SDK/Docs/1.2/Using a MeeGo runtime with QEMU

Latest revision as of 10:08, 20 May 2011

Introduction

QEMU is a component of the MeeGo SDK. It can run handset or netbook images under an emulator, so you can test your applications on a MeeGo operating system, even if you don't have a MeeGo device.

The steps you need to follow to use a runtime with QEMU are as follows:

• Install a runtime
• Configure Qt Creator for the runtime
• Start the runtime. There are two approaches here:
  • The best way to start a MeeGo OS image under QEMU is to start it from inside Qt Creator.
  • You can also start a runtime from the command line. This can be useful to verify that a runtime is working correctly (for example, if it doesn't work from Qt Creator); and also useful for general testing of runtimes.

Here's what the tablet image looks like under QEMU (this is the Home zone):

And here's what the netbook image looks like (this is Myzone):

Once you have a running image, you can deploy to it from Qt Creator (see the hello world tutorials), or log into it manually over SSH.

Install a runtime

If you haven't already installed the SDK, see:

• Installing the SDK on Linux or Installing the SDK on Windows

You will need to install at least one target with a runtime as part of this. Most MeeGo targets include a runtime: a virtual machine image to run under QEMU. See these instructions for details.

For QEMU, it is also important that you check your graphics capability. See this page about graphics acceleration for details. Please read this page carefully and follow the instructions on it if you are having issues starting runtimes under QEMU.

Configuring access to an emulated device in Qt Creator

To configure access to an emulated device:

1. Open Tools > Options > Projects > MeeGo Device Configurations.
2. In the dialog box, create a new Device Configuration by clicking on Add.
3. Give the new device configuration a name in the Configuration Name text field, then configure it as follows:
   • Device type: choose MeeGo emulator
   • Authentication type: choose Password
   • Host name: localhost
   • SSH Port: 6666

     Note that the emulator is setup with a redirect from port 6666 on localhost to the SSH port (22) of the emulated device.

   • Free Ports: 13219,14168 (the default)

     Note: These ports are used to connect debuggers to the QEMU image. If these ports are not free, you can select alternatives.

   • Connection Timeout: 30
   • Username: root
   • Password: meego
4. Click Apply.
5. To test the settings, ensure that the emulated device is running, then click Test.

   If successful, you'll see a dialog box with the message "Device configuration okay".

   If the message "Could not connect to host" is displayed, check your setting selections and make sure that the network is connected.

6. Click Close and 'OK.

Start the runtime

The following sections cover the two approaches:

1. Starting a runtime from Qt Creator
2. Starting a runtime from the command line

Starting a runtime from Qt Creator

If you are using Qt Creator, it provides a shortcut button to start a QEMU runtime associated with a project, in the bottom left corner:

Clicking on this has the same effect as starting the runtime from the command line.

Once the emulator is running, the button shows a red square: when it is in this state, clicking on it again stops the emulator.

Starting a runtime from the command line

To start an installed runtime, use the mad command to boot the image inside QEMU.

You can get a list of installed runtimes with:

$ mad list runtimes
meego-tablet-ia32-qemu-1.2.0.0.0.20110516.6-runtime        (installed)
meego-netbook-ia32-qemu-1.2.0.0.0.20110516.6-runtime       (installed)
...

(You may get different output depending on which runtimes you installed.)

The installed runtimes are available to run. To run one, do:

$ sudo mad remote -r <runtime name> poweron -fg

The -fg flag puts the process into the foreground, which is useful for debugging.

For example, to start the tablet runtime above, do:

$ sudo mad remote -r meego-tablet-ia32-qemu-1.2.0.0.0.20110516.6-runtime poweron -fg

And to start the ia32 netbook runtime:

$ sudo mad remote -r meego-netbook-ia32-qemu-1.2.0.0.0.20110516.6-runtime poweron -fg

When you've finished, use the power off icon in the emulator to switch it off (if available); or from the command line, do:

$ sudo mad remote -r <netbook runtime name> poweroff

Starting a runtime without graphics

If you are having issues with running QEMU, you can try running the image without graphics to help isolate the problem. To do this, set QEMU_NOGRAPHIC=yes in the environment before running the emulator. For example:

$ QEMU_NOGRAPHIC=yes mad remote -r <handset runtime name> poweron

If you are then able to ssh into the running image, you can be fairly certain that your issues are graphics-related, rather than anything to do with the image itself.

SSH into QEMU Image

Any time MeeGo is running in QEMU, you can use SSH to connect to the image from a command-line terminal on the host system.

When the SDK starts QEMU, it sets up a redirect from port 6666 on the host to the SSH port (port 22) on the guest (MeeGo on QEMU). So you can log into the running QEMU image with:

$ ssh meego@127.0.0.1 -p 6666

Two user accounts are available:

1. User: meego, password: meego
2. User: root, password: meego