Gentoo Forums
Gentoo Forums
Gentoo Forums
Quick Search: in
Simultaneous Gentoo and Windows?
View unanswered posts
View posts from last 24 hours

 
Reply to topic    Gentoo Forums Forum Index Other Things Gentoo
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
webway
n00b
n00b


Joined: 16 May 2006
Posts: 14
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:41 am    Post subject: Simultaneous Gentoo and Windows? Reply with quote

Currently I have 2 PCs on my desk, the main one running Gentoo and the other for the few tasks which need Windows. I would like to replace them with a single PC running both Gentoo and Windows simultaneously (ie virtualised rather than dual-boot). Either with two screens (1 Windows, 1 Gentoo) off of the same graphics card or with having the windows output in a Gnome/Kde desktop, and with the one keyboard and moyse being able to access both VMs.

Is it possible to do this using Xen, KVM or some other hyperviser?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Ant P.
Watchman
Watchman


Joined: 18 Apr 2009
Posts: 6920

PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 4:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If your only use for windows is some office apps, it'll run fine inside KVM and you can fullscreen that on the second monitor easily.

If you use it for gaming then you'll have to let it take the graphics card for reasonable performance, which either means running it as the host OS, or running a headless Gentoo and giving Xen/KVM the graphics card. Either of those means you're going to be using windows for the main GUI, but the latter has the advantage of Linux driving the rest of the hardware.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
666threesixes666
Veteran
Veteran


Joined: 31 May 2011
Posts: 1248
Location: 42.68n 85.41w

PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

my friends doze server is running virtualbox as a process with gentoo as a client, built up remotely via ssh, by me. its a headless remote desktop windows 2011 home server i think.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
imaginasys
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 26 Dec 2009
Posts: 83
Location: Québec

PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do this with virtualbox.

I got a PC from my work that was installed with windows. Since I'm a linux guy, and that it was forbitten to change the machine, I thought what a nice challenge!

I have squized windows on a 50GB partition, installed Kubuntu on the rest (200GB). First step : I had a dual boot machine.

Second step: I installed virtualbox I create a windows machine on a raw disk using the windows partition. On the windows side, You have to create a material profile for your VM (I have to be able to run windows native on the first partition). When I start the windows vm I have to specify it to use the virtual profile so it doesn't get confused by the physical hardware of the machine.

If you don't need to keep windows on a physical disk partition, you could do a P2V with a tool from vmware (search google : p2v vmware tool). Put the image on a usb disk. Install linux on the whole disk. Then copy the virtual disk created on your linux machine and use Vmware or VirtualBox to run windows.

Also, if you want to keep it simple, wipe the whole disk and just install Linux + virtualbox/vmware/kvm/xen/or whaterver and create a virtual disk big enough for windows (i recommand +20gb). Then create a virtual machine big enough for your needs and install windows on it.

Regards,
Bernard
:mrgreen:
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
_______0
Guru
Guru


Joined: 15 Oct 2012
Posts: 521

PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

imaginasys wrote:

Second step: I installed virtualbox I create a windows machine on a raw disk using the windows partition. On the windows side, You have to create a material profile for your VM (I have to be able to run windows native on the first partition). When I start the windows vm I have to specify it to use the virtual profile so it doesn't get confused by the physical hardware of the machine.

Bernard
:mrgreen:


I always found this intriguing, and confusing, could you provide more details about 'material profile', and how to use it with qemu?

thkns
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
imaginasys
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 26 Dec 2009
Posts: 83
Location: Québec

PostPosted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 4:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

_______0 wrote:
I always found this intriguing, and confusing, could you provide more details about 'material profile', and how to use it with qemu?

thkns


In the windows machine, you select your computer's icon->properties->Material profile.
Then you copy your actual profile and give it a name (i use "virtual").

Let the material profile be the default to be sure that the machine will reboot on windows with the material profile after 10 sec (This is my work computer).

When you boot the virtual machine you will have 10 sec (or whatever you choosed) to select the virtual profile.

You need a virtual profile because the virtual machine will simulate different hardware than you have. The video card , the sound, the network, the memory, the USB, even the mouse, all will be different.
So windows will need different hardware drivers to run under KVM/Vmware/Virtualbox/Xen/qemu/etc ... The material profile will allow you to load different hardware driver depending on what you want to do : run the physical windows or the virtual.

Take a look a http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/hardware_profiles_overview.mspx?mfr=true.

Regards,
Bernard :mrgreen:

PS: First time you boot the virtual machine, windows will detect the virtual hardware and may be will ask for drivers disk : be ready.
These will be the drivers associated with your material profile.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
_______0
Guru
Guru


Joined: 15 Oct 2012
Posts: 521

PostPosted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

imaginasys wrote:

In the windows machine, you select your computer's icon->properties->Material profile.
Then you copy your actual profile and give it a name (i use "virtual").


Regards,
Bernard :mrgreen:


That's all??? Seems very simple to do, I always thought it was crazy difficult. I will have to try it out. But I still see m$$ on VM more elegant solution, as it removes partition (and its boot implications) layer.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Gentoo Forums Forum Index Other Things Gentoo All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum