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Using VMX for bios interrupts instead of v86
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:39 am
by AlfaOmega08
Is it possible to use VMX instead of v86 for bios interrupts?
Would it be faster?
Would it enable us to use bios interrupts in long mode?
How much is VMX spread?
Thanks...
Re: Using VMX for bios interrupts instead of v86
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:17 am
by Owen
AlfaOmega08 wrote:Is it possible to use VMX instead of v86 for bios interrupts?
Would it be faster?
Would it enable us to use bios interrupts in long mode?
How much is VMX spread?
Thanks...
VMX works only on Intel processors. Additionally, my understanding is that VMX doesn't do real mode. IIRC, OSes like Linux run a minimal v8086 hypervisor in the VMX environment for real mode tasks...
SVM (AMD's VM system) does support real mode. But again, only works on AMD.
Just go and grab x86emu.
Re: Using VMX for bios interrupts instead of v86
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:56 pm
by Matthew
VMX doesn't permit real-mode operation except maybe on the latest chips (see "Unrestricted Guest" feature). But I implemented vm8086-inside-VMX and used BIOS interrupts to switch video modes. So it does work. That was in a 32-bit host. I have not tried a 64-bit host.