Re: [Xen-users] vga passthrough status / probability of success?

[Ady Deac <ady@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I have successfully setup an so-called multi-head Xen setup. The primary 
video adapter is being used by the dom0 to run a mythtv frontend, while 
a second adapter (nvidia) was assigned to a domU with a dom0 (privileged 
guest) kernel with PCI passtrough. It works great, even the hardware 
acceleration. I am using Debian testing's Xen hypervisor. I have 
compiled the kernels myself, since I needed some other tweaks besides 
the default Debian's kernel. I am using kernel 2.6.33 with xen patches 
found on google's code here:
http://code.google.com/p/gentoo-xen-kernel/downloads/list?can=1&q=&colspec=Filename+Summary+Uploaded+Size+DownloadCount

Not sure why it is deprecated? I can confirm it is running smoothly on 
my computer.
I am using the domU as my primary working station. I use around 16h a 
day. It is actually running 24/7.
the VGA passtrough should only be another thing you could loose about 
two or three weeks on it, with lots of debugging and email back and 
forth. Not sure if it really pays all that stuff?
My system setup:
MB GIGABYTE G33M-S2, Intel G33, s.775, FSB 1333, video, LAN, 4xSATA 2, 
1xPCI-E(x16), 1xPCI-E(x1), 2xPCI, 4xDDRII 800, mATX, audio 6ch, 12xUSB, 
G33M-S2
CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200, 2333 MHz, Socket LGA775, 4096K, bus 1333, 
0.045u, BOX, Quad CORE, ( Intel EM64T), BX80580Q8200
8GB RAM

Therefore, nothing "unusual" or "futuristic".

Please let me know if you need further details.

Regards,
Adrian


Jeremy Blosser wrote:
> I want to build a xen rig at home that primarily hosts domUs for servers
> and services, but also has one domU I can use for x/browsing/gaming that
> keeps it isolated from the services so load and general instability from
> that kind of use doesn't impact anything else.  I gather from a whole lot
> of googling the last few days that this is not an atypical question, though
> what may be atypical is that I'm not looking to run windows for the games,
> just another linux install with wine.
>
> I also gather from googling that this is pretty bleeding edge, but expected
> to be hitting mainline in 4.0.  I am still not clear, however, if people
> are actually being successful at this or if there are particular hardware
> configurations known to work or that should be avoided.  I see lots of
> questions like "does this board support vt-d" that eventually end in "yes"
> "no" or "maybe" based on manufacturer data and responses, but precious
> little actual stories of success once the hardware is together.  The wiki
> page at http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenVGAPassthrough however makes
> it sound pretty straightforward, at least until one starts following the
> links at the end.
>
> I am a sysadmin/engineer who has run a whole lot of xen for $dayjob since
> the beginning of xen and I have been known to do some weird custom things
> with at least the network setups, so I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty
> and help the community figure this stuff out, but I'm not usually a
> developer and I don't know that I want to spend the money and time for vt-d
> stuff if there's little chance it'll actually work right now except during
> the solstice or something.  So, what are my odds at getting a good result
> with what's out there right now, assuming I'm fairly competant?  Is this at
> the stage it will kill my pets and laugh at me, or is alpha that will work
> if I wave a dead chicken, or beta that mostly works with some caveats, or
> other?
>
> Based on my research I'm looking at getting the i7-860 which intel
> definitely says has vt-d and the DP55KG which is not listed on
> http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/VTdHowTo but is reported several places
> (including the intel P55 spec sheets) as supporting vt-d; I assume it's
> just too new to be on that wiki page?  Should I be looking at something
> else specific?  I'd rather save a little money with the 800 series vs going
> to 900 and socket 1366, but not if that's going to likely fail to get to
> where I want.
>
> Graphics-wise I already have an nvidia 9500GT and a 9800GTX+ to pick from;
> I understand that nvidia may introduce some additional headaches here and
> the quadros are more "virtualization friendly" but I really don't have that
> kind of money so I'm hoping there's a chance with this one even if I have
> to patch for it.  I see Mr. Teo En Ming's video and such which indicate he
> got an 8400 GS working at least to some extent, but I don't know what
> processor or board that's with.
>
> Last, I'm really not clear on the status of keyboard/mouse for this kind of
> setup.  I'm finding mixed messages in the posts out there, but I assume the
> ideal goal is to just passthrough an entire usb controller to the domU via
> pci passthrough?  Is that working as it should?
>
> Thanks for the work and in advance for any responses.
>
>
>
>
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>   
--
Deac Mihai-Adrian

W: www.mikesoftware.com
P: +40-745-256.364


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