So, I installed a new video card (ATI HD5550) in my unRAID box, because unRAID would not recognize the card I had previously installed (ATI Radeon X600).  I moved the X600 to a different slot, and put the HD5550 into the PCIe x16 slot on my motherboard.  unRAID recognized the HD5550, but still does not recognize the X600.

 

I added the PCI addresses of the HD5550 video and audio devices to pciback via syslinux.cfg, like so...

 

  append /xen --- /bzimage xen-pciback.hide=(00:14.0)(01:00.0)(01:00.1)(09:00.0)(00:1b.0) --- /bzroot

 

I then added the same addresses to my windows 7 config, like so...

 

pci = [ '00:14.0','01:00.0','01:00.1','09:00.0','00:1b.0' ]

 

Upon starting the Windows 7 machine, it installed some drivers for devices that it had already installed previously (TV tuner, USB drivers, etc), but showed one VGA device and a second VGA device with a yellow triangle in Device Manager (only 1 had the triangle, the other appeared fine).

 

I then installed the latest AMD drivers in windows, and about halfway thru the installation, I got a BSOD.  Upon restarting the windows machine, it had a very messed up display.  pixelated, and unusable.  It seems like the display driver is jacked up/not working, but now, I can't even see enough of windows to try to uninstall it.

 

I've read that some people have not been able to get VGA passthru working in Windows 7, and that others have been successful in getting it working.

 

I suspect that the fact that it found 2 VGA devices is part of the problem, but I'm not sure.

 

I don't think the second (non-recognized X600) card being installed has anything to do with it, since it's not recognized at all, but I'm not positive about it either.

 

I have not yet tried passing thru the PCIe x16 device also, and will probalby try that next.

 

I wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience, and what I might try doing to resolve this issue.

 

thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

Use Windows 8, I bet you have a better time.

I don't own Windows 8 for anything other than my laptop, and that license is baked into my BIOS, so I can't even install it on the unRAID box, as far as I know.

 

I have an ISO for Windows 8, but I don't think it would install without the license.

 

(and, I hated windows 8 when i tried it on the laptop.  Microsoft really screwed the pooch on that disaster of an OS)

I have had ZERO luck passing through a GPU to Win 7 - Now that I have a better grasp on GPU passthrough I have given it another shot... ZERO bloody luck.

 

FYI - 8.1 with Classic Shell looks and acts just like Windows 7

I've tried passing thru the PCIe x16 device by itself, and also with it and the video card only.  Still no luck.  Anytime I passed thru the PCIe x16 device, windows would not actually start.

 

I've gone back to passing thru everything else but not the video card to see if I can at least use windows again, but I have not restarted the machine yet.

 

I'm currently amending my Windows 8 ISO to add the ei.cfg file to see if I can get it to install without a product key.  If I can get it to work, and if that will let me passthru a video card, I'll probably just buy a license and make the move to Windows 8 on the HTPC.

 

it's probably going to take a while, and the family is using the computer now, so it will probably be tomorrow before I know if I've had any luck.

 

if anyone has any ideas on how else to get it working with windows 7, I'm willing to keep trying!

I wasted a LOT of time on Windows 7. Trust me when I say just use 8 (with classic shell).

Well, if you couldn't get it working, I don't think there's much chance I'll get it working

 

My ISO burning just failed, so I'm trying again.

You can find programs to tell you with your windows 8 bios key is FYI. I have done it and then successfully used the key on a test VM. The key registered just fine, although I only tested windows 8 for about a day.

I thought it would only work on the same machine as has the BIOS.  I actually do have the key, but have not tried to use it yet.  I got the ISO burned successfully, and will try to create the new VM in a bit.

I thought the same but it activated on my test VM. I hope you find the out the same.

Me too, but windows 8 is telling me I'm missing a driver when I try to install it, so something is probably not quite right

 

I'm trying my google-fu for help resolving.  I started another thread for this problem, but so far, no other ideas.

I thought the same but it activated on my test VM. I hope you find the out the same.

 

It's now telling me that this product key is already being used on another PC.  It's not letting me personalize the PC, unsurprisingly.

 

I'm trying to amend my other ISO to see if I can get that to install without a key, to at least get it updated and see if it will work for my HTPC needs.  if so, I'll buy a new key.

Hmm have you been using windows 8 on your other computer regularly or did you install another OS? I have not had my copy of windows 8 activated on any computer for quite awhile so maybe that's why I was able to use the key?

Hmm have you been using windows 8 on your other computer regularly or did you install another OS? I have not had my copy of windows 8 activated on any computer for quite awhile so maybe that's why I was able to use the key?

 

For testing purposes only.... one *COULD* on the existing laptop upgrade and purchase Media Center for Windows 8 for $10.  That will give the laptop a new license key, and the original license key will be usable on the VM.  You don't actually own the license, so I wouldn't use it for more than test purposes.

 

You cannot use the Media Center license key for a fresh install though...

Hmm have you been using windows 8 on your other computer regularly or did you install another OS? I have not had my copy of windows 8 activated on any computer for quite awhile so maybe that's why I was able to use the key?

 

No, it came pre-installed on a laptop I bought about a year ago.  I used it with Windows 8 for about 2 weeks, hated it, then wiped the hard drive and installed Windows 7 from scratch.  Have not bothered to try to install Windows 8 on anything since.  I've read that the key is not transferable, so I can only use Windows 8 on this laptop with this key.  It seems to be the case for me.

 

For testing purposes only.... one *COULD* on the existing laptop upgrade and purchase Media Center for Windows 8 for $10.  That will give the laptop a new license key, and the original license key will be usable on the VM.  You don't actually own the license, so I wouldn't use it for more than test purposes.

 

You cannot use the Media Center license key for a fresh install though...

 

Interesting idea, but I'm not sure that it would really free up the license key for use on another machine, based on what I've read.  I certainly don't know though.

 

It looks like I can buy a legal copy of 8.1 at a student price of $70.  More than I want to spend, and certainly more than I think it's worth, but if that's what it will take to use Windows on a VM with GPU passthru, I guess I'll have to do it