Tip - How to run Tinycore on Windows Vista qemu w/ kqemu accelerator

[bigpcman]

This is an old subject by now but I thought I would share what i did to run virtual Tinycore 2.4rc1 on Windows Vista qemu with the kqemu accelerator.

Download qemu 0.10.5 http://homepage3.nifty.com/takeda-toshiya/qemu/qemu-20090908-windows.zip
Decompress contents to “C: \Program Files\qemu”
Download kqemu  http://www.nongnu.org/qemu/kqemu-1.4.0pre1.tar.gz
Decompress contents to “C: \Program Files\qemu\kqemu
Download and save to “C: \Program Files\qemu” http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/2.x/release_candidates/tinycore_2.4rc1.iso

Edit the kqemu.inf and make these changes:
•   [DefaultInstall.NT] --> [DefaultInstall]
•   [DefaultInstall.NT.Services] --> [DefaultInstall.Services]
•   [Uninstall.NT] --> [Uninstall]
•   [Uninstall.NT.Services] --> [Uninstall.Services]

Right click as administrator on “kqemu.inf”;  select “Install” to install kqemu.sys

Activate vista administrator cmd window.
Change dir to C:\Program Files\qemu\kqemu
Enter “net start kqemu” to start qemu accelerator.

Change dir to qemu.
Enter “qemu-img create vdisk.img 100M” to create virtual disk.

Enter “qemu -no-acpi -boot d -hda vdisk.img -cdrom tinycore_2.4rc1.iso” to boot tinycore first time.

In tc terminal enter:
“sudo mke2fs /dev/hda” to format virtual disk.

Create virtual tce directory.
“mount /dev/hda”
“cd /mnt/hda”
“sudo mkdir tce”
“sudo chown tc tce”
“sudo chgrp staff tce”
“cd /opt”
“sudo vi .tce_dir” change to /mnt/hda/tce
Load extensions via app browser.

Set backup to “hda” with control panel.
Logout (shutdown with backup).

Reboot qemu with tinycore - “qemu -no-acpi -boot d -hda vdisk.img -cdrom tinycore_2.4rc1.iso”
Now tinycore linux and tce extensions and backup should be present.

[saravanan]

Hi bigpcman,
                I am trying to run Tiny core inside qemu with Kqemu on Windows XP, but it could not show up the X GUI in Tiny core, but it stops booting with the command prompt. If i try to start Xvesa it throws Segmentation Fault error.

Please help.

[vitex]

                I am trying to run Tiny core inside qemu with Kqemu on Windows XP, but it could not show up the X GUI in Tiny core, but it stops booting with the command prompt. If i try to start Xvesa it throws Segmentation Fault error.

I have the same behavior using qemu 0.9.1 with kqemu on Ubuntu Hardy.  I either use Xvesa without kqemu or use Xfbdev with kqemu.

[saravanan]

Hi vitex,
            Can you please guide me setup Xfbdev in place of Xvesa?
How do i bring up GUI with X and KQemu support.
Please help

[vitex]

Try these steps:

• Boot the Tiny Core ISO
• At the boot prompt, enter "tinycore text vga=788"  (Adjust the parameter "vga=788" to get the size of display that you want; "788" gives 800x600.)
• Execute "tce-load -w -i Xfbdev" at the shell prompt.
• Execute "startx" at the shell prompt.

These steps work for me with qemu 0.9.1 and kqemu on Linux.  The long-term solution is to remaster Tiny Core (or Micro Core) with Xfbdev or use persistent storage so you can boot without having to perform these steps.

[bigpcman]

Hi bigpcman,
                I am trying to run Tiny core inside qemu with Kqemu on Windows XP, but it could not show up the X GUI in Tiny core, but it stops booting with the command prompt. If i try to start Xvesa it throws Segmentation Fault error.

Please help.

I'm running qemu on xp on my laptop without any problems.

I simply download the tinycore iso file and place it into the qemu directory. Then using a "cmd" window I "cd" into the qemu directory and use the following command to start tc:

qemu.exe  -L . -cdrom tinycore.iso

I'm running: http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~kazuw/qemu-win/qemu-0.9.0-windows.zip

For the accelerator I'm running:
http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~kazuw/qemu-win/Kqemu-1.3.0pre11-install.exe

edit: just tried tc v2.9rc2 and it worked fine.

[saravanan]

qemu.exe  -L . -cdrom tinycore.iso

This command does not use kqemu at all, we need to use -kernel-kqemu param to use Kqemu. am i wrong???

[bigpcman]

qemu.exe  -L . -cdrom tinycore.iso

This command does not use kqemu at all, we need to use -kernel-kqemu param to use Kqemu. am i wrong???

There two levels of acceleration. The highest level "-kernel-kqemu" does not work with xvesa. However the "less aggressive" level works fine and is automatically available without the need for any additional options once the accelerator is installed.

edit: "To see if kqemu is enabled and working correctly, use the QEMU monitor command:

info kqemu"

edit2: See the following thread link for more detailed information on this problem:

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=4605.0

[fixed link]