ASUS claims VT-d is actually only VT-x on their board.. what can be done?

[idata]

I have been exchanging emails with Asus over the past few weeks, trying to get VT-d working in Xen on a P6T (X58) series board with an i7-920.

Does Intel have any say in how their technology is implemented by a company like ASUS (if it is not being implemented properly?) because ASUS is showing no effort to fix this. There is supposedly a beta BIOS that has working VT-d, but it was never released to public (http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/VTdHowTo http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/VTdHowTo). The problem has been reported to Asus, for years now, that VT-d is not working in Xen nor ESXi on this board, but they are leaving the VT-d option in all BIOS updates and it still doesn't work when it is turned on!

Please help me out here, if it is at all possible. Also note that a VT-x setting in the BIOS is available, and is a separate option from the VT-d setting.

Thanks.

Here is a transcript of my communication with ASUS so far, with all sensitive information stripped:

> ---------- Original Message ----------

> > Sent : 2012-3-6 20:59:52 > > Subject : Motherboard P6T Deluxe V2 > > Apply date : 3/6/2012 9:01:33 PM(UTC Time) > > [Product Information] > *Product Type : Motherboard > *Product Model : P6T Deluxe V2 > *Date of Purchase : 2009/11/1 > > [Motherboard Specification] > *Motherboard BIOS Revision : 1202 > > [VGA Card Specification] > *VGA Card Vendor : ASUS > *VGA Card Model : EN210 > *VGA Card Chipset : GeForce 210 > *VGA Card Driver : nVidia 295.20 > > [CPU Specification] > *CPU Vendor : Intel > *CPU Type : i7 Socket 1366 > *CPU Speed : 2.67GHz > > [Memory Specification] > *Memory Vendor : Kingston > *Memory Model : PVT36G1333ELK > *Memory Capacity : 6GB > > [HDD Specification] > HDD Vendor : Intel > HDD Model : Series 320 > HDD Capacity : 120GB > > *Operating System : Linux > > [Problem Description] > Please provide me a BIOS for P6T Deluxe V2 that implements ACPI Direct > Memory > Access remapping (DMAR) tables correctly for Intel VT-d usage, or notify > me if ASUS > believes that the current 1202 BIOS conforms to Intel VT-d specifications. > > With VT-d enabled in BIOS the P6T Deluxe V2 (BIOS 1202, 2011/10/10) reports > RMRR (Reserved Memory Region Reporting Structure) is bf7dc000 - bf7dbfff > > e820 table: > 0000000000000000 - 000000000009e400 (usable) > 000000000009e400 - 00000000000a0000 (reserved) > 00000000000e4c00 - 0000000000100000 (reserved) > 0000000000100000 - 00000000bf780000 (usable) > 00000000bf780000 - 00000000bf798000 (ACPI data) > 00000000bf798000 - 00000000bf7dc000 (ACPI NVS) > 00000000bf7dc000 - 00000000c0000000 (reserved) > 00000000fee00000 - 00000000fee01000 (reserved) > 00000000ffe00000 - 0000000100000000 (reserved) > 0000000100000000 - 00000001c0000000 (usable) > > but Xen system log has: > > (XEN) [VT-D]dmar.c:528: RMRR address range not in reserved memory base > bf7dc000 end = bf7dbfff; iommu_inclusive_mapping=1 parameter may be needed. > (XEN) [VT-D]dmar.c:585: The RMRR (bf7dc000, bf7dbfff) is incorrect! > (XEN) Failed to parse ACPI DMAR. Disabling VT-d. > > iommu_inclusive_mapping parameter does not resolve the issue. > > Thank you >

On 15/03/12 04:30 AM, Andrew wrote:

>> Dear Valued Customer,>> Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.>> My name is Andrew and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.>> Sorry for my delay. > This board can only support VT-X ,so you will need check it in the manual.>> Welcome to refer Troubleshooting & FAQ for ASUS products in ASUS website:> http://support.asus.com/servicehome.aspx?SLanguage=en http://support.asus.com/servicehome.aspx?SLanguage=en>> If you continue to experience issues in the future, please do not> hesitate to contact us.>> Best Regards,>> Andrew>

---------- Original Message ----------

Sent : 2012-3-15 16:49:01 Subject : Re: Motherboard P6T Deluxe V2

Hi Andrew,

On P6T Deluxe V2:

Page 3-28 of manual under section "3.5.2 Chipset" states Intel VT-d

configuration 'Allows you to enable or disable the Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O'

This is the feature I would like to use, and it is included in the

manual for this board and the option for the feature is present in the BIOS.

Please review my request for a BIOS that implements the feature properly.

Regards,

---------- Original Message ----------

Subject: Re:Re: Motherboard P6T Deluxe V2

Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:30:17 +0800

Dear Valued Customer,

Sorry for my delay.

It is Vt-x.

Best Regards,

Andrew

[idata]

I'm not sure what CPU you are using (i7-920?), but according to Intel's CPU specs, I don't think that any of the i7-900 series CPUs (socket 1366) are VT-D capable, or are you using a Xeon CPU?

Here's a link to all the Intel CPUs that support VT-D, check the search options on the left of the screen to confirm the seach criteria:

http://ark.intel.com/search/advanced?VTD=true http://ark.intel.com/search/advanced?VTD=true

Intel technical support is really provided here: http://www.intel.com/support/feedback.htm http://www.intel.com/support/feedback.htm

[idata]

From parsec's reply I thought the i7-920 maybe does not support VT-d but the fact that the VT-d column is missing from ARK and not a definitive 'no' is odd.

The update for anyone with this issue on the P6T series is that:

VT-d is working with an i7-920 on a Supermicro board, so this really is ASUS' BIOS problem, and ARK is not telling the complete story about VT-d with previous gen i7 processors.

I'll make a case with Intel technical support.