nVidia binary driver under Xen

[nitro322]

I recently had a need to get the binary nVidia drivers running under a Xen dom0 host. There are a number of discussions on this topic, but all of them seem to be for much older versions of Xen, the Linux kernel, and/or the nVidia driver package (such as http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.html?t=619991). I couldn't make any of these methods work with current versions, so I messed around with it until I finally hit on something that did work. I documented the process on my personal website, but I figured I'd post here as well since it's rather Gentoo-specific.

I wrote this guide using the following component versions:

• xen-3.2.1
  
• xen-sources-2.6.21
  
• gentoo-sources-2.6.24-r8 (for building the libraries)
  
• nvidia-drivers-173.14.09

I also suggest uninstalling any existing binary nVidia drivers before beggining to prevent any possible version conflicts.

Here's the step-by-step guide:

• Run uname -r to verify the version of your currently running Xen-enabled kernel; eg., mine's 2.6.21-xen
  
• verify that you have both Xen and non-Xen kernels installed: cd /usr/src/ && ls -l; eg., I have both linux-2.6.21-xen and linux-2.6.24-gentoo-r8
  
• create a symlink to the non-Xen kernel: ln -sfn linux-2.6.24-gentoo-r8 linux
  
• install the nVidia-drivers package, which includes the necessary X librarys: emerge -av nvidia-drivers
  this will also install the actual driver, but it'll be built and installed for the non-Xen kernel, not your current Xen-enabled kernel
  
• determine the specific name and version of the nVidia driver package that was just installed; this can be found by examining the output of emerge -f nvidia-drivers (look for the NVIDIA-Linux-* line)
  
• extract the contents of the nVidia driver package: bash /usr/portage/distfiles/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-173.14.09-pkg2.run -a -x
  
• change to the driver source code directory: cd NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-173.14.09-pkg2/usr/src/nv/
  
• build the driver for the currently-running Xen-enabled kernel: IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y make SYSSRC=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build module
  
• assuming there are no build errors (nvidia.ko should exist), install the driver:
  mkdir /lib/modules/`uname -r`/video
  cp -i nvidia.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/video/
  depmod -a
  
• if necessary, log out of X, then load the driver: modprobe nvidia
  
• if necessary, reconfigure xorg.conf to use the nvidia binary driver rather than the nv driver
  
• test that X will now load properly with startx
  
• if approprate, start (or restart) the display manager with /etc/init.d/xdm start

Assuming all went well, you should not have a fully functional and accelerated desktop environment, even under a Xen dom0 host. W00t.
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http://www.legroom.net/

[vsnine]

I agree that this method works.

I had to make one small change in my setup. I use the method detailed here: http://www.gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Xen_and_Gentoo, specifically the portion about using separate dom0 and domU kernels. I had to copy the dom0 config into the main kernel directory, run make oldconfig, and then i ran make && make modules && make modules_install. Only then would the nVidia driver compile correctly.

But all in all, this is alot more painless than I thought it was going to be. Perhaps we should move this into an article on Gentoo Wiki?

[behd]

set IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y

was enough for me... didn't had to mess more with system...
dom0: 2.6.21-xen
xen: 3.1

[nitro322]

[steveL]

Nice post nitro322 I don't have any use for it but I know some bods who might.. ;-)

[xmaes]

Hello,

Works for me as well.
The only problem is that when i log out from gnome it turn off the monitor. there is no way to turn it back.
It doesnt happen with the non-xen kernel.

Any sugestion is welcome

Thank you,

Xavier

[idella4]

I finally got it to work, but your initial instructions needed correcting.

Don't use the form 'uname -r' int the dir path. Use the name itself, such as 2.6.21-xen. Using 'uname -r' failed in both lines and needed replacing in both lines.
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idella4@aus

[nitro322]

[steveL]

[rem7]

nice, thanks a lot, I spent all morning trying to figure this out.
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- rem7 -

[ramsesxi]