Virtualizing unRAID in Xen on Ubuntu Server 13.04

[vl1969]

well, I have reinstall ubuntu and xen

did all the setup.

I can pass my SAS card

but not my USB

 

the VM starts, boots, but no network

 

ok here are the files from the command list.

 

network still dosen't work

 

 

The network should work so that is concerning... I did notice you had xenbr1 on that. We will get to the network later.

 

I also noticed you had only one Device ID passedthrough in your unRAID.cfg. Was that the Device ID for your USB Controller?

 

Did you go through steps 10 - 15 in this guide? If so, what where your results?

 

I need the following from you so I can better help you:

 

sudo lspci -k > lspci.txt
sudo lsusb -t > lsusb-t.txt
sudo lsusb -v > lsusb-v.txt
sudo xl info > xl-info.txt
sudo uname -a > uname.txt
sudo lsmod | grep "xen" > lsmod.txt
sudo cat /proc/cpuinfo > cpuinfo.txt
sudo ifconfig > ifconfig.txt
sudo cp /etc/network/interface .
sudo cp /boot/grub/grub.cfg .
sudo cp /etc/default/grub .
sudo ls -la > home.txt

08172013_configfiles.zip

[vl1969]

Got that. 2 things though,

1. I am not sure where you got the max address for xenbr1. The ifconfig gives me the address I had in the seryp.

2. I do not know what is tgis raritan device and where it comes from. I have 2 onboard usb ports and 4 on pluged in expansion card which stilk gose to the usb connectors on MB. I only have unraid stick pluged in in tge expansion card. And a ups in one of the onboard port. No other  usb devices anywhere.

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[vl1969]

Aahh. I see, it does not need to be real. Just properly formated.

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[vl1969]

ok ddeeds, I am not @ 100% there yet

BUT I can report a success of sort.

I am attaching the screen print taken from unraid booted from your VM config.

with 2 HDD available for assignment.

 

 

there are several issues as of yet

#1 I still can not get the usb stick to be seen by unraid

#2, this could be related to the #1, the webgui is not starting with the vm

I had to run "nohup /usr/local/sbin/emhttp &" to force start it.

 

but I can confirm that the unraid boots and can  see the HDD from the SAS card we passed through.

 

[vl1969]

yahoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It works  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

 

I have a unRaid VM with USB and SAS card running ....

 

 

ddeeds:

I am not sure why but  this device is not working for passthough "0000:02:00.0 "  maybe becaues it something not PCI or USB related

 

but  this one  does work  ."0000:00:02.0 "

 

my unraid.cfg line "pci = [ '00:02.0','04:06.0' ] " and it worked like a charm....

guess will have to figure out where to plug in my UPS since as of noe my unraid stick is pluged in into port on MB and not on my expansion card, but who cares, it works !!!!!!

 

 

 

[vl1969]

You really think I should go back to xenserver.  You dislike ubuntu this much. :-)

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[vl1969]

Well it does give me the latest version of xen.  But on the other hand xenserver  have a ready gui management.

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

 

[vl1969]

You really think I should go back to xenserver.  You dislike ubuntu this much. :-)

 

If I was you I would go back to XenServer. Running Ubuntu Server doesn't get you anything unless you plan on hooking it up directly to a TV.

 

ok ddeeds, I will try reinstalling xenserver and setting up unraid on it.

[vl1969]

well that didn't work as advertized :-)

 

 

I have the Xenserver setuped

even installed both updates

have the unraid VM booting with my flash

but as soon as I add ther sas passthrough

get the error 38 as before.

[vl1969]

guess so

 

although I do not understand why xenserver needs to have driver for device that it should ignore?

isn't the passthough used for devices that are not supported by the host system?

 

 

[swedeking]

First, a big thanks to Ddeeds and Ironic (and also to vl1969 for all the questions he has been asking).

 

Couple of questions.

 

First, Ironic, on your VGA passthrough to Windows 8, is HDCP working?

 

The reason I ask, is that is one of my main goals in playing with this.  I am essentially trying to combine 2 boxes that are always on into one.  Mu unRAID box and my Windows 7 machine.  The Windows 7 machine is always on because it is the DVR through Windows Media Center serving Xbox 360s BUT I also want to be able to watch TV on the monitor while on that computer (no TV in that room).

 

So i started with Xenserver and got Windows up and running super easy.  Windows media center is setup and recording from the HDHOMERUN Prime.  It records all content and feeds the Xbox 360s perfectly. Sweet!  I also am successfully playing iRacing through that which is sweet.  But no HDCP so I cannot watch through Windows Media center at the computer (note - without windows on top of xencenter you can so it is not an issue of the hardware not being capable).

 

Ok, so then I figure I will try Xen on top of Ubuntu since HDCP is no go xenserver. Followup Ironic's guide on his website.  Installed, compiled, install Xen, reboot and it won't boot.  Some sata timeout error booting into xen instead of straight ubuntu.  Then followed Ddeeds guide on this thread and installed to USB stick no problem and boots.  Tested unraid, it works.  But have not tried Windows 7 and HDCP yet.

 

So point of the rambling story above is I am at a point where I am happy to go the distance but want to know a few more things first.

 

1. Does HDCP work in Windows 7 domU  with vga passthough?

2. Is there any problem with running Ubuntu and Xen from a USB stick long term?  Or should I install it to a hard drive?

3. Anyway to automate the process in the pciback stuff without having to do it at every reboot (not that reboots should be often but still)

 

Thanks in advance and thanks for posting the howtos.  I have been having a lot of fun playing with this stuff.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[vl1969]

Hey, swedeking, 2 things

1. are your hardware supports IOMMU/VT-d?

make sure it is and that it is enabled

 

2. I would try to load all on 12.04 and xen 4.2.

I had lots of issues using 13.04 with xen 4.3.  on my machine the passthough was not working on the latest and greatest.

 

as for running all from usb stick, I don't know. I don't really trust the flash stick to last 

[meep]

So, I've been reading this and the other thread with great interest and am seeking advice before embarking on a project.

 

I currently have the following machines that I'd be interested in consolidating, primarily for power savings;

 

Unraid 5.0 running on dual 32bit Xeon with 10 sata drives incl parity

windows 8 living room pc running media portal client and server on i3

Windows 8 family room pc running media portal on celeron based mini-itx

Windows 7 home theatre pc running media portal client on quad core q6600

 

Wondering if the following setup would be practical or advised on 8core and based system with 32gb ram;

 

Machine 1 (1x core, 2gb ram)

Headless unraid with pcie sas card (16 drive support) passthrough and USB passthrough for flash drive

 

Machine 2 (2x core,  14 gb ram)

Win 8 with mediaportal server and client. Serves tv to all other vs and external clients

Hdmi video card with audio support pcie passthrough. Octopus 8x tuner pcie card passthrough. USB passthrough for mce remote sensor. Motherboard sata passthrough for recording drives.

 

Machine 3 (2x core, 6 gb ram)

Win 8 with mediaportal client

Hdmi video card with audio support pcie passthrough. USB passthrough for mce remote sensor.

 

Machine 4 (2x core, 6 gb ram)

Win 8 media portal client

Hdmi video card with audio support pcie passthrough. USB passthrough for mce remote sensor.

 

Machine 5 (1x core, 2gb ram)

Ubuntu server

 

 

Is that asking too much?

 

I'd need a MB with at least 4x pcie slots (3x supporting video cards), 4x USB controllers, ideally discretely attributable sata ports for passthrough or an additional pic / pcie sata card.

 

Maybe I'd need to consider dropping one of the win 8 mediaportal clients?

 

I'd be interested in what kind of power consumption figures people are seeing for these kinds of systems. Right now I have two machines on all the time, my unraid server running about 130w on idle and my tv server running about 100w on idle.

 

All advice appreciated.

 

Peter

[vl1969]

sorry but how are you going to consolidate PCs from different locations into one?

unless I misunderstood the question.

 

if you are asking if you can build a VM server putting most of the functionality FROM above mentioned machines on it I am sure you can

 

#1 you can definitely Virtualise UnRaid (also UnRaid by definition is headless sans the webGui)

 

#2 yes put media portal SERVER on a VM with all supporting hardware pass-through

as in a quality Video card and your Tunner card

not sure why you would need a mce remote sensor on the server.

 

if you already have the tunner card you can try using it

I am not sure how it works. I do know that for example Ceton Echo  network tunner offer 6 tunes to share across network but it only works with win 7 MCE right now (unless something changed since the last time I researched it.)

this way you do not even need a windows VM to access a tuner.

it also supports pooled tuners  (experimental at the time I saw it)  as in you do not need to hard link an individual tuner to the PC but it will pick any available tuner from the pool on request.

 

for PVR functionality just build awindows VM and use that for scheduled recording

 

 

 

#3 Ubuntu server in VM now that is easy  :-)

 

 

after all that just use all your HTPC with mediaserver clients to connect to server and you are good...

 

 

[meep]

Thanks for the quick response.

 

I did indeed miss one vital piece of info: although the pcs currently service different rooms, I can place one unit in a location in my attic so that each display device is approximately 10 meters away hence the ability to consolidate!

 

I run singles eat mediaportal on one machine so it doubles as a server and client.

 

My question was really around, is it too ambitios to be seeking to run Ubuntu, unraid and 3x win 8 vms , the three of which push out video to displays.

 

Mce sensor on all 3 win 8 as all three act as clients.

 

[vl1969]

it might be  a bit ambitious to do this , not mentioning not cheap to boot :-)

 

what do you need  the Ubuntu server for any way?

 

 

[meep]

The first post in this thread states;

 

If your Ubuntu Server sits near / next too your TV... Why not take advantage of it and boot straight into XBMC (with Xen and all your VMs running in the background). Or... Boot straight into a Linux GUI Desktop. Or... Boot into a Windows / OSX / Etc. VM with your USB Keyboard / Mouse / Sound and your Video Card passedthrough straight to your Monitor / TV.

 

 

I may have misunderstood this but I gathered from this (and comments in the xen server only thread) that the xen on Ubuntu approach was a better solution for tv connectivity and a mysterious collection of other features that work better in xen rather than xen server?

[vl1969]

no you are right, xen has a lot of futures that xenserver does not.

but I think you misunderstood what ddeeds was saying.

what he ment was that if you build your VM server (ie. the server where you will host all your VMs including UnRaid) and it is some where close to your primary TV location, you can set it up so it pulls the double duty as HTPC since Ubuntu have a good GUI where you can load XBMC onto.

I am not sure how you would boot into windows VM for HTPC though.

but you can only do this for one location. not multiple TVs.

the other would need to have a PC and a client installed as normal HTPC with their own remote and stuff 

[meep]

Hmm, it seems that xen only supports passthrough of the primary video card So the idea of running multiple vms addressing separate cards is a non runner.

 

I'm sure it will come in time.

 

Peter

[meep]

Hmm, it seems that xen only supports passthrough of the primary video card

Where did you hear that?  I think it can pass through any and all PCI slots, regardles of what's plugged in them.

 

http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Xen_VGA_Passthrough

 

 

"Xen 4.0.0 supports VGA passthrough of the primary graphics adapter (the one that gets initialized and is used when you power-on the computer) only. VGA passthrough of secondary graphics adapters currently requires additional extra patches to Xen."

 

Also...

 

"

Why is VGA passthrough different from normal PCI passthrough?

 

VGA adapters are not simple PCI devices like NICs or disk controllers. VGA adapters need to support many legacy x86 features like VGA BIOS, text mode, legacy IO ports, legacy memory ranges, VESA video modes, etc for correct and expected operation. This means VGA passthrough requires more code than normal Xen VT-d PCI passthrough."

[vl1969]

Well like I sayed before, you really do not need the pci pass through as the most sensible setup would be to just utilize the server as server and have htpc as dedicated machines with their own video cards and remotes. You might want to run a windows vm for dvr function. But thats all

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[swedeking]

Hey, swedeking, 2 things

1. are your hardware supports IOMMU/VT-d?

make sure it is and that it is enabled

 

2. I would try to load all on 12.04 and xen 4.2.

I had lots of issues using 13.04 with xen 4.3.  on my machine the passthough was not working on the latest and greatest.

 

as for running all from usb stick, I don't know. I don't really trust the flash stick to last

 

1. Yes, IOMMU/VT-D good to go.  I can get VGA passthrough working in both XenServer and Xen.  It is pretty sweet.  Can game or whatever.  What I cannot get is HDCP compliance so that means I cannot use Windows Media Center to watch TV (via cable card) on that Mahcine.  But I can use that machine as my Windows Media Center to feed to my Xbox360 extenders so that is pretty sweet as well.  The only thing I cannot do that I would like to do is watch TV in the office on that computer.

 

2. Did not really end up mattering. I only have 2 usb controllers and 1 is getting passed through to UNRAID and the other to Windows 7. So I had to install on a hard drive.

 

 

So if anyone gets HDCP compliance working with Xenserver or Xen, please let me know.  Would love to get it to work.

 

 

Cheers,

Steve

[swedeking]

Hmm, it seems that xen only supports passthrough of the primary video card

Where did you hear that?  I think it can pass through any and all PCI slots, regardles of what's plugged in them.

 

http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Xen_VGA_Passthrough

 

 

"Xen 4.0.0 supports VGA passthrough of the primary graphics adapter (the one that gets initialized and is used when you power-on the computer) only. VGA passthrough of secondary graphics adapters currently requires additional extra patches to Xen."

 

Also...

 

"

Why is VGA passthrough different from normal PCI passthrough?

 

VGA adapters are not simple PCI devices like NICs or disk controllers. VGA adapters need to support many legacy x86 features like VGA BIOS, text mode, legacy IO ports, legacy memory ranges, VESA video modes, etc for correct and expected operation. This means VGA passthrough requires more code than normal Xen VT-d PCI passthrough."

 

Don't give up yet.  These guys did it

 

I think you can do what you are trying to do (well if you can find a motherboard to accomodate the videocard and USB controller requirements.

 

I have never used mediaportal (I use windows media center and hdromerun cable card setup).  Not sure what your TV source is but if the content is from a cable card and flagged for HDCP compliance, you may run into problems.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[vl1969]

Hey, swedeking, 2 things

1. are your hardware supports IOMMU/VT-d?

make sure it is and that it is enabled

 

2. I would try to load all on 12.04 and xen 4.2.

I had lots of issues using 13.04 with xen 4.3.  on my machine the passthough was not working on the latest and greatest.

 

as for running all from usb stick, I don't know. I don't really trust the flash stick to last

 

1. Yes, IOMMU/VT-D good to go.  I can get VGA passthrough working in both XenServer and Xen.  It is pretty sweet.  Can game or whatever.  What I cannot get is HDCP compliance so that means I cannot use Windows Media Center to watch TV (via cable card) on that Mahcine.  But I can use that machine as my Windows Media Center to feed to my Xbox360 extenders so that is pretty sweet as well.  The only thing I cannot do that I would like to do is watch TV in the office on that computer.

 

2. Did not really end up mattering. I only have 2 usb controllers and 1 is getting passed through to UNRAID and the other to Windows 7. So I had to install on a hard drive.

 

 

So if anyone gets HDCP compliance working with Xenserver or Xen, please let me know.  Would love to get it to work.

 

 

Cheers,

Steve

 

check this out for HDCP

 

http://www.missingremote.com/guide/override-digital-cable-advisor-windows-media-center-7

 

[swedeking]

Hey, swedeking, 2 things

1. are your hardware supports IOMMU/VT-d?

make sure it is and that it is enabled

 

2. I would try to load all on 12.04 and xen 4.2.

I had lots of issues using 13.04 with xen 4.3.  on my machine the passthough was not working on the latest and greatest.

 

as for running all from usb stick, I don't know. I don't really trust the flash stick to last

 

1. Yes, IOMMU/VT-D good to go.  I can get VGA passthrough working in both XenServer and Xen.  It is pretty sweet.  Can game or whatever.  What I cannot get is HDCP compliance so that means I cannot use Windows Media Center to watch TV (via cable card) on that Mahcine.  But I can use that machine as my Windows Media Center to feed to my Xbox360 extenders so that is pretty sweet as well.  The only thing I cannot do that I would like to do is watch TV in the office on that computer.

 

2. Did not really end up mattering. I only have 2 usb controllers and 1 is getting passed through to UNRAID and the other to Windows 7. So I had to install on a hard drive.

 

 

So if anyone gets HDCP compliance working with Xenserver or Xen, please let me know.  Would love to get it to work.

 

 

Cheers,

Steve

 

check this out for HDCP

 

http://www.missingremote.com/guide/override-digital-cable-advisor-windows-media-center-7

 

Thanks, that works to get Window Media Center to pass the Digital Cable Advisor which is needed to be able to setup windows media center for TV.  And it works well.  Running that is how I am able to use the Windows 7 virtual machine to feed TV and recorded TV to my Xbox360s.

 

But it does not allow watch TV that is protected content in the actual virtual machine Windows 7 install.

 

thanks though!

 

Cheers,

Steve