RE: Installing WinPV drivers on Windows 2019

[Paul Durrant <xadimgnik@xxxxxxxxx>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jan Bakuwel <jan.bakuwel@xxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: 23 May 2020 05:30
> To: paul@xxxxxxx; win-pv-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Installing WinPV drivers on Windows 2019
> 
> Hi Paul,
> 

Hi Jan,

> On 22/05/20 8:58 pm, Paul Durrant wrote:
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: win-pv-devel <win-pv-devel-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf 
> >> Of Jan Bakuwel
> >> Sent: 22 May 2020 00:58
> >> To: win-pv-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> Subject: Installing WinPV drivers on Windows 2019
> >>
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> Additionally to the email I sent yesterday....
> >>
> >> I've removed the old v8.2.0 drivers from the Windows 2019 server and
> >> installed the v8.2.2 drivers. Windows doesn't seem to be happy with
> >> those though; after rebooting Windows wanted to "repair" the system and
> >> now crashes with an "inaccessible boot device". Any suggestions how to
> >> proceed from here?
> > Did you definitely install the signed release of the drivers (from
> https://xenbits.xen.org/pvdrivers/win/8.2.2/)?
> 
> Are there also unsigned 8.2.2 drivers available to download and install?

No, the 8.2.2 drivers should all be signed now. I'm not aware of an unsigned 
build being available for download any more.

> I'm pretty sure I downloaded the ones you're referring to.
> 
> I could not install the 8.2.2 drivers until I enabled test signing: the
> setup immediately fails when attempting with test signing off.
> 

This should not happen with the drivers currently available. If it does then 
there is something wrong.

> It had been a while since I installed those drivers and I had a vague
> recollection of having to install the certificates to get around the
> "Test Mode" shown on the desktop. So, I imported the 5 certificates from
> the source trees, then installed the drivers with test signing enabled.
> Then Windows needed to "repair" the system and ended up with an
> inaccessible boot device.
> 
> I restored the VM from backup, removed the 8.2.0 drivers, then installed
> https://github.com/xcp-ng/win-pv-drivers/releases. These have been fine
> for a few days now on the test VM but we yet have to see what happens on
> a production system. After all the 8.2.0 drivers also worked fine for
> months until the system went into production and then started crashing,
> sometimes once every few weeks, sometimes multiple times in a week or day.
> 
> Which version of the drivers should I install on a production system?
> The ones released by XCP-NG (even though I'm running Xen Open Source,
> not XCP-NG? 8.2.2 or 9.0.0?
> 
> I'm happy to give it another go with the version you recommend. Should I
> check remaining registry entries or should the uninstaller (via Control
> Panel) take care of removing those?
> 

The XCP-NG drivers *should* be fine. I have not tried them myself for a while 
though. The fact they are bundled with an installer does make them more 
convenient so I suggest you do give them a go.

  Paul