Hello list, I''m about to put a 4-core Linux system together, and I would like to be able to use Xen to run a very limited dom0 and a few general-purpose domU''s. It would be great if I could run the graphics driver directly in one of the domU''s rather than using the slower emulated driver. I understand it would require modification of the driver source, and fortunately Intel has seen fit to provide it. Has anyone considered doing this yet? Does anyone have any advice on what mechanisms to use? Is there any general framework being created for this sort of thing or would it be quicker to make a specific hack? What would be the best way to solve the domU to physical lookup problem? I imagine it may be possible to put a special mark in the memory manager of dom0 that could guarantee physical regions are where domU expects. Also, has anyone managed to run Wine successfully in a domU? Thanks, Luke _______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
> I''m about to put a 4-core Linux system together, and I would like to > be able to use Xen to run a very limited dom0 and a few > general-purpose domU''s. It would be great if I could run the graphics > driver directly in one of the domU''s rather than using the slower > emulated driver. I understand it would require modification of the > driver source, and fortunately Intel has seen fit to provide it. > > Has anyone considered doing this yet? Does anyone have any advice on > what mechanisms to use? Is there any general framework being created > for this sort of thing or would it be quicker to make a specific hack? > What would be the best way to solve the domU to physical lookup > problem? I imagine it may be possible to put a special mark in the > memory manager of dom0 that could guarantee physical regions are where > domU expects.Graphics drivers that work under dom0 actually have a pretty good chance of also working in a suitably privileged domU, without source modifications. Some work, some don''t. Those that try to make BIOS calls seem to be most problematic, though I guess even they could be fixed. I think more success has been had using kernel drivers than driving the card from X. Give it a go, trying the various tricks that have been suggested on the list beforehand, and then please report back. At some point it would be nice to have concerted effort to make it work for a wider range of graphics cards. Thanks, Ian _______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
On 10/12/06, Ian Pratt <m+Ian.Pratt@cl.cam.ac.uk> wrote:> > I''m about to put a 4-core Linux system together, and I would like to > > be able to use Xen to run a very limited dom0 and a few > > general-purpose domU''s. It would be great if I could run the graphics > > driver directly in one of the domU''s rather than using the slower > > emulated driver. I understand it would require modification of the > > driver source, and fortunately Intel has seen fit to provide it. > > > > Has anyone considered doing this yet? Does anyone have any advice on > > what mechanisms to use? Is there any general framework being created > > for this sort of thing or would it be quicker to make a specific hack? > > What would be the best way to solve the domU to physical lookup > > problem? I imagine it may be possible to put a special mark in the > > memory manager of dom0 that could guarantee physical regions are where > > domU expects. > > Graphics drivers that work under dom0 actually have a pretty good chance > of also working in a suitably privileged domU, without source > modifications. Some work, some don''t. Those that try to make BIOS calls > seem to be most problematic, though I guess even they could be fixed. I > think more success has been had using kernel drivers than driving the > card from X. > > Give it a go, trying the various tricks that have been suggested on the > list beforehand, and then please report back. At some point it would be > nice to have concerted effort to make it work for a wider range of > graphics cards.I can see BIOS calls might be a problem, because the emulated BIOS might not do the right thing - I have no idea whether this specific driver uses them or not. Im guessing the drivers that do work avoid memory-mapped framebuffers and registers, and stick to onboard ram and i/o ports? Also, this chance of working only refers to source-code compatibility, not binary kernel module compatibility, correct? Not a problem in this case, of course, but it would affect NVidia drivers. I''ve been assuming that I would have to use the Intel chipset to get a moderately powerful 3d chip, but if I could put in say, a 7900GTX in instead, that would be fantastic! I saw a page talking about compatibility with NVidia drivers, but I thought the author meant he was running the driver in dom0 and using software rendering in domU. Im waiting on the Kentsfield CPU release, so I wont be trying any of this for a month or so unfortunately. I''ll definitely post my results. _______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
spooq wrote: [snip]> Also, this chance of working only refers to source-code compatibility, > not binary kernel module compatibility, correct? Not a problem in this > case, of course, but it would affect NVidia drivers. I''ve been > assuming that I would have to use the Intel chipset to get a > moderately powerful 3d chip, but if I could put in say, a 7900GTX in > instead, that would be fantastic! I saw a page talking about > compatibility with NVidia drivers, but I thought the author meant he > was running the driver in dom0 and using software rendering in domU.I''ve been trying to run X from domU. For what it''s worth all the success I''ve had with graphics drivers (and there''s been plenty with only a single card :) has been with standard bits out of Debian, I''ve not built anything at all from source. I was giving domU direct PCI access to the graphics devices and with a slight tweak to the allowed memory (change a xen file in dom0) X worked happily. (I''m aiming at having several domUs each with their own video card and input and copy of X - other things have taken priority here at the moment though :() -- Julian Davison Note: 1) This may have come from an address @cbhs.school.nz but isn''t necessarily the (or even an) official view of Christchurch Boys'' High School 2) While replying to this address may get into my mailbox it will almost certainly be filtered into a mailing list folder. To actually reach actual me, strip off the bit after the ''-'' in the name. _______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel