Re: [Xen VGA Passthrough] Cannot Complete All 3dmark Tests in Windows 8 HVM domU

[Teo En Ming <singapore.mr.teo.en.ming@gmail.com>]

Dear Kelly,

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that Windows 8 HVM domU is very 
unstable with my Xen setup. Many times Windows 8 HVM domU cannot boot up 
and I have to restart it.

I also cannot start Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 in Windows 8 HVM domU. 
It gave me the following error:
"The program can't start because MSVCP100.dll is missing from your 
computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem."
Upon seeing this error message, I proceeded to installing Microsoft 
Visual C++ Redistributable (x64) but still got the same error message.
Then I gave up on Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 in Windows 8 HVM domU.

Subsequently I went on to upgrade my Windows 8 HVM domU to Windows 8.1.
During the upgrade process, I encountered a BSOD with the following 
error message:
"PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (atikmdag.sys)"
I rebooted Windows 8.1 HVM domU but it *restored* to the previous 
version of Windows (ie. Windows 8.0 HVM domU).
Apparently, the upgrade from Windows 8 HVM domU to Windows 8.1 failed.

In conclusion, Windows 8 HVM domU is very unstable with my Xen 
setup/configuration. I have decided to fall back to Windows 7 Ultimate 
HVM domU, which is very stable.
I wonder why Windows 8 HVM domU is so unstable with my Xen setup.

dom0 operating system: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Linux kernel in dom0: 3.16.1
Xen hypervisor: 4.4.1
Processor: Intel Core i5 4430 @ 3.0 GHz
Motherboard: Asrock B85M Pro4 LGA1150
VGA Card: Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6450 1 GB DDR3

Could you try installing Windows 8.0 HVM domU with the above 
configuration and see if it's unstable as well? Is it possible for Xen 
developers to look into what's causing Windows 8.0 HVM domU to be 
unstable with the above configuration.

Thank you very much.

-- 
Yours sincerely,

Teo En Ming
Singapore






On 10/09/2014 01:45, Zytaruk, Kelly wrote:
> Teo,
>
> I can't guarantee that upgrading to Win8.1 will fix your problem but in general we recommend an upgrade to Win8.1.  If the problem still persists please let us know.
>
> Also please check out the user forum at forums.amd.com for more information.
>
> Thanks,
> Kelly
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Teo En Ming [mailto:singapore.mr.teo.en.ming@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2014 12:45 PM
>> To: xen-devel@lists.xen.org; Zytaruk, Kelly; Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)
>> Subject: Re: [Xen VGA Passthrough] Cannot Complete All 3dmark Tests in
>> Windows 8 HVM domU
>>
>> I have just installed Heaven Benchmark 4.0 in bare-metal Windows 8.1 and I can
>> run it. This shows that my Heaven Benchmark 4.0 installation in Windows 8 HVM
>> domU is probably corrupted and needs to be re-installed.
>>
>> --
>> Yours sincerely,
>>
>> Teo En Ming
>> Singapore
>>
>>
>>
>> On 10/09/2014 00:00, Teo En Ming wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I have got VGA Passthrough working with AMD Radeon HD 6450.
>>>
>>> I am able to complete all 3dmark basic edition v1.3.708 tests in
>>> Windows 7 HVM domU but I cannot complete all 3dmark tests in Windows 8
>>> HVM domU. In Windows 8 HVM domU, the monitor would turn blank at Sky
>>> Diver demo in the 3dmark test.
>>>
>>> In *bare-metal* Windows 8.1, I am able to complete all 3dmark tests.
>>> Should I upgrade Windows 8 HVM domU to Windows 8.1? Do you think I can
>>> complete all 3dmark tests after upgrading Windows 8 HVM domU to
>>> Windows 8.1?
>>>
>>> Finally, I cannot start Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 in Windows 8 HVM
>>> domU but I can run Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 in Windows 7 HVM domU.
>>> Is Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 incompatible with Windows 8?
>>>
>>> Please advise.
>>>
>>>