Re: [Xen-users] Video output/graphics in virtualized OSs

[Mogens Valentin <mogensv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

M.A. Williamson wrote:
> > > How do the virtualized operating systems in XEN output video? I presume
> > > at this point, it isn't completely transparent - where they are writing
> > > to what they consider to be video memory and the display of that virtual
> > > buffer is somehow managed by Dom0. If that's the case, then how at this
> > > point is it handled? Specialized X Servers?
> >
> > Well, the answer is: It depends.
> >
> > For example, dom0 (yes, thats a virtualized OS, too) simply accesses 
> > your VGA. domUs are textmode only as far as xen is concerned, they 
> > only got a virtual terminal device. But since you have networking 
> > between them, you can use the standard unix stuff to get graphical 
> > apps working in domU, like X11, VNC, NX, ...
> > Now if you were asking about unmodified guests running with help of 
> > the next generation AMD/Intel CPUs, I think they'll have a emulated 
> > SVGA card.
>
> That's about all I was going to say ;-)
>
> I should also mention that it's theoretically possible to give a domU 
> access to a PCI video card and devote another physical monitor to the 
> domain. Various people have fooled around with this; I'm not sure if it 
> works *yet* because there are lots of fiddly things in the console / 
> X.org subsystems that need to be right. Hopefully this will be fully 
> functional some time soon.
From which follows that it should - at some point in the future - be 
possible to use a mobo with onboard video for dom0, and a PCIx card in 
at least one domU, or maybe even more PCIx cards for different domU's?
--
Kind regards,
Mogens Valentin


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