qemu-kvm install iso falls in blank screen with "640 480 graphic mode"

Question

I'm new to qemu-kvm. Here is the environment I have: two physical machines: one is local machine with ubuntu-12.04-desktop, another is remote machine with ubuntu-12.04-server running (no gui, only console). On the local machine, I ssh to the remote physical machine, and want to use qemu-kvm to virtualize a guest os (ubuntu-12.04-server) on the remote physical machine.

After successfully installing kvm, I tried to install the guest os (iso file) onto the disk img file, the command I used is:

sudo qemu-system-x86_64 -hda vdisk.img -cdrom ubuntu-12.04.4-server-amd64.iso -boot d -m 2048 -curses

then what happened is that the whole terminal screen (on my local machine, in ssh session) turns into a blank screen only with the label "640 * 480 graphic mode" in the center.

I tried -nographic -vga std to the command, and ssh -Y, it does not work. I also tried the same command directly on the terminal on the remote physical machine, same problem happened.

After looking through online, I found that it might be related to the framebuffer or vga problem (No GUI on the remote physical machine. But when iso file boots up, it tries to load in some vga mode, I do not know). After hours, I still do not have any clue to solve the problem...

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hit Esc key, boot menu should appear. writing: help will give you all options. Solution is on boot console, write: install vga=normal fb=false

that will disable default frame buffer and vga mode.

Answer 2

When you use -curses, any text output is displayed on the screen—otherwise the "640 480 graphics mode" message is displayed.

What you can do is modify the grub file at /etc/default/grub. You should uncomment the below line:

GRUB_TERMINAL=console

After editing the file, run update-grub. Now, when you re-run qemu, you should be able to see the output on the screen instead of the "640 480 graphics mode" message.