Booting the host

These instructions explain how to boot a QNX hypervisor host on supported boards.

You can boot and run the hypervisor without booting any guests. After the hypervisor has booted, you will be able to have a look at its activity (see Viewing hypervisor activity), then boot the guests (see Starting and using guests).

Intel Supermicro Denverton

For more information about booting the Intel Atom Denverton, see the board manufacturer's documentation.

In its default configuration, the Denverton boots from a BIOS (rather than a UEFI). QNX hypervisors expect that the board will have booted from its BIOS.

To boot the hypervisor on the Denverton:

  1. If you haven't done so already, connect a terminal on your host system to the Denverton's serial port, and start your terminal program.
  2. With the board power supply disconnected, insert the USB key with the bootable image into the USB slot closest to the top of the board.
  3. Connect the board power supply. We recommend that you use a power bar.
  4. Press the board's ON/OFF button to power it on.
Note: On this board, the system shell is active only on the serial port. It isn't active on the VGA console. Make sure that you connect your development host to your target board via the serial port. If you connect via the VGA console, you'll see a logo, and it will seem like the board is stalled somewhere in its boot process.

The hypervisor should boot on the board, and you should soon see something like the following on the board display:

▒▒▒▒▒No low memory for AP startup; using bootloader
apstart_init(0000000000000600,000000000401552f) [size=0x000000ac]
MMFLAGS=1
Welcome to QHS on x86_64!!
Starting serial driver.....
Starting PCI server...
Starting network...
Start USB services...
Starting some common servers...
Start USB mass storage class services...
Adding host ethernet interface to the bridge
Creating example disks in shmem for guests to use
Starting DHCP...
Starting DHCP
# Kicking off /disk-dos/hv_setup.sh...
hv_setup.sh called!
Starting qconn service...
Starting network service...
Could not load host key: /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
Could not load host key: /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
Could not load host key: /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
131072+0 records in
131072+0 records out
131072+0 records in
131072+0 records out

Troubleshooting

Note the following about booting on an Intel Supermicro Denverton board:

R-Car H3

The Renesas R-Car H3 Salvator-X has two SD card readers. You can use either one to transfer your hypervisor system image to your target. The R-Car H3 Starter Kit has only one (micro) SD card reader.

To get a hypervisor system image onto your Renesas R-Car H3 target:

  1. On your development host system, transfer the QHS or other QNX hypervisor bootable disk image to an SD card (see Transferring the disk image in the “Building a QNX Hypervisor System” chapter).
  2. Eject the SD card from your host system and insert it into an SD slot on your board.
  3. Confirm that your target's DIP switches are set to put your board in 64-bit mode, and to boot in HyperFlash mode (see the QNX BSP User's Guide for your board).
  4. If you haven't done so already, connect a terminal on your host system to your board's serial port, and start your terminal program.
  5. Reset the target board or cycle the power to reboot the board. After the QHS or other QNX hypervisor IPL loads, press M to boot from the SD card.

The QNX hypervisor should boot on the board, and the serial console on your host should display output from the hypervisor boot process.

When the hypervisor has finished booting, you should see on your serial console a message confirming a successful boot.