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Making effective use of an i7-10700 via ESXI


rok1

Question

So I failed to do my research and bought "too new" of a cpu to use as an Xpenology system. 

 

So I thought maybe not all is lost and can still make effective use of it. Virtualizing Xpenology and a linux VM

 

Does anyone think I is possible to use ESXI as a host and then virtualize XPE and then whatever else I need?

 

The board is an ASRock Z490M ITX that has both an RTL8125b and I219v. Splitting the 2.5gb off to the Xpe install and saving the 219v for the other VM(s). I would like to try to passthrough the intel gpu (i've seen it done on the internet) but, I am unsure if it works when virtualizing a 918+ for plex transcoding. The only other portion of XPE I would use would be some of the integrated hyper backup capabilities to back up my Synology units. All of my VM experience is through virtualbox; essentially zero knowledge with ESXI or any other VM host.

 

I would pass through a couple of 3TB WD Reds for the storage portion of Xpenology

 

Am I way out in left field or does anyone see this is a viable solution?

Edited by rok1
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14 hours ago, rok1 said:

So I failed to do my research and bought "too new" of a cpu to use as an Xpenology system. 

to new in case of using hardware transcoding wih 918+ - maybe as we only had one test and did not try if another device apart from 8086:3E92 might work for 10th gen higher tier cpu's

another  not cpu gen related thing is you cpu core count, 8 core 16 thread (with HT) will result in 4 core 8thread in 918+ (about 5 real cores equivalent), the rest would be unsued

you could disable HT and have 8 cores working (loosing about 2 real cores performance for 8 HT "virtual" cores) or use 3617 to have all 16 threads working (beside the atm not working i915 transcoding you would also "loose" the option to use m.2 nvme ssd's when using 3617 baremetal)

a hypervisor like proxmox or esxi will only give you more option with cpu and ram usage and the ability to change the label of a m.2 nvme ssd to a sata ssd to make it usable in every dsm type as cache

 

its possible to passthrough the gpu but without a working driver for your 8086:9BC5 it would be of no use, you would need to invest 2-4 hours to really find out if its possible, i can create different patched versions of the driver, but you would need to test them and if the system hangs on boot (as reported be the one tester) you would need to reinstall or mount it externally (rescue linux) to remove the non working driver

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Quote

 

to new in case of using hardware transcoding wih 918+ - maybe as we only had one test and did not try if another device apart from 8086:3E92 might work for 10th gen higher tier cpu's

 

its possible to passthrough the gpu but without a working driver for your 8086:9BC5 it would be of no use, you would need to invest 2-4 hours to really find out if its possible, i can create different patched versions of the driver, but you would need to test them and if the system hangs on boot (as reported be the one tester) you would need to reinstall or mount it externally (rescue linux) to remove the non working driver

 

 

 

I was able to get the 918+ build working with the 8125b as your addon driver does work for it, the lack of transcoding is where I stopped however. I would be willing to conduct any testing you'd like to try to get the iGPU working for transcoding. The system is in pieces at the moment and I have not done any data loading on it, so nothing is wasted or lost on my end. I also have a SATA M.2 disk for quick and easy testing of re-installs.

 

Issues unresolved for a 918+ Build:

  • 8125b and 219v are detected opposite in XPenology than they are in any other OS. Typically the 8125b is Nic1 and 219v is NIC2, in XPE it's the opposite, so my 8125b which I would prefer to be LAN1 is always LAN2 when both NICs are enabled in the bios.
  • Power management needs work. The cpu scaling governors that work in 3617 are not available in 918+. Last I checked the 10700 was running full speed on a 918+ build, maybe with the more recent source you are able to get acpi-cpufreq working again.

 

 

Edited by rok1
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4 hours ago, rok1 said:

Last I checked the 10700 was running full speed on a 918+ build, maybe with the more recent source you are able to get acpi-cpufreq working again.

there might be limits to that as the kernel base config is fixed to that what synology delivers and the only thing i could do is add modules (as long as they don't need anything to be precompiled in the kernel)

you can look into that for a start

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/19846-cpu-frequency-scaling-for-ds918/

 

4 hours ago, rok1 said:

8125b and 219v are detected opposite in XPenology than they are in any other OS. Typically the 8125b is Nic1 and 219v is NIC2, in XPE it's the opposite, so my 8125b which I would prefer to be LAN1 is always LAN2 when both NICs are enabled in the bios.

i never wasted a thought to that, might be the way synology enumerates ethernet in dsm?

maybe start with netconfig in /etc/sysconfig and trace it back?

 

4 hours ago, rok1 said:

. I would be willing to conduct any testing you'd like to try to get the iGPU working for transcoding.

then i will have a closer look to the devices in the i915 and compare it to the gpu config of your cpu to see ith there are better matches then 3E92

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35 minutes ago, IG-88 said:

there might be limits to that as the kernel base config is fixed to that what synology delivers and the only thing i could do is add modules (as long as they don't need anything to be precompiled in the kernel)

you can look into that for a start

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/19846-cpu-frequency-scaling-for-ds918/

 

i never wasted a thought to that, might be the way synology enumerates ethernet in dsm?

maybe start with netconfig in /etc/sysconfig and trace it back?

 

then i will have a closer look to the devices in the i915 and compare it to the gpu config of your cpu to see ith there are better matches then 3E92

The network thing is cosmetic nothing more, not a priority. Regarding the iGPU, I stand ready to test whatever you need. The device is 9BC5, but you already knew that as I read your additional compiled modules thread.

 

That thread you posted, I already commented in that it did not work. With the script running it only runs at full speed. Unfortunately that left me at 800mhz or full speed which does not mean full load, but it still caused it to use power and therefore create additional heat. I think the kernel lacks support for the 10th gen CPUs but I am not sure what else can be used, if I recall some of the default kernel switches for cpu frequency scaling are not compiled in, but maybe something could be added as a module. I'm trying to think but I recall powersave and conservative, and ondemand are usable in 3617 (which worked great) and only powersave and userspace are available on the 918+

 

Below is the default synoconfig for Apollolake

 

# CPU Frequency scaling
#
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_STAT=m
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_STAT_DETAILS is not set
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_PERFORMANCE is not set
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_POWERSAVE is not set
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_USERSPACE=y
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_ONDEMAND is not set
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_CONSERVATIVE is not set
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_PERFORMANCE=m
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_POWERSAVE=m
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_USERSPACE=y
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_ONDEMAND is not set
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_CONSERVATIVE is not set

#
# CPU frequency scaling drivers
#
# CONFIG_X86_INTEL_PSTATE is not set
# CONFIG_X86_PCC_CPUFREQ is not set
CONFIG_X86_ACPI_CPUFREQ=m
# CONFIG_X86_POWERNOW_K8 is not set
# CONFIG_X86_SPEEDSTEP_CENTRINO is not set
# CONFIG_X86_P4_CLOCKMOD is not set

#
# shared options
#
# CONFIG_X86_SPEEDSTEP_LIB is not set

#
# CPU Idle
#
CONFIG_CPU_IDLE=y
CONFIG_CPU_IDLE_GOV_LADDER=y
CONFIG_CPU_IDLE_GOV_MENU=y
# CONFIG_ARCH_NEEDS_CPU_IDLE_COUPLED is not set
# CONFIG_INTEL_IDLE is not set

 

Edited by rok1
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On 3/14/2021 at 6:31 PM, IG-88 said:

then i will have a closer look to the devices in the i915 and compare it to the gpu config of your cpu to see ith there are better matches then 3E92

 

I may have the cpu clock issue fixed, will try tonight to see if it works. Only thing left is the i915 driver issue.

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So the CPU power stuff does work (bios setting) but the mod 2_1 driver is a hang on reboot after renaming/deleting the old i915.ko and copying over the new.

 

I ran Passmark on it and it performs in between the 10700 HT ON and 9700K which is an 8C/8T chip

Edited by rok1
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