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,

Instead of installing Windows 8.0 HVM domU first and upgrading it to 
Windows 8.1 later, I have downloaded Windows 8.1 Enterprise 90-day 
evaluation ISO from the official Microsoft website and installed Windows 
8.1 Enterprise HVM domU directly.

After Windows 8.1 Enterprise HVM domU have booted up and presented me 
with a login screen, I keyed in my password and a few seconds later 
Windows froze/locked up completely.

I have a suspicion that it is the AMD Radeon HD 6450 VGA card driver 
that caused Windows 8.1 Enterprise HVM domU to hang.

Is there anything in the HVM configuration file that I can tweak so that 
Windows 8.1 Enterprise HVM domU will not hang upon logging in? 
Otherwise, I might completely give up on Windows 8.1 HVM domU and fall 
back to Windows 7 Ultimate HVM domU, which is very stable and is not 
giving me any problems.

Thank you.

-- 
Yours sincerely,

Teo En Ming
Singapore



On 11/09/2014 21:19, Zytaruk, Kelly wrote:
> Teo,
>
> I am not sure what is happening with your system but if you could try again to install Win8.1 that would be useful.
> Make sure that you have the latest Radeon driver installed.
>
> For the missing MSVCP100.dll use the link to the Microsoft site to install the proper version - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_programs/trying-to-open-computer-management-the-program/5c9d301a-2191-4edb-916e-5e4958558090
>
> I did a little extra reading and noticed that the install is simple for Win7 but some of the Win8 people are having more difficulty.
> There is a thread about solving the problem on Win8 that you mind find useful at - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-windows_update/msvcp100dll-file-is-missing-error-on-windows-8/ff36697b-f335-4f2f-8b19-fcf03948f3f3
>
> The main quote that I get from this article is the following;
> "if you were in 64 bit, better to install  both versions of c++ 2010 redistributable x86 and x64 this might solve your problem.."
>
> Don't know if it will help but it is worth a try.
>
> If you continue to have problems with atikmdag.sys please send me the dump file and I will try to examine what the problem might be.
>
> Thanks,
> Kelly
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Teo En Ming [mailto:singapore.mr.teo.en.ming@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2014 9:36 AM
>> To: Zytaruk, Kelly; xen-devel@lists.xen.org; Teo En Ming (Zhang Enming)
>> Subject: Re: [Xen VGA Passthrough] Cannot Complete All 3dmark Tests in
>> Windows 8 HVM domU
>>
>> 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.
>>>>>
>>>>>