Hello xen-devel,
This is my first post on this list and as such i might be breaking some explicit/implicit rules and i apologize if it's the case. Maybe this list isn't the exact right kind of place where to post this kind of stuff, but i know lots of us are browsing this list as the primary source of documentation for xen.
I've read many times windows 7 isn't the right os to run on top of xen. Most of the guy's who are running vga passthru are recommanding to use windows xp, and i've never seen any success report of vga passthru on windows 7 so i thought it was important to post mine.
Anyway, here's my hardware setup :
- Gigabyte GA-990X-UD3
- AMD Phenom II X6 1075T Processor
- MSI Cyclone NVIDIA Geforce GTX 460
On the software side i'm using :
- Debian testing as Dom0
- debian's kernel 3.1.5, compiled to include the pciback driver. Here's the output of `cat /boot/my3.1.5config | grep -i xen`
CONFIG_XEN=y
CONFIG_XEN_DOM0=y
CONFIG_XEN_PRIVILEGED_GUEST=y
CONFIG_XEN_PVHVM=y
CONFIG_XEN_MAX_DOMAIN_MEMORY=128
CONFIG_XEN_SAVE_RESTORE=y
# CONFIG_XEN_DEBUG_FS is not set
# CONFIG_XEN_DEBUG is not set
CONFIG_PCI_XEN=y
CONFIG_XEN_PCIDEV_FRONTEND=m
CONFIG_XEN_BLKDEV_FRONTEND=m
CONFIG_XEN_BLKDEV_BACKEND=m
CONFIG_NETXEN_NIC=m
CONFIG_XEN_NETDEV_FRONTEND=m
CONFIG_XEN_NETDEV_BACKEND=m
CONFIG_INPUT_XEN_KBDDEV_FRONTEND=y
CONFIG_HVC_XEN=y
CONFIG_XEN_WDT=m
CONFIG_XEN_FBDEV_FRONTEND=y
# Xen driver support
CONFIG_XEN_BALLOON=y
# CONFIG_XEN_BALLOON_MEMORY_HOTPLUG is not set
CONFIG_XEN_SCRUB_PAGES=y
CONFIG_XEN_DEV_EVTCHN=m
CONFIG_XEN_BACKEND=y
CONFIG_XENFS=m
CONFIG_XEN_COMPAT_XENFS=y
CONFIG_XEN_SYS_HYPERVISOR=y
CONFIG_XEN_XENBUS_FRONTEND=y
CONFIG_XEN_GNTDEV=m
CONFIG_XEN_GRANT_DEV_ALLOC=m
CONFIG_XEN_PLATFORM_PCI=m
CONFIG_SWIOTLB_XEN=y
CONFIG_XEN_PCIDEV_BACKEND=y
The kernel boot options are 'nomodeset xen-pciback.passthrough=1 xen-pciback.hide=(01:00.0)(01:00.1)'
- Here's my win7 domU config file :
kernel = "/usr/lib/xen-4.1/boot/hvmloader"
builder='hvm'
memory = 3072
name = "w7"
vif = [ 'type=netfront,bridge=xenbr0, mac=00:16:3e:35:49:62']
disk = [ 'phy:/dev/w7-xen/system,hda,w', 'phy:/dev/w7-xen/appz,hdb,w']
device_model = '/usr/lib/xen-4.1/bin/qemu-dm'
boot="dc"
pci=['01:00.0','01:00.1']
gfx_passthru=1
vcpus=6
acpi=1
sdl=0
vnc=1
vncconsole=1
vncpasswd=''
serial='pty'
usbdevice='tablet'
pae=1
pci_msitranslate=0
pci_power_mgmt=0
acpi_s3 = 1
acpi_s4 = 1
>
on_reboot = 'restart'
on_crash = 'restart'
xen_platform_pci=1
hpet = 1
viridian=1
monitor=1
xen_extended_power_mgmt=2
hpet=1
What's important here for the Nvidia drivers to work and not give a nice nvlddmkm.sys BSOD is:
pci_msitranslate=0
pci_power_mgmt=0
- Windows 7 32bits
- Nvidia drivers 275.33
- You have to manually run aero speed test or force aero to start by using registry entries for the desktop not to be laggy
The windows 7 domU is running fine with no performance decrease noticeable, although i've not yet played intensive gpu video game, i'm still pretty confident they'll run fine.
Anyway. i've still some problems i shall report in separate posts :
- The PCI bus topology isn't preserved, and the gfx card, which is plugged on 01:00 becomes 05:00 on domU.
- I'm passing through an RME Hdsp / hammerfall pci sound card to the domU and while it is working fine on his own, there's a strange interaction between it and the GPLPV network driver. When i start playing sound, the network instantly cease working. It starts back as soon as i stop playing audio.
That's all folks,
Cheers,
Lta
