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Windows 3.1 reboots on 86box (386DX machine)

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First post, by Broifonn_9

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So, I set up a Windows 3.1 install on 86box using a 386DX machine (specifically the ECS Panda 386V). The version of 86box is 4.2.1
The specs are: 16 MB RAM, 386DX 25 MHz, VGA, serial mouse, Sound Blaster 1.0, PC/AT IDE controller as HD controller, 32 MB hard drive, internal FD controller, and 1 3.5" 1.44 MB floppy drive. Win 3.1 is installed under DOS 6.22.
I've got a little problem when trying to start up Win 3.1. So, when I type "cd windows" and type "win", and I press enter, the logo is shown (around 2-3 seconds), and after that it instantly reboots, but not as a soft reset, but a hard reset (e.g. the amount of memory is shown)
I tried launching Win 3.1 on another 386 motherboard, another non-386 motherboard (486, for example, and it still reboots). Tried to use a CD-ROM instead of floppies. Didn't help. And I tried to use DOS 5.00. However, it works on VMware.
Is there any problem with my setup? Or is it just Win 3.1 that doesn't want to start up on 86box?

Reply 1 of 8, by Broifonn_9

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Edit:
This works on a Pentium machine (I chose the random one). Weirdly, Win 3.1 can't boot on a 386/486, even though it was designed for these CPUs.

Reply 2 of 8, by SA1988

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Use a newer build of 86box.

Reply 5 of 8, by GemCookie

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I can't reproduce this on 86Box 4.2.1 with an identical configuration.
Are you enabling 32-bit disk access? Windows 3.1 rarely works properly with it.

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Reply 6 of 8, by Broifonn_9

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SA1988 wrote on 2025-03-17, 12:41:

Use a newer build of 86box.

I've found 86box 4.3, installed roms and made the identical configuration.
And... it works. So maybe it was the bug of 86box of that specific version.
I guess the problem has been solved.

Reply 7 of 8, by Battler

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Build 6105 was a nightly build of 4.2.1 - I think this was fixed by 4.2.1 stable (build 6130).

Reply 8 of 8, by Jo22

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GemCookie wrote on 2025-03-17, 16:52:

I can't reproduce this on 86Box 4.2.1 with an identical configuration.
Are you enabling 32-bit disk access? Windows 3.1 rarely works properly with it.

Hi! The Micro House driver is quite stable, works with IDE HDDs up to 8GB.
http://win31.de/edrivers.htm

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