Arch Linux

Nohack

Member

Registered: 2014-10-14

Posts: 8

New PC for virtualization (vga passthrough, vt-d)

I know there's a few threads about vga passthrough etc. already, but I'm really new to the concept and don't really know what I'm doing, so I figured making a new thread was better. Feel free to move this if I posted in the wrong section.

My motherboard just died so I picked out a new motherboard and cpu, I made sure they both support vt-d, but I still got a few questions.

Parts:
CPU: http://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Int … o-4_40-GHz
Motherboard: http://www.gigabyte.ph/products/product … x?pid=4971
MB manual that claims vt-d support: http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Ma … -d3h_e.pdf

First question. My graphics card is a bit old (Nvidia 480) and I don't know if it supports UEFI. According to the arch wiki I have to do something if this is the case, but there is no url to the "solution": https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PC … stallation.

Quote from arch wiki:
"For users that do have a UEFI compatible motherboard but a UEFI incompatible graphics card, look at this post."
There is no link to "this post".

Second question. Is it possible to passthrough the nvidia card and use the intel integrated graphics? According to a intel FAQ, the integrated graphics get deactivated when installing a PCIe card:  http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/s … arallelbtn
Also, is it possible to passthrough the integrated graphics?

And last question. What kernel should I use? Is the lts kernel that comes with arch ok?

Bit off-topic question, but maybe someone here knows. The motherboard I picked have 3 monitor outputs, does that mean I can use 3 monitors at the same time with the integrated graphics?

Thralas

Member

Registered: 2007-06-26

Posts: 32

Re: New PC for virtualization (vga passthrough, vt-d)

First question. My graphics card is a bit old (Nvidia 480) and I don't know if it supports UEFI. According to the arch wiki I have to do something if this is the case, but there is no url to the "solution": https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PC … stallation.

See Does my graphics card ROM support EFI?. And while you're there, read the full 5 part series on VFIO, it's the most comprehensive resource out there and much more realiable than my response.

Second question. Is it possible to passthrough the nvidia card and use the intel integrated graphics? According to a intel FAQ, the integrated graphics get deactivated when installing a PCIe card:  http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/s … arallelbtn

Yes, that's what many are doing. I'm confused why the Intel FAQ claims this wouldn't be possible.

Also, is it possible to passthrough the integrated graphics?

I believe so. Though you might run into trouble with IOMMU groups. Refer to the Blogspot I linked to before.

And last question. What kernel should I use? Is the lts kernel that comes with arch ok?

Check https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=203240

The regular kernel appears to be quite problematic currently. While LTS (4.1.x) works for some, there seem to be at least two distinct ongoing issues with PCIe passthrough. For me personally, neither of the kernels works.

Bit off-topic question, but maybe someone here knows. The motherboard I picked have 3 monitor outputs, does that mean I can use 3 monitors at the same time with the integrated graphics?

No clue. I do know that in some cases (some discrete graphics cards) NOT all ports are usable concurrently.

Nohack

Member

Registered: 2014-10-14

Posts: 8

Re: New PC for virtualization (vga passthrough, vt-d)

First question. My graphics card is a bit old (Nvidia 480) and I don't know if it supports UEFI. According to the arch wiki I have to do something if this is the case, but there is no url to the "solution": https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PC … stallation.

See Does my graphics card ROM support EFI?. And while you're there, read the full 5 part series on VFIO, it's the most comprehensive resource out there and much more realiable than my response.

...

Thanks a lot!

I can't really test the UEFI support on my graphics card yet as I have no computer to test in on.

I also read through "VFIO GPU How To series, part 1" and it looks like the hardware I picked is ok, except for the ACS (PCIe Access Control Services), I have no idea how to figure out if my cpu or mobo supports it, he claims that ACS is not supported by i7 cpu's, I'll replace it with a xeon if it appears to be a problem.