Windows 2003 ported VM from Hyper-V keeps crashing with code 0x3b

rgproxmox1

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Feb 4, 2013
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We have a few Windows 2003 VMs that were ported over from Hyper-V and they keep crashing every once in a while with a code of 0x3b. We removed the Hyper-V guest tools software and disabled all the Hyper-V services that were not removed as part of the previous step. Yet, the crashes keep happening. Has anybody have this and how have you been able to solve it? Thanks in advance
 
We just had today (that I've noticed) the first crash with the code 0x3b of a Windows Server 2003 that was not ported over from another Hypervisor. We're getting really frustrated here. We can't have production servers crashing like this! We applied all the recommended practices for W2003 that the Proxmox Wiki has. Any suggestions??????????
 
What is the recommended video driver configuration for W2003 VMs? How do people set up their VMs in that sense and have luck with them? That's one of the areas that keep showing up when Googling that error code. I've tried switching to different of the "standard VGA" types with no luck.
 
Hi,
my W2003 AD is on pve 3.1 since years, quite stable. it was a P2V conversion.

here is the .conf:

acpi: 1
balloon: 0
boot: dc
bootdisk: virtio0
cores: 1
cpuunits: 1000
freeze: 0
ide2: none,media=cdrom
kvm: 1
memory: 2048
name: ADserver
net0: e1000=XX:XX...XX,bridge=vmbr0
onboot: 1
ostype: w2k3
sockets: 2
vga: qxl
virtio0: vm_disks_ts809:vm-206-disk-1,size=64G

[where vm_disks_ts809 is a LVM/iiSCSI on a QNAP ts809rp NAS, on raid5.]

everything else is default (so cpu is kvm64)

Marco
 
Thanks for the info, Marco.

That is interesting. Our configurations look very different. I hardly touch the .conf file itself and I let Proxmox enter the values. I don't know what the different values would be, as far as impact, but mine is:

boot: cdn
bootdisk: virtio0
cores: 1
ide1: none,media=cdrom
memory: 640
name: ecoh217
net0: virtio=EA:0A:8F:1E:07:CC,bridge=vmbr0
onboot: 1
ostype: wxp
scsihw: virtio-scsi-pci
sockets: 1
virtio0: N4F_NFS2:124/vm-124-disk-2.qcow2,format=qcow2,cache=writeback,size=15G

I noticed that you have qxl as the VGA selection. In order to make that work you need the SPICE tools to be installed, right?
 
Note also that you have "ostype: wxp" instead of "ostype: w2k3". This is not purely descriptive, AFAIK affects default kvm/qemu command line flags and parameters Proxmox uses when running the VM, so that can cause troubles. Also only 640MB of Ram looks not that good.
Finally, your VM is on NFS and has "cache=writeback", that I don't know if is appropriate, dig for it.
Last but not least, M$ OS is crap, does not tolerate HW changes, stay away from it if you can :)
 
I noticed that you have qxl as the VGA selection. In order to make that work you need the SPICE tools to be installed, right?

yes, but I think that is not causing the crash, or you would have noticed...

My guess is that other differences could be more involved:
- memory: 640
not very high, but I guess you would have spotetd this from logs

- scsihw: virtio-scsi-pc
search the forums about this and w2k3... or try without. I seem to recall something...

- net0: virtio
try e1000 to find if virtio is causing troubles: if yes, try different w2k3 drivers. I'm living fine with e1000 but not with w2k3 drivers, I downloaded newer ones from intel support (years ago).

- virtio0: N4F_NFS2:124/vm-124-disk-2.qcow2,format=qcow2,cache=writeback,size=15G
writeback could be involved, depending on your disk controller and other factors, afaik. My VM disk iSCSI is a QNAP, as said, so sw raid5 (iirc mdadm is used on the nas)
instead of .qcow2 try .RAW, better performance, and better if on LVM/iSCSI imho.
also, I guess is NFS disk storage, this could be adding issues of its own (if it has anything wrong serving NFS storage)

while about
- ostype: wxp => probably my .conf was created with an older pve version, if I create it now I get wxp. Should be ok. If all else fails, try also w2k3...

To later,
Marco
 
Last edited:
Marco,

Thanks again for taking the time to check things.

Unfortunately, I've tried different things with most of those settings, EXCEPT the video driver.

- memory. I've had machines with 4GB also crash
- scsihw: machines were crashing with the default one (LSI 53C895A)
- net0: e1000 with the new drivers have also had machines crash
- raw drives with no writeback have also crashed

that's why I was trying to concentrate on the video display
 
- scsihw: machines were crashing with the default one (LSI 53C895A)

that means that you have commented the line in the .conf? I would try that, too. Of course also because nothing else worked :D

on more thing: remember that any change you make to .conf (gui or cli) you MUST stop and start, not reset/restart from gui.

Marco
 
I found out that there have been 0x3b crashes in non-imported VMs (that is, VMs that were created from scratch in Proxmox). Management is putting a lot of pressure to get this fixed. Changing to SPICE drivers, the VGA adapter to standard, applying all the windows updates doesn't seem to make a difference. People have mentioned that they have W2003 servers running under Proxmox w/o any problems, but it's weird that different hardware, different releases of Proxmox (at some point), imported and non-imported VMs keep crashing for us
 
if "Management is putting a lot of pressure to get this fixed" they should also be willing to pay for support. I would recommend you to pay for support from proxmox because your problem requires hands-on information from your installation.
 
I see on search engines of many 0x3b errors on windows (many versions) itself, even on real hardware. In some cases is related to not stable drivers, like network cards... apart the above w2003 AD server, I run also w2008r2 without troubles, ran w2000 with minor issues and still run two nt4 dc... rock solid, but on low loads, though. Remember to not use win provided driverS, always download newest from vendors for known hardware.

On hypervisor side, ram, cache, raids, network, net storage and virtual disk format could add to make windows crash, imho. Definitely I would ask for proxmox support if you can...

Marco
 

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