Re: [orca-list] Gnome Boxes vs. Virt Manager

[Christopher Chaltain <chaltain gmail com>]

Gnome Boxes does definitely support and use KVM. Here's an article on 
how to get started with it and comparing it to Virt-Manager: 
http://www.howtogeek.com/213922/easily-create-kvm-virtual-machines-on-linux-with-gnome-boxes/

BTW, my understanding, and a Google search seems to bear this out, is 
that QEMU is part of KVM.

Obviously no one expects you to ask about an application before you know 
about it, but once someone does point it out to you, I just don't get 
the resistance to look into it more.

On 09/02/2015 04:52 AM, Tony Baechler wrote:
> All,
>
> I posted here a few days ago asking about the accessibility of
> Virt-Manager.  While I didn't get a direct answer, Gnome Boxes was
> suggested.  The reason why I didn't ask about or install Gnome Boxes in
> the first place is because it didn't show up in my Debian testing
> package search for KVM, therefore I had no reason to think that it works
> with KVM.  Even after looking at the full package information, it
> doesn't depend on KVM, but does suggest qemu-x86, so I don't think it
> does actually let me use KVM.  However, since several people here
> suggested Boxes, I installed it.
>
> While I am able to use Virt-Manager with ease, Boxes is mostly
> inaccessible.  Specifically, it has no way to create a new VM from the
> keyboard.  I had to use the Orca left click to get the dialog for a new
> machine to come up. Similarly, pressing Tab does not seem to work and I
> couldn't get to the Continue button.  Therefore, I gave up.  I didn't
> have the time or interest to read everything on the screen with flat
> review when Virt-Manager is already a very good alternative.
>
> In contrast, Virt-Manager is very accessible.  When it first opens, it
> lists all configured machines and lets you tab to the various buttons.
> It has the wizard interface I was looking for and lets you pick the
> amount of memory, storage space, etc.  It also let me add a sound card
> without difficulty.  I used the Debian 8.1 installer as my test image
> since I know that speech should come up if I press "s" and Enter after
> it boots.  I was able to create a new VM and boot it.  It says it's
> running and a new window comes up with the name of the VM (VM1 in this
> case) in the title.  I've verified that the CD image is good because it
> works fine with KVM from the command line. Speech comes up as it should.
>
> The only problem I'm having is apparently keys aren't being passed
> through to the VM.  Could this be related to Orca?  I know Linux is not
> Windows, but Windows screen readers intercept all key presses and don't
> always pass them to the underlying program.  As I say, it says the VM is
> running and I can Alt-Tab between "Virtual Machine Manager" and "VM 1,"
> but pressing "s" and Enter in the VM window doesn't seem to work.  I
> turned on emulation for both AC97 sound and the PC speaker, but I don't
> hear a beep at boot either.  Orca says "s" when I press it, but nothing
> else seems to happen.  Pressing Alt-F4 shuts down the program, making me
> think keys aren't being passed through. I'm running Orca 3.14 if that
> matters.
>
> Once I can get that problem solved, I'll have a very nice, accessible VM
> manager which meets my needs and is exactly what I'm looking for.  I
> don't see how Orca could be causing a problem, but I can't think of what
> else I'm missing.  I guess I should try looking at the help, but the
> only thing in the Help menu is About.  Have you had any similar
> experiences with this odd behavior and do you have any ideas how to work
> around it?

--
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail