CentOS virt - Mar 2009 - Windows Server 2008 with the KVM --no-acpi option

KVM version 84
Host OS: Centos version: 2.6.18-92.el5
Guest OS: Windows Server 2008 Web
Processor: Intel Xeon L5420 Quad-Core

I have installed kvm version 84 from .rpm's on lfarkas.org.  Without the 
--no-acpi option, Windows 2008 boots fine.  With the --no-acpi option, 
the VM displays the following:

Windows Boot Manager
Windows failed to start...
Status 0xc0000225
Info: Windows failed to load because the firmware (BIOS) is not ACPI 
compatible

I heard that for best performance, the -no-acpi option is recommended.  
Maybe that's only an issue with other versions of Windows/KVM.  Can 
anyone confirm?

Assuming -no-acpi is worth persuing, is there a solution?  Is it a known 
issue? I couldn't find many references on the web.  I downloaded & 
compiled the latest kernel version 2.6.28.7 from kernel.org and I think 
the -no-acpi option worked but I've wiped the machine now so can't 
confirm.  Do I need to install a kernel patch and if so which one?

This is the kvm command-line...

/usr/bin/qemu-kvm -no-acpi -k en-gb -m 1024 -monitor stdio -usb 
-usbdevice tablet -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:12:34:58 -net 
tap,script=/etc/incharge/qemu-ifup -vnc :1 -hda /media/vm01/vm01-hda.raw 
-hdb /media/archive/vm01-hdb.raw

...although any variant with -no-acpi fails, including the installing 
from the .iso...

/usr/bin/qemu-kvm -no-acpi -m 1024 -vnc :1 -cdrom 
"/media/archive/win2008web-trial.iso" -boot d /media/vm01/vm01-hda.raw

For anyone else wanting to know how to install KVM version 84, this 
worked for me:
yum remove kvm
yum install zlib-devel alsa-lib-devel SDL-devel gnutls-devel dev86 
texi2html glibc-devel.i386
rpm -i -v 
http://www.lfarkas.org/linux/packages/centos/5/x86_64/etherboot-roms-kvm-5.4.4-8.x86_64.rpm
rpm -i -v 
http://www.lfarkas.org/linux/packages/centos/5/x86_64/kmod-kvm-84-1.x86_64.rpm
rpm -i -v 
http://www.lfarkas.org/linux/packages/centos/5/x86_64/kvm-84-1.x86_64.rpm
reboot

Before I post this solution under my original forum post...
http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=19034&forum=38
...is this the recommended method for running KVM 72+?

According to this...
http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/Guest_Support_Status
...KVM version 72 is required for Windows Server 2008.  CentOS ships 
with KVM 36 and the testing repositories have version 66 - and that's 
only provided as source: http://dev.centos.org/centos/5/testing/SRPMS/.  
Maybe the KVM HowTo could be updated for anyone with the misfortune to 
require Windows Server 2008: http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/KVM

Thanks,
Julez

>I heard that for best performance, the -no-acpi option is recommended.  
>Maybe that's only an issue with other versions of Windows/KVM.  Can 
>anyone confirm?
Windows Vista/2008 requires ACPI. It won't run w/o.
jlc

On Tue, 2009-03-17 at 09:51 +0000, Julez wrote:
> KVM version 84
> Host OS: Centos version: 2.6.18-92.el5
> Guest OS: Windows Server 2008 Web
> Processor: Intel Xeon L5420 Quad-Core
> 
> I have installed kvm version 84 from .rpm's on lfarkas.org.  Without
the
> --no-acpi option, Windows 2008 boots fine.  With the --no-acpi option, 
> the VM displays the following:
... snip ...
> For anyone else wanting to know how to install KVM version 84, this 
> worked for me:
> yum remove kvm
> yum install zlib-devel alsa-lib-devel SDL-devel gnutls-devel dev86 
> texi2html glibc-devel.i386
> rpm -i -v 
>
http://www.lfarkas.org/linux/packages/centos/5/x86_64/etherboot-roms-kvm-5.4.4-8.x86_64.rpm
> rpm -i -v 
>
http://www.lfarkas.org/linux/packages/centos/5/x86_64/kmod-kvm-84-1.x86_64.rpm
> rpm -i -v 
> http://www.lfarkas.org/linux/packages/centos/5/x86_64/kvm-84-1.x86_64.rpm
> reboot
> 
> Before I post this solution under my original forum post...
>
http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=19034&forum=38
> ...is this the recommended method for running KVM 72+?
Can't say as to what is recommended but knowing that it works for
someone is useful, so I'd recommend updating your post - including
Joseph L. Casale's advice that "Windows Vista/2008 requires ACPI. It
won't run w/o."
> According to this...
> http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/Guest_Support_Status
> ...KVM version 72 is required for Windows Server 2008.  CentOS ships 
> with KVM 36 and the testing repositories have version 66 - and that's 
> only provided as source: http://dev.centos.org/centos/5/testing/SRPMS/.  
Hate to give you the run-around, since I directed you here from the
Forum, but the above sounds like an appropriate topic for centos-devel. 

http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-devel

Farkas Levente of lfarkas.org is frequently found there.
> Maybe the KVM HowTo could be updated for anyone with the misfortune
> to 
> require Windows Server 2008: http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/KVM
If you would like to update the above, that requires yet another list
membership http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-docs and see
http://wiki.centos.org/Contribute.  Alternately, send me a PM with your
suggested Wiki changes and I can help with that; however, joining
yourself is the best way to contribute to the community.

Phil