Run Linux as main OS, stream Windows to Linux for gaming


dadavid

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Hi all

Currently I'm using Windows 10 only. I game a lot and I code a lot. I always wanted to switch to Linux for the coding part and staying on Windows for the gaming part. But the hassle of a normal dual boot was always to much for me. So I kept Windows. 

 

But now i heard about unRAID. So my idea would be to run Linux on 2 Threads as my main OS and Windows would run on the remaining 6 Threads. If i want to game, i would use something like NoMachine to stream the Windows content to the Linux machine.

I read about the hibernate functions of unRAID. But I would prefer to use Windows only for gaming. For instance, I could still use the Browser on Linux while gaming etc...

I have a dual Monitor setup, so i would use TeamSpeak etc. on Linux. 

 

Has somebody ever done something like this? Would it be feasible? Would it be possible to dynamically allocate cores between Linux and Windows? Is there something better than NoMachine? Is NoMachine good enough to use it for gaming?

 

Here are my current system specs:

i7-6700k

16GB ram

2x GTX970 (I did that because I thought SLI would be better than a 980. But maybe it wasn't that bad if I use unRAID now^^)

2x 128GB SATA SSd

2x 1TB HDD

 

David

 

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What you're proposing is probably possible (not sure about NoMachine), though your motherboard needs to support pass-through and you'll want more memory.  That said, please keep in mind that unRAID isn't strictly a hypervisor.  It's an operating system and will need system resources itself - RAM, CPU cycles, and a GPU.

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/21/2017 at 11:30 AM, dadavid said:

So my idea would be to run Linux on 2 Threads as my main OS and Windows would run on the remaining 6 Threads. If i want to game, i would use something like NoMachine to stream the Windows content to the Linux machine.

~~~

i7-6700k

16GB ram

 

For gaming and having another VM on the side, it might be tight depending on the games you want to play. Also, I don't understand why you wouldn't just play the game in the WindowsVM directly?  Single monitor setup but if you wanted to pass graphics cards to each VM (assuming I'm reading this correctly)? And assuming the monitor has multiple inputs (okay now I'm dangerous territory:double-assumption), you could use the input switch on monitor between the two? 

 

If I was to do it, I'd shoot for:

WindowsVM: 

2 cores + their HT's ==> 4 vCPU's

8GB of RAM provisioned

 

LinuxVM:

1 core + it's HT ==> 2 vCPU

2-4GB of ram provisioned

 

unR Host:

(The rest.)

 

Quote

Would it be possible to dynamically allocate cores between Linux and Windows? 

Nope, number of cores your VM has is parameter defined at it's execution (hence the cool templates in webgui :) .

 

Your way will be good for WindowsVM, but I'm not sure how pleased you might be with your LinuxVM performance. Give it either/both a shot though. I suspect you'll be longing for more RAM. Also, you might need to dump the ROM for your graphics card, although looking for the link it appears there is another way to do it (at the time I setup my vm I had to dump my graphics card rom).  I guess, if I have a point, treat it like a programming project: 

  • Hello world ==> just a simple vm
  • add a feature  ==> more provisioning.
  • n+1  ==> gfx card working or second VM at same time.
  • n++  ==> Other previous undone option
  • tweak it and play :)

That's my, two cents.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you for your reply

 

At around the time i posted here first, I got a new laptop. So I installed there Arch and played with it for a month or so. And I have to say, Linux just isn't my world. I tried Ubuntu and co a couples of years earlier. I like the idea of Linux. But Windows has the advantage that i know it well and (that counts more for me) it just works for the most part. I don't have to write multiple dot-files and bash scripts. I admit, Arch isn't the best choice if you don't want to write your own stuff^^

 

But yeah, Linux is out of focus for the immediate future, I guess.

 

That's the reason this project died.

 

David

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11 minutes ago, dadavid said:

Thank you for your reply

 

At around the time i posted here first, I got a new laptop. So I installed there Arch and played with it for a month or so. And I have to say, Linux just isn't my world. I tried Ubuntu and co a couples of years earlier. I like the idea of Linux. But Windows has the advantage that i know it well and (that counts more for me) it just works for the most part. I don't have to write multiple dot-files and bash scripts. I admit, Arch isn't the best choice if you don't want to write your own stuff^^

 

But yeah, Linux is out of focus for the immediate future, I guess.

 

That's the reason this project died.

 

David

 

Yeah, I tried to switch to Linux a few times unsuccessfully but have managed to do so now, but it takes a good couple of months to get even remotely comfortable and those two months aren't easy, finding new ways to do things you used to do without thinking, if you persevere it gets easier and I've now been running solely Linux on my desktop for well over a year and find Windows uncomfortable and unfamiliar now when I have to use it.  Personally I wouldn't go back to Windows, but it's taken a while to get to that point.

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9 minutes ago, dadavid said:

I'm sure, i will keep trying it in the future. May be, I will stick to it at some point. But at the moment, the motivation is just gone..^^

 

Yeah motivation is an absolute prerequisite.  For me I was dual booting for a while, which doesn't really work, as I just found myself booting into Windows any time stuff got tricky, then Microsoft pushed a Windows update which buggered my dual booting setup and in protest I formatted my drive and only installed Linux and I was determined not to go back to Windows.

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13 hours ago, CHBMB said:

For me I was dual booting for a while

i'm on Ubuntu as my main daily desktop for years, and i run VMWare Workstation with Windows 10 VM just in case. VM is running all the time, and it consume no significant resources when idle. so it just sits on my Ubuntu as additional App :)

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I don't game, but I'm not a coder either. I do a lot of web research in FF chrome and Opera. I spend significant time behind the gfw of China requiring shadowsocks and VPN for access to the Western web.

What made you want to switch to Linux? It's better for coders but not so good for gamers. I'm neither.

I have an unRaid server with 64gb ram and a e5-2670 with 16 cores. I use Windows VM via RDP. My main desktop is a laptop with 8gb ram.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

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Just now, tr0910 said:

I don't game, but I'm not a coder either. I do a lot of web research in FF chrome and Opera. I spend significant time behind the gfw of China requiring shadowsocks and VPN for access to the Western web.

What made you want to switch to Linux? It's better for coders but not so good for gamers. I'm neither.

I have an unRaid server with 64gb ram and a e5-2670 with 16 cores. I use Windows VM via RDP. My main desktop is a laptop with 8gb ram.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

 

I got really annoyed by the fact that Windows 10 had telemetry, and we're paying Microsoft to collect data about us.  I was also getting more into using Unraid and figured using Linux on my desktop would help me learn.

 

I like the variety of desktop environments, the variety of package managers and feels of the different distros, the freedom to choose what data I share, and I love the stability of it.

 

Would I go back to Windows?  A resolute No.

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21 minutes ago, CHBMB said:

 

I got really annoyed by the fact that Windows 10 had telemetry, and we're paying Microsoft to collect data about us.  I was also getting more into using Unraid and figured using Linux on my desktop would help me learn.

 

I like the variety of desktop environments, the variety of package managers and feels of the different distros, the freedom to choose what data I share, and I love the stability of it.

 

Would I go back to Windows?  A resolute No.

I was seconds away from creating my first Linux VM yesterday - which would you recommend for a newbie?

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On 1/31/2018 at 10:40 AM, dadavid said:

But yeah, Linux is out of focus for the immediate future, I guess.

I've hit this wall numerous times, first time back in '98. Still bashing my head against desk on Linux stuff, so I know how it goes.  If it still peaks the fundamentals of your interests,  perhaps running a Linux distro (Ubuntu, MInt, something similar) in Oracle's Virtualbox for Windows might be the thing, just so you can play with it from time to time in a sandbox, just keeping asking the question, "Okay, so how do I do X, or how does it break down into manageable pieces I can troubleshoot through?"

 

Any how, good luck to you Sir.

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1 hour ago, DZMM said:

yeah - I'd come to that conclusion as well.  installing now to pop my cherry...

 

Consider Arch. It's going to be a major pain in the arse so it won't be useful workstation, initially, BUT because everything is done manually it makes for a great learning lab on all the Linux system bits that other distros do for you. My Arch VM has been rage-quit, table-flip so many times over frustration, but every-other time I try I feel I pick up something more. Will note the Arch community is fairly hardcore, so you're in "RTFM land," for any basic level questions on setup/configuration. And no, I haven't successfully installed Arch yet, got close once or twice -- haven't figured out how setup the boot-loader yet. :D

Edited by Jcloud
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3 hours ago, CHBMB said:

I got really annoyed by the fact that Windows 10 had telemetry, and we're paying Microsoft to collect data about us.

 

I too didn't like it, eventually moved to it on my VM's because I need to learn more of it for my job, also some internal bits with VMs and Windows drivers actually work better in W10 versus Win8.  FYI: You can install Windows 10 without a product key; you can use 98% of Windows 10 functionality without activating it - no time limit (did this for a while on some VMs); last if you have a retail or OEM product key of Windows 7 or 8 (which you haven't abused on 10 other systems already) you can use those keys to activate Windows 10 (might have to call their 800#, just can't use these product keys in the Installer phase).

 

Quote

you can use those keys to activate Windows 10 (might have to call their 800#, just can't use these product keys in the Installer phase).

This is also bending, very badly, the spirit of Window licensing model. 

Edited by Jcloud
I should really learn how to multi-pass/quote.
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On 2/1/2018 at 11:33 PM, Jcloud said:

I've hit this wall numerous times, first time back in '98. Still bashing my head against desk on Linux stuff, so I know how it goes.  If it still peaks the fundamentals of your interests,  perhaps running a Linux distro (Ubuntu, MInt, something similar) in Oracle's Virtualbox for Windows might be the thing, just so you can play with it from time to time in a sandbox, just keeping asking the question, "Okay, so how do I do X, or how does it break down into manageable pieces I can troubleshoot through?"

 

Any how, good luck to you Sir.

 

Yeah, I'm still interested in it and I'm doing that. I just used Kali-Linux in a VM to play with my phone... 8)

 

But the problem is, I'm studying aviation and we use a lot of tools that only work on Windows. And the other Problem is, I can't really write the stuff i have to. Because every other Person is using Word. I mean, LibreOffice does work, but it is always a pain in the ass if you pair it with Word..

 

On 2/1/2018 at 11:50 PM, Jcloud said:

 

Consider Arch. It's going to be a major pain in the arse so it won't be useful workstation, initially, BUT because everything is done manually it makes for a great learning lab on all the Linux system bits that other distros do for you. My Arch VM has been rage-quit, table-flip so many times over frustration, but every-other time I try I feel I pick up something more. Will note the Arch community is fairly hardcore, so you're in "RTFM land," for any basic level questions on setup/configuration. And no, I haven't successfully installed Arch yet, got close once or twice -- haven't figured out how setup the boot-loader yet. :D

 

check that out: 

 

 

It helped me a lot with that problem...

Edited by dadavid
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6 hours ago, dadavid said:

check that out: 

Thanks for the video I'll have to check it out. Actually got Arch installed a day or two after my post some quarky bits efi partition -- I was trying to do 1MB minium, but thanks to the 10K sectors I was getting not enough space, so it got a stupid amount of space and it worked.

 

Have fun with Aviation that sounds more interesting than my work.

 

Good day.

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One way to get more used to Unix is to use the Ubuntu Bash sub-system for Windows.  You can install this on Windows 10 and it can do a lot of the things that you can do in Linux in a terminal window.  It can be very useful for running code that is written for Linux in languages like Python.  It is kind of like Linux with Windows training wheels.

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One way to get more used to Unix is to use the Ubuntu Bash sub-system for Windows.  You can install this on Windows 10 and it can do a lot of the things that you can do in Linux in a terminal window.  It can be very useful for running code that is written for Linux in languages like Python.  It is kind of like Linux with Windows training wheels.
It's like a deformed love child of Gates and Torvalds if you ask me....

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

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MS is moving forward on a few things to make Windows more Linux-friendly.  In addition to the Bash prompt the latest edition has beta versions of ssh - both client and server.  This ssh server seems to have lots of issues, but ssh client works very well and negates the need for using Putty.  And you can set up auth keys to facilitate logins.  Mind you this is less needed with unRAID since we now have the terminal within the web UI.

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I've bin using Linux as my main desk top since Ubuntu 7.4.

I would call my self a desk top user.Maybe a advanced user at best.

If your new to linux desktops I would suggest you use a full desktop environment.

Like Gnome , MATE,Cinnamon or KDE.

I miss Gnome 2 now  MATE

Using Linux Mint Cinnamon.

 

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