Install ChromeOS in QEMU (Windows)

chromeos-win-qemu-guide.md

Installing ChromeOS Flex (hardware accelerated) on QEMU for Windows

A word of warning. This will be slow and buggy. Do not attempt to use this as a daily driver.

Requirements:

• Windows 10 or 11 (x64)

Download Files:

• Download QEMU
• Download ChromeOS Flex (remember to download the file; do NOT use Chromebook Recovery Utility)
• Download Windows Terminal (if on Windows 10, included on 11)

Steps:

• Enable Windows Hypervisor Platform from Control Panel and reboot

• Install QEMU. Make sure "Tools" is enabled.

• Open the Start menu and search for "Edit environment variables for your account". Click "Path", "Edit", "New" and then type C:\Program Files\qemu

• Log out and log back in (to load the PATH variable)

• Create a directory on yout system to store all your files. Move the downloaded Flex zip to this folder and unzip it. You will see a .bin file. Enable showing file extensions in your Explorer for this part

• Right-click inside the folder and click "Open in Terminal". You will see a PowerShell window.

• Type qemu-img create -f vdi flex.vdi xG (x represents number of GB)

• Rename the .bin to cros.raw (Ctrl+A to select file extension)

• Type 'C:\Program Files\qemu\qemu-system-x86_64.exe' -vga virtio -m 8G -drive file=flex.vdi,format=vdi,index=1 -accel whpx,kernel-irqchip=on -drive file=cros.raw,format=raw,index=0 -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -smp x (where x is a number of cores (if you have a 4c/8t use 4)

• Click "Install" and install to the vdi

• Next boot, type 'C:\Program Files\qemu\qemu-system-x86_64.exe' -vga virtio -m 8G -drive file=flex.vdi,format=vdi,index=0 -accel whpx,kernel-irqchip=on -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -smp x to boot into the VDI.

• Profit (or not; this will be laggy. Flags: disabling 2d canvas accel will help a LOT and using the "new" blur engine in high res does too.)

(If you have an Intel CPU, you can use HAX accel which will be faster (replace whpx with hax after installing intel Android tools)

why? is it not supported anymore?

Yeah but it still works well...

any idea why it would be unsupported in newer versions?

if i install it it will overwrite the modern version right

any idea why it would be unsupported in newer versions?

It isn't supported on some Intel CPUs (because intel decided not to support haxm anymore). Your 13700F will work with it

if i install it it will overwrite the modern version right

yes

oh

if i install it it will overwrite the modern version right

yes

I downgraded but it's still giving C:\Program Files\qemu\qemu-system-x86_64.exe: -accel haxm: invalid accelerator haxm

When you run 'C:\Program Files\qemu\qemu-system-x86_64.exe' --version what do you see?

my fault, the accelerator should be set to hax (-accel hax) as that is haxm in this case

do i need to setup enviroment variables or something?

You shouldn't need to - did you install haxm and reboot?

Yeah i rebooted idk why its not working

PS C:\flexfilesinc> & 'C:\Program Files\qemu\qemu-system-x86_64.exe' -vga virtio -m 8G -drive file=flex.vdi,format=vdi,index=0 -accel hax -device qemu-xhci,id=usb-bus -device usb-mouse,bus=usb-bus.0 -device usb-kbd,bus=usb-bus.0 -smp 4
Failed to open the HAX device!
Open HAX device failed
Failed to get Hax capability:6u
No accelerator found.
C:\Program Files\qemu\qemu-system-x86_64.exe: -accel hax: failed to initialize hax: Invalid argument
PS C:\flexfilesinc>

do i need to disable hyper v?

pretty sure it is disabled

wait how do i enable it

That's already correct
I'm legitimately confused about why it isn't working

If you want whpx to work the windows hypervisor platform has to be enabled

I'm not at home right now but when I get an opportunity I'll try haxm out

oh ok thanks

-accel whpx

what happened?

did not work 😭

qemu-system-x86_64.exe -display sdl,show-cursor=on,gl=on -device virtio-vga-gl,xres=1366,yres=768 -m 4G -drive file=flex.vdi,format=vdi,index=0 -accel whpx,kernel-irqchip=on -device qemu-xhci -device usb-tablet -smp 4 -audiodev sdl,id=audio0 -device intel-hda -device hda-output,audiodev=audio0 -cpu host