installing slack64 13.0 client on qemu winxp 32bit host fails

timsoft · 09-17-2009, 08:22 AM

hi. I've installed slackware 13.0 successfully on qemu on winxp home (32bit) host using qemu manager v6.0 but have had no success at all installing slackware64 13.0 using qemu manager v6.0 on winxp home (32bit) host.
just after getting to "freeing initrd memory" it crashes the emulator with the message
qemu-system-x86_64.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
does anyone know any kernel parameters to use to avoid this, or know of a fix.
I don't know weither it is kernel related, quemu related, or something else...
i have the cpu type set to 64bbit, and have tried cpu model of both qemu64bit and phenom
thanks,tim

regis_n_bits · 09-19-2009, 04:30 PM

I don't think it is possible to run a 64-bit guest OS on a 32-bit virtual host (qemu, vmware, etc.)
However, you can run 64 or 32-bit guest OSes on a 64-bit qemu.

timsoft · 09-28-2009, 10:57 AM

What is the point of a 32bit executable running 64 bit emulation (ie qemu-system-x86_64.exe) if it doesn't work.?
As far as i understand, it doesn't use a kernel module (obvious as it can't run 64bit native on 32bit os), but software emulation should be ok. One assumes there must be a problem in the hardware emulation, or with msvcrt.dll

looking at the details of the error message show the problem is in module msvcrt.dll
ModVer: 7.0.2600.5512 Offset: 00037613

Maybe that extra info will help some-one come up with some more ideas

timsoft · 10-07-2009, 03:47 AM

I've done some more testing, downloaded the latest qemu for windows (20090908) and the boot process gets slightly further before crashing. If anyone has success in getting 64bit os installed on qemu running windows 32bit host please post a howto or something, thanks

disturbed1 · 10-07-2009, 04:24 AM

This is not a Slackware problem, but either the options you're passing to qemu, or the qemu build you are using.

While Slackware 13.0 x86_64 was in testing I ran it on Slackware 12.2 through qemu. Slackware 12.2 is 32bit. Qemu can emulate many different CPU architectures (MIPS, ARM, PPC, x86 and x86_64 to name a few) independent of the host's architecture.

Make sure you are telling qemu to emulate a 64bit CPU when you run Slackware x86_64. If you're options are correct, contact the people that built your qemu package you installed, to let them know of a possible bug.

timsoft · 10-07-2009, 08:47 AM

1 thought as much.
could you post an options list that works for you.

Having had no success yet with 64bit emulation on 32bit windows qemu i have tried on 32bit linux (slack 12.2)
I have downloaded alien's most recent qemu package (and kqemu) for slack12.2 and am trying to install slack13 64bit as a guest on slack12.2 host

i have tried the following simple test.

qemu-system-x8x_64 -cpu qemu64 -m 512 -cdrom slackware64-13.0-install-dvd.iso -hda my10gbimage.qcow2 -boot c

but the install hangs at "trying to set a timer as virtual Wire IRQ ..."

I've tried -no-acpi and -no-hpet options as well, but no change in the result
i've also tried phenom and core2duo for the cpu emulation.

disturbed1 · 10-07-2009, 11:14 AM

qemu-system-x86_64 -cpu core2duo -smp 2 -hda slack.current.raw -boot c -m 768M -kvm-shadow-memory 128M -cdrom /mnt/stuff/Software/Linux\ ISOs/slackcurrent.iso -net user -net nic,model=e1000 -sdl

That was with a Core2Duo and kvm loaded. A few times I did forget to modprobe kvm-intel, and the same settings ran without kvm.

disturbed1 · 10-07-2009, 11:22 AM

Doing a search for "trying to set a timer as virtual Wire IRQ" reveals bug reports that were fixed by using a different version of qemu.

Chuck56 · 10-07-2009, 08:33 PM

This afternoon I installed Slackware64 13.0 into QEMU as a 64 bit guest on a Slackware 13.0 32 bit host. It works but without KQEMU or KVM its slow. I used Eric's 64 bit mini iso and installed over FTP from one of the mirrors. I didn't install X or any DMs yet.

timsoft · 10-08-2009, 08:24 AM

well, a progress report...

I downloaded qemu 0.11.0 (and kqemu) using sbopkg and built and installed that , but still got the same behaviour.

Doing some more googling around, (http://forum.soft32.com/linux/Help-n...ict468457.html)(thanks mr slackbuilds.org :-) ) I tried passing noapic to the kernel on startup. success!! -at least so far, i'm busy formatting and installing on the virtual drive now. I'll have to remember to add noapic to lilo options on the virtual machine, so it will restart when done...

thanks guys, I'll try again with slack64 on windows32 host now..
.. well no joy with windows host, but at least with slack12.2 host I can test out those sbo builds I look after for both new versions of slack13.0

Tim

ps. the -kvm-shadow-memory option was not available on any of the qemu's versions I have tried. Where can it be found?, thanks

disturbed1 · 10-08-2009, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timsoft

ps. the -kvm-shadow-memory option was not available on any of the qemu's versions I have tried. Where can it be found?, thanks

I've been using QEMU PC emulator version 0.10.50 (qemu-kvm-devel-87), Copyright (c) 2003-2008 Fabrice Bellard, compiled from source.

This is not the default Qemu but Qemu with KVM support. http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/Main_Page

timsoft · 10-09-2009, 08:42 AM

thanks for the link to qemu-kvm

well, I tried with qemu-kvm-0.11.0 (built from source) using the -kvm-shadow-memory 128M option, but the guest kernel complains that it can't find a 64bit cpu. same message using phenom and qemu64 for the cpu type.

my host cpu is athlon64 x2 4800+ and i did the modprobe kvm-amd
(as a test,I tried runing qemu-kvm before modprobeing, and the guest ran ok, but qemu complained it couldn't connect to /dev/kvm so would run without kvm.)

to recap.
1. slack64-13.0 guest runs (slowly) on vanilla 0.11.0 qemu if guest kernel is passed noapic with host of slack12.2
2. slack64-13.0 guest kernel cannot find 64bit cpu running on qemu-kvm 0.11.0 with host of slack12.2 (with or without the -kvm-shadow-memory 128M option) if kvm-amd module is loaded.
3. without kvm-amd module loaded, qemu-kvm behaves same as vanilla qemu and works (slowly)

Thanks to Chuck56 and Disturbed1 for all input so far,.. have either of you any idea's why guest under qemu-kvm can't find 64bit cpu, when there definitely is a physical 64bit cpu in place.

Chuck56 · 10-09-2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timsoft

...have either of you any idea's why guest under qemu-kvm can't find 64bit cpu, when there definitely is a physical 64bit cpu in place.

I'm not sure what's going on with your setup. I'm also using the qemu-kvm-0.11.0 release with the stock Slackware 13 2.6.29.6-generic kernel. In my case I have rc.local controlled scripts that start kvm, virtio and tun so I have to turn kvm off.

Code:

rmmod kvm-amd
rmmod kvm

Since I use tap/tun for networking my kvm guests it affects my -net commands. This is the command I use to start the 64-bit guest on my desktop.

Code:

qemu-system-x86_64 \
-m 512 \
-localtime \
-drive file=/some/directory/slack64-13.0.qcow2 \
-net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:12:34:56 \
-net tap,ifname=tap0,script=no \
-vga std \
-monitor telnet:localhost:9998,server,nowait \
-serial telnet:localhost:9999,server,nowait \
-daemonize

I also have a tty console in the guest that allows me to telnet into the guest for login. Hope this helps.

timsoft · 10-12-2009, 08:02 AM

so chuck56, if I read you correctly, from

Quote:

so I have to turn kvm off.

you don't actually use the kvm part either.

Can I presume, then, that it (kvm usage from qemu) probably doesn't work with a 64bit guest on a 32bit host, only the other way round.
so we'll be stuck with slow emulation.

Chuck56 · 10-12-2009, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timsoft

so chuck56, if I read you correctly, from

you don't actually use the kvm part either.

Can I presume, then, that it (kvm usage from qemu) probably doesn't work with a 64bit guest on a 32bit host, only the other way round.
so we'll be stuck with slow emulation.

That's correct. kvm doesn't work if you try to use the kvm modules with a 64-bit guest on a 32-bit host. That's consistent with what I've read on many sites. I haven't tried nor do I expect the kqemu accelerator to work in this configuration either.