[rdsi]

It can be done!

For what ever reasons an image of the USB stick will not load PP into a vdi when running in VB. It just complains that it cannot find a target. So I had to do it the hard-way by loading it onto a clean computer, then make an image file from that hard drive. Next, VirtualBox has a way to convert the image file to a vdi file. Then you make a machine using linux 64-bit and the resulting vdi file and your off & running.

So the question is what is it based on:

operator@tormachpcnc:~$ uname -mrs
Linux 4.11.9-rt7 x86_64
operator@tormachpcnc:~$ cat /etc/*release
DISTRIB_ID=LinuxMint
DISTRIB_RELEASE=17.3
DISTRIB_CODENAME=rosa
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="14.04.5 LTS, Trusty Tahr"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS"
VERSION_ID="14.04"

Not the newest version of Ubuntu but at least it's still being maintained until end of 1st quarter 2019.
Anyway, plan to test it out in VB before I install it unto my machines ...
Also noticed an experimental version of PP2 is installed alongside the standard version. This option can be selected from the grub menu. I tried it & it does seem to operate but I didn't play with it long enough to know what the differences are, if any???

[Fenichel]

Is there a known way, for people without access to a spare machine with which to implement rdsl's strategy, to get PP 2.0 to run in VirtualBox?

[Steve303]

Had trouble installing PP 2.0 in VirtualBox so had my son install it in VMware. Boots fine but for some reason will not automatically run in sim mode. A few edits were necessary to get it running.I am surprised that Tormach left all the base applications installed in LinuxMint. Made an ISO file from the usb thumb drive, will give it a try to install PP 2,0 in Virtualbox later tomorrow.

[Steve303]

I installed PathPilot 2.0 successfully in Virtualbox 5.24 without using a VMware or a second machine. I used "Plop Linux iso" (284MB download) to install grub boot loader then installed PathPilot using the USB key. Make sure select Ubuntu (64 bit) PP 2.0 will not install in Ubuntu (32 bit). Please ignore the 32bit selection in the first image.

Your PP 2.0 USB drive must be plugged in and enabled in VirtualBox before starting Plop Linux. I downloaded the small "iso" 284mb file.

https://www.plop.at/en/ploplinux/downloads/full.html

The process is pretty straight forward if you installed PP1.9x in Virtualbox before. On first boot select LEFT SHIFT ALT keys to boot to the desktop and type "mate-panel" in a terminal window to access the panel where you can turn of the auto start of Pathpilot and check the "mate-panel" option so that the panel loads on boot. The network works as expected by simply turning it on.



Select the Plop Boot Manager.



Select USB



Follow the instructions on screen to install PP.

[Fenichel]

I installed PathPilot 2.0 successfully in Virtualbox 5.24 without using a VMware or a second machine. I used Plop Linux iso (284MB download) to install grub boot loader then installed PathPilot using the USB key.

I am missing something here. I downloaded the Plop Linux ISO, but I'm not sure how to invoke it. The steps I know how to take are

• create new virtual machine, type Linux/Ubuntu 64
• give it 2048 MB of memory and a 32GB VDI
• declare as shared folders the USB drive and the folder to which the Plop Unix zip file has been extracted
• start the virtual machine

When I do this, all I get is

What I'm missing is how you got from

to

[Steve303]

You are actually starting ploplinux-4.3.3.S-i486.iso which boots to that screen where you can select "Plop Boot Manager" and then in the next screen you select the boot from "USB" option which then begins the install of PathPilot 2.0. The rest is similar to the install of PP 1.9x.

[Steve303]

Rereading your post I think you downloaded the *.zip file and not the *iso.

[Fenichel]

Rereading your post I think you downloaded the *.zip file and not the *iso.

Yes, that was my mistake, but I'm still not there. When I select the Plop Boot Manager and then select USB from the Floppy/CDROM/USB/NETWORK menu, all I get is

[Steve303]

In the VirtualBox manager under USB are there any active devices? Your PathPilot 2.0 USB Thumb drive should be selected prior to starting plop.

[Fenichel]

My USB setup looks, on its face, to be the same as yours. That is, the USB section of Settings shows 1 active device filter. It shows this whether or not the PP thumb drive is plugged in, so I guess what is happening is that the USB setting only defines a virtual port. Then, when need arises, VB searches the USB sockets for something that looks bootable, and (in my case) doesn't see anything. I've tried the PP thumb drive in various ports, without no change in outcome.

VirtualBox is successfully reading Linux from the DVD onto which I copied the iso file, so I considered copying the PP thumb drive onto a DVD, and working from that. Unfortunately, the contents of the PP thumb drive won't all fit on one DVD, and I don't have any idea what could be omitted.

Any suggestion will be welcome.

[Steve303]

Here is a step-by-step youtube video booting from a USB in VB.

[Fenichel]

Here is a step-by-step youtube video booting from a USB in VB.

The method described in the video doesn't work on my machine. Thumb drives plugged into my USB ports are visible in Windows Explorer, but not in the VirtualBox Settings/USB window. I can use the controls there to generate filters, but they have no effect.

[rdsi]

Plop – it always amazes me what’s out there. Good find by Steve303.

So I tried the process and found a few quirks running on my system.

First, you can download the ploplinux-4.3.3-S-i486.iso file at 295 MB or if you’re on a budget you can go for the ploplinux-4.2.2-x64.iso older version at 92MB.

Either version works the same on my system but neither one would work until I selected the “USB 1.1 (OHCI) Controller” inside the VB machine settings. This is sort of pointed out in the video “How to Boot from USB in VirtualBox” at time index 1:42 where it states to uncheck the “Enable USB 2.0 (EHCI) Controller”. After installation the USB setting can be changed back from “USB 1.1 (OHCI) Controller” to whatever your hardware supports.

When creating your machine remember PP2 is now a Linux Ubuntu 64-bit system. Also, installation no longer requires a fixed VDI. You can now select and use a 40GB dynamic version whereas before you had to use a fixed one. This saves on disk space. After install, the VDI is only about 10GB but will expand automatically up to 40GB if needed.

Anyway, it does work & is definitely easier than the hard way …

After the install readjust your machine settings for the USB removing the USB filter & selecting the USB controller you desire. Be sure to also remove the Plop iso from the optical drive. We need an empty CD drive to facilitate the adding the VB Guest Additions.

Now re-power the machine and PP will boot and work in simulation mode without any modification. Just pick you machine and go. However, to get the most out of it & to better understand the underlying OS you really want to boot into the desktop to learn about it.

So exit out of PP and the machine will power down. Restart the machine and during the first Tormach splash screen press both the left Shift & Alt keys until the desktop menu appears – lower left corner of the screen. Now you’re in the desktop. First click "Menu->Preferences->Startup Applications" & under the "Startup Programs" tab scroll down to the PathPilot item & uncheck it’s box. Next we need to add a startup program. Click the add box and enter the following:

Name: Mate Desktop Panel
Command: /usr/bin/mate-panel
Comment: anything you want, or leave blank

These changes prevent PP from starting up after booting and adds the desktop menu to the desktop. Now click "Menu->Quit->Restart" to make sure we get to the desktop with our menu.

Now we need to get the VB guest additions installed. Using the VB menu select the Device drop down tab & click on “Insert Guest Additions CD Image ...”. Remember, you need to have an empty CD device setup in your machine settings for storage. Go to the desktop menu in the lower left corner & select the file drawer ICON to bring up Caja. This is the Mint MATE (this is what the desktop is named) equivalent to windows explorer. In the left column under “Devices” click on “Vbox_Gas..” to display the contents of the VB Guest Additions CD in the left window of Caja. In this window right click the mouse & select “Open a Terminal” and enter this command:

$ sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

After this process completes restart the machine to enable them. If the video goes to crap give it a few minutes then power off the machine manually. Restart the machine & you should be fine. The next time your machine is off you can remove the VB Guest Additions CD from the machine settings.

OK, now we need to create a desktop launcher for PP. Right click the desktop somewhere & click “Create Launcher”. Fill in he fields as follows:

Type: Application
Name: PathPilot v2.0
Command: mate-terminal -x bash -c "~/operator_login"
Comment: anything you want, or leave blank

Now we can launch PP from the desktop. Note: PP is invoked using the terminal so don’t delete this while PP is running.

So that’s some of the basics ...

[David C. Allen]

Thank you rdsi, for the summary.

I have a win7 64bit machine that I had been using VirtualBox 5.2.4 platform to run PathPilot 1.9.13.

When I try to select a Linux Ubuntu 64-bit system, only 32bit versions are listed.

Any suggestions on how to get access to a Linux Ubuntu 64-bit selection.

David

[Steve303]

Thank you rdsi, for the summary.

I have a win7 64bit machine that I had been using VirtualBox 5.2.4 platform to run PathPilot 1.9.13.

When I try to select a Linux Ubuntu 64-bit system, only 32bit versions are listed.

Any suggestions on how to get access to a Linux Ubuntu 64-bit selection.

David

You most likely have to turn on the Intel Virtualization Tech on in you computer's Bios.

Steve

[David C. Allen]

Steve
I have "Intel Virtualization Technology" Enabled in BIOS

I have tried a new install of VirtualBox 5.2.4 with the same results, no 64bit Linux, only 32bit

David

[David C. Allen]

Update
A Mother board BIOS update and now I have access to 64bit Linux

David

[Steve303]

rsdi, have you installed PP2 on a NAS? I just did a fresh install to my Seagate NAS. Linux Mint boots fine, everything works as expected PP2 boots and allow me to select a machine then shortly afterwords quits and exits to the Mint Panel. If I relocate the vdi file to my local desktop machine PP runs fine. Seems like PP will only run locally. Any ideas?

[rdsi]

rsdi, have you installed PP2 on a NAS?

No, I’m not sure what your thinking?

If you’re just using the NAS for storage of the VDI VirtualBox should not care whether it’s on the NAS or locally. I can’t think of any reason that PP would know the difference & bomb.

You can take a look at the PP log file “/home/operator/gcode/logfiles/pathpilotlog.txt”. Look for a point in the messages where you think it decides to bomb & see what it was trying to do. This may give you a hint.

It could be related to the network settings in VirtualBox – ie Bridged vs NAT.

Originally I thought about using my NAS for storing VB VDI’s but in the end decided to use a local SSD.

If I get some time I’ll try putting a PP VDI on the NAS & see what happens...

[Steve303]

Thanks, I forgot about the log files. I'll check the log files tonight.