Re: X in dom1 with second graphics card?

[Julian Davison <julian@tech.cbhs.school.nz>]

Mark Hurenkamp wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> 
> It's been a while since I tried, so I decided to upgrade my system
> again to the latest Xen (3.0.2), and see how far I can get with a X
> session on a dom1, using a second graphics, usb and audio card.

X is fun :)

> After reading about Bernhard Kuhns configuration I got optimistic
> about getting this configuration running.
> (see http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/CoolConfigurations )
> 
> However, I don't seem to be able to get passed the console tty
> issue, which X somehow still seems to be needing:
> 
>    Fatal server error:
>    xf86OpenConsole: Cannot open /dev/tty0
> 
> I tried creating the device with mknod, but although it now exists,
> X is still not able to open it. (tried a cat /dev/tty0, didn't work either,
> so I guess the device really doesn't exist in Xen dom1 ).
> 
> Bernhard seems to have managed to get it to work somehow...
> Anyone know how?

I gave up trying to sort this particular problem
out. I was using Debian Sarge for Dom0 and DomU and
found various suggestions (with google) of things to
try, most of which didn't apply to the version of X
in Sarge. Upgrading through to a more recent xorg
either from unstable, or using backports.org led to
much happier experiences.

With xorg and the command:
     X -novtswitch -sharevts vt1
I then ran into more standard problems with the X display
driver talking to the graphics card.

Full details on what we were looking for are in my
previous posts here, under "X11 on domU", but, briefly,
we want multi-head/seat on a single box using the
on-board AGP and additional PCI graphics cards, using
USB for input devices (sound not required). We're
actually after 3 domU's each with their own X and no
console on the dom0.
Using the pciback driver it was fairly straightforward
to present domU with graphics and USB, though Xen needed
a little tweak to make the VGA memory range available
to the driver (I had help with this, so I only partially
follow it :)

Ultimately I had two problems getting it to work,
one was the i810 driver accessing memory, which stopped
X working in domU at all, the other was the second card
I had installed turned out to cause display corruption
when in X (but had no visible effect on the console).
The final problem is one of time, which is why I can't
actually say I've done it, as yet :)

X11 in domU, yes, but not two at once.


-- 
Regards,
Julian Davison, ICT Technician
Christchurch Boys' High School
http://www.cbhs.school.nz/