Media Type

I spent some time getting QNX working on [Parallels](http://www.parallels.com/ “Virtual pc, virtual machine and multiple operating system solutions by Parallels, Inc.”) 3.0. Its working well with the exception of video which I know can work, I just haven’t spent the time to get it going yet. If you get it working please comment on this post with how to do it.

First off, why use Parallels now that [VMWare](http://www.vmware.com/ “VMware: Virtualization, Virtual Machine & Virtual Server Consolidation – VMware”) is working? I use Parallels instead of VMWare because it is much faster for what I use it for. I have all my work on my mac and export that folder using nfs to my virtual machines. On my virtual machines I do builds as well as run and test my code. I did a quick test comparing QNX 6.3.2 building the multimedia engine and it took 9.5 minutes on VMWare Fusion 1.1, it took Parallels slightly less than 3 minutes to do the same thing. I also find a significamarknt difference in performance while running my application also.

# Issues:
There are 3 issues with QNX 6.3.2 running on Parallels out of the box:
1. Kernel doesn’t work
2. Network driver (ne2000) doesn’t work
3. Graphics detect vga mode only

There is only one issue with running QNX 6.3.2 on VMWare Fusion out of the box:
1. USB doesn’t work

I’ve got problems one and two fixed for Parallels, here are the steps to get yourself a QNX 6.3.2 virtual machine running on Parallels 3.0 build 5582. There are two floppy images you’ll need to get for this off my server:

1. *Boot floppy*: [http://www.mediatype.ca/wp-content/uploads/parallels/QNX632ParallelsBoot.fdd](http://www.mediatype.ca/wp-content/uploads/parallels/QNX632ParallelsBoot.fdd “”)
2. *Installation floppy*: [http://www.mediatype.ca/wp-content/uploads/parallels/QNX632ParallelsInstall.fdd](http://www.mediatype.ca/wp-content/uploads/parallels/QNX632ParallelsInstall.fdd “”)

# Create the virtual machine:
1. get the [QNX 6.3.2 ISO](http://www.qnx.com/download/feature.html?programid=16783 “QNX Downloads: Documents and Software”)
2. open Parallels
3. click file | new
4. choose custom. OS type: Other OS Version: Other
5. Choose the amount of RAM to give QNX. I choose 300.
6. Create a new hard disk image. I make mine 3000GB expanding.
7. Shared networking
8. Give it a name
9. Optimize for VM
10. Click more options, then select ISO image, then choose the image you got from step 1.
11. uncheck “start guest operating system”
12. Click menu item “Edit” then “Virtual Machine…”
13. Click “Add…” I add a usb adapter
14. Click “Options” Then click the “Booting” tab on the right. Choose “Floppy, Hard Disk, CDROM”
15. Click “Floppy” on the left. Check the “Connect at startup” checkbox. Click the “…” for the image file and choose the QNX632ParallelsInstall.fdd file.
16. Click OK. Then start the VM.

# Install QNX:
Follow the steps on the screen. You’ll need your license key to perform the installation. Make sure to install to the complete hard drive. Myself I install all the tools and GPL utilities. When it asks you to reboot, just turn off the virtual machine by hitting the red stop button on the top right.

# Prepare the VM for regular booting:
1. Click “Edit” | “Virtual Machine…”
2. Click Floppy
3. Check the “…” for the image file and choose QNX632ParallelsBoot.fdd
4. Click OK. Start the virtual machine.
5. This part you need to do quickly. While the virtual machine is booting, click on the black part where the VM text will come up to put your cursor into it. Then when it asks if you want to enter boot options by hitting the space key, hit the space key on your keyboard.
6. Press F5 to have it drop to a shell during boot
7. Type these commands in the shell to replace the stock 6.3.2 network driver with one that works included in the boot image:
cd /lib/dll
/bin/cp devn-ne2000.so devn-ne2000.so.bak
/bin/cp /proc/boot/devn-ne2000.so devn-ne2000.so
8. Hit CTRL-D twice
9. It should continue booting. Only the vga option will present itself at first, continue using these settings.