Re: [Xen-users] can Xen coexist/cooperate with a windows/linux dual-boot system?

[richard heade <richard.heade@xxxxxxxxx>]

okay, I accept that I'm not going to be able to use the same "image" for Xen, and to boot directly.  I've rebuilt my system, so that it now only boots to linux or Xen.  The disk is partitioned somewhat similarly:
/dev/sda1 - windows xp
/dev/sda2 - extended
/dev/sda5 - /
/dev/sda6 - swap
/dev/sda7 - home

I created a new XP vm, winxp, with the following configuration, using Yast:
name="winxp"
uuid="4c1c1e3d-dc7f-4c62-2467-688c64d77394"
memory=512
maxmem=1024
vcpus=2
>>>localtime=1
keymap="en-us"

builder="hvm"
extid=0
device_model="/usr/lib/xen/bin/qemu-dm"
kernel="/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader"
boot="cd"
disk=[ 'phy:/dev/sda1,hda,w', 'phy:/dev/sr0,hdc:cdrom,r', ]
vif=[ 'bridge=br0,model=rtl8139', ]

stdvga=0
vnc=1
vncunused=1
apic=1
acpi=1
pae=1

usb=1
usbdevice='tablet'

serial="pty"

the "create" went okay, the vm console/window opened, it brought up the XP install disk, and it did the XP install to /dev/sda1 (the files are there), but when it came time to reboot and finish the installation I got "NTLDR is missing".  Is this because I went with a physical partition ("phy:") instead of an image ("file:")?  And how do I get this to work?

On Sun, Dec 27, 2009 at 7:20 PM, Nick Couchman <Nick.Couchman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The point of full virtualization is that there are certain operating systems that cannot run as paravirtualized VMs.  Windows, for example, must run in a full virtualization environment - Microsoft has not provided (and is not likely to provide) a paravirtual kernel for Windows.  Windows Server 2008 has an "enlightened" mode that switches drivers from full emulation to paravirtual mode when it detects a hypervisor like VMware or Xen; however, even this "enlightened" version of Windows still requires a full virtual machine.

-Nick

>>> On 2009/12/27 at 19:34, richard heade <richard.heade@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> thanks for the response, but it leaves me wondering what's the point of
> full virtualization.  I can install the tweaked  OS for
> paravirtualization, or I can tweak the hardware configuration for an
> already installed OS for full virtualization.  Either way I can't go
> back to the original OS when I, as occasionally happens, get my linux
> system hosed up.
>
>
> Nick Couchman wrote:
>> The challenge in this sort of setup is that the hardware configuration that
> Windows was installed onto and the hardware configuration that Xen presents
> to HVM-based domUs is different - in some cases very different.  For example,
> if you're running modern hardware, you probably have a SATA disk, which is
> usually seen by O/Ss as a SCSI-type controller with SCSI disks.  However, HVM
> domUs use IDE-based controllers and disks, which means booting is going to
> have issues seeing the change.  There are also differences in the chipset,
> network controllers, etc., that need to be seen correctly by Windows before
> it boots.
>>
>> One of the basic things is to try converting the SCSI-based disk setup to IDE
> - there are instructions on Microsoft's support site for doing this.  The
> downside to this is that you probably won't be able to boot Windows back on
> the original hardware outside of the VM after this change - Windows is not
> very flexible in terms of differing hardware configurations outside of your
> basic docked and undocked laptop modes.
>>
>> Note that this also may pose licensing issues - usually machines that come
> with Windows are installed using an OEM license, which licenses Windows to
> run on the original hardware only.  Using this same copy of Windows to run in
> a domU is likely a violation of the OEM license - you need another, full
> retail or volume license for Windows to run as a VM.
>>
>> -Nick
>>
>>
>>>>> On 2009/12/27 at 07:52, richard heade <richard.heade@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>
>>> I have a dual-boot setup, using grub, that I'm attempting to convert to
>>> a dual-boot plus xen setup. I'm running openSuSE 11.2 with the
>>> 2.6.31.5-0.1-xen kernel and Xen 3.4.1.  The hard drive is partitioned as:
>>> sda1 - xp (ntfs)
>>> sda2 - extended partition
>>> sda5 - /windows/D (fat32)
>>> sda6 - swap
>>> sda7 - / (ext4)
>>> sda8 - /home (ext4)
>>>
>>> I've configured the windows xp vm as:
>>> name="windowsxp"
>>> uuid="b3a2c424-7df7-94f6-79a8-c641e412f68d"
>>> memory=512
>>> maxmem=512
>>> vcpus=2
>>> > >>> > >>> > >>> localtime=1
>>> keymap="en-us"
>>>
>>> builder="hvm"
>>> extid=0
>>> device_model="/usr/lib/xen/bin/qemu-dm"
>>> kernel="/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader"
>>> boot="c"
>>> disk=[ 'phy:/dev/sda1,hda1,w', ]
>>> vif=[ 'bridge=br0,model=rtl8139', ]
>>>
>>> stdvga=0
>>> vnc=1
>>> vncunused=1
>>> apic=1
>>> acpi=1
>>> pae=1
>>>
>>> usb=1
>>> usbdevice='tablet'
>>>
>>> serial="pty"
>>>
>>> When I attempt to run the windows xp vm the console shows "booting from
>>> hard disk...", the cpu usage goes to 100%, and that's as far as it gets.
>>> (I've tried multiple different "disk=..." combinations, this is just the
>>> latest, but I get the same results from all of them.)
>>>
>>> Any ideas on how I might fix this? (it would seem that however xen tries
>>> to boot windows xp, it's not as effective as grub's chainloader.)
>>>
>>
>>
>>
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