xen discuss - Nov 2007 - How are you getting your Vista and XP VMs to work?

I''m not having much luck getting either a Vista or XP VM up and
running.

XP:
I''ve created an ISO from my WinXP SP 1a CD.  The VM seems to be created
fine.  It boots then installs the OS.  On the second setup boot after copying
over the OS files, it brings up a box that says:

The file ''asms'' on WindowsXP Home Edition Service Pack 1 CD is
needed.

Then wants me to provide the path to where it thinks it should be. 
I''ve tried making ISOs out of several of my Windows XP CDs I have
around here, and they all do the same thing.

For Vista:
The VM is created, Vista starts to boot from the install ISO, it says Windows is
loading files...Then comes up with a screen that says "Windows failed to
start.  A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.  To fix the
problem:
1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer...etc"

Why am I having such bad luck?

Thanks for any help....
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Hi Bill,

I am assuming that you are using virt-install to create your windows XP 
VM.  When you first run virt-install it mounts a cdrom drive on your VM 
(the iso you selected).  When your VM restarts after windows initial 
text based install no cdrom is mounted, therefore it cannot find the 
files on the cd.  A quick workaround to this is to run the intial 
install using virt-install, wait for windows to reboot and complain that 
it cannot find the files.  Shut down your VM now and delete the domain 
using ''xm delete'' so that it no longer appears when you run
''xm list''.
Now re-run the same virt-install command using the same disk image and 
iso location.  Your VM will restart the windows setup where it left off 
but with the cdrom drive mounted. 

Hope that helps,
-Christian


Bill Werner wrote:
> I''m not having much luck getting either a Vista or XP VM up and
running.
>
> XP:
> I''ve created an ISO from my WinXP SP 1a CD.  The VM seems to be
created fine.  It boots then installs the OS.  On the second setup boot after
copying over the OS files, it brings up a box that says:
>
> The file ''asms'' on WindowsXP Home Edition Service Pack 1
CD is needed.
>
> Then wants me to provide the path to where it thinks it should be. 
I''ve tried making ISOs out of several of my Windows XP CDs I have
around here, and they all do the same thing.
>
> For Vista:
> The VM is created, Vista starts to boot from the install ISO, it says
Windows is loading files...Then comes up with a screen that says "Windows
failed to start.  A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.  To
fix the problem:
> 1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your
computer...etc"
>
> Why am I having such bad luck?
>
> Thanks for any help....
>  
>  
> This message posted from opensolaris.org
> _______________________________________________
> xen-discuss mailing list
> xen-discuss@opensolaris.org
>

> I''m not having much luck getting either a Vista or XP
> VM up and running.  
> 
> XP:
> I''ve created an ISO from my WinXP SP 1a CD.  The VM
> seems to be created fine.  It boots then installs the
> OS.  On the second setup boot after copying over the
> OS files, it brings up a box that says:
> 
> The file ''asms'' on WindowsXP Home Edition Service
> Pack 1 CD is needed.
> 
> Then wants me to provide the path to where it thinks
> it should be.  I''ve tried making ISOs out of several
> of my Windows XP CDs I have around here, and they all
> do the same thing.
I was able to work around this by re-running virt-install  with the same
arguments
with the exception of the cdrom, instead specifying the cdrom device with the
XP installation disk in it.

The installation proceeded from where it had stopped with the cd request box.

FWIW the cdrom device on my i386 machine is: /dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0
> Why am I having such bad luck?
Hmm.. looks like my lucks'' the same :)

-kim
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Install Windows XP HVM at SXDE 76 Dom0 :-
http://bderzhavets.blogspot.com/2007/11/windows-xp-hvm-at-sxde-76-dom0.html
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Thanks everyone...The "dual install" trick worked!

Next question...Where are the config files kept?  I''ve tried /etc/xen,
/etc/xm, /etc/xvm, etc..Nowhere to be found?

I''ve like to change the pointing device over to tablet to fix the mouse
cursor problem.  Of course Rdesktop works much better once the OS is up and
running.
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Bill Werner wrote:
> Thanks everyone...The "dual install" trick worked!
> 
> Next question...Where are the config files kept?  
 >  I''ve tried /etc/xen, /etc/xm, /etc/xvm, etc..
 > Nowhere to be found?
> 
> I''ve like to change the pointing device over to 
 > tablet to fix the mouse cursor problem.  Of course
 > Rdesktop works much better once the OS is up and
running.
>  
the domains are managed which means the state is
stored by xend. The actually state for xend is kept
in  /var/lib/xend/domains/.


But to modify a domain, you need to do the following
while the domain is shutdown...


# xm list -l <your domain name> > /tmp/mydomain.sxp

modify mydomain.sxp

# xm new -F /tmp/mydomain.sxp



MRJ

Just as a note, I was able to get Vista running using the following
configuration:

virt-install -n Vista --os-type=windows --os-variant=vista --hvm -r 1024 --vnc
-f /virts/vista.img -s 30 -c /path/to/vista.iso
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Hi Bill,

Can i know how do you many it works with Vista? I have a problem after i run
command virt-install to install vista. The vncviewer only display "Windows
is loading files". Do you have any ideas? Many thanks.

bash-3.2# virt-install -n Vista1 --os-type=windows --os-variant=vista --hvm -r
4096 --vnc -f /vista1/vista.img -s 9 -c /vista.iso
Starting install...
Creating storage file...  100% |=========================| 9.0 GB    00:00     
Creating domain...                                                 0 B 00:03 
Unable to connect to graphical console; the GNOME vino VNC client is not
installed.  Please connect to 127.0.0.1:0
Domain installation still in progress.  You can reconnect 
to the console to complete the installation process.

bash-3.2# vncviewer :0
CConn: connected to host localhost port 5900
CConnection: Server supports RFB protocol version 3.3
CConnection: Using RFB protocol version 3.3
CConn: Using pixel format depth 24 (32bpp) big-endian rgb888
CConn: Using ZRLE encoding

Regards,
Angus
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

> But to modify a domain, you need to do the following
> while the domain is shutdown...
> 
> 
> # xm list -l <your domain name> > /tmp/mydomain.sxp
> 
> modify mydomain.sxp
> 
> # xm new -F /tmp/mydomain.sxp
Mark,

Thanks for the suggestion.  I couldn''t figure out how to add the usb
tablet device to the .sxp file, so I dumped it to xml via virsh, added
<usb>
<tablet/>
</usb>
to the <devices> section and reloaded the domain config.  The domain blew
up.  It died right after validating the boot device.  Dumping the xml config
showed the usb device section had been stripped out.  Reloading the domain
config with the original .xml failed, as did reloading it with an original
config dump with xm list -l.  I then tried to destroy the domain and re-create
it with virt-install, stop the install, then copy over the .img file, no
luck...Looks like it corrupted my .img file as well!  Glad I copied it off
somewhere first!

So I''m still without a fixed mouse tracking problem.  Looking at newer
versions of virt-install, it looks like they automagically add the USB tablet
device now.

Is this a VNC bug or a Xen bug?

It''s really not that huge of a deal since it''s much better to
use Rdesktop once the OS is loaded, but it would still be nice to get it
tracking correctly.
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

> But to modify a domain, you need to do the following
> while the domain is shutdown...
> 
> 
> # xm list -l <your domain name> > /tmp/mydomain.sxp
> 
> modify mydomain.sxp
> 
> # xm new -F /tmp/mydomain.sxp
Mark,

Thanks for the suggestion.  I couldn''t figure out how to add the usb
tablet device to the .sxp file, so I dumped it to xml via virsh, added
<usb>
<tablet/>
</usb>
to the <devices> section and reloaded the domain config.  The domain blew
up.  It died right after validating the boot device.  Dumping the xml config
showed the usb device section had been stripped out.  Reloading the domain
config with the original .xml failed, as did reloading it with an original
config dump with xm list -l.  I then tried to destroy the domain and re-create
it with virt-install, stop the install, then copy over the .img file, no
luck...Looks like it corrupted my .img file as well!  Glad I copied it off
somewhere first!

So I''m still without a fixed mouse tracking problem.  Looking at newer
versions of virt-install, it looks like they automagically add the USB tablet
device now.

Is this a VNC bug or a Xen bug?

It''s really not that huge of a deal since it''s much better to
use Rdesktop once the OS is loaded, but it would still be nice to get it
tracking correctly.
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Bill Werner wrote:
>> But to modify a domain, you need to do the following
>> while the domain is shutdown...
>>
>>
>> # xm list -l <your domain name> > /tmp/mydomain.sxp
>>
>> modify mydomain.sxp
>>
>> # xm new -F /tmp/mydomain.sxp
> 
> Mark,
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion.  I couldn''t figure out how to add the
usb tablet device to the .sxp file, so I dumped it to xml via virsh, added
> <usb>
> <tablet/>
> </usb>
> to the <devices> section and reloaded the domain config.  The domain
blew up.  It died right after validating the boot device.  Dumping the xml
config showed the usb device section had been stripped out.  Reloading the
domain config with the original .xml failed, as did reloading it with an
original config dump with xm list -l.  I then tried to destroy the domain and
re-create it with virt-install, stop the install, then copy over the .img file,
no luck...Looks like it corrupted my .img file as well!  Glad I copied it off
somewhere first!
> 
> So I''m still without a fixed mouse tracking problem.  Looking at
newer versions of virt-install, it looks like they automagically add the USB
tablet device now.
> 
> Is this a VNC bug or a Xen bug?

The mouse tracking?  If so, neither is a bug.  We need
PV windows drivers for the frame buffer and mouse for
the mouse to track correctly.



MRJ



> It''s really not that huge of a deal since it''s much
better to use Rdesktop once the OS is loaded, but it would still be nice to get
it tracking correctly.
>  
>  
> This message posted from opensolaris.org
> _______________________________________________
> xen-discuss mailing list
> xen-discuss@opensolaris.org