bhyve How to run win7 on bhyve?

Meanwhile I gave up on Bhyve and switched to VirtualBox.

Will try to do some tests to compare performance difference. But, at least, I successfully installed Windows 2008 R2.
The same for Windows 11 (which requires TPM). The only issue is NVMe drives - it required some custom VM tuning to run:
VBoxManage setextradata <VM name> "VBoxInternal/Devices/nvme/0/Config/MsiXSupported" 0
VBoxManage setextradata <VM name> "VBoxInternal/Devices/nvme/0/Config/CtrlMemBufSize" 0

As a bonus - I'll be able to install Windows XP, because sometimes I need even such an old system. Even Windows 2000...
So I think I'll keep one system with VirtualBox for legacy stuff.
 
RUFUS configures the boot USB for either MBR or UEFI.

When it boots it checks bios for MBR ability then creates the MBR file system.

No version of windows thru win11 actually requires UEFI. I install Win11 on MBR just fine. I refuse to use UEFI unless MBR is not available. No security certificates, no secure boot and easy to repair. I don’t use large system volumes so UEFI / GPT not required.

I don’t use FBSD except as server not desktop or daily driver.
 
bgavin said:
I install Win11 on MBR just fine. I refuse to use UEFI unless MBR is not available.
Click to expand...
I vaguely recall something about GPU performance with UEFI GOP VBIOS vs Legacy (not sure what but I had a Radeon HD 6000 Legacy for a while and tried a GOP VBIOS for a little); this post implies something with Virtualbox and VGA ROM space, and has an interesting note:
...Btw, I also want to remind you that the display driver of FlashBoot EFI works terrible on VirtualBox (has low fps, that's why I wanted to suggest you gradually patch It over time so it can also be usable on VirtualBox), while on real hardware it works pretty well.
Click to expand...

I sometimes change up the install type on fresh installs to see if I notice anything different, but it's usually convient if I needed to do multiple Windows installs (UEFI's easy straight copy to FAT32 USB for one PC, but if I gotta use WoeUSB/Rufus for a Legacy board I may as well do MBR on both :p)

On Linux, something seemingly oddly affected GNOME log-in CSM vs UEFI (post; it was a gamble to log-in with UEFI)
 
I have had to fix FAR more UEFI failures after Win10 updates, than trashed MBR.
More complicated = more cpu cycles = more fragility in my mind.
Now, Microsoft has screwed a huge number of users by controlling and changing the UEFI Secure Boot certificates.
No thanks. Don't want to play, no need to play.

I have virt-manager running under MX Linux Trixie XFCE just fine.
This is a Type 1 hypervisor and works well with Linux.

I installed Win10 just to see if it would fly, and it runs OK.
It is slower than on native hardware, but that is OK.

I opted for dual SSD, dual boot on my big machine.
This gives MX as my daily driver, and Win10 for my DAW and other stuff that absolutely require the Win32 API.
 
bgavin said:
I don’t use FBSD except as server not desktop or daily driver.
Click to expand...
I do not need to run Legacy OS in any Linux or legacy bare metal.

I need to run legacy OS in FreeBSD bhyve (ideally). And this topic is about that one, not how bad UEFI, etc.

If we are talking about UEFI vs legacy BIOS, I prefer UEFI with all its native NVMe support, etc. Had no issues with UEFI so far neither with Windows not FreeBSD.
Secure boot can be simply disabled if you do not needed it, so see no issues here as well.

And I see no point in running legacy OS on a bare metal, except cases when some specific hardware is needed to be run and it is compatible only with these legacy OSes.
 
bgavin said:
Bhyve is a type 2 hypervisor perhaps this is why it won’t run Win7
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It perfectly runs Windows 2008 R2 (which is similar with Windows 7, AFAIK) that was installed with edk2-uefi-csm firmware.

The problem now is in fresh install from scratch, due to missed legacy CSM support in current bhyve.
 
Selin said:
Looking forward for edk2-uefi-legacy port as I do like bhyve in general, but I need to run some legacy systems time-to-time...
So VirtualBox is the only option for me for now. Sad I cannot run both (bhyve + VirtualBox) on the same system.

Maybe will try nested VM some day )
Click to expand...
It is a desirable feature to have because it makes ESXi -> Bhyve lift and shift a reality. Especially for old single purpose software. Kicking the tech debt can a bit further up the road...
 
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