MikeW

I currently have a single SSD which contains vdisk images for six VMs. One of the VMs is a Windows 10 "gaming" VM which currently has a 200GB vdisk image. I have a dedicated 480GB SSD which I'd like to use solely for this VM. I believe I have two options for this. 1. Move the vdisk file to the new 480GB SSD and expand the size of the vdisk image to 480GB. 2. Assign the new 480GB SSD to the Windows 10 VM and use it in raw (not sure if this is the correct terminology) mode so there isn't a single vdisk image. Has anyone done this and are there pros and cons for the two options? Thanks

If (and that's a big IF) you have access to run new wires then the most cost effective way is to run an HDMI cable. I have a 100' HDMI cable going from my UnRAID server running OE to a TV and it works with no problem. I'm only using 1080 though, not 4k. I'm also using a cheap usb over cat5 converter to get the IR signal from the TV end to the server. I looked into many HDBase-T solutions and they look great, but are very expensive compared to the other solutions.

I have periodic audio dropouts when bitstreaming lossless HD audio codecs using the LT built-in OE image. I want to try using the method described in this thread to use the latest OE beta release. The only thing I'd like to clarify is whether any of the instructions in the first post change now that virtio support is included in the latest OE releases? Also, not sure what I'm missing here, but when I try to create a custom VM all I get is a space to copy and paste a custom XML configuration file. It looks nothing like the VM configuration screen shown in post #1. Thanks!

Even with the ACS override I had problems with some PCIe devices not being split into their own groups. I fixed it by adding the specific ID of the PCIe switch in front of the devices to the override option. append pcie_acs_override=downstream,id:10b5:8609 initrd=/bzroot Not sure if this is your situation, but I can confirm that enabling ACS override by itself is not always sufficient to break devices into their own groups. The ACS override option in unRAID appears to only set the "downstream" option. You can run the 'lspci -tk' command to visually see the PCI hierarchy.

I had the same problem. I don't quite remember what I did to fix it. I think I selected "No" under the "Enable VMs" drop down box and then re-enabled it. I think that fixed it. But yes, it seems like a bug.

I guess my question is whether or not the BMC video is the same as CPU integrated video in terms of using as the primary video so all other GPUs can be passed through to VMs. I don't have any experience using BMC video so I don't know if there are limitations other than performance.

I'm currently using a processor with integrated graphics and I use the integrated graphics as the unRAID default video for console access and pass through other GPUs to VMs. I'm considering building a new system with a CPU without integrated graphics, but I don't want to dedicate a PCIe slot to a GPU which will be used only for the unRAID console. If I get a motherboard which has a VGA port connected to an onboard BMC, can that be used as the main video output for unRAID which will allow all PCIe video cards to be passed through to VMs?

SUCCESS!!! These are all the devices associated with the High Point RocketU 1144C 4-port USB3 PCIe card and they were all in the same IOMMU group: 0b:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0b:00.1 System peripheral [0880]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0c:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0c:05.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0c:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0c:09.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0d:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller [1b21:1142] 0e:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller [1b21:1142] 0f:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller [1b21:1142] 10:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller [1b21:1142] I applied the pcie_acs_override option, but all 4 USB controllers were always in the same IOMMU group. After googling a ton and reading many comments by Alex Williamson I decided to add the following to the pcie_acs_override option in the syslinux.cfg file: append pcie_acs_override=downstream,id:10b5:8609 initrd=/bzroot I can't seem to highlight the part I added, but I added the "id:10b5:8609". I'm not sure if this PCIe switch is on the motherboard or if it's on the 1144C card. By specifically adding this device to the pcie_acs_override option it split all of the USB controllers on the card into their own IOMMU group. I now have a single PCIe USB3 controller card which passes through individual USB3 ports to 4 different VMs.

So it's only been 6+ months later and I'm finally getting around to trying jonp's suggestion for passing through the 1144C USB controller, but I'm still not having any luck even after editing the XML file as suggested. I get the following error when trying to start the VM: internal error: process exited while connecting to monitor: 2016-03-29T04:41:53.279928Z qemu-system-x86_64: -device pci-assign,configfd=24,host=10:00.0,id=hostdev0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x7: Failed to assign device "hostdev0": Invalid argument The HighPoint RocketU 1144C is a single PCIe card with four independent USB3 controllers. PCI Devices: 0b:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0b:00.1 System peripheral [0880]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0c:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0c:05.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0c:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0c:09.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA [10b5:8609] (rev ba) 0d:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller [1b21:1142] 0e:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller [1b21:1142] 0f:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller [1b21:1142] 10:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller [1b21:1142] IOMMU Groups: /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:10:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0b:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0b:00.1 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0c:01.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0c:05.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0c:07.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0c:09.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0d:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0e:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/27/devices/0000:0f:00.0 This is the code I added to the XML file: <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='pci' managed='yes'> <driver name='kvm'/> <source> <address domain='0x0000' bus='0x10' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/> </source> <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x07' function='0x0'/> </hostdev> I'm completely out of ideas. Any ideas why this isn't working? Thanks.

I'm using an AMD 5450 with DTS-HD passthrough AND refresh rate changes and it works fine. Before unRAID (last summer) I was trying to setup some Kodi VMs using KVM within Ubuntu, but there was a problem which prevented Dolby True HD and DTS-MA from working correctly with ATI/AMD cards if you had the "change video refresh rate to match source" setting in Kodi enabled. Are you saying that you have this working? I would love to be able to use my AMD 5450, but I need to have the lossless audio codecs working along with having the TV refresh rate switch to match the source.

Could it be possible that something specific to the motherboard is preventing these independent controllers from being in their own IOMMU group? Others have used this board in KVM/ESXi/Xen because of how easy it is to assign the controllers to different VMs.

Here is some more information from my system: PCI Devices: 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 06) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x16 Controller (rev 06) 00:01.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x8 Controller (rev 06) 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 06) 00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Controller 00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family ME Interface #1 00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (2) I218-V 00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI Controller #2 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev d0) 00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev d0) 00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev d0) 00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev d0) 00:1c.6 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev d0) 00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI Controller #1 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family Z97 LPC Controller 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family SATA Controller [AHCI Mode] 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller 01:00.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA (rev ba) 01:00.1 System peripheral: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA (rev ba) 02:01.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA (rev ba) 02:05.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA (rev ba) 02:07.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA (rev ba) 02:09.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8609 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch with DMA (rev ba) 03:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller 04:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller 05:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller 06:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller 07:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK208 [GeForce GT 730] (rev a1) 07:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GK208 HDMI/DP Audio Controller (rev a1) 09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 11) 0a:00.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 1184 0b:01.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 1184 0b:03.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 1184 0b:05.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 1184 0b:07.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 1184 0d:00.0 SATA controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1062 Serial ATA Controller (rev 02) 0f:00.0 SATA controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1062 Serial ATA Controller (rev 02) 10:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM] 10:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Caicos HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6400 Series] 11:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller IOMMU Groups: /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/0/devices/0000:00:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/1/devices/0000:00:01.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/2/devices/0000:00:01.1 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/3/devices/0000:00:02.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/4/devices/0000:00:14.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/5/devices/0000:00:16.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/6/devices/0000:00:19.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/7/devices/0000:00:1a.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/8/devices/0000:00:1c.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/9/devices/0000:00:1c.2 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/10/devices/0000:00:1c.3 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/11/devices/0000:00:1c.4 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/12/devices/0000:00:1c.6 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/13/devices/0000:00:1d.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/14/devices/0000:00:1f.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/14/devices/0000:00:1f.2 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/14/devices/0000:00:1f.3 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:01:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:01:00.1 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:02:01.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:02:05.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:02:07.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:02:09.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:03:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:04:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:05:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/15/devices/0000:06:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/16/devices/0000:07:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/16/devices/0000:07:00.1 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/17/devices/0000:09:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/18/devices/0000:0a:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/19/devices/0000:0b:01.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/20/devices/0000:0b:03.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/21/devices/0000:0b:05.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/22/devices/0000:0b:07.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/23/devices/0000:0d:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/24/devices/0000:0f:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/25/devices/0000:10:00.0 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/25/devices/0000:10:00.1 /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/26/devices/0000:11:00.0 I believe IOMMU Group 15 contains all the USB controllers on the RocketU 1144C.

I purchased a High Point RocketU 1144C USB 3.0 PCIe adapter because I read in different forums that each of the individual USB 3 controllers on the card can be assigned to different VMs. There is a PLX PCIe switch on the card which is used to connect to the four controllers. But when I installed the card and looked at the devices in UnRAID all four controllers are in the same IOMMU group. I tried different PCIe slots, but I get the same results. I have the ACS override setting enabled so I don't know why they devices aren't being put into their own IOMMU groups. Can anyone help me figure out why this is happening and if there is a way to solve this problem? Thanks.

As Gary said I don't see any advantage of using that expansion device unless you're out of PCIe slots. I was looking into something similar in order to expand the number of slots, but I don't know how well these would work with KVM and PCIe/GPU passthrough because there's probably a PCIe switch on the card. I have no idea if that prevents the additional slots from being split up and passed through to different VMs.

This might be common knowledge for some, but I just wanted to share the results of an experiment I ran today. One of my main motivations to use unRAID is to run a bunch of VMs. Specifically, I want to run three OpenELEC VMs in addition to my other VMs. One of the challenges is the number of free PCIe slots for all the GPUs I need to passthrough. Eventually I'm going to buy an X99 motherboard with seven x16 slots, but for now I'm using an ASRock Z97 Extreme6 which has three x16 slots and two x1 slots. And remember that not all x16 physical slots have 16 lanes active. On to my experiment.... I bought one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Express-Powered-Extender-Litecoin-Bitcoin/dp/B00HH1MLGQ/ref=pd_sim_147_14?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SS42V0N98TVSFSB9HPM&dpSrc=sims&dpST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_ I wanted to verify that my Radeon 6450 GPU would work just fine for OpenELEC when plugged into a PCIe x1 slot. The adapter is plugged into the PCIe 2.0 x16 (x2 electrically) slot on my motherboard which connects to the PCH. I believe this should represent the worst case scenario in terms of PCIe bandwidth since it's Gen 2 and going through the PCH. The result was flawless playback of full bitrate bluray rips. I also have one of these on order which is designed to allow a low-profile PCIe card to plug into a x1 slot and still be screwed down like a normal full height PCIe card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158223 I think this is a good solution if you're out of x16 slots and want to add a GPU for less demanding applications like OpenELEC.