Linux KVM and PCIe passthrough

[WiFivomFranMan]

Build,

Zenith Extreme
1950x
64GB ram
6TB storage
GTX 1080
RX 480
GT 720
PCIe USB card.


The goal of my build is to host KVMs. Fedora 26 as the host with two Windows 10 VMs one getting the GTX 1080 and the other getting RX 480. Of course I'd like to them to have their own USB card for hot plugging of USB devices.

I'd like the two powerful GPUs in the 16x slots with the GT720 in the 8x slot 2 for the Fedora host. This causes problems because the primary GPU wants to be slot 1. I heard in 0603 this can be configured? https://www.reddit.com/r/VFIO/comments/71se56/primary_secondary_graphics_card_swap_success_on/

I am also having problems with PCIe passthrough. It is crashing my box when I start my VMs. I am hearing this is a known problem, Do we know when the fix is coming?

[starlightknight]

xeromist wrote:
"Virtualization" is a broad term that covers a mixture of features. You can have virtualization without PCI-E passthrough. Even AMD's page on virtualization is a bit vague. It does mention I/O passthrough but doesn't specify if that means any PCI-E device or a limited set of built in components.
https://www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/processors-for-business/virtualization

Anyway, if you've seen something that explicitly touted PCI passthrough as a feature of Threadripper, that's awesome. I don't have any official information so if you do, ignore me. That means they may actually prioritize fixing it. I just haven't seen anything as such and it has been an issue since Ryzen launched so I'm not optimistic about the timeline.

AMD's official stance is that its supposed to be officially supported, even though it's a broken mess at the moment. That's also why there are options in the BIOS to enable this, as noted by the other poster

As a mod, volunteer or otherwise, you should be cautious about making statements that could be interpreted as product decisions from ASUS, as there has been many people angrily refunding Threadripper boards over this (/r/VFIO discord is full of them). People, including me, are really pissed about this situation because of the amount of money we've sunk into this platform, especially given it DOES work on the cheap low end Ryzen's (where AMD also stated publicly that it was officially deemed supported, and made specific fixes for in AGESA 1006)

[WiFivomFranMan]

starlightknight wrote:
AMD's official stance is that its supposed to be officially supported, even though it's a broken mess at the moment. That's also why there are options in the BIOS to enable this, as noted by the other poster

As a mod, volunteer or otherwise, you should be cautious about making statements that could be interpreted as product decisions from ASUS, as there has been many people angrily refunding Threadripper boards over this (/r/VFIO discord is full of them). People, including me, are really pissed about this situation because of the amount of money we've sunk into this platform, especially given it DOES work on the cheap low end Ryzen's (where AMD also stated publicly that it was officially deemed supported, and made specific fixes for in AGESA 1006)

well said, thank you

[xeromist]

starlightknight wrote:
AMD's official stance is that its supposed to be officially supported, even though it's a broken mess at the moment. That's also why there are options in the BIOS to enable this, as noted by the other poster

As a mod, volunteer or otherwise, you should be cautious about making statements that could be interpreted as product decisions from ASUS, as there has been many people angrily refunding Threadripper boards over this (/r/VFIO discord is full of them). People, including me, are really pissed about this situation because of the amount of money we've sunk into this platform, especially given it DOES work on the cheap low end Ryzen's (where AMD also stated publicly that it was officially deemed supported, and made specific fixes for in AGESA 1006)

Cool. Good to know they have officially responded. I don't follow that subreddit so I wasn't aware. I really do hope they fix it because it's something I've considered doing and may try if it's stable when I'm ready to upgrade.

Fair enough. I always try to phrase things clearly when they are my personal opinion or speculation. I only intentionally invoke ASUS when issuing moderation decisions. If it's ever unclear, please let me know and I'm happy to fix it. And to be clear, moderators with normal usernames are volunteer members and we do not receive any inside information. For example, I didn't even know Bahz was leaving until he posted it publicly.

[relm56]

Someone on Reddit got it working on the Asus Prime X399 board

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/72ula0/tr1950x_gtx_1060_passthrough_with_esxi/?utm_content=tit...

[starlightknight]

relm56 wrote:
Someone on Reddit got it working on the Asus Prime X399 board

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/72ula0/tr1950x_gtx_1060_passthrough_with_esxi/?utm_content=tit...

Interesting - they managed to get it to work with VMware which is different than what most people are trying (KVM, the built-in hypervisor). I had misread at first, but they are still using D3 state for reset which is interesting, because that's where the process gets stuck on the KVM route. A driver called VFIO is assigned to the card which puts the device into D3 until the VM starts. But once put into D3, many cards can't wake up on the Threadripper board and its unclear why

[starlightknight]

AMD is now officially gathering information on the passthrough issues for replication (they are stating they are committed to getting these resolved). They are requesting that affected users fill out their survey here:

http://www.amdsurveys.com/se.ashx?s=5A1E27D24DB2311F

[Korth]

Intel's "Virtualization" info is equally vague. Less of a technical item than a marketing one.