Supported VM environments under MacOS dom0

[Phil Pennock <netbsd-users+phil%spodhuis.org@localhost>]

Folks,

I very rarely touch NetBSD, but need to be able to test that some
software changes build and work fine on it.  My recollection that "of
course it runs NetBSD" led me to be a little too optimistic about my
chances of running it under a VM.

Currently: MacOSX 10.6.x, Intel 64-bit architecture, with Parallels 5 as
a VM system.

Tried: amd64 5.0.2 install; first time, the VM booted from the "CD"
(mapped the .iso); everything installed fine.  Since then, the VM has
been unable to boot from the disk and won't boot from the CD either.  It
hangs during kernel hardware probes, whether ACPI support is enabled or
disabled (ACPI just moves where it hangs).

I'm willing to install another VM system, but (understandably I hope)
don't want to pay for a second commercial VM.

What are my best options for getting a NetBSD VM working on this host,
so that I can sort out some portability issues please?

If there's any interest in improving the portability of NetBSD to this
VM, what can I do to get more diagnostic information out of it and is
there anyone willing to work with me in getting it working?  I don't
have spare hardware to install NetBSD on the metal, so can't build
bootable images myself, but I should be able to set up PXE boot if
producing minimal ISOs is a hassle.

Thanks,
-Phil