Troubleshooting

Quick solutions for common issues.

OVMF_CODE not found. Install: edk2-ovmf

Install UEFI firmware:

• Arch: sudo pacman -S edk2-ovmf
• Debian / Ubuntu: sudo apt install ovmf
• Fedora: sudo dnf install edk2-ovmf

QEMU exited immediately. Check: qemu.log

Check the log:

cat ~/vms/<name>/qemu.log

Common fixes:

• Permission denied on /dev/kvm: Add user to group: sudo usermod -aG kvm $USER and log back in.
• VT-x / AMD-V disabled: Enable virtualization in your host motherboard BIOS/UEFI.

Windows installer cannot find the virtual disk

The installer lacks VirtIO storage drivers. Download virtio-win.iso and pass it as the third argument:

qvm create win11 /path/to/win11.iso /path/to/virtio-win.iso

In the installer, select Load driver -> browse to the VirtIO CD -> viostor/w11/amd64.

Failed to start swtpm

Install swtpm or clear orphaned sockets:

# Verify installation
command -v swtpm || sudo pacman -S swtpm

# Clear stale socket if previous run crashed
rm -f ~/vms/<name>/swtpm.sock ~/vms/<name>/swtpm.pid

VM '<name>' is already launching

If an earlier launch was interrupted, remove the stale lockfile:

rm -f ~/vms/<name>/.launch.lock

Clipboard or auto-resize not working

Install the SPICE guest agent inside the guest OS:

• Linux guest: sudo pacman -S spice-vdagent (or sudo apt install spice-vdagent)
• Windows guest: Run virtio-win-guest-tools.exe from the VirtIO driver ISO.