can't get guests other than netbsd working

[Edgar Pettijohn <edgar%pettijohn-web.com@localhost>]

I have tried:

alpine linux
debian linux
freebsd

I am able to install all three, however trying to boot the installed 
system seems impossible. I was able to get the furthest with alpine. I 
compiled grub2 manually and used it to create `grub-x86_64-xen.bin' to 
use as the `kernel = ' line in the config. However, this brings me to a 
grub> prompt. Of which I am able to find the kernel and initrd and get 
it to load.

grub> linux (xen/xvda,msdos1)/boot/vmlinuz-virt
grub> initrd (xen/xvda,msdos1)/boot/initramfs-virt
grub> boot

lots of output...
Alpine Init 3.4.5-r0
[    1.723909] random: fast init done
 * Loading boot drivers: [    1.729482] loop: module loaded
ok.
 * Mounting boot media: failed.
initramfs emergency recovery shell launched. Type 'exit' to continue boot
sh: can't access tty; job control turned off
/ # exit
switch_root: can't execute '/sbin/init': No such file or directory
[   45.845042] Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! 
exitcode=0x00000100
[   45.845052] CPU: 0 PID: 1 Comm: busybox Not tainted 5.4.12-1-virt 
#2-Alpine
[   45.845057] Call Trace:
[   45.845075]  dump_stack+0x66/0x90
[   45.845081]  panic+0xfc/0x2c0
[   45.845088]  do_exit.cold+0x20/0xbb
[   45.845094]  ? vfs_write+0x16a/0x190
[   45.845097]  do_group_exit+0x35/0xa0
[   45.845101]  __x64_sys_exit_group+0xf/0x10
[   45.845105]  do_syscall_64+0x49/0x120
[   45.845110]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9
[   45.845114] RIP: 0033:0x7f34ee8f472d
[   45.845118] Code: eb ef 48 8b 76 28 e9 e2 37 00 00 64 48 8b 04 25 00 
00 00 00 48 8b b0 b0 00 00 00 e9 af ff ff ff 48 63 ff b8 e7 00 00 00 0f 
05 <ba> 3c 00 00 00 48 89 d0 0f 05 eb f9 48 83 ec 38 bf 06 00 00 00 e8
[   45.845126] RSP: 002b:00007fffa9d2b8e8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 
00000000000000e7
[   45.845131] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007fffa9d2bc38 RCX: 
00007f34ee8f472d
[   45.845135] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 
0000000000000001
[   45.845138] RBP: 0000556ef0eceb55 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 
0000000000000000
[   45.845142] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 
0000000000000002
[   45.845147] R13: 00007fffa9d2bc50 R14: 0400000100003e00 R15: 
0000000000000000
[   45.845154] Kernel Offset: disabled

There is probably some other grub command I need to issue, but either 
way this would be a horrible way to have to start it each time.

Attempting to use pygrub as the bootloader gets me the following:

libxl: error: libxl_bootloader.c:649:bootloader_finished: Domain 
5:bootloader failed - consult logfile /var/log/xen/bootloader.5.log
         libxl: error: libxl_exec.c:118:libxl_report_child_exitstatus: 
bootloader [7302] exited with error status 1
                                libxl: error: 
libxl_create.c:1267:domcreate_rebuild_done: Domain 5:cannot (re-)build 
domain: -3
                                            libxl: error: 
libxl_domain.c:1034:libxl__destroy_domid: Domain 5:Non-existant domain
libxl: error: libxl_domain.c:993:domain_destroy_callback: Domain 
5:Unable to destroy guest
libxl: error: libxl_domain.c:920:domain_destroy_cb: Domain 5:Destruction 
of domain failed

I'm guessing I could probably get the same results with debian, but I 
didn't try as hard. FreeBSD was difficult to install and ended with an 
unbootable system as well.

I'm guessing it is possible to install other guests, but I can't seem to 
find the magical incantation to do so.

Thanks,

Edgar