Re: [Xen-users] Re: Re: Re: MythTV and Xen

["sven waeyenbergh" <sven.waeyenbergh@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear list, FYI:

i have been running a mythbackend inside a domU for a long time now.
I have "transported" 2 ivtv cards to this domU, and also a serial port for the external channel changer,
that works just fine.

I'm using the standard xen kernel for debian etch with no special kernel options or anything else.

I did have to set some kernel options to get the domU kernel for the myth machine running.
the options i used are : extra = "root=/dev/hda1 iommu=soft swiotlb=force"

some version info:
ii  linux-image-2.6.18-4-xen-amd64      2.6.18.dfsg.1-12etch2                Linux 2.6.18 image on AMD64
ii  linux-modules-2.6.18-4-xen-amd64    2.6.18.dfsg.1-12etch2                Linux 
2.6.18 modules on AMD64
ii  linux-modules-2.6.18-5-xen-amd64    2.6.18.dfsg.1-13etch6                Linux 2.6.18 modules on AMD64
ii  xen-hypervisor-3.0.3-1-amd64        3.0.3-0-4                            The Xen Hypervisor on AMD64
ii  xen-linux-system-2.6.18-4-xen-amd64 2.6.18.dfsg.1-12etch2                XEN system with Linux 2.6.18 image on AMD64
ii  xen-utils-3.0.3-1                   3.0.3-0-4                            XEN administrative tools
ii  xen-utils-common                    3.0.3-0-2                            XEN administrative tools - common files


some notes:
- before i did this 64bit version i tried to get this working on 32bit. However, it seemed that almost all ditributions are (were) switching to a PAE-enabled kernel. This kernel made the transfer of PCI cards very buggy. switching to 64bit and allocating enough memory on the domU (see swiotlb setting) solved these. 
- i'm using pciback hiding on dom0
- my pvr500 (dual tuner) is connected to a simple cable, but my PVR150 is connected to a skybox STB that is connected to my dish. It uses an external channel changer that works very fine in myth.(see here: 
http://www.dusky-control.com/ )
- don't forget to install the ivtv drivers & firmware on domU & regenerate the initrd.
- at the moment i'm using the xen emulated network adapter on domU. I normally have only 1 or possibly 2 frontends on at any one time. I do have the feeling that i'm close to the maximum transfer speeds for the emulated adapter. i think that setups that need more than 2 FE's will also have to use an "exported, real" network card on domU for speed reasons. This could be related to the fact that i'm still using xen 
3.0.3 and not 3.1. It seems like the 3.1 version will solve a lot of speed and i/o issues.

Greetings,
Sven
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