X server error when launching GhostBSD in a QEMU KVM

BSDsEnjoyer

I wanted to check out community editions of GhostBSD (Gershwin and XFCE) in QEMU, but X server doesn't start.

I start QEMU with a command:
qemu-system-x86_64 --enable-kvm -m 8G -cpu host -smp 4 -boot d '/home/user/GhostBSD-26.1-R15.0p2-XFCE.iso'

It boots normally, then there is an error:

Segmentation fault at address 0x31a6ea413248

Fatal server error:
Caught signal 11 (Segmentation fault). Server aborting

Please consult the XLibre support: https://www.xlibre.net/
Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.

(EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to X server: Connection refused
xinit: server error

/var/log/Xorg.0.log doesn't appear to have anything interesting to me.

Did anyone successfully run GhostBSD in QEMU KVM? What could I change? Thanks!

BSDsEnjoyer

Mate GhostBSD has the same error as I've just checked.

vpx

Xconfig probably loads the qxl driver, try -vga virtio or -vga vmware.

BSDsEnjoyer

vpx Thank you for the suggestion! Unfortunately,
qemu-system-x86_64 --enable-kvm -vga virtio -m 8G -cpu host -smp 4 -boot d '/home/user/GhostBSD-26.1-R15.0p2.iso'
qemu-system-x86_64 --enable-kvm -vga vmware -m 8G -cpu host -smp 4 -boot d '/home/user/GhostBSD-26.1-R15.0p2.iso'
both game the same error as above.

vimanuelt

BSDsEnjoyer
At this point, it might be best to submit an enhancement request as qemu may not be fully supported.
ghostbsd/issuesissues/new/choose

BSDsEnjoyer

vimanuelt Okay! Done:
ghostbsd/issues388

vpx

Not having a UEFI BIOS can also be a problem, try adding:

-drive if=pflash,index=0,format=raw,file="C:\Users\you\Documents\Virtual Machines\BIOS\GBSD\OVMF_CODE.fd",readonly=on
-drive if=pflash,index=1,format=raw,file="C:\Users\you\Documents\Virtual Machines\BIOS\GBSD\OVMF_VARS.fd"

BIOS files can be found here: https://qemu.weilnetz.de/test/ovmf/usr/share/OVMF/

Don't worry about the files being for Windows, the files are OS independent.

BSDsEnjoyer

vpx This suggestion changed QEMU behavior a bit:

QEMU window became resizable and rescalable even before the attempted launch of the DE which was nice.
A cool GhostBSD logo was flashing for a bit (a picture apparently).

The error is the same though.

I've tried the following commands:

qemu-system-x86_64 --enable-kvm -vga virtio -drive if=pflash,index=0,format=raw,file="/home/user/Downloads/OVMF_CODE.fd",readonly=on -drive if=pflash,index=1,format=raw,file="/home/user/Downloads/OVMF_VARS.fd" -m 8G -cpu host -smp 4 -boot d '/home/user/GhostBSD-26.1-R15.0p2.iso'

qemu-system-x86_64 --enable-kvm -vga vmware -drive if=pflash,index=0,format=raw,file="/home/user/Downloads/OVMF_CODE.fd",readonly=on -drive if=pflash,index=1,format=raw,file="/home/user/Downloads/OVMF_VARS.fd" -m 8G -cpu host -smp 4 -boot d '/home/user/GhostBSD-26.1-R15.0p2.iso'

qemu-system-x86_64 --enable-kvm -drive if=pflash,index=0,format=raw,file="/home/user/Downloads/OVMF_CODE.fd",readonly=on -drive if=pflash,index=1,format=raw,file="/home/user/Downloads/OVMF_VARS.fd" -m 8G -cpu host -smp 4 -boot d '/home/user/GhostBSD-26.1-R15.0p2.iso'

vimanuelt

Thanks for testing with OVMF. Since the behavior changes but X still segfaults, it appears the firmware isn't the root cause. The fact that the crash occurs with the default VGA, -vga virtio, and -vga vmware, under both BIOS and UEFI, points toward an issue in the graphics stack (XLibre/video driver) rather than the VM firmware. It would also be useful to know whether a stock FreeBSD 15.0 image boots successfully with X under the same QEMU configuration, as that would help determine whether this is GhostBSD-specific or affects the underlying FreeBSD/XLibre stack as well.

vpx

I don't think it's XLibre's fault, same GhostBSD version is running fine on my QEMU (11.0.50.0) on Windows. Only difference is I'm using WHPX instead of KVM.

@BSDsEnjoyer please try a more basic command without hardware acceleration.

qemu-system-x86_64 -m 8G -M q35 -smp 4 -cdrom '/home/user/GhostBSD-26.1-R15.0p2-XFCE.iso'

If that works you can enable KVM again.

I also think the --enable-kvm is outdated, just use -accel kvm.

BSDsEnjoyer

vpx Thanks for the reply! I will try this command soon. I wonder what -M option does, I couldn't find it in qemu-system-x86_64 --help or man qemu-system-x86_64.

BSDsEnjoyer

The -M option stands for -machine but this really is not mentioned in the documentation, thanks for the tip! The only difference was that now the system took 10 more times to boot and networking didn't work (it got particularly stuck at networking).

I've also tried to upgrade xlibre-server to version 25.1.8 with sudo pkg upgrade xlibre-server but this didn't solve the problem.

🎊 🎆 I solved the issue by removing xlibre and installing xorg with sudo pkg install -y xorg, sudo pkg remove xlibre-server-25.1.2_1 and finally startx. All three DEs start now. This is a downgrade of a sort, but at least now I can test the Desktop Environments. The main problem is that with every boot I would now have to install xorg and remove xlibre until xlibre would be fixed.

Btw, FreeBSD did not have networking at all with QEMU (I've tried all FreeBSD .iso files available for download), so GhostBSD has better support for QEMU than stock FreeBSD @vimanuelt .