false
enable msr = true
enable cmpxchg8b = true
enable syscall = true
ignore undefined msr = false
interruptible rep string op = -1
dynamic core cache block size = 32
cputype = pentium_iii
cycles = 3800000
cycleup = 10
cycledown = 20
cycle emulation percentage adjust = 0
turbo = true
stop turbo on key = false
stop turbo after second = 0
use dynamic core with paging on = false
ignore opcode 63 = true
apmbios = true
apmbios pnp = false
apm power button event = suspend
apmbios version = 1.2
apmbios allow realmode = true
apmbios allow 16-bit protected mode = true
apmbios allow 32-bit protected mode = true
integration device = false
integration device pnp = false
isapnpbios = true
isapnpport = auto
realbig16 = true

Here are the values ​​I usually set when it comes to memory:
memsize = 4096
memsizekb = 0
dos mem limit = 0
isa memory hole at 512kb = auto
isa memory hole at 15mb = auto
vmemdelay = 0
vmemsize = 65536
vmemsizekb = 0

The HDD I'm using is a raw 31.25GB (32000MB) dynamic VHD file, created with Disk Manager in Windows 11 Pro. I have also tried fixed VHD file, which otherwise is similar to the VHD I usually use.

[Torinde]

RAM

• XP - 128MB
• 2003 - 256MB

HDD ~5GB and for sure less than 8GB

CPU

• your 3 million cycles is outrageously high, but you said you have better success like that, so 🤷
  • XP ~ 300MHz / 200000 cycles
  • 2003 ~ 600MHz / 400000 cycles
• Pentium type should be good enough, but again if you already tried Pentium, Pro, MMX, II, III - use whatever gave best results so far

HDD images to try:

• IMG
  • not formatted, "pristine"
  • formatted by IMGMAKE
  • formatted by FORMAT in DOSBox
  • formatted by FORMAT in MS-DOS booted in DOSbox
  • formatted by FORMAT in MS-DOS booted in VirtualBox/elsewhere
  • formatted by your host as FAT
  • formatted by your host as NTFS
• VHD
  • not formatted, "pristine"
  • formatted by IMGMAKE
  • formatted by VHDMAKE
  • formatted by FORMAT in DOSBox
  • formatted by FORMAT in MS-DOS booted in DOSbox
  • formatted by FORMAT in MS-DOS booted in VirtualBox/elsewhere
  • formatted by your host as FAT
  • formatted by your host as NTFS

vmemsize = 8

• why are you using 65536?? That seems way too high. What videocard have you selected (machine =)?

[BridgeHeadland]

@Torinde The reason I'm running Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 at 3800000 cycles is because that's the lowest hertz I know of that allows the aforementioned operating systems to run with a Pentium 3 via DOSBox-X, 3800000 is equivalent to 3.8 Ghz - in Windows NT 5.x context as far as I know, I've tried running WXP with 3600000 (3.6 Ghz) cycles and Pentium 3 a little while ago and it crashed, but with Pentium 2 it worked ok with 3600000 cycles. I have set the RDTSC rating to 1400000 (1.4 Ghz), which is the highest hertz a real P3 can run, according to Wikipedia.
Why am I running the video memory at 65536 (64GB)? I don't know, it seemed like it was the highest video memory WNT5 could run without nonsense.
I set the memory to 4096 (4 GB) because that is the highest memory DOSBox-X could set, yet it says 3584 on the DOSBox-X boot.
Before installing Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition with Service Pack 2, I set the video memory to 8, and the memory to 256, it did not work.
the machine value is set to svga_s3, which is the Super VGA default value. I would normally set to the preferred svga_s3virgevx, but it doesn't seem like you can add/install S3 graphics cards in WXP or WS2K3, in WXP and WS2K3 you can only, without CD or download, add 3D accelerations/display from ATI and Intel, and that you can also add a specific video card/display from SiS in WS2K3 - which I can't remember what it is right now. We know that DOSBox-X does not have Super VGA with 3D acceleration as a machine value as of today, at least not from ATI, and especially not from Intel and SiS.
I have tried to install WS2K3DCE with SP2 in four different HDD images, the others were impossible to create and format, the only thing I haven't done yet was to format HDD images - both VHD and IMG (fixed) - with MS-DOS via DOSBox-X and VirtualBox, and install WS2K3DCE in them afterwards, but I will do that later. However, I am sticking to the conclusion that the AC Power configuration is not configured correctly and/or the AC Power emulation is not complete.

Edit: I just tried to install Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition with Service Pack 2 in a VHD file, which I formatted in MS-DOS 6.22 with VirtualBox, it crashed with BSOD with 0x0000004E again.

[Torinde]

@BridgeHeadland, now that you are at SP3, can you please check how much forward you can reach with updates?

With the POSready registry you should be able to get to July 2018. Then it's interesting to see the error message the August 2018 update will give.

[RNMB15]

The mainboard from the video with Pentium 4 has three ISA slots:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjvgNzQ0cOQ

[BridgeHeadland]

I have come across this website - https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/bsod-check-code-microsoft-windows-server-2003-ibm-system-x - which looks like an explanation of why I cannot install any Service Pack for Windows Server 2003, or said operating system with any Service Pack included. So far I have been able to install any version of Windows Server 2003, even the Datacenter Edition, but only without the Service Pack.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (any release) operating system, installed on the local storage subsystem, which is controlled by the ServeRAID M1015 SAS or SATA controller, alternative part number 46M0831, may result in Bug Check during heavy workloads such as heavy I/O, including file copy operations . In the event of the failure, the operating system will unexpectedly reboot or crash, presenting the user with the blue screen with one of the following stop errors: 0x000000de 0x0000004e 0x000000d1 0x0000000a

In my case the stop error is 0x0000004e, at least the last few times. I already know that DOSBox-X emulates IDE controllers, just that the IDE emulation is generic, not emulating the details of the real IDE motherboard chipsets.

The system can be one of the following IBM servers:

System x3200 M3, type 7327, any model
System x3200 M3, type 7328, any model
System x3250 M3, type 4251, any model
System x3250 M3, type 4252, any model
System x3400 M3, type 7378, any model
System x3400 M3, type 7379, any model
System x3500 M3, type 7380, any model
System x3550 M3, type 7944, any model
System x3620 M3, type 7376, any model
System x3630 M3, type 7377, any model
System x3650 M3, type 7945, any model

Whether DOSBox-X emulates one of these servers, or none of them, I know nothing about.

ServeRAID M1015 SAS or SATA Controller, Alternate Part Number 46M0831, Spare Part Number 46M0861

It wouldn't surprise me if DOSBox-X emulates one or both part numbers. If one cannot select part number(s) options in configuration, we should be able to do so in a future build.

Solution
It is possible to minimize the chance of encountering these Windows blue screen control codes by taking the following actions:

Ensure that firmware v20.10.1-0036 (or later) and device driver v4.35 (or later) are used for the IBM ServeRAID M1015 SAS or SATA controller.

The files are available by selecting the appropriate product name, product machine type, and operating system on the IBM Support Fix Central web page, at the following URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20110121223641/http://www-933.ibm.com/ support/fixcentral/systemx/groupView?query.productGroup=ibm%2FSystemx .productGroup=ibm%2FSystemx

Ensure that the following Windows updates, covered in the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, are applied to the operating system:

957910 - "A Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2-based Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) boot server cannot generate dump files if the server uses a Storport virtual miniport as the Logical Unit Number (LUN) controller. http://support.microsoft. com/KB/957910 (Can't find it on the Wayback Machine)

981166 - "Some data is corrupted when cached and uncached I/O operations occur using the same NTFS file handle". http://support.microsoft.com/KB/981166 (Can't find it on the Wayback Machine)

2280732 - "You receive Stop error message 0x000000CD or 0x00000019 on a computer running Windows Server 2003 when corrupt registry hive files are loaded". http://support.microsoft.com/KB/2280732 (Can't find it on the Wayback Machine)

I don't know which product from the list to use in DOSBox-X's case.

What I'm wondering now is if it's already possible to configure DOSBox-X like that to avoid BSOD, also maybe not need to perform these actions above.