Re: [Xen-users] [REQUEST] Request for Xen Users to Attempt Jean David Techer's Xen 4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough Documentation

["Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)" <singapore.mr.teo.en.ming@gmail.com>]

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On 30/03/2012 22:38, Wei Huang wrote:
> On 03/29/2012 11:36 PM, Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming) wrote:
>> On 30/03/2012 04:11, Wei Huang wrote:
>>> On 03/29/2012 01:35 PM, Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming) wrote:
>>>> Dear Casey DeLorme,
>>>>
>>>> This guy, Sebastien Gauthier, also has the same problems as us. He 
>>>> was using Xen 4.1.0 and an ATI Radeon 4550. He applied Mr. Wei 
>>>> Huang's patch. After installing the latest ATI/AMD Catalyst 
>>>> drivers, he got a BSOD with Xen VGA Passthrough to Windows 7.
>>>>
>>>> Please read Sebastien Gauthier's case here:
>>>>
>>>> http://readlist.com/lists/lists.xensource.com/xen-users/11/59090.html
>>>>
>>>> Hence Sebastien Gauthier reported Xen VGA Passthrough with PARTIAL 
>>>> SUCCESS, like us.
>>>>
>>>> Dear Tobias Geiger,
>>>>
>>>> You were saying that with ATI VGA cards, you do not need to apply 
>>>> any Xen VGA Passthrough patches. But this guy Sebastien Gauthier 
>>>> applied Mr. Wei Huang's patches to Xen 4.1.0 and got a BSOD after 
>>>> installing ATI Catalyst drivers. Sebastien Gauthier did not get 
>>>> 100% success with Xen VGA Passthrough to Windows 7 using an ATI VGA 
>>>> card.
>>>>
>>> Hi Teo,
>>>
>>> The VBIOS patch I sent out did not work for all ATI cards. The patch 
>>> itself assumed certain behavior of GPU VBIOS. But this doesn't apply 
>>> to every GPU generation. From this perspective, my patch isn't 
>>> universal. Also there are many factors, some of which are not in 
>>> control by us (like graphics driver), can contribute to BSOD you 
>>> mentioned. I am not in a position to debug it for everyone's card 
>>> (as I don't have all cards).
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> -Wei
>>
>> Dear Mr. Wei Huang at AMD Corporation,
>>
>> Thank you very much for your kind reply.
>>
>> I want to buy the following ATI Radeon VGA card. Do you think it 
>> would work with your Xen VGA Passthrough patch to Xen 4.2-unstable???
>>
>> Sapphire HD5450 512MB             Singapore Dollars $55
>>
>> I am a cheapskate when it comes to spending money.
>>
> I don't have HD5450 card. So I can't test it and can't answer your 
> question directly. If I have some time later, I will test other HD5xxx 
> cards and test you the result. Normally GPUs of same family behave 
> similarly.
>> If your Xen VGA Passthrough patch to Xen 4.2-unstable works with the 
>> above ATI VGA card, I will go ahead and buy it. Do I have to manually 
>> patch Xen 4.2-unstable or is your patch already included in Xen 
>> 4.2-unstable source tree?
> My patch was against QEMU. It is not included in the tree.


Dear Wei Huang,

How do I use your VGA Passthrough patch with Xen 4.2-unstable?

Thank you.


>>
>> Secondly, I have a request/favor to ask of you. Do you think it is 
>> possible for you to examine the Xen 4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough 
>> patches hosted at Jean David Techer's website and check if it is 
>> compatible with Xen 4.2-unstable code?
>>
>> Thirdly and finally, could you read through my Xen VGA Passthrough 
>> Version 1.7 documentation to see if there are ANY MISTAKES with 
>> NVIDIA Geforce 8400 GS VGA Passthrough, because I am only getting 
>> PARTIAL SUCCESS.
>>
>> If you could write Xen VGA Passthrough patches, you are an expert 
>> software engineer.
>>
>> Thank you very very very much.
>>
>> -- 
>> Yours sincerely,
>>
>> Mr. Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)
>> Singapore
>>
>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> Yours sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> Mr. Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)
>>>> Singapore
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 29/03/2012 23:50, Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming) wrote:
>>>>> On 29/03/2012 12:29, Casey DeLorme wrote:
>>>>>> My mistake for not hitting "Reply to All", sorry.
>>>>>
>>>>> No worries Casey.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It might be of some value to mention that my tests were with 
>>>>>> Windows 7, I have no interest in using XP anymore.  Also, I did 
>>>>>> all of my testing through remote VNC, not once did I actually get 
>>>>>> video, even 2D, working.
>>>>>
>>>>> I bought 2 copies of Windows XP Home Edition in the past because 
>>>>> it is cheap, at S$145. I did not buy Windows 7 because it is 
>>>>> expensive. I got video working all right, but only 2D. I cannot 
>>>>> get 3D graphics working.
>>>>>
>>>>>> However, my errors are exactly as you described:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1.  Windows recognizes the model (GTX 460), not "unknown PCI device".
>>>>>> 2.  Device code 43.
>>>>>> 3.  No resources assigned to the device.
>>>>>
>>>>> We have the same set of errors.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Might be worth mentioning, I was able to run the latest nVidia 
>>>>>> driver installation without errors, but after rebooting there was 
>>>>>> no change, same error code, still no video.
>>>>>
>>>>> Same situation here with the latest NVIDIA drivers. But I only 
>>>>> have 2D video working. I can't get 3D video to work.
>>>>>
>>>>>>  To me this would be evidence that driver version isn't a 
>>>>>> problem, but then again I didn't have anything actually working.
>>>>>
>>>>> I agree that driver version isn't a problem. Something is wrong 
>>>>> somewhere.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am an IT student in college, so my experience is limited to 
>>>>>> mostly programming with very little knowledge of the 
>>>>>> inner-workings of hardware.  So, forgive me for being unable to 
>>>>>> help with regards to memory addresses on the cards.
>>>>>
>>>>> I am hoping that Intel engineers and Xen developers would be able 
>>>>> to help.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've been using *nix for about 4 years, and Windows since I my 
>>>>>> age was a single digit.  I have had experience setting up server 
>>>>>> features such as web, database, and application servers but I am 
>>>>>> still green when it comes to kernel or hardware configuration.
>>>>>
>>>>> I started learning Linux/UNIX since the year 2005, that is about 7 
>>>>> years ago. I started using Windows when it was version 3.1. I love 
>>>>> compiling the latest Linux kernel and assembling my own computer 
>>>>> hardware.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My Xen adventure began 35 days ago, and it is no exaggeration to 
>>>>>> say that in those 35 days I have learned more about linux than I 
>>>>>> had in the past two years.  I like challenges as much as the next 
>>>>>> IT person, but I ran out of time and ideas for debugging my 
>>>>>> nVidia problems.  The nVidia stretch of my adventure lasted for 
>>>>>> 24 days through 54 fresh linux installations accompanied by over 
>>>>>> 200~ pages worth of documented failures and not a single pixel 
>>>>>> sighted.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why not make your documentation into PDF? It is a very popular 
>>>>> document format.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The ATI card took me a day, less than 12 hours of relatively easy 
>>>>>> debugging by comparison to the aforementioned testing.  I do 
>>>>>> fully understanding financial constraints, but it is a working 
>>>>>> solution and worth mentioning.  I do not know what the prices are 
>>>>>> like in Singapore, but in the states I was able to buy an ATI 
>>>>>> Radeon HD 6870 for $160.  For me it came down to weighing my 
>>>>>> objectives against my curiosity.
>>>>>
>>>>> That ATI Radeon HD 6870 would cost me $279, I think.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you do continue your nVidia endeavors I wish you success, but 
>>>>>> as in my former email VGA passthrough is a new frontier, not even 
>>>>>> Guru's like David may not be able to help beyond their own 
>>>>>> hardware experiences.
>>>>>
>>>>> I don't think VGA passthrough is a new frontier. Oracle VirtualBox 
>>>>> and Linux KVM supports VGA passthrough as well. Xen ATI VGA 
>>>>> Passthrough works out of the box, as Tobias Geiger suggested, but 
>>>>> NVIDIA requires patches.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Documentation is one problem I agree with you on 100%.  I came 
>>>>>> into this knowing relatively little about Linux & hardware, and 
>>>>>> nothing about Xen, and most every guide I found assumed I had 
>>>>>> been in a deep relationship with Linux for many years and had a 
>>>>>> basic understanding of Xen commands.
>>>>>
>>>>> I started learning Xen since the year 2007, which is about 5 years 
>>>>> ago.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Like you, I intend to use those documented failures as well as my 
>>>>>> recent success to create a comprehensive guide with photographs, 
>>>>>> screen captures, and perhaps even videos going from "assembled 
>>>>>> computer" to "Complete Xen Dom0 /w HVM & VGA Passthrough". 
>>>>>>  Provided the wiki will allow me to upload the screenshots, I'll 
>>>>>> be certain to post it there.
>>>>>
>>>>> I will be looking forward to your documentation and videos. Right 
>>>>> now Xen wiki allows uploading image files and PDF files. Why not 
>>>>> create a PDF document and share it with all of us? It is known as 
>>>>> portable document format and is very popular, but it appears that 
>>>>> xen mailing lists don't like PDF format.
>>>>>
>>>>> _*I don't like wiki pages because anybody can edit and 
>>>>> fundamentally mess up the wiki pages, even providing bogus and 
>>>>> erroneous information. That's why I don't like creating wiki 
>>>>> pages. Anybody can edit and mess up the information you have 
>>>>> painstakingly created on the wiki pages. So please take note.*_
>>>>>
>>>>> -- 
>>>>> Yours sincerely,
>>>>>
>>>>> Mr. Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)
>>>>> Singapore
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ~Casey
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 10:21 PM, Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming) 
>>>>>> <singapore.mr.teo.en.ming@gmail.com 
>>>>>> <mailto:singapore.mr.teo.en.ming@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Dearest Casey DeLorme,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Thank you very very much for your kind feedback and input. I
>>>>>>     would also like to thank Mr. Tobias Geiger, again, for
>>>>>>     providing his suggestion on exposing the fourth memory region
>>>>>>     in tools/firmware/hvmloader/acpi/dsdt.asl. _In any case,
>>>>>>     either exposing the first 3 memory regions only or exposing
>>>>>>     all the 4 memory regions does not work._ Sadly, Tobias Geiger
>>>>>>     is unable to help me further.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I have asked Jean David Techer, what about the 4th PCI memory
>>>>>>     region? Why only expose the first 3 PCI memory regions? I
>>>>>>     don't understand, of course. Jean David Techer did not reply
>>>>>>     to my question.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I have decided to post your prompt reply to the xen-users and
>>>>>>     xen-devel mailing lists, in case people think that I am
>>>>>>     finding fault with Jean David Techer, or trying to irritate
>>>>>>     him, or trying to make him angry, or trying to aggravate him.
>>>>>>     Jean David Techer replied me with an email saying that I
>>>>>>     _spent too much time_ and _too bent_ on solving the yellow
>>>>>>     exclamation mark glitch for my NVIDIA Geforce 8400GS in
>>>>>>     Device Manager in Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows XP
>>>>>>     Home Edition, and that I sent *_stupid_* requests. Stupid
>>>>>>     requests? Did he read my emails carefully, word by word?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Casey DeLorme, please, can I confirm with you again that you
>>>>>>     are getting the following errors after applying Jean David
>>>>>>     Techer's Xen 4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough patches:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     *_(1) Yellow exclamation mark besides your NVIDIA GTX 460 in
>>>>>>     Device Manager
>>>>>>     (2) Windows has stopped this device because it has reported
>>>>>>     problems. (Code 43)
>>>>>>     (3) This device isn't using any resources because it has a
>>>>>>     problem._*
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Jean David Techer insists that our technical issues are due
>>>>>>     to a NVIDIA driver problem. He insists that you have to
>>>>>>     install NVIDIA driver versions 275.33 WHQL and 275.50 BETA.
>>>>>>     Any other NVIDIA driver versions (above 280.XX) will not
>>>>>>     work, according to Jean David Techer. *_However, I have tried
>>>>>>     installing NVIDIA driver versions 275.33 and 275.50 from
>>>>>>     www.softpedia.com <http://www.softpedia.com>, as he
>>>>>>     suggested, but it caused my Windows XP Home Edition HVM
>>>>>>     virtual machine to be destroyed/terminated/crash after a few
>>>>>>     minutes and my dom0 to crash as well._* NVIDIA driver
>>>>>>     versions 275.33 and 275.50 for Windows XP 32-bit is not
>>>>>>     available from the official NVIDIA website.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     So it is definitely not a NVIDIA driver problem. I suspect
>>>>>>     that the technical issue has to do with *_MMIO BARs pBAR:vBAR
>>>>>>     1:1 matching_*. I don't think there is any problem with
>>>>>>     vgabios-pt.bin extracted out from our NVIDIA VGA cards,
>>>>>>     because I have performed a "hexdump -C" on my extracted VGA
>>>>>>     BIOS EEPROM, or Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only
>>>>>>     Memory.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Secondly, it does seem strange that Jean David Techer was
>>>>>>     able to attain *_100%_*, ie. *_perfect success_* with Xen
>>>>>>     4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough to his Windows XP 32-bit and
>>>>>>     64-bit HVM domU. Have you watched his Youtube video? It is
>>>>>>     only 4 minutes. Please do watch Jean David Techer's Youtube
>>>>>>     video at the following URL:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Jean David Techer's Xen 4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough to
>>>>>>     Windows XP x64 HVM domU Youtube video link:
>>>>>>     *_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SaYO0ERW44_*
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I am *_appalled_* and *_baffle__d_* that he has attained
>>>>>>     *_100% success_* while both of us have only attained
>>>>>>     *_partial succes__s_* (*_i.e. less than 100%_*) on Xen
>>>>>>     4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough to Windows 8 Consumer Preview
>>>>>>     and Windows XP.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     *_Solving the yellow exclamation mark issue is important
>>>>>>     because we would not be able to run 3D graphics benchmarks
>>>>>>     and play 3D games without solving it. I am not sending silly
>>>>>>     emails about some yellow marks, as Jean David Techer
>>>>>>     suggested. I can't even run Unigine Heaven DX11, and 3dmark11
>>>>>>     3D display benchmarks, because of the yellow exclamation mark
>>>>>>     for NVIDIA Geforce 8400 GS in Device Manager._*
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Casey DeLorme, with your report on relatively easy success
>>>>>>     with ATI VGA cards, I think I would go the ATI way, but I
>>>>>>     would have to spend a few hundred dollars compared to my
>>>>>>     cheap SGD$44 NVIDIA Geforce 8400 GS card. And while deciding
>>>>>>     to go the ATI way, I would also like to continue
>>>>>>     troubleshooting with the NVIDIA problem, because I consider
>>>>>>     it to be a technical challenge.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     In essence, Jean David Techner is considered to be a "boss",
>>>>>>     or business owner, or proprietor, or technopreneur, or
>>>>>>     entrepreneur, or technical support officer, or customer
>>>>>>     support officer, or IT helpdesk engineer, providing services
>>>>>>     like his forward-ported Xen 4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough
>>>>>>     patches and the documentation on his blog. I repost Jean
>>>>>>     David Techer's official website here:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Jean David Techer's Xen 4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough blog:
>>>>>>     *_http://www.davidgis.fr/blog/index.php?2011/12/07/860-xen-42unstable-patches-for-vga-pass-through_*
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Jean David Techer's official website is his business venture.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Basically, I am Jean David Techer's *_"customer"_*, trying to
>>>>>>     obtain technical support from him. Of course, he is *_not
>>>>>>     obliged_* to provide technical support to me since he is
>>>>>>     providing *_free_* services. It is, after all, an open source
>>>>>>     software project. Nobody is obliged to provide anybody with
>>>>>>     technical support. *_To do Jean David Techer justice, he
>>>>>>     replied most of my questions while avoiding some of my
>>>>>>     questions._*
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Finally, I have also failed to obtain technical support from
>>>>>>     Xen developers like Ian Campbell from *_Citrix Corporation_*
>>>>>>     and Konrad Wilk from *_Oracle Corporation_*. _*I have always
>>>>>>     provided all the steps which I have taken, the configuration
>>>>>>     files and necessary documentation, and kernel messages and
>>>>>>     error logs*_ to xen-users and xen-devel mailing lists, but
>>>>>>     they keep insisting I did not provide the information they
>>>>>>     required. I wondered why. I think they did not read my emails
>>>>>>     carefully. They told me they would not reply to me any more
>>>>>>     if I do not provide the information they requested. _*But the
>>>>>>     problem is that I have always provided information they
>>>>>>     requested!*_ I think they missed some of my emails, or did
>>>>>>     not read my emails carefully enough. I am an *_ardent
>>>>>>     supporter_* and *_SERIOUS software tester_* for open source
>>>>>>     Xen virtualization/hypervisor but they treated me lightly.
>>>>>>     _*I always read my emails WORD BY WORD.*_ I have even went to
>>>>>>     the point of making a video on the *_BUG_* and uploading my
>>>>>>     video to Youtube. The video is only THREE minutes.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     _*As everybody says, a picture is worth a thousand words. A
>>>>>>     video is worth a BILLION words!*_
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I have also failed to obtain technical support from Xen
>>>>>>     developers regarding Xen 4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I am hoping Xen 4.2 would have official support for Xen VGA
>>>>>>     Passthrough for both NVIDIA and ATI cards.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Casey DeLorme, thank you very much once again. I will be
>>>>>>     making changes to my Xen, Linux Kernel and Xen VGA
>>>>>>     Passthrough Documentation and will be releasing Version 1.7
>>>>>>     shortly. Jean David Techer's documentation assumes some level
>>>>>>     of advanced Linux technical knowledge, so I am writing
>>>>>>     documentation on my own so that everybody, not just advanced
>>>>>>     Linux and Xen users, can follow. I have made references to
>>>>>>     Jean David Techer's documentation in my own documentation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I would be very happy if people would use my documentation.
>>>>>>     Of course, it satisfies my ego and my vanity. Haha.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I have been un-employed for nearly three years now, and I
>>>>>>     would hesitate to spend a few hundred dollars on an ATI VGA
>>>>>>     card. I quit my job as an IT engineer 3 years ago because my
>>>>>>     father suffered from lacunar infarct, or more commonly known
>>>>>>     as stroke. My NVIDIA Geforce 8400 GS costs only S$44. Please
>>>>>>     understand why I hesitate to buy an ATI VGA card. The
>>>>>>     cheapest one costs SGD$279.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I have a diploma in Mechanical+Electronics engineering from
>>>>>>     Singapore Polytechnic and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical
>>>>>>     Engineering from the National University of Singapore. But I
>>>>>>     do not have qualifications in Computer Science or Information
>>>>>>     Technology. I have worked as an Information Technology
>>>>>>     engineer in Defense Science and Technology Agency, Ministry
>>>>>>     of Defense, Singapore, National Computer Systems Pte Ltd,
>>>>>>     Asiasoft Online Pte Ltd, and Ishinemax Singapore Pte Ltd.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Google search terms: Frenchman Jean David Techer, Singaporean
>>>>>>     Teo En Ming's Xen, Linux Kernel and Xen VGA Passthrough
>>>>>>     Documentation, Xen 4.2-unstable VGA Passthrough to Windows 8
>>>>>>     Consumer Preview and Windows XP HVM Virtual Machines
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Thank you very much for reading my lengthy email. I am always
>>>>>>     courteous, saying "Please help me. Please. Please. Please."
>>>>>>     and "Thank you very much for your kind assistance" in my emails.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Thank you very much.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     -- 
>>>>>>     Yours sincerely,
>>>>>>     Mr. Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)
>>>>>>     Singapore Citizen
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     cc: His Excellency The Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong,
>>>>>>     Prime Minister's Office, Republic of Singapore
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     On 29/03/2012 03:53, Casey DeLorme wrote:
>>>>>>>     Hi Teo,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>     I tried David's patch files a while ago *_without success_*.
>>>>>>>      I had Xen compiled with the patch files and my GTX 460 VGA
>>>>>>>     BIOS rom, _*but I got the same as you, either a BSOD or Code
>>>>>>>     43 in Device Manager.*_
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>     You sound plenty competent, but it's important to remember
>>>>>>>     that you are pioneering a technology that for consumers is
>>>>>>>     still in its infancy.  Very few people are testing this with
>>>>>>>     consumer equipment, so finding results seems to be a rarity.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     _______________________________________________
>>>>>>     Xen-users mailing list
>>>>>>     Xen-users@lists.xen.org <mailto:Xen-users@lists.xen.org>
>>>>>>     http://lists.xen.org/xen-users
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>


-- 
Yours sincerely,

Mr. Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)
Singapore


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