Magic jack is too slow with KVM

[killabx]

I use KVM (kernel-based virtual machine) to run my Linux webserver virtual machine on my Linux server, so it made more sense to me to create a WinXP virtual machine under KVM than virtualbox. I have installed Windows just fine and figured out how to get USB working. The graphics are a little slow, but aside from that, WinXP runs fine on the virtual machine. It's going to be running without viewing the display most of the time anyway, so it really doesn't matter. But USB devices run extremely slow. It took 10-15 min to install the Magic Jack software and to load the software interface. Afterwards, it appears that everything is functional, but so slow as to be unusable. I can dial from my phone, but I have to press and hold the buttons for a long time for it to register. It will not dial out as I believe it is running too slow to be able to do that.

Has anybody got Magic Jack to work using KVM on Linux? I'm pretty certain that all of my problems lie in the USB interface in KVM, but I haven't had any luck figuring it out.

Thanks.

[mufon]

I use KVM (kernel-based virtual machine) to run my Linux webserver virtual machine on my Linux server, so it made more sense to me to create a WinXP virtual machine under KVM than virtualbox. I have installed Windows just fine and figured out how to get USB working. The graphics are a little slow, but aside from that, WinXP runs fine on the virtual machine. It's going to be running without viewing the display most of the time anyway, so it really doesn't matter. But USB devices run extremely slow. It took 10-15 min to install the Magic Jack software and to load the software interface. Afterwards, it appears that everything is functional, but so slow as to be unusable. I can dial from my phone, but I have to press and hold the buttons for a long time for it to register. It will not dial out as I believe it is running too slow to be able to do that.

Has anybody got Magic Jack to work using KVM on Linux? I'm pretty certain that all of my problems lie in the USB interface in KVM, but I haven't had any luck figuring it out.

Thanks.

I use KVM/Qemu in conjunction with libvirt, seems fine. It's working great for me, I use KVM/Qemu (KVM as hypervisor) and libvirt on an AMD Phenom X4, Gigabyte MA770-UD3 motherboard running Ubuntu 9.10 Server, XP virtual machine. It's setup and managed on a another machine running Ubuntu desktop with the Virtual Machine Manager. (The latter isn't necessary but makes it easier since the server has no gui.)

[cmdrunix]

Can you explain how you got the USB working under libvirt with KVM as the Hypervisor ? I can get it to show up in the XP vm and get a dial tone but there is no sound on calls.

[mufon]

Can you explain how you got the USB working under libvirt with KVM as the Hypervisor ? I can get it to show up in the XP vm and get a dial tone but there is no sound on calls.

It's done in the xml file for the vm.

Code: Select all

<hostdev mode='subsystem' type='pci' managed='yes'>
      <source>
        <address domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x14' function='0x5'/>
      </source>
</hostdev>

Suffice to say libvirt is more for advanced usage (as oppose to some of the others) and there is a learning curve. The payoff however is the performance. I am running 21 vm's simultaneously on an 8 gig mem AMD phenom system and the performance is awesome! Read the docs and check the user forums for more thorough info. I only use the one Windows vm for the magicjack and it is working with the entry shown above. I got lucky perhaps. I have found that the motherboard does make a difference as well. I wasn't able to get satisfactory results using an ECS motherboard and Intel CoreDUO Quad. I've gotten excellent results with Gigabyte and Asus, the former being preferred.

[root]

KVM is sweet. It's performance does ROCK! To find any performance advantage Xen may have over KVM is mostly splitting hairs and a lot of fine tuning. Xen is less supported (kernel support) industry wide and more difficult to implement and maintain than KVM, that's why we use KVM in our shop! KVM also supports both para and full virtualization.

That's my editorial comment, forgive me if I'm a bit off topic.

[mufon]

Something worth mentioning is that I am also using virtio in lieu of native drivers or emulated drivers, including the Windows para-virt storage and network drivers. All the linux vm's are running para-virt with Windows running as para-virtualized as is possible, keep in mind the config is totally different using virtio as opposed to emulation, but it eliminates many contentions pertaining to competition for system I/O.

[Nakarti]

Sadly, support has not gone far.
Hopefully I will find that the AMD bridges of my other motherboard will make a difference, but while I can pass the Magicjack through to a KVM guest, it gives the cryptic "The installation associated with your computer is invalid." error, and I cannot go further.