diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index f5a79f2f3..32fde4f52 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -64,3 +64,5 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/time v0.12.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
+replace github.com/mulgadc/viperblock => ../viperblock
+replace github.com/mulgadc/predastore => ../predastore
diff --git a/hive/daemon/daemon.go b/hive/daemon/daemon.go
index b012b4b00..3b5eacaf5 100644
--- a/hive/daemon/daemon.go
+++ b/hive/daemon/daemon.go
@@ -1198,11 +1198,11 @@ func (d *Daemon) StartInstance(instance *vm.VM) error {
 		Name:         instance.ID,
 		Daemonize:    true,
 		PIDFile:      pidFile,
-		EnableKVM:    true,
-		NoGraphic:    false,
-		MachineType:  "ubuntu",
+		EnableKVM:    true, // If available, if kvm fails, will use cpu max
+		NoGraphic:    true,
+		MachineType:  "q35",
 		Serial:       "pty",
-		CPUType:      "host",
+		CPUType:      "host", // If available, if kvm fails, will use cpu max
 		Memory:       int(instanceType.MemoryGB) * 1024,
 		CPUCount:     instanceType.VCPUs,
 		Architecture: instanceType.Architecture,
diff --git a/hive/vm/vm.go b/hive/vm/vm.go
index 2ba6656d9..070c39ba1 100644
--- a/hive/vm/vm.go
+++ b/hive/vm/vm.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
+	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -115,12 +116,29 @@ func (cfg *Config) Execute() (*exec.Cmd, error) {
 		args = append(args, "-qmp", fmt.Sprintf("unix:%s,server,nowait", cfg.QMPSocket))
 	}
 
-	if cfg.EnableKVM {
-		args = append(args, "-enable-kvm")
+	// Validate native kvm support
+	_, err := os.Stat("/dev/kvm")
+
+	if err != nil {
+		slog.Warn("Native KVM support not detected on host. Check permissions and host")
+		//slog.Warn("Setting -cpu max, `host` CPU type unavailable")
+		// Use qemu defaults
+		//args = append(args, "-cpu", "max")
+
+	} else {
+
+		if cfg.EnableKVM {
+			args = append(args, "-enable-kvm")
+		}
+
+		if cfg.CPUType != "" {
+			args = append(args, "-cpu", cfg.CPUType)
+		}
+
 	}
 
 	if cfg.NoGraphic {
-		args = append(args, "-nographic")
+		args = append(args, "-display none")
 	}
 
 	if cfg.MachineType != "" {
@@ -131,10 +149,6 @@ func (cfg *Config) Execute() (*exec.Cmd, error) {
 		args = append(args, "-serial", cfg.Serial)
 	}
 
-	if cfg.CPUType != "" {
-		args = append(args, "-cpu", cfg.CPUType)
-	}
-
 	if cfg.CPUCount > 0 {
 		args = append(args, "-smp", strconv.Itoa(cfg.CPUCount))
 	} else {