PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Michael McStarfighter]

Hi,

I've got a Kubuntu host and two dedicated graphic cards. Now I want to
create a Windows Seven guest for KVM and give the guest one of the
graphic cards (it isn't "in business" on my host). The informations I
got is only that PCI passthrough is possible, but I've got no more
details about it (only that the PCI device have not to work on the
host itself).
It would be very nice to get some answers.

Thank a lot.


Regards from Germany

Christian

Re: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Avi Kivity]

On 11/02/2009 01:21 AM, Michael McStarfighter wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've got a Kubuntu host and two dedicated graphic cards. Now I want to
> create a Windows Seven guest for KVM and give the guest one of the
> graphic cards (it isn't "in business" on my host). The informations I
> got is only that PCI passthrough is possible, but I've got no more
> details about it (only that the PCI device have not to work on the
> host itself).
> It would be very nice to get some answers.
>
>    

Graphics cards don't work at this time.  Note, even if we get it to 
work, how will you use it?  A dedicated monitor?

-- 
error compiling committee.c: too many arguments to function

Re: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Michael McStarfighter]

My thoughts are only to give the Windows guest more graphic power.
Isn't it possible to get this without a dedicated monitor? My basic
idea is a Kubuntu host. And on this I will try to use as many windows
apps via Wine as possible (also games). And all windows apps I still
need and and want but doesn't work via Wine (or Crossover
Professional) got to be installed into my Windows Seven guest. I know
that two or three games and other intensive windows apps are only able
to run on a Windows.

Perhaps you have some thoughts about this.

Thanks a lot.

2009/11/4 Avi Kivity <avi@redhat.com>:
> On 11/02/2009 01:21 AM, Michael McStarfighter wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I've got a Kubuntu host and two dedicated graphic cards. Now I want to
>> create a Windows Seven guest for KVM and give the guest one of the
>> graphic cards (it isn't "in business" on my host). The informations I
>> got is only that PCI passthrough is possible, but I've got no more
>> details about it (only that the PCI device have not to work on the
>> host itself).
>> It would be very nice to get some answers.
>>
>>
>
> Graphics cards don't work at this time.  Note, even if we get it to work,
> how will you use it?  A dedicated monitor?
>
> --
> error compiling committee.c: too many arguments to function
>
>

Re: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Avi Kivity]

On 11/04/2009 01:14 PM, Michael McStarfighter wrote:
> My thoughts are only to give the Windows guest more graphic power.
> Isn't it possible to get this without a dedicated monitor?
>    

I'm no expert on graphics, but unless the two cards somehow multiplex 
the monitor, anything Windows outputs will be lost.

-- 
error compiling committee.c: too many arguments to function

Re: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Michael McStarfighter]

By the way: How good is the KVM own graphic card? Is it possible to
use / share the host graphics power?

2009/11/4 Avi Kivity <avi@redhat.com>:
> On 11/04/2009 01:14 PM, Michael McStarfighter wrote:
>>
>> My thoughts are only to give the Windows guest more graphic power.
>> Isn't it possible to get this without a dedicated monitor?
>>
>
> I'm no expert on graphics, but unless the two cards somehow multiplex the
> monitor, anything Windows outputs will be lost.
>
> --
> error compiling committee.c: too many arguments to function
>
>

RE: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Han, Weidong]

Passthrough graphic card to guest can satisfy your requirement. Currently it's not supported in kvm, but we have a plan to support it, but you still need wait for a while.

I think sharing the host graphics power is not easy to implement.

Regards,
Weidong

Michael McStarfighter wrote:
> By the way: How good is the KVM own graphic card? Is it possible to
> use / share the host graphics power?
> 
> 2009/11/4 Avi Kivity <avi@redhat.com>:
>> On 11/04/2009 01:14 PM, Michael McStarfighter wrote:
>>> 
>>> My thoughts are only to give the Windows guest more graphic power.
>>> Isn't it possible to get this without a dedicated monitor?
>>> 
>> 
>> I'm no expert on graphics, but unless the two cards somehow
>> multiplex the monitor, anything Windows outputs will be lost.
>> 
>> --
>> error compiling committee.c: too many arguments to function

Re: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Asdo]

In case of a single video card in the system, it would be wonderful to 
be able to suddenly give the video card as passthrough to the guest 
removing it from the host. Since the video card internal state is 
unknown to the guest, the guest should then re-initialize it with some 
help of a guest driver. For example it could act like resuming the 
graphics from standby.
Giving the video card back to the host would need some kind of a hotkey.
While the video card is at the host, the guest graphics would be 
invisible (not windowed). Alternatively the guest could be frozen.

Would that be anyhow feasible?

That would be just great for the people who use Windows for videogames

Thank you
Asdo

Han, Weidong wrote:
> Passthrough graphic card to guest can satisfy your requirement. Currently it's not supported in kvm, but we have a plan to support it, but you still need wait for a while.
>
> I think sharing the host graphics power is not easy to implement.
>
> Regards,
> Weidong

RE: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Han, Weidong]

Asdo wrote:
> In case of a single video card in the system, it would be wonderful to
> be able to suddenly give the video card as passthrough to the guest
> removing it from the host. Since the video card internal state is
> unknown to the guest, the guest should then re-initialize it with some
> help of a guest driver. For example it could act like resuming the
> graphics from standby.
> Giving the video card back to the host would need some kind of a
> hotkey. While the video card is at the host, the guest graphics would
> be invisible (not windowed). Alternatively the guest could be frozen.
> 
> Would that be anyhow feasible?

I'm not sure. From passthrough point of view, it needs to re-assign the video card to the target guest or host which wants to own it. That's to say it needs to hotplug video card. don't know if it can work smoothly.

Regards,
Weidong

> 
> That would be just great for the people who use Windows for videogames
> 
> Thank you
> Asdo
> 
> Han, Weidong wrote:
>> Passthrough graphic card to guest can satisfy your requirement.
>> Currently it's not supported in kvm, but we have a plan to support
>> it, but you still need wait for a while.  
>> 
>> I think sharing the host graphics power is not easy to implement.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Weidong

Re: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Fede]

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:00, Asdo <asdo@shiftmail.org> wrote:
> In case of a single video card in the system, it would be wonderful to be
> able to suddenly give the video card as passthrough to the guest removing it
> from the host. Since the video card internal state is unknown to the guest,
> the guest should then re-initialize it with some help of a guest driver. For
> example it could act like resuming the graphics from standby.
> Giving the video card back to the host would need some kind of a hotkey.
> While the video card is at the host, the guest graphics would be invisible
> (not windowed). Alternatively the guest could be frozen.
>
> Would that be anyhow feasible?
>
> That would be just great for the people who use Windows for videogames
>
> Thank you
> Asdo

I'm currently working in this as a research project at university.
I'll have more information soon. But basically, the problem is that
graphic cards have BIOS. In order to make this work, graphic card must
be reseted, just like it happens whenever a computer is powered up.

I'm currently porting xen patch into kvm.

If someone has more information, please, let me know.

Thanks
Federico

>
> Han, Weidong wrote:
>>
>> Passthrough graphic card to guest can satisfy your requirement. Currently
>> it's not supported in kvm, but we have a plan to support it, but you still
>> need wait for a while.
>>
>> I think sharing the host graphics power is not easy to implement.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Weidong
>
> --
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe kvm" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>

RE: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Han, Weidong]

Fede wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:00, Asdo <asdo@shiftmail.org> wrote:
>> In case of a single video card in the system, it would be wonderful
>> to be able to suddenly give the video card as passthrough to the
>> guest removing it from the host. Since the video card internal state
>> is unknown to the guest, the guest should then re-initialize it with
>> some help of a guest driver. For example it could act like resuming
>> the graphics from standby. 
>> Giving the video card back to the host would need some kind of a
>> hotkey. While the video card is at the host, the guest graphics
>> would be invisible (not windowed). Alternatively the guest could be
>> frozen. 
>> 
>> Would that be anyhow feasible?
>> 
>> That would be just great for the people who use Windows for
>> videogames 
>> 
>> Thank you
>> Asdo
> 
> I'm currently working in this as a research project at university.
> I'll have more information soon. But basically, the problem is that
> graphic cards have BIOS. In order to make this work, graphic card must
> be reseted, just like it happens whenever a computer is powered up.
> 

Yes, need to reset the graphics card and re-execute video BIOS in guest.

Regards,
Weidong

> I'm currently porting xen patch into kvm.
> 
> If someone has more information, please, let me know.
> 
> Thanks
> Federico
> 
>> 
>> Han, Weidong wrote:
>>> 
>>> Passthrough graphic card to guest can satisfy your requirement.
>>> Currently it's not supported in kvm, but we have a plan to support
>>> it, but you still need wait for a while. 
>>> 
>>> I think sharing the host graphics power is not easy to implement.
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> Weidong
>> 
>> --
>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe kvm" in
>> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html

RE: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Jurgen Baier]

Is there anything I can do to help with this feature. It is probably one of the most sort after requests.
I have been toying with the Xen component and would love to see this in KVM

-----Original Message-----
From: kvm-owner@vger.kernel.org [mailto:kvm-owner@vger.kernel.org] On Behalf Of Han, Weidong
Sent: Friday, 6 November 2009 11:37 AM
To: 'Fede'; 'Asdo'
Cc: 'kvm@vger.kernel.org'
Subject: RE: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

Fede wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:00, Asdo <asdo@shiftmail.org> wrote:
>> In case of a single video card in the system, it would be wonderful
>> to be able to suddenly give the video card as passthrough to the
>> guest removing it from the host. Since the video card internal state
>> is unknown to the guest, the guest should then re-initialize it with
>> some help of a guest driver. For example it could act like resuming
>> the graphics from standby. 
>> Giving the video card back to the host would need some kind of a
>> hotkey. While the video card is at the host, the guest graphics
>> would be invisible (not windowed). Alternatively the guest could be
>> frozen. 
>> 
>> Would that be anyhow feasible?
>> 
>> That would be just great for the people who use Windows for
>> videogames 
>> 
>> Thank you
>> Asdo
> 
> I'm currently working in this as a research project at university.
> I'll have more information soon. But basically, the problem is that
> graphic cards have BIOS. In order to make this work, graphic card must
> be reseted, just like it happens whenever a computer is powered up.
> 

Yes, need to reset the graphics card and re-execute video BIOS in guest.

Regards,
Weidong

> I'm currently porting xen patch into kvm.
> 
> If someone has more information, please, let me know.
> 
> Thanks
> Federico
> 
>> 
>> Han, Weidong wrote:
>>> 
>>> Passthrough graphic card to guest can satisfy your requirement.
>>> Currently it's not supported in kvm, but we have a plan to support
>>> it, but you still need wait for a while. 
>>> 
>>> I think sharing the host graphics power is not easy to implement.
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> Weidong
>> 
>> --
>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe kvm" in
>> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html

--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe kvm" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
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RE: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...

[Han, Weidong]

Basic graphics passthrough works in xen-unstable, we are working on iGFX passthrough now (Xen Client already has iGFX passthrough support). After complete it, we plan to do the same in KVM. Fede said he is porting xen code to kvm.I think you can also think how to implement it in kvm cleanly. Actually there are many aspects can be enhanced. For example, copy/load video BIOS to guest, easy use for various cases (primary/secondary graphics in host/guest), etc.

Regards,
Weidong

Jurgen Baier wrote:
> Is there anything I can do to help with this feature. It is probably
> one of the most sort after requests. I have been toying with the Xen
> component and would love to see this in KVM 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kvm-owner@vger.kernel.org [mailto:kvm-owner@vger.kernel.org] On
> Behalf Of Han, Weidong 
> Sent: Friday, 6 November 2009 11:37 AM
> To: 'Fede'; 'Asdo'
> Cc: 'kvm@vger.kernel.org'
> Subject: RE: PCI Passthrough and graphic cards ...
> 
> Fede wrote:
>> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:00, Asdo <asdo@shiftmail.org> wrote:
>>> In case of a single video card in the system, it would be wonderful
>>> to be able to suddenly give the video card as passthrough to the
>>> guest removing it from the host. Since the video card internal state
>>> is unknown to the guest, the guest should then re-initialize it with
>>> some help of a guest driver. For example it could act like resuming
>>> the graphics from standby. Giving the video card back to the host
>>> would need some kind of a hotkey. While the video card is at the
>>> host, the guest graphics would be invisible (not windowed).
>>> Alternatively the guest could be frozen. 
>>> 
>>> Would that be anyhow feasible?
>>> 
>>> That would be just great for the people who use Windows for
>>> videogames 
>>> 
>>> Thank you
>>> Asdo
>> 
>> I'm currently working in this as a research project at university.
>> I'll have more information soon. But basically, the problem is that
>> graphic cards have BIOS. In order to make this work, graphic card
>> must be reseted, just like it happens whenever a computer is powered
>> up. 
>> 
> 
> Yes, need to reset the graphics card and re-execute video BIOS in
> guest. 
> 
> Regards,
> Weidong
> 
>> I'm currently porting xen patch into kvm.
>> 
>> If someone has more information, please, let me know.
>> 
>> Thanks
>> Federico
>> 
>>> 
>>> Han, Weidong wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Passthrough graphic card to guest can satisfy your requirement.
>>>> Currently it's not supported in kvm, but we have a plan to support
>>>> it, but you still need wait for a while.
>>>> 
>>>> I think sharing the host graphics power is not easy to implement.
>>>> 
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Weidong
>>> 
>>> --
>>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe kvm" in
>>> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html