summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/system/xen/dom0/README.dom0
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'system/xen/dom0/README.dom0')
-rw-r--r--system/xen/dom0/README.dom055
1 files changed, 55 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/system/xen/dom0/README.dom0 b/system/xen/dom0/README.dom0
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7c451ef1c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/xen/dom0/README.dom0
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+kernel-xen.sh: This script builds the Linux Kernel for a Xen Hypervisor.
+
+The configuration files included here are based on generic Slackware configs.
+For 32bit systems, SMP based config was used. You can run "make menuconfig"
+before compiling a Xen kernel by passing the "MENUCONFIG=yes" to the script.
+
+Originaly, booting a Xen kernel with LILO bootloader is not supported, so GRUB
+has to be used. Since some of us still preffer LILO over GRUB, there is a way
+to accomplish this with mbootpack. Basicaly mbootpack takes Linux kernel, initrd
+and Xen VMM, and packages them up as a single file that looks like a bzImage
+Linux kernel. To select how kernel is packed use "BOOTLOADER=" variable. Valid
+options are "lilo" and "grub".
+
+Since generic kernel requires an initrd image, there are aditional variables that
+can be used, such as ROOTMOD (list of root filesystem modules), ROOTFS (name of a
+module to use) and ROOTDEV (name of root filesystem device).
+
+After a new kernel image is created, add something like the folowing to lilo.conf:
+
+image = /boot/vmlinuz-xen
+ root = /dev/sda2
+ label = XenLinux
+ append="dom0_mem=512M -- nomodeset"
+ read-only
+
+Note: everything before "--" is passed to Xen, and everything after "--" is
+passed to the Linux kernel.
+
+If for some reason LILO is not good enough, you can always use GRUB.
+GRUB may be installed from Slackware's extra repository. The GRUB package
+is not available from the Slackware x86_64 distribution, but the source
+and a SlackBuild may be found in its extra/source repository.
+
+grubconfig that comes with Slackware's GRUB package may give a starting point
+to configure GRUB. Moreover, the Xen User Manual and its README file installed
+with the Xen package include details on which parameters to include in the GRUB
+configuration file. For example, include these lines in /boot/grub/menu.lst:
+
+title Slackware XenLinux 14.0
+ root (hd0,0)
+ kernel /boot/xen.gz dom0_mem=524288 console=vga
+ module /boot/vmlinuz-xen root=/dev/sda2 ro console=tty0 nomodeset
+ module /boot/initrd-xen.gz
+
+Note that dom0_mem parameter is critical for a 32bit install.
+
+If your dom0 kernel crashes or freezes at boot, either with an automatic reboot
+or with the blank screen, here are some things to try:
+- Specify an out of range number to "fbcon" to disable framebuffer altogether,
+ for an example append fbcon=map:9 to the Linux kernel.
+ (To see a list of available devices in your system: cat /proc/fb)
+- Blacklist framebuffer module from loading. This one requires a bit of
+ digging arround in dmesg/lsmod to find out wich module is in use.
+- Disable framebuffer devices by setting CONFIG_FB=n in kernel config.
+- Try another VGA card (sorry).