Toshiba AC100

I got a used notebook that just has all working out of the box, as being able to do some lightweight video editing would bring it to be daily driveable most of the days!

Hey everyone! What video games are playable on Haiku OS? I’m curious about native games, retro games, and emulators. What have you managed to get running? 🎮

Most of us have run Haiku in VMs

How hard would it be (I have not tried yet) to run it in a container - presuming it were running on the proper hardware (only x86-64, currently)?

Specifically considering WSLc or Docker

I recently stumbled upon a rather interesting project called VitruvianOS (https://v-os.dev/). It’s essentially an attempt to bring the simplicity, responsiveness and overall philosophy of BeOS/Haiku to the Linux kernel, including a compatibility layer for BeOS/Haiku applications.

The project is still in its early stages of development, but I find the concept fascinating. Rather than reinventing the entire operating system, like Haiku does, VitruvianOS tries to combine the familiar BeOS experience with Linux’s existing hardware support and infrastructure.

I’ve actually been experimenting with a live USB myself. It’s definitely rough around the edges, with some hardware compatibility issues on my laptop, but it’s interesting to see how much has already been implemented.

I’m curious what the Haiku community thinks about this approach. Could something like VitruvianOS eventually become a viable alternative, or does using the Linux kernel fundamentally change what makes Haiku special?

Also, has anyone here actually tried it? I’d love to hear what you’ve managed to get working, what you’ve experimented with, and your overall impressions of the project.

I’m not affiliated with the developers in any way. Just an operating system enthusiast who enjoys seeing unusual projects like this come to life. :)

Hi everyone!

I'm excited to share Haiku Docker v1.0.2 — a way to run Docker containers on Haiku OS using the standard Docker CLI, powered by a lightweight Alpine Linux VM running under QEMU with NVMM hardware acceleration.

No need to switch to Linux just to run your development containers. Everything is controlled directly from Haiku Terminal.

Links:

• GitHub Repository
• v1.0.2 Release
• HaikuPorts PR #14929

⚠️ Tested in nested virtualization so far. Bare-metal testers are especially welcome!

🚀 What works

🐳 Native-feeling Docker CLI

Run familiar commands directly from Haiku Terminal:

• docker run
• docker ps
• docker build
• docker exec -it

Commands are forwarded to the guest Docker Engine through a single multiplexed SSH connection.

⚡ Hardware-accelerated micro-VM

QEMU uses -accel nvmm to boot an Alpine Linux guest with Linux kernel 6.18 and Docker Engine 29.

SSH is ready in approximately 18 seconds.

📁 Workspace sharing

Your Haiku workspace at /boot/home/dev is available inside the VM through SSHFS. A chrooted SFTP setup prevents the guest from browsing the rest of your home directory.

🔥 Hot reload without polling

A small native BPathMonitor bridge forwards filesystem changes into the VM as inotify events.

Measured latency: ~550 ms, tested with fs.watch inside node:20-alpine.

🌐 Automatic port forwarding

Run something like:

docker run -p 3000:3000 ...

And access it directly at localhost:3000 on Haiku.

SSH tunnels are automatically created and removed based on docker events. No manual forwarding configuration.

🖥️ Deskbar integration

A Deskbar replicant provides a VM status indicator and Start/Stop controls through its context menu.

You can also manage everything from Terminal:

• docker-vm start
• docker-vm stop
• docker-vm status

🧪 Stability testing

A 30-minute stress test combining PostgreSQL workloads with repeated npm install and next build operations completed 46 cycles with:

• Zero crashes
• Zero OOM events
• Zero kernel debugger landings (KDL)
• No host memory growth

⚠️ Current limitations

There are a few NVMM driver issues that currently require workarounds:

• No AVX/AVX2 in the guest: Linux 6.18 needs noxsave to avoid a crash. Images requiring AVX, such as mongo:5+, won't work.
• Single vCPU: Currently limited to -smp 1.
• Graceful shutdown required: Always use docker-vm stop or Deskbar. Killing QEMU with SIGKILL can leave guest memory allocated until reboot.
• TCP port forwarding only.

Performance tip: Keep node_modules in a Docker named volume (-v nm:/app/node_modules).

In my testing, a Next.js project installed dependencies in ~99 seconds using a named volume, compared to ~550 seconds on the SSHFS share.

Run Git operations on the Haiku side.

🛠️ NVMM bugs discovered

During development, I identified and reported three NVMM issues with reproduction steps and logs:

• #20426 — Linux guest crashes in fpstate_reset without noxsave.
• #20427 — QEMU aborts in nvmm_gpa_unmap with -smp 2 / default PC machine.
• #20428 — Guest memory isn't released after QEMU is killed with SIGKILL.

Once these are addressed, the single-vCPU and noxsave workarounds can potentially be removed.

💻 Requirements

• Haiku R1/beta6 (NVMM driver included)
• CPU with Intel VT-x (sysinfo | grep -i vmx)
• Nested virtualization enabled if running Haiku inside another VM

🙌 Looking for testers!

The project is open source, and I'd really appreciate feedback from the Haiku community.

Bare-metal test results would be particularly valuable, especially CPU model, hardware configuration, whether the VM boots successfully, and any issues you encounter.

Bug reports, suggestions, and contributions are very welcome!

And a big thanks to everyone who worked on bringing NVMM to Haiku — this project wouldn't be possible without that work.

GitHub: https://github.com/timmagicbeans/haiku-docker

Haiku is pretty awesome, but I do need to ask what effects are being made to modernize some aspects of the system like Samba support (have never been able to get it working), multi-user, and maybe modernizing the way folders and file management are handled.

I’m not a programmer so I am useless in this regard, I just wonder if there are any efforts to do this kind of thing in Haiku.

I've been reading about alternate OS's -- neither mac, windows, or linux. There's a few interesting ones, including haiku. I'd like to try it as my main OS. But a few questions . . What things is it good at? Video, web-surfing, image editing, etc . . . What hardware does it work best on? I have a dell laptop currently running linux Mint. I have a samsung chromebook, two imacs, and a macbook pro and macbook air. To me, it's just exciting to get out of the bind of the three main OS's.

I'm wondering if people dual-boot Haiku and how that tends to go. I want to put it on my primary computer, as a second or third OS (behind linux and linux at the moment).

Also wondering how i can contribute once Im doing that. Like how i can report issues or help test maybe. Im sadly unfamiliar with systems development and C++, but maybe I can contribute elsewhere.

I'm a fan of BeOS and HaikuOS since day one. My idea: With a dedicated agent you can certainly explore the OS much better, develop programs for it and much more. That's why I developed one.

And to test it, I let the agent develop a modern weather app for Haiku :D

If you want to test the whole thing yourself, the Agent (MCP Based) can be found in

mcp_agent_all_OS.zip
https://github.com/srware-net/LocalLightChat/releases

Btw: It works best with the associated LocalLightChat, which is a leightweight OpenWebUI alternative.

And the weather app with source can be downloaded here: https://www.locallightai.com/llc/downloads/demos/weather_haiku.zip

So I have the option for a password prompt to appear after I leave the computer unattended for 3 minutes, problem is I unlock it and the prompt stays with no way to close it! Any tips?

i want to use haiku as my main os but it doesnt support emmc and wifi card so i had the idea to install void linux and make it like layer to run qemu with haiku just like [this video](https://youtu.be/mwLIgdRj5bI)

i have 2 problems now :

1- haiku or qemu starts so small and dont take full screen automaticly

2- graphics is so ass cant move window without tearing

host : zednote2

scr:

\#!/bin/sh

exec qemu-system-x86_64 \\

\-machine q35 \\

\-enable-kvm \\

\-cpu host \\

\-m 1G \\

\-smp 2 \\

\-device qemu-xhci \\

\-device usb-tablet \\

\-device usb-kbd \\

\-vga std \\

\-display gtk,full-screen=on,zoom-to-fit=on \\

\-drive file=/home/void/haiku.qcow2,format=qcow2

This is Haiku nightly 64bit. I am using a custom Tracker/Deskbar called snaketracker and Xfce theme called b6. Snaketracker does not replace your existing Tracker / Deskbar, instead it uses a special hook during bootup. Xfce themes has over 90+ themes to chose from.

Download available here: https://github.com/ablyssx74/haiku/releases

Can Haiku OS be installed easily on a Chromebook? How good is its hardware/driver support, especially audio?

Some Linux distros have trouble with Chromebook audio drivers, so I’m curious if Haiku handles speakers and microphones better.

Any Chromebook models known to work well with Haiku?

I have a piece of software that I have been working on for a few months that I think is getting close to a 1.0 release, but I still need an icon for it. I have an idea that I have worked on for an icon, but I want help to get it perfect and in the correct format for Haiku. If anyone would like to help for a few bucks, send me a DM. TIA.

Hi,

Recently started trying to get Haiku to work after watch a few YT channels I subscribe to sing its praises. Pretty excited to see a 32 bit flavour that I could potential revive my little Asus netbook with.

I tried to walk through the installer, but unfortunately it won't recognize the internal storage (32 gb eMMC). Apologies if covered elsewhere, but is that unsupported? If so, any chance support is in development? Any help is appreciated!

Hey Folks,

Was trolling around on the internet and looked up the BeOS trademark. It was due for renewal this year and it looks like ACCESS allowed it to lapse.

Anyone else find that interesting? Any interest from the community to buy the name and bring it back?

https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/search/trademark/abstract%3FserialNumber%3D78558039

Hi everyone,

I’m curious about how lightweight HaikuOS is in practice.

After a fresh installation, roughly how much disk space does Haiku OS take up?

And how much RAM and CPU does it typically use when sitting idle on the desktop?

I’m considering trying Haiku on an older/lower-spec machine, so I’d also be interested in hearing about your experience with it on older hardware.

Thanks!

It's a Dell Inspiron 5150, with an Intel p 4 and only 512mb of ram. Everything seems to work fine with Haiku. I divided the drive into three partitions and also installed FreeDOS and AROS along with Haiku r1/beta6.

i just wanted to share this rice i made :>
im using the MacDecorator decor, built from the official source tree as other isolated decor repos are outdated.
came back to haiku after a while of linux, and im pretty impressed by what its become. i think the most important feat to me is that it has a smooth firefox that even does youtube -- so well im unsure if graphical acceleration was introduced. good job, developers