Re: PS/2 keyboard emulation in QEMU vs. SCO 5 guest

[Thomas Huth]

On 04/06/2022 00.41, Frantisek Rysanek wrote:
> Dear fellow tinkerers,
>
> as an academic exercise (will need to tackle licensing if this turns
> out technically feasible) I'm teasing an image of SCO OpenServer
> 5.0.6 in a QEMU+KVM VM (QEMU 5.2 on Debian 11).

QEMU 5.2 is rather old already - and there have been quite a bit of changes 
in the ps2 keyboard code during the last year, e.g. also this one here which 
adds a command line switch for old software:

 https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/commit/d1e45668d2128b064e

So I'd suggest that you try with QEMU v7.0 first to see whether that makes a 
difference?

 HTH,
  Thomas

> The disk image is effectively a backup copy of an old SCO-based PC
> box that is starting to have HW issues, and the existing software
> cannot be reinstalled and it would make sense to move the software =
> OS + apps "en bloc" into a VM.
>
> On ancient bare metal, the disk boots just fine, I can log in and
> everything works.
>
> When I connect that same disk to a QEMU VM, OpenServer does detect
> the emulated IDE disk controller, does detect the system disk and
> rattles its heads a little, and then the VGA console asks for booting
> into the single-user runlevel (requiring a root password), or a
> CTRL+D to continue booting normally.
>
> The trouble is, that in the VM, at this point the keyboard no longer
> responds. The NumLock LED on the keyboard is responsive, probably
> owing to the host OS (Debian) that keeps living. But, I cannot enter
> a root password or try a CTRL+D.
>
> In the initial "laundry list of hardware detected", the OpenServer
> does report a PS/2 keyboard controller at ISA at a standard address.
> But, when the request for CTRL+D appears, the OpenServer in a VM no
> longer responds to my keyboard.
>
> I'm a fan of QEMU - owing to its large set of configurable options.
> Interestingly to me, I haven't found a single option related to the
> PS/2 KB controller hardware... probablly because there's nothing to
> tweak about it. Any suggestions what else could help?
>
> Frank