Ubuntu Host, Windows 2K or XP Guest: Older Btrieve programs (DOS and Windows) work in virtualbox 2.0.6, but do not work in 2.1.0 or 2.1.2

[dbc]

Environment: VirtualBox with Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop operation system as Host and Windows 2000 or Windows XP as guest. Mainly using Win2k, but also tested and verified problem with WinXP

Applications: (1). PeachTree for Windows version 4 (older version) using Btrieve (2). AutoShopWriter, a DOS application that I believe is based upon Btrieve

Problem: With VirtualBox 2.0.6 each application runs fine with the DOS program running in a character mode window and the windows program performing properly. Starting with VB_2.1.0 and also with VB_2.1.2 the applications do not run.

With VB_2.1.x, the DOS application opens a character mode window, but the window remains blank and the DOS program is no longer responding in the Task Manager and must be terminated. I am not 100% sure that this application is using Btrieve, but suspect it is and that the Btrieve database is loaded as a TSR.

The Windows application starts but quickly crashes with a message that wbtr32 is preventing the application from running. In viewing the task manager we see that wbtr32.exe is taking 99-100% cpu time (normally takes 4%). The wbtr32.exe is the Btrieve engine used by PeachTree version4. PeachTree ver 4 is also using wowexec.exe, which is part of windows and allows 16-bit processes to run under 32-bit windows.

I believe that each program using Btrieve may provide some hint as to the problem. Although both are using Btrieve, they are separate with no common code, i.e. one is using Btrieve for DOS as a TSR and the other is using wbtr32.exe for windows.

[dbc]

Vbox log file (may not be helpful to the problem)

[dbc]

Problem FIXED by version 2.14

Correction to previous description. The DOS program Auto-Shop-Writer is not using btrieve, but instead is using DCLIP database engine.

VirtualBox version 2.14 has fixed these problems I saw with 2.10 and 2.12.

[Sander van Leeuwen]

Thanks for the feedback.