Hello, I''ve questioned you before about the use of 3D and accelerated graphic cards from inside a Xen guest and the conclusion is that its not possible now if it ever will anytime soon. So, my alternative would be to Dual boot between a Xen host and another OS (Windows XP in this case). I wonder if Xen allows me to boot an Operating System that is also used as a Dual boot option. I don''t know if I''m explaning myself correctly so here''s an example: In grub I''ve Windows XP and Linux (Xen Host), I can boot Windows XP and use it natively. Alternatively I can boot the Xen host that will have several guests, one of them that same Window XP instalation. VMWare supports this, although for some (the most recent/advanced) OS are not supported by their support services. But they do provide information on how to do this (the most important detail is the use of Windows Hardware Profiles to allow the "hardware" changes). The problem with Windows XP is the hardrive drivers that Windows doesn''t install using plugnplay so the only needed "hardcoded" change needed in the new profile is the IDE driver. The major problem is that they do not support SCSI drivers due to some "format" things that only the correct driver can address and the virtual drivers aren''t ready to handle. In my case, I use SATA drives but Linux recognize/handle them as SCSI, at least they are mapped to /dev/sd*. Can Xen workarround this problem and allow this dual-boot & guest at same time? Another question (unrelated to the main subject) I''ve about Xen is if the Host can be used normaly, i.e., use X, Gnome, etc..., while having one or several guests running? -- Alexandre Gomes, Portugal _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
If you are just interested in being able to boot up your machine and choose between booting into Xen Linux or Windows XP, then you should be able to do that easily. Look for any documentation on dual-booting windows and linux and you will get an idea of what you need to do - having xen as part of your linux distro will only require very small changes to grub. Generally it is easiest if you isntall XP on your system first. Then install linux/xen and edit your grub settings to be able to select which OS''s you can choose from at boot time. google has all the answers. On 7/21/06, Alexandre Miguel Pedro Gomes <alexmipego@gmail.com> wrote:> > Hello, > > I''ve questioned you before about the use of 3D and accelerated graphic > cards from inside a Xen guest and the conclusion is that its not possible > now if it ever will anytime soon. > > So, my alternative would be to Dual boot between a Xen host and another OS > (Windows XP in this case). I wonder if Xen allows me to boot an Operating > System that is also used as a Dual boot option. I don''t know if I''m > explaning myself correctly so here''s an example: In grub I''ve Windows XP and > Linux (Xen Host), I can boot Windows XP and use it natively. Alternatively I > can boot the Xen host that will have several guests, one of them that same > Window XP instalation. > > VMWare supports this, although for some (the most recent/advanced) OS are > not supported by their support services. But they do provide information on > how to do this (the most important detail is the use of Windows Hardware > Profiles to allow the "hardware" changes). The problem with Windows XP is > the hardrive drivers that Windows doesn''t install using plugnplay so the > only needed "hardcoded" change needed in the new profile is the IDE driver. > The major problem is that they do not support SCSI drivers due to some > "format" things that only the correct driver can address and the virtual > drivers aren''t ready to handle. In my case, I use SATA drives but Linux > recognize/handle them as SCSI, at least they are mapped to /dev/sd*. > > Can Xen workarround this problem and allow this dual-boot & guest at same > time? > > Another question (unrelated to the main subject) I''ve about Xen is if the > Host can be used normaly, i.e., use X, Gnome, etc..., while having one or > several guests running? > > -- > Alexandre Gomes, Portugal > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users > >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
I''m a Linux & Windows Developer so I''m confortable with those procedures. My question is about using an instalation both as "bare metal" and as a guest. On 7/21/06, Tim Wood <twwood@gmail.com> wrote:> > If you are just interested in being able to boot up your machine and > choose between booting into Xen Linux or Windows XP, then you should be able > to do that easily. Look for any documentation on dual-booting windows and > linux and you will get an idea of what you need to do - having xen as part > of your linux distro will only require very small changes to grub. > Generally it is easiest if you isntall XP on your system first. Then > install linux/xen and edit your grub settings to be able to select which > OS''s you can choose from at boot time. > > google has all the answers. > > On 7/21/06, Alexandre Miguel Pedro Gomes <alexmipego@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hello, > > I''ve questioned you before about the use of 3D and accelerated graphic > cards from inside a Xen guest and the conclusion is that its not possible > now if it ever will anytime soon. > > So, my alternative would be to Dual boot between a Xen host and another OS > (Windows XP in this case). I wonder if Xen allows me to boot an Operating > System that is also used as a Dual boot option. I don''t know if I''m > explaning myself correctly so here''s an example: In grub I''ve Windows XP and > Linux (Xen Host), I can boot Windows XP and use it natively. Alternatively I > can boot the Xen host that will have several guests, one of them that same > Window XP instalation. > > VMWare supports this, although for some (the most recent/advanced) OS are > not supported by their support services. But they do provide information on > how to do this (the most important detail is the use of Windows Hardware > Profiles to allow the "hardware" changes). The problem with Windows XP is > the hardrive drivers that Windows doesn''t install using plugnplay so the > only needed "hardcoded" change needed in the new profile is the IDE driver. > The major problem is that they do not support SCSI drivers due to some > "format" things that only the correct driver can address and the virtual > drivers aren''t ready to handle. In my case, I use SATA drives but Linux > recognize/handle them as SCSI, at least they are mapped to /dev/sd*. > > Can Xen workarround this problem and allow this dual-boot & guest at same > time? > > Another question (unrelated to the main subject) I''ve about Xen is if the > Host can be used normaly, i.e., use X, Gnome, etc..., while having one or > several guests running? > > -- > Alexandre Gomes, Portugal > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users > > >-- Alexandre Gomes, Portugal _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Alexandre Miguel Pedro Gomes wrote:> Hello, > > I''ve questioned you before about the use of 3D and accelerated graphic > cards from inside a Xen guest and the conclusion is that its not > possible now if it ever will anytime soon. > > So, my alternative would be to Dual boot between a Xen host and another > OS (Windows XP in this case). I wonder if Xen allows me to boot an > Operating System that is also used as a Dual boot option. I don''t know > if I''m explaning myself correctly so here''s an example: In grub I''ve > Windows XP and Linux (Xen Host), I can boot Windows XP and use it > natively. Alternatively I can boot the Xen host that will have several > guests, one of them that same Window XP instalation. > > VMWare supports this,Do you have a link for the document? I tried it few months ago but the VMWare complained about sata disks.> Can Xen workarround this problem and allow this dual-boot & guest at > same time?I have seen postings to this list all unsuccessful :( If anybody comment or confirm that it is (im)possible to boot the same Windows installation in Xen and on ''bare metal'' it would be great.> > Another question (unrelated to the main subject) I''ve about Xen is if > the Host can be used normaly, i.e., use X, Gnome, etc..., while having > one or several guests running?I do have setup like this, but the guest is paravirtualized linux with console only. -- Tomas Kouba _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users