felixrosbergen
Senior Member
I have started this thread to document my experiment with virtualizing the Nuvo Music Port.
The reason for this experiment is to test if the Music Port and it software will run in a virtual environment. Currently i have it running on my main Home Automation server along with a while bunch of other app and services and it seems the Music Port frequently 'breaks' (doesn't do what it is supposed to do in some sort of way) likely due to updates on other pieces of software, windows updates or whatever. Generally i have really hard time figuring out what caused it to no work anymore and have had to revert to previous images of my server to get it working again.
If the MP software (actually the Media Control Server (MCS) by Autonomics) can run as a virtual machine then that virtual machine could run on the same main Home Automation server but wouldn't be subject to a lot of changes and thus hopefully be more stable.
So far I have done the following steps:
1) Purchase a USB Audio device so that it can be 'passed through' to the Virtual Machine (VM). I got the SoundBlaster X-FI for $60 or so at BestBuy, also available at NewEgg here.
2) Installed Sun VirtualBox (FREE) on my main server (the 'host' in virtualization speak). The host run XP with Service Pack 3 (32 bit).
3) Configured an Virtual Machine and installed XP with SP3 (32bit) as the Guest OS. ( I assigned 512MB of RAM to it as first guess). I disabled Automatic Windows Updates.
4) Followed VirtualBox (VBox) directions and get the USB Audio device working/reconized inside the Guest OS. This was a bit of a hassle, but not too bad.
5) Installed the latest version of the Nuvo MCS v2.5.5024.99
6) I have the Music Port Serial Port connection via a Ethernet Serial Server QuadTech. Installed the drivers for this and the MCS picked up the virtual COM port right away.
ISSUES:
So far all is something working, including the WEBUI and keypads connected, etc. The following issues have occurred:
A) When playing music through the MP the CPU load on the Host OS get's very high. The Host machine is runs an Intel E8500 C2D 3.2ghz and one of the cores goes over 50% when playing. When the Music Port is running directly inside the Host OS the CPU barely registers any increase when playing music.
B) When playing music there is an occasional (a few times per song) distortion and the music will slow down sometimes. I think issue B is related to issue A.
NEXT STEPS:
1) Install the Creative Sounblaster drivers in the Guest OS to see if this improves. So far i've only run with the drivers that windows installed automatically when the USB device was plugged in.
2) Play with the VirtualBox setting (ram, etc) to see if i can get performance to get better
3) Run the USB device directly attached to the Host OS to see if CPU load gets high under that configuration too (i have never had USB audio devices before) to see if this is a virtualization issue or maybe just a USB device/driver issue. I believe i read online somewhere that others were having CPU issues with this device even while not running in virtual environment). If this isn't a virtualization issue but a device issue i may return it and try a different device.
CONCLUSION:
So far i am hopeful about this project. It has gone smoother so far than i had anticipated. I have made a snapshot at each step in VBox so that i can revert if needed.
The reason for this experiment is to test if the Music Port and it software will run in a virtual environment. Currently i have it running on my main Home Automation server along with a while bunch of other app and services and it seems the Music Port frequently 'breaks' (doesn't do what it is supposed to do in some sort of way) likely due to updates on other pieces of software, windows updates or whatever. Generally i have really hard time figuring out what caused it to no work anymore and have had to revert to previous images of my server to get it working again.
If the MP software (actually the Media Control Server (MCS) by Autonomics) can run as a virtual machine then that virtual machine could run on the same main Home Automation server but wouldn't be subject to a lot of changes and thus hopefully be more stable.
So far I have done the following steps:
1) Purchase a USB Audio device so that it can be 'passed through' to the Virtual Machine (VM). I got the SoundBlaster X-FI for $60 or so at BestBuy, also available at NewEgg here.
2) Installed Sun VirtualBox (FREE) on my main server (the 'host' in virtualization speak). The host run XP with Service Pack 3 (32 bit).
3) Configured an Virtual Machine and installed XP with SP3 (32bit) as the Guest OS. ( I assigned 512MB of RAM to it as first guess). I disabled Automatic Windows Updates.
4) Followed VirtualBox (VBox) directions and get the USB Audio device working/reconized inside the Guest OS. This was a bit of a hassle, but not too bad.
5) Installed the latest version of the Nuvo MCS v2.5.5024.99
6) I have the Music Port Serial Port connection via a Ethernet Serial Server QuadTech. Installed the drivers for this and the MCS picked up the virtual COM port right away.
ISSUES:
So far all is something working, including the WEBUI and keypads connected, etc. The following issues have occurred:
A) When playing music through the MP the CPU load on the Host OS get's very high. The Host machine is runs an Intel E8500 C2D 3.2ghz and one of the cores goes over 50% when playing. When the Music Port is running directly inside the Host OS the CPU barely registers any increase when playing music.
B) When playing music there is an occasional (a few times per song) distortion and the music will slow down sometimes. I think issue B is related to issue A.
NEXT STEPS:
1) Install the Creative Sounblaster drivers in the Guest OS to see if this improves. So far i've only run with the drivers that windows installed automatically when the USB device was plugged in.
2) Play with the VirtualBox setting (ram, etc) to see if i can get performance to get better
3) Run the USB device directly attached to the Host OS to see if CPU load gets high under that configuration too (i have never had USB audio devices before) to see if this is a virtualization issue or maybe just a USB device/driver issue. I believe i read online somewhere that others were having CPU issues with this device even while not running in virtual environment). If this isn't a virtualization issue but a device issue i may return it and try a different device.
CONCLUSION:
So far i am hopeful about this project. It has gone smoother so far than i had anticipated. I have made a snapshot at each step in VBox so that i can revert if needed.