Re: [Xen-users] can Xen coexist/cooperate with a windows/linux dual-boot system?

[richard heade <richard.heade@xxxxxxxxx>]

thanks for the response, but it leaves me wondering what's the point of
full virtualization.  I can install the tweaked  OS for
paravirtualization, or I can tweak the hardware configuration for an
already installed OS for full virtualization.  Either way I can't go
back to the original OS when I, as occasionally happens, get my linux
system hosed up.


Nick Couchman wrote:
> The challenge in this sort of setup is that the hardware configuration that 
> Windows was installed onto and the hardware configuration that Xen presents 
> to HVM-based domUs is different - in some cases very different.  For example, 
> if you're running modern hardware, you probably have a SATA disk, which is 
> usually seen by O/Ss as a SCSI-type controller with SCSI disks.  However, HVM 
> domUs use IDE-based controllers and disks, which means booting is going to 
> have issues seeing the change.  There are also differences in the chipset, 
> network controllers, etc., that need to be seen correctly by Windows before 
> it boots.
>
> One of the basic things is to try converting the SCSI-based disk setup to IDE 
> - there are instructions on Microsoft's support site for doing this.  The 
> downside to this is that you probably won't be able to boot Windows back on 
> the original hardware outside of the VM after this change - Windows is not 
> very flexible in terms of differing hardware configurations outside of your 
> basic docked and undocked laptop modes.
>
> Note that this also may pose licensing issues - usually machines that come 
> with Windows are installed using an OEM license, which licenses Windows to 
> run on the original hardware only.  Using this same copy of Windows to run in 
> a domU is likely a violation of the OEM license - you need another, full 
> retail or volume license for Windows to run as a VM.
>
> -Nick
>
>   
>>>> On 2009/12/27 at 07:52, richard heade <richard.heade@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>         
>> I have a dual-boot setup, using grub, that I'm attempting to convert to
>> a dual-boot plus xen setup. I'm running openSuSE 11.2 with the
>> 2.6.31.5-0.1-xen kernel and Xen 3.4.1.  The hard drive is partitioned as:
>> sda1 - xp (ntfs)
>> sda2 - extended partition
>> sda5 - /windows/D (fat32)
>> sda6 - swap
>> sda7 - / (ext4)
>> sda8 - /home (ext4)
>>
>> I've configured the windows xp vm as:
>> name="windowsxp"
>> uuid="b3a2c424-7df7-94f6-79a8-c641e412f68d"
>> memory=512
>> maxmem=512
>> vcpus=2
>> on_poweroff="destroy"
>> on_reboot="restart"
>> on_crash="destroy"
>> localtime=1
>> keymap="en-us"
>>
>> builder="hvm"
>> extid=0
>> device_model="/usr/lib/xen/bin/qemu-dm"
>> kernel="/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader"
>> boot="c"
>> disk=[ 'phy:/dev/sda1,hda1,w', ]
>> vif=[ 'bridge=br0,model=rtl8139', ]
>>
>> stdvga=0
>> vnc=1
>> vncunused=1
>> apic=1
>> acpi=1
>> pae=1
>>
>> usb=1
>> usbdevice='tablet'
>>
>> serial="pty"
>>
>> When I attempt to run the windows xp vm the console shows "booting from
>> hard disk...", the cpu usage goes to 100%, and that's as far as it gets.
>> (I've tried multiple different "disk=..." combinations, this is just the
>> latest, but I get the same results from all of them.)
>>
>> Any ideas on how I might fix this? (it would seem that however xen tries
>> to boot windows xp, it's not as effective as grub's chainloader.)
>>     
>
>
>
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