Connecting extenders to a Win 7 virtual machine

Post Reply
jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

Connecting extenders to a Win 7 virtual machine

#1

Post by jachin99 » Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:25 pm

Has anybody accomplished this? I am looking running win 7 inside virtual box on a WHS 2011 machine just for extenders. I have succesfully set this up about halfway in the past but I think I ran into trouble getting WIn 7 to see my HDHR Primes. I don't have any encrypted channels so far so that will be one less hurdle to tackle.

Dslayer470

Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:01 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#2

Post by Dslayer470 » Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:13 pm

I have a long time ago with virtualbox and the results were ok, but everything was slow. This was on an old Intel dual core with only 2 Gb of RAM.

I do have running right now a VMware ESXI vShere that has it running and everything is running great. I had a dedicated nic and it was great but I then changed a lot of hardware and now have 4 gigabit links in aggregation. I have 3 ceton echos and a few DMA2100s connected with no issues. For my input it is 6 (12 tuners) Silicon dust OTA tuners. Now the caveat is this is a really nice server with an Intel i7 (6 core) processor and 64 Gb of RAM.

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#3

Post by jachin99 » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:01 pm

Is VSphere freeware, or do you have a paid liscence? Just to be sure, your running it on Windows Home Server 2011, right? My only extender is a Linksys DMA for the time being, and its nothing too fast to begin with. Most of my extenders will be in things like spare bedrooms, the back patio, etc. My main viewing rooms will have a dedicated PC. My server machine is a dell with low power AMD graphics card, an old i3, and 8 gigs of ram but I might upgrade to 16 later on down the road.

Dslayer470

Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:01 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#4

Post by Dslayer470 » Sat Jul 22, 2017 12:27 am

You can get a free license like I have, but esxi is the host (operating system for a lack of a better term) then all your operating systems run from there.

In my current setup I have Windows 10, 7 (for WMC), Windows Server 2016, as well as 4 different flavors of Linux all doing dedicated tasks.

If you are wanting to keep WHS 2011 as your host OS then, if I were you, I would really try VirtualBox again because esxi is not for everyone. Hardware requirements for esxi is specific for some tasks. If you are try going to try esxi I would have a dedicated ssd/hd for testing before completely switching. I ran my old server along with my new setup for about a month to make sure this would be stable.

I give all this information out with knowing that I might be dropping WMC in favor of Plex. I already have Rokus at most of my TVs.

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#5

Post by jachin99 » Sat Jul 22, 2017 1:52 am

I don't have that kind of money to dish out on hardware so I'll keep hacking at my virtual box approach. I'm not sure how well extenders work on WMC 8.1 but I'm guessing I'll have problems hence, why I'm trying full Win 7 in a VM. ESXi came installed on your hardware, or did you have to get a liscence for that. We have ESX at work but I never played with it too much, and I can't use that liscence

Dslayer470

Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:01 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#6

Post by Dslayer470 » Sat Jul 22, 2017 1:07 pm

I installed esxi on an old ssd for testing a few months before figuring out what extra hardware I was going to need for my particular setup. I found out that the usb 3.0 controllers on my motherboard would not pass thru to the VMs, didn't need multiple GPUs, and got a really nice SAS controller for my direct attached storage tower (16 HD slots). After that I reinstalled ESXI on the server. I went from having a dedicated htpc, a file server, and a descent standalone gaming computer to now just having one setup with it all and running much more efficiently.

If anyone was wondering, my system configuration is:
Asus Rampage IV Black Edition
I7-4930k
64 Gb RAM Corsair something
AMD Radeon R270
Intel i350-t4 (nic for teaming)
usb 3.0 expansion card
Avago SAS3008 and an expander with 16 HDs attached (6 @ 2Tb, 1 @ 3Tb, 4 @ 4 Tb, and 5 @ 8 Tb)
several SSDs are also attached for storage on ESXI

Most of this was in my gaming rig before switching over.

JoeKamel

Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:13 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#7

Post by JoeKamel » Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:13 pm

I'm running ESXi on a decomm'd server, so hardware wise not exactly the same.... Anyway, it's a pretty (now) common homelab server:

Supermicro dual 2011v1 board, 2xE5-2670v1 CPUs and 196GB RAM. My HTPC/WMC Server/Plex Server is a Windows 7 VM with 24GB RAM reserved, 1 virtual socket and 8 virtual cores per socket. Essentially Windows sees a single socket, 8 core/8 thread CPU. I'm using a pair a HDHomeRun Primes and cablecard for TV with FIOS. No issues for me on my extender or watching TV on the WMC server itself it has an ATI HD6450 passed thru to the VM and HDMI out to my TV.

I will say this though, I honestly watch TV thru plex more than my WMC. Plex with the HDHRViewer plugin can give you DVR and live TV for any non copyonce/copynever channels and the only ones on my package that fall under that are Fox stations (FX/FXX/Spike/Fox News, etc).

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#8

Post by jachin99 » Sun Jul 23, 2017 5:50 pm

Well I got win 7 setup in a VB VM but I'm running into these issues. Before I start, I've already run the DCA override. Issue 1 is I can't get the guest to see any shared folders on the host. I also tried to run the WHS connect setup on the guest but it can't find the webpage. The guest can connect to the internet but it can't see my home network. I'm thinking this is related to issue 2 which is I can't get the WMC guest to see my tuner. HDHR setup runs fine, and see both tuners but I can't run the HDHR view WIn 7 app because it is telling me the machine doesn't support open GL shaders. Are there any known fixes for these issues?

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#9

Post by jachin99 » Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:14 pm

I got past the no tuner found error, and the guest OS can see the host's network. I fixed these problems by setting the network adapter to bridged mode in Virtual box but I have new problems. My first problem is the guest Win 7 is telling me my machine can't play videos, and my other problem is I get errors when I try to connect my extender.

RyC

Posts: 724
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:21 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#10

Post by RyC » Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:39 pm

You'll never be able to watch video directly on the VM with VirtualBox. What's the extender connection error?

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#11

Post by jachin99 » Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:08 pm

It doesn't give me a code but it errors out at configuring extender

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#12

Post by jachin99 » Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:42 pm

I had the extender hooked up via wifi. I swapped it out for a wired connection via a powerline Ethernet adapter, and it connected. I have a VM Extender!!

JoeKamel

Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:13 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#13

Post by JoeKamel » Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:51 pm

RyC wrote:You'll never be able to watch video directly on the VM with VirtualBox. What's the extender connection error?

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk
This is an issue I have. I'm assuming it is because the VMware VGA adapter and virtual display don't support HDCP. Do you know any way around that? Also, I'm using ESXi instead of Virtualbox. Would like to ditch the extender in my room and free it up for other folks in the house.

RyC

Posts: 724
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:21 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#14

Post by RyC » Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:54 pm

JoeKamel wrote:
RyC wrote:You'll never be able to watch video directly on the VM with VirtualBox. What's the extender connection error?

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk
This is an issue I have. I'm assuming it is because the VMware VGA adapter and virtual display don't support HDCP. Do you know any way around that? Also, I'm using ESXi instead of Virtualbox. Would like to ditch the extender in my room and free it up for other folks in the house.
If you're using ESXi, you can pass a real physical GPU to the VM, but ESXi is relatively picky with which GPUs it supports. AMD GPUs generally seem to work with the least hassle

For the extender connection error, I would maybe try using the virtio-net NIC (remember to install the drivers before you switch the NIC)

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#15

Post by jachin99 » Mon Jul 24, 2017 1:08 am

A while back I saw where someone had built a VM with just the right hardware so that they could run I think Windows Media Center throughout their house. What made this setup unique was every TV, keyboard, etc. plugged into this VM. I have the link at work but I wont be there this week. When I get back, I might see if I can dig it up

JoeKamel

Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:13 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#16

Post by JoeKamel » Mon Jul 24, 2017 1:53 am

RyC wrote:
JoeKamel wrote:
RyC wrote:You'll never be able to watch video directly on the VM with VirtualBox. What's the extender connection error?

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk
This is an issue I have. I'm assuming it is because the VMware VGA adapter and virtual display don't support HDCP. Do you know any way around that? Also, I'm using ESXi instead of Virtualbox. Would like to ditch the extender in my room and free it up for other folks in the house.
If you're using ESXi, you can pass a real physical GPU to the VM, but ESXi is relatively picky with which GPUs it supports. AMD GPUs generally seem to work with the least hassle

For the extender connection error, I would maybe try using the virtio-net NIC (remember to install the drivers before you switch the NIC)

I have an AMD 6540 passed thru and is the GPU attached to the TV and no issues using it with plex media player, but I have to use an Echo for DRM protected TV. The extender has no issues connecting with the Win7 VM.

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#17

Post by jachin99 » Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:00 pm

I was able to increase the VRAM limit in VBox to 256 mb but VBox limits me at that. Here is how I did it. http://nil.uniza.sk/virtualization/virt ... mory-128mb

Post Reply