This is a keeper. Thanks JIm On Tue, Oct 1, 2024 at 10:22 AM Jim Hall via Freedos-user < freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote:
> Someone emailed me to ask how I install FreeDOS using QEMU. They also > asked about the warning that QEMU emits when you use "img" file format, so > my reply mentions that. I wanted to share a copy of my reply in case anyone > else here uses QEMU: > > >> > > This is a very timely question, because I'm about to reinstall FreeDOS > this morning, so I'll copy/paste what I do into this email as a way to > show you how I do it. We make a new test release every month with the > latest updates so developers can test against it, and today is October 1 - > time to test the "T2410" release (T="Test" 24="2024" 10="October"). > > First, you're right; if you use the "img" format for a virtual disk image, > QEMU will give you a warning. It's not an error, and it's okay to ignore it > *if > you created the img file*, but the warning is there because "img" just > means a disk image from something, and QEMU may sometimes misinterpret the > disk "geometry" if it has to guess. So these days, I use the "qcow2" image > format, which is actually a little faster, but also avoids the warning that > "img" can give you. > > 1. Here's how I create a 500MB virtual disk image for my "C:" drive that > I'll use to install FreeDOS onto. Since I'm going to install the monthly > test release, I'll call it 2410.qcow2: > > $ *qemu-img create -f qcow2 2410.qcow2 500M* > Formatting '2410.qcow2', fmt=qcow2 cluster_size=65536 extended_l2=off > compression_type=zlib size=524288000 lazy_refcounts=off refcount_bits=16 > > > 2. And now to boot the LiveCD so I can install FreeDOS on it. Since this > is just an initial install, I don't need to set up other things like sound > support, so it's just my "C:" drive and the LiveCD: > > $ > *qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 32 -cdrom T2410/T2410LIVE.iso -hda > 2410.qcow2 -boot order=d* > > Since I test a new version every month, my T2410 test release is in the > T2410 directory. So that's why that path is there. Other options include: > > -enable-kvm to use the Linux KVM kernel virtual machine feature > > -m 32 to configure the virtual machine with 32MB of memory > > -boot oder=d to always boot from the LiveCD (the "D:" drive) > > And the great thing is: I didn't get any errors or warnings by running > QEMU this way. It launched fine. > > 3. Then I install FreeDOS as usual. When I'm done, I shut down the virtual > machine using the shutdown command in FreeDOS. > > 4. To boot FreeDOS after that, I use a more complicated command line: > > $ > *qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 32 -rtc base=localtime -audiodev > pa,id=snd -machine pcspk-audiodev=snd -device sb16,audiodev=snd -device > adlib,audiodev=snd -hda 2410.qcow2 -hdb data.qcow2 -cdrom > T2410/T2410BNS.iso -boot menu=on* > > The extra options are: > > -rtc base=localtime to set the virtual machine's real time clock to use > my Linux system's local time > > -audiodev pa,id=*snd* to use PulseAudio on Linux for sound; I can refer > to that setup later as "snd" > > -machine pcspk-audiodev=*snd* to add a PC speaker to the virtual machine, > using the "snd" that I set up (above) > > -device sb16,audiodev=*snd* to add a SoundBlaster16 sound card to the > virtual machine, using "snd" > > -device adlib,audiodev=*snd* to add an AdLib digital music card to the > virtual machine, using "snd" > > -hda and -hdb to add the first and second hard disks (I keep all my user > data on data.qcow2, so I don't have to back it up and restore every time > I reinstall a new FreeDOS monthly test release) > > -cdrom T2410/T2410BNS.iso to use the BonusCD (so I can install other > programs from there) > > -boot menu=on to set up a BIOS boot menu, for the rare cases I want to > select a different boot option (like when I'm running with LiveCD and want > to boot from the CD again) > > > If that looks like a lot, it is. But that's how QEMU works; you configure > it entirely on the command line. I saved that big command line in a Bash > script called qemu and just run that whenever I want to boot FreeDOS. > > I hope that helps! > > Jim > > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user >
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