Thanks ! On the leap 15.1 system, libvirt is specifying -machine pseries-3.1,accel=tcg,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off and no -cpu option where on the tumbleweed system I was specifying -M pseries -cpu power9 I will try installing using qemu-system-ppc64 with -machine pseries-3.1,accel=tcg,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off . The original problem is still there, though; virt-manager on the tumbleweed machine doesn't boot the ppc64le dvd. I will attach log files from libvirt.