Re: [PATCH] docs: Add some details on XenServer PCI devices

["Roger Pau Monné" <roger.pau@citrix.com>]

On Tue, Mar 04, 2025 at 11:17:42AM +0000, Frediano Ziglio wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 11:08 AM Roger Pau Monné <roger.pau@citrix.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 04, 2025 at 10:21:52AM +0000, Alejandro Vallejo wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > On Fri Feb 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM GMT, Frediano Ziglio wrote:
> > > > Describe the usage of devices 5853:0002 and 5853:C000.
> > > >
> > > > Signed-off-by: Frediano Ziglio <frediano.ziglio@cloud.com>
> > > > ---
> > > >  docs/man/xen-pci-device-reservations.7.pod | 9 +++++++++
> > > >  1 file changed, 9 insertions(+)
> > > >
> > > > diff --git a/docs/man/xen-pci-device-reservations.7.pod b/docs/man/xen-pci-device-reservations.7.pod
> > > > index 9ddf3a18ad..62f3bd2105 100644
> > > > --- a/docs/man/xen-pci-device-reservations.7.pod
> > > > +++ b/docs/man/xen-pci-device-reservations.7.pod
> > > > @@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ use of this is with device ID 0x0001 to advertise the Xen Platform PCI
> > > >  device - the presence of this virtual device enables a guest Operating
> > > >  System (subject to the availability of suitable drivers) to make use of
> > > >  paravirtualisation features such as disk and network devices etc.
> > > > +XenServer, for Windows machines, presents Xen Platform device with device
> > > > +ID 0x0002 instead of 0x0001.
> > >
> > > nit: in the interest of future-proofing the doc 's/presents/may present/'?
> > >
> > > >
> > > >  Some Xen vendors wish to provide alternative and/or additional guest drivers
> > > >  that can bind to virtual devices[1]. This may be done using the Xen PCI
> > > > @@ -86,4 +88,11 @@ and unplug protocol.
> > > >  libxl provides support for creation of a single additional xen-pvdevice.
> > > >  See the vendor_device parameter in xl.cfg(5).
> > > >
> > > > +=item 2.
> > > > +
> > > > +XenServer, for Windows machines, presents a device with ID 0xC000.
> > > > +This device is a placeholders for Windows update.
> > > > +Device 0xC000 is presented with a Xen Platform PCI device, usually with ID
> > > > +0x0002.
> > > > +
> > > >  =back
> > >
> > > Wouldn't this be better covered under "=item 1"? Device 0xc000 is a
> > > xen-pvdevice, so it could be simplified to a single line of "XenServer uses
> > > device-id=0xc000 for its pvdevice on Windows guests", or something like that.
> >
> > I think it's important to note that c000 always appears in conjunction
> > with 0001 or 0002, and it's not a replacement for either of those
> > devices.
> >
> 
> Do you have something more precise in mind? Can you suggest what to write?

I'm fine with your proposed text, my reply was to Alejandro to note
that I think his proposed text was missing information that was on
your original proposal.

"XenServer might present a device with ID 0xC000.  Such device is a
placeholder for Windows update usage and is always exposed in
conjunction with a Xen Platform PCI device, usually with ID 0x0002."

I don't care much whether this is on a separate item or not.  My
preference would be for adding a second item, as to prevent cluttering
the first one.

I've also looked at xl.cfg, and it mentions:

vendor_device="VENDOR_DEVICE"

Selects which variant of the QEMU xen-pvdevice should be used for this
guest. Valid values are:

  none The xen-pvdevice should be omitted. This is the default.

  xenserver The xenserver variant of the xen-pvdevice (device-id=C000)
  will be specified, enabling the use of XenServer PV drivers in the
  guest.

Isn't this wrong, as selecting `xenserver` should instead use
device-id=0002 but not C000?  Maybe I'm not understanding how this is
supported to work.

> > Likewise it's important to note that 0001 and 0002 are to my
> > understanding mutually exclusive, and only one of those must be
> > exposed.
> 
> Not exactly sure if this is a must or a should. From my testing,
> presenting 2 devices (well, they are mostly the same) works. But, as
> they do the same things it seems reasonable to avoid the duplication.
> It looks like a good recommendation.

I was expecting it to not work, as I imagined Linux would then attempt
to initialize the grant tables twice for example.

Thanks, Roger.