Run games with XP under Ubuntu
I hope this is not off topic.
Is it advisable to run Windows XP as a VMware guest under Ubuntu 12.04 as a host, once it is available? Will most 3D games work in a satisfactory manner?
I have a license for XP and I use it to play some games via dual boot which don't work under Wine. e.g. due to GameGuard or other crap.
But XP will soon get out of maintenance and I don't want to buy another Windows license.
System runs with a contemporary Nvidia card and the Nvidia binary currently on Ubuntu 11.10.
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VMware's Virtual GPU Driver Is Running Fast
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Mouse problems and window movement lag
Originally posted by ChrisXY View PostNope. Try starting a game in, say, openarena. The mouse should jump around completely useless.
mouse.vusb.enable = "TRUE"
in the .vmx file of your VM,
and make sure the game isn't picking up the vmware USB mouse as a joystick.
There should *not* be any differences in player vs workstation w respect to this AFAICT.
For windows gaming, player / workstation is smarter and tries to detect when to switch to gaming mouse mode, linux guest support for that will hopefully be improved in the future.
Window movement lagging behind the cursor is improved in workstation 8.0.2 / player 4.0.2 compared to 8.0.1 / 4.0.1. Also when running workstation on linux / X11 hosts, cursor position updates themselves can be a bit jerky when running a heavy 3D workload. This problem is mostly non-existing on windows / mac hosts and will be addressed in future workstation / player releases.
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Originally posted by ChrisXY View PostWhy not try some actual games and give reasons why they don't run well enaugh?
That might be due to the doubled indirection.
I have tried warcraft 3 in wine and it was more "jerky" than the native games, but kind of playable. But who expects 32 bit windows game -> wine -> 32 bit mesa -> 64 bit linux -> vmwgfx -> windows to be fast? :P
Side note, Ubuntu 12.04 firefox does not appear to have a spell checker by default.
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Originally posted by russofris View PostActions, such as dragging windows, appears to have a bit of latency, aside from that, the graphics performance is acceptable for productivity related tasks. In a comment above, someone mentioned mouse issues in 3D games. My feeling is that this may be the same symptom as the window-drag latency I am seeing.
Originally posted by russofris View PostIs it good enough for games? Not really. Some of the OGL HumbleB games seemed to run well.
Originally posted by russofris View PostIs it good enough for GL based CAD? Probably not.
Originally posted by russofris View PostCan I play Eve Online under Wine on a VM? It opens, and runs, but not really due to performance issues (I'm ranked top 20)
I have tried warcraft 3 in wine and it was more "jerky" than the native games, but kind of playable. But who expects 32 bit windows game -> wine -> 32 bit mesa -> 64 bit linux -> vmwgfx -> windows to be fast? :P
Originally posted by russofris View PostI am saddened that the workstation product is not OSS. I am saddened that OSS VMs do not yet (or can not?) take advantage of the footwork that VMWare Inc has undertaken. It's a good first step, I hope it improves in the near future.
I personally hope that kvm/qemu picks it up and adds the 3d functionality to their existing vmware virtual driver.
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My Experience
Hi there,
Win 7/64 running on an AMD 5750 with Cat 12.02.
Installed Ubuntu 12.04 in as a VMWare Workstation 8.01 guest.
3D and 2D acceleration worked from the get-go. I had to install the VMWare tools in order to obtain auto-screen resizing.
Performance under compiz is acceptable. Actions, such as dragging windows, appears to have a bit of latency, aside from that, the graphics performance is acceptable for productivity related tasks. In a comment above, someone mentioned mouse issues in 3D games. My feeling is that this may be the same symptom as the window-drag latency I am seeing.
Is it good enough for games? Not really. Some of the OGL HumbleB games seemed to run well.
Is it good enough for GL based CAD? Probably not.
Do 3D demo programs run (glxgears)? Yes
Can I play Eve Online under Wine on a VM? It opens, and runs, but not really due to performance issues (I'm ranked top 20)
Do HD movies play? Yes, using XV. XV-Overlay flashes black occasionally, XV-Textured locks up on heavy seeking.
In five days of usage, I have not experienced a graphics related crash.
Overall performance is in-line with the article's benchmark results. Between 1/4th and 1/5th the speed of the host.
My personal conclusion: I was thrilled that everything worked by default. I was thrilled that I could watch movies fullscreen. I was thrilled that I could run OGL cairo-dock without issue. I am optimistic that performance will improve in time. I am saddened that the workstation product is not OSS. I am saddened that OSS VMs do not yet (or can not?) take advantage of the footwork that VMWare Inc has undertaken. It's a good first step, I hope it improves in the near future.
FLast edited by russofris; 10 February 2012, 05:17 PM.
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Proxy ...
Originally posted by zoomblab View PostVMware's Virtual GPU Driver Is Running SLOW. It might be faster than VirtualBox but still super slow. Given that it is only a proxy it should have been around 70-90% the performance of the real driver.
You can directly forward the device ioports and memory to the guest (so called passtrough). That should give you near native performance, but what happens when you move a VM to another host with another graphics card? when you try to restart a suspended VM after, say 10 years, and when you try to run multiple VMs simultaneously?
You can also forward a GL command subset directly to the host, with something resembling an extended GLX protocol. Should also be pretty fast, but what happens when you try to run Direct3D drivers in the guest? Or run the guest on a host not supporting OpenGL but D3D? Or instantly migrate the VM to another physical host? If this is going to be supported, you will naturally see a performance penalty.
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Originally posted by smitty3268 View PostDoes this work when you using a Linux VM inside any host operating system, or is there any other requirements (like a linux host?)
From the article it seems that a linux host is doing well too. Maybe the next benchmarks will bring clarity on how well in comparison to a windows host (i.e. the graphics drivers on the windows host).
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Can someone go over how everything fits together?
Does this work when you using a Linux VM inside any host operating system, or is there any other requirements (like a linux host?)
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Maybe you should also benchmark with a windows host. (and additionally, with a radeon host maybe)
Also, without compositing!
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VMware's Virtual GPU Driver Is Running SLOW
VMware's Virtual GPU Driver Is Running SLOW. It might be faster than VirtualBox but still super slow. Given that it is only a proxy it should have been around 70-90% the performance of the real driver. I understand the enthusiasm with Gallium3D but the fact is that that arhitecture still has to deliver what it promished long ago.
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