[Qemu-devel] Hardware Detection in Qemu

[Qemu-devel] Hardware Detection in Qemu

[Michael Fisher]

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I have run various live Linux CD distributions (Knoppix, DSL, Ubuntu, etc.)
under QEMU and was wondering if there is really a need to run the various
hardware detection scripts in the live CDs? Obviously, a script for getting
an IP address is needed but if I know I am running the distro under QEMU, do
I need to check for USB, SCSI, AGP, PCI and the other detection scripts?

If QEMU is already doing that, can't I just tweak the live distro to match
QEMU and then let QEMU do the work when it is placed on various host
computers?

Currently, most of my testing is done using Win XP as the host but in the
future I will be looking at Linux and Macs as hosts also.

Any thoughts?

TIA,

desNotes

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Re: [Qemu-devel] Hardware Detection in Qemu

[Christian MICHON]

On 7/8/07, Michael Fisher <desnotes@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have run various live Linux CD distributions (Knoppix, DSL, Ubuntu, etc.)
> under QEMU and was wondering if there is really a need to run the various
> hardware detection scripts in the live CDs? Obviously, a script for getting
> an IP address is needed but if I know I am running the distro under QEMU, do
> I need to check for USB, SCSI, AGP, PCI and the other detection scripts?
>

in short: no, you don't need so much hardware detection.

> If QEMU is already doing that, can't I just tweak the live distro to match
> QEMU and then let QEMU do the work when it is placed on various host
> computers?

if you're targetting a specific version of qemu, on which hardware's list
is specified/frozen, then yes, it's best to custom each of your linux
guest to speed up the boot sequence.

I see 3 ways:

1) by command line: you can add parameters like noacpi, tweak the
ide probes, etc... slax and dsl give you quite a good list to start with...

2) by customizing the /etc/init.d/* scripts, and re-authorizing the iso
If you do this, you've to keep in mind the new iso is for your guests
only...

3) use DetaolB. It's one of the many reasons why I created it. :)
Seriously, you create your own distro. The trick is in getting the
init scripts to as little as possible, and putting all needed hardware
modules *only* in your vmlinux, thus removing modprobing, which
actually takes quite a lot of time when inside qemu.

> Currently, most of my testing is done using Win XP as the host but in the
> future I will be looking at Linux and Macs as hosts also.

I'm in the same situation.

-- 
Christian
--
http://detaolb.sourceforge.net/, a linux distribution for Qemu

Re: [Qemu-devel] Hardware Detection in Qemu

[Michael Fisher]

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Thanks...I am working with a couple of distros I want to modify so they will
boot faster on QEMU and also utilize persistence. Customizing the
/etc/init.d/* scripts will be my next step.

On 7/9/07, Christian MICHON <christian.michon@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 7/8/07, Michael Fisher <desnotes@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I have run various live Linux CD distributions (Knoppix, DSL, Ubuntu,
> etc.)
> > under QEMU and was wondering if there is really a need to run the
> various
> > hardware detection scripts in the live CDs? Obviously, a script for
> getting
> > an IP address is needed but if I know I am running the distro under
> QEMU, do
> > I need to check for USB, SCSI, AGP, PCI and the other detection scripts?
> >
>
> in short: no, you don't need so much hardware detection.
>
> > If QEMU is already doing that, can't I just tweak the live distro to
> match
> > QEMU and then let QEMU do the work when it is placed on various host
> > computers?
>
> if you're targetting a specific version of qemu, on which hardware's list
> is specified/frozen, then yes, it's best to custom each of your linux
> guest to speed up the boot sequence.
>
> I see 3 ways:
>
> 1) by command line: you can add parameters like noacpi, tweak the
> ide probes, etc... slax and dsl give you quite a good list to start
> with...
>
> 2) by customizing the /etc/init.d/* scripts, and re-authorizing the iso
> If you do this, you've to keep in mind the new iso is for your guests
> only...
>
> 3) use DetaolB. It's one of the many reasons why I created it. :)
> Seriously, you create your own distro. The trick is in getting the
> init scripts to as little as possible, and putting all needed hardware
> modules *only* in your vmlinux, thus removing modprobing, which
> actually takes quite a lot of time when inside qemu.
>
> > Currently, most of my testing is done using Win XP as the host but in
> the
> > future I will be looking at Linux and Macs as hosts also.
>
> I'm in the same situation.
>
> --
> Christian
> --
> http://detaolb.sourceforge.net/, a linux distribution for Qemu
>
>
>

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Re: [Qemu-devel] Hardware Detection in Qemu

[wangji]

>Christian Mignon wrote :
>3) use DetaolB. It's one of the many reasons why I created it. :)

But slax as dsl  do have X  ,when DetaolB  will include X with uclibc  
not just busybox !!!!

Re: [Qemu-devel] Hardware Detection in Qemu

[Christian MICHON]

On 7/9/07, Michael Fisher <desnotes@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks...I am working with a couple of distros I want to modify so they will
> boot faster on QEMU and also utilize persistence. Customizing the
> /etc/init.d/* scripts will be my next step.
>

with minor modifications (1 file) you can get similar persistence in
detaolb... I guess I'll need to add some switches on the cmd line
to enable it without having to feedle with the initramfs.cpio.gz

-- 
Christian
--
http://detaolb.sourceforge.net/, a linux distribution for Qemu

Re: [Qemu-devel] Hardware Detection in Qemu

[Christian MICHON]

On 7/9/07, wangji <hoan@wanadoo.fr> wrote:
> >Christian Mignon wrote :
> >3) use DetaolB. It's one of the many reasons why I created it. :)
>
> But slax as dsl  do have X  ,when DetaolB  will include X with uclibc
> not just busybox !!!!
>

upgrade to version 0.4.
X is already in since last version. :)

-- 
Christian
--
http://detaolb.sourceforge.net/, a linux distribution for Qemu