I used to run a Windows Server 2016 box on KVM and used all the virt-io drivers from RedHat(?) to have paravirtualisation for better performance. Ran fine. Bet it wouldn’t have been so great for, say, Windows 10 on a desktop and for anything GPU intensive. So my Q is, is this GPU pass-through and is it novel/new ? Trying to see how it’s different to what I was running 5 years ago.
Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
151–160 of 312 posts
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most games work just fine, just a few odd ones that decided to block VMs don't such as Tarkov. Known to work without issue are titles such as * PUBG * Battlefield 1/3/4/5 * Titanfall 1&2 * Arma 3 * 7 Days to Die * Ark * Fortnite * Apex * Halo: The Master Chief Collection * Star Wars Squadrons And many many more.
Really, is that why Tarkov drops me when I try to start a match? At least CS:GO told me their anti-cheat hated my setup (Windows 10 in a Xenserver VM) and I was able to get a refund.
Likely. There were some hacks in the last year or so that required looking glass.
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about machines with dual graphics cards, like one intel on board and another nvidia? Would that be OK? I ask because many laptops used to have similar setups.
Yes, this works for many laptops but it depends on how the laptop is internally wired. We have many members that use their iGPU for Linux, and the dGPU for the VM.
I haven't tried in about 6 months but I had issues with reusing that same dGPU if I wanted to use it for Linux gaming when the VM is offline. I thought it would be easy to bind and unbind it as needed but had issues with doing so. Is this a possible/recommended setup, is there another alternative or I shouldn't bother trying?
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#154I run a VFIO setup with a single GPU - the linux host is headless, and Windows runs on top with the GPU. Its pretty awesome. Windows runs at native performance - no problem gaming or running other heavy workloads. The linux host acts as a devbox and runs a few other homeserver style services. It's difficult to set up right but it taught me a lot about VMs and hardware. Once you get it setup well enough, its relativel…
I use a vfio setup as well but with two GPUs (one integrated, one dedicated) and hotswap the dedicated GPU between the two whenever I’m playing games (I play on both Linux and Windows).
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#155I'm an engineering software contractor and every client has a whole bucket load of outdated IDEs and random USB interface drivers they want me to install on my machine. Often this stuff has weird specific version dependencies, kernel level drivers that cause weird things to happen (like the computer to BSOD if you boot it up with other USB devices attached), random system level crashes, and when you go to the driver download page there are always an unsettling list of simple security vulns noted.
The #1 thing that I've ever wanted is a Linux that lives between the bootloader and Windows that lets me achieve native performance on the Windows VM, but gives me an environment where I can easily do all the things that you can usually do in HyperV like create snapshots, clone installs, share Sharepoint drives between images, etc. But I do need something that is perfectly stable and just works. This is the right technology (thank you so much for working on it), but just not yet at a maturity that makes me feel comfortable about putting livelihood on the line.
Edit: actually, please, if anyone knows something that suits this use-case, even if it costs decent money, please leave a comment.
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#156Reminds me of the time I'd use a patched ACPI table on my gaming VM to mock a battery for the NVIDIA driver (similar to [0]). The drivers checked and deliberately failed when a battery wasn't present in conjunction with a mobile GPU. Setting up looking glass itself wasn't much of a problem though. I got some AAA games cutting on my gentoo laptop like butter, though the mouse movement was more jelly unless I VFIOd my…
My windows boot is generally low maintenance, but a Windows update did introduce a stutter in all games once, so had to do a clean install (no restore point). Was annoying to troubleshoot. Windows is a mess. If only anti cheats worked on Linux.
In the Steam Deck announcement this week Valve mentioned they were going to work with vendors to get anti-cheat finally working, so fingers crossed.
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most games work just fine, just a few odd ones that decided to block VMs don't such as Tarkov. Known to work without issue are titles such as * PUBG * Battlefield 1/3/4/5 * Titanfall 1&2 * Arma 3 * 7 Days to Die * Ark * Fortnite * Apex * Halo: The Master Chief Collection * Star Wars Squadrons And many many more.
Really, is that why Tarkov drops me when I try to start a match? At least CS:GO told me their anti-cheat hated my setup (Windows 10 in a Xenserver VM) and I was able to get a refund.
Doesn’t CS:GO run on Linux? I exclusively play dota 2 on Linux and it performs better than in Windows imo.
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because some cheats use a VM environment to hide from detection as they can act on the VM from outside of it. The solution though is not to ban VMs, but to push vendors like AMD and Intel to enable access to, and enforce usage of technologies like SEV if running inside a VM. https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v5.6/virt/kvm/amd-memory-enc...
I wrote this another comment, but instead of getting too much into an arms race, studios should invest more on server-side anti-cheat mechanisms. You could correlate community feedback and some machine learning, while also picking easy-to-catch impossible actions.
Server-side solutions don't catch all cheats. They can block actions that are impossible according to the game rules but they cannot prevent clients from disclosing too much information to the player about other players, or automating actions that are technically possible, like using aimbots.
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#159Amazing. Without dual boot, windows in VM can run at almost native performance? wow.
I used LILO or GRUB to make my PC dual boot many years ago. But now I think I am not gonna need dual boot any more.
Re: Looking Glass: Run a Windows VM on Linux in a window with native performance
#160So, I don't think I'm understanding this correctly, does it have to be a separate machine? Seems to mention VM and VNC so I'm not entirely sure what it is! Like, currently I dual boot into Windows for games, but I can also get into it from Virtualbox if I need to quickly use something on there. Would I be able to use this with that? So I can use the internal GPU for my local Linux install, and then use the nvidia for…
Yes, it would work for your setup perfectly. Linux on the iGPU and windows on the nvidia.