Re: [Xen-users] GTX 670 Tips?

[David TECHER <davidtecher@xxxxxxxx>]

>I bought the GTX 670 model in David's article, I will be giving this a shot in a week.

It could be done easily because this GTX 670 model has almost the same PCB than the Asus model shown on eevblog forum. Except for a few components installed by manufacturer but it is not taken into account for hardware modification to GRID K2.

>I was hoping to ask a few questions.

>1. Is there a specific qemu version required (traditional or the new default)?

Xen 4.3.0
device_model_version="qemu-xen-traditional"

>2. What (if anything) should be done after removing the resistors (NVFlash to 1/2 GRID K2)?

There is nothing special to do (no bios modification before and after removing components). Just back up your BIOS.

Nothing special to do! I bought this card last 2 weeks ago, unboxed it. I removed resistors directly.

I took my knife (+ fire source) and removed resistors directly. Tweezers should be better! Soldering iron the best choice! Unfortunately I don't have soldering iron.

A knife like this one should be enough http://www.davidgis.fr/download/PICT0226.JPG http://www.davidgis.fr/download/PICT0227.JPG

>if you have any other tips or advice you can send my way that would be great.

Stable hands, good eyes, don't be disturbed...while removing resistors.

Keep it mind that info provided below may be different from what you may get (It depends on your hardware)

Before buying this card I already have existing domUs (with NVIDIA drivers already installed for my previous card). Once this card has been hard-moded and put into my PC

- domU Linux:

It may start directly! You can use the latest NVIDIA driver.  This domU was used for my tests with ATI card. So I was able to reused my domU Linux

Just uninstall the ATI/AMD driver, restart the domU, install the NVIDIA driver, restart the domU (classic way!)

- domU Win XP/7 64:

NVIDIA driver 320.XX series works!

Becauser NVIDIA drivers was already installed for my previous card (I think) the first time and only the first time I started those domU I got a black screen (gfx_passthru=1). So I stopped the domUs. Set up gfx_passthru=0 to start the domUs (2nd time). I shutdown my domUs properly. After that  I set up gfx_passthru=1 and my domUs were OK ( > 2nd time).  Black screen issue went away So you may have this behavior. You may have to set gfx_passthru=0 temporary

I already had another domU Win 7 64 installed with ATI/AMD driver -- used when I was doing my tests with ATI card. If you have a such domU just uninstall ATI/AMD driver, stop the domU, restart it (gfx_passthru=0), download and install NVIDIA driver. Restart the domU (gfx_passthru=1).

Another tips to know:

Hig resolution (either 2560x1440 or 1920x1080) works.  Tested on Linux/XP/7
Extended monitor (1srt screen: 2560x1440, 2nd screen: 1920x1080) works (dual link DVI). Tested on Linux/XP
Win XP 64 is limited to 3GB for me! With more RAM my domU XP gets slower.

Until the current domU is restarted/  is the same  then there is no problem. Exceptions occured when switching between domUs  ("switch" = stop one domU and start another one domU)
 switching either from XP to Linux or from Linux to XP is OK.
 switching e from 7 to XP you may have black screen.

>Thank you both for all your work, experimentation, learning and passing along new passthrough options.

In my case "experimentation" is the right word for this GTX 670 card. No experience in electronics!
I read eevblog forum entirely. To be honest I was a bit confused for this card. Which resistor to remove? Should I remove all resistors? So let's say that I was ready to sacrifice my GTX 670 card!
For GTX 670 I removed resistor one by one until I got "GRID K2". Once I got it then I stopped removing resistor! Got a stable card for Xen now

_______________________________________________
Xen-users mailing list
Xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.xen.org/xen-users