I haven't responded yet to all the info and ideas in my earlier thread,
because I've been trying to get Plan 9 working in QEMU.

First, I tried using 9vx. I found these instructions at
http://swtch.com/9vx/ :

9vx-0.12.tar.bz2 is a binary distribution
> containing a minimal plan 9 tree and binaries for
> freebsd, linux, and os x.
>
> download, unpack, and then
>
> cd 9vx-0.12
> ./9vx.Linux -u glenda
>
> (or 9vx.FreeBSD or 9vx.OSX)
>

To my surprise, it really was as simple as that!

At least, I get the same windows that I got when I had Plan 9 installed in
its own partition. I haven't tried to actually do anything with it yet. I
did learn that I have to press buttons 1 and 3 together, instead of shift-3,
to simulate button 2. Before exploring Plan 9 in 9vx, I wanted to see if I
could get it working in QEMU in my Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex system.

That was another story.

*Challenge 1*: Framebuffer

root@Satellite:~# qemu -hda Plan9.qcow.img -cdrom plan9.iso -boot d
>
>      =======================|  DirectFB 1.0.1  |=======================
>           (c) 2001-2007  The DirectFB Organization (directfb.org)
>           (c) 2000-2004  Convergence (integrated media) GmbH
>         ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> (*) DirectFB/Core: Single Application Core. (2008-09-12 19:59)
> (!) Direct/Util: opening '/dev/fb0' and '/dev/fb/0' failed
>     --> No such file or directory
> (!) DirectFB/FBDev: Error opening framebuffer device!
> (!) DirectFB/FBDev: Use 'fbdev' option or set FRAMEBUFFER environment
> variable.
> (!) DirectFB/Core: Could not initialize 'system' core!
>     --> Initialization error!
> Could not initialize SDL - exiting
>

Winning response: VGA kernel option in the Ubuntu boot menu

*Challenge 2*: Scrambled keyboard

Winning response:

qemu -hda Plan9.qcow.img -cdrom plan9.iso -boot d -k en-us
>

*Challenge 3*: Plan 9 hanging up

Winning response: I wait a few seconds before responding to each prompt when
Plan 9 is starting up.

*Challenge 4*: Display size

My Ubuntu display is 1024x768. The default size of the Plan 9 display is
much smaller, so it wasn't using all the available space on the Ubuntu
display.

Winning response: I re-installed Plan 9, changing the dimensions at the
prompt. I haven't learned yet how to change them from within Plan 9.

*Challenge 5*: How to exit from QEMU

I haven't found anything in the man pages that works for me. I can go back
to the console and do ctrl-c, but I don't like doing that.

Current response:

qemu -hda Plan9.qcow.img -cdrom plan9.iso -boot d -k en-us -no-reboot
>

Now, when I do "fshalt -r" in Plan 9, it exits from QEMU.

*Challenge 6*: How to use kqemu.

I see this message when I run qemu:

Could not open '/dev/kqemu' - QEMU acceleration layer not activated: No such
> file or directory
>

I've done some research, but I'm still confused about whether kqemu is
included in Intrepid Ibex, and if so how to activate it. When I installed
Plan 9, it took more than an hour to format 2GB.