I was trying to decide if I should make this a thread in the OS or Linux forum or "something else". That something else being an article or blog. Well since I don't think I'll be updating it nearly often enough to keep anybody's interest as a thread I'm going with blog entry. I'm expecting this to take...well if I'm still updating this two years from now I won't be the least bit surprised. I could always convert it to a thread later.

I should mention I have installed Linux a whole bunch of times, and used lesser VMs like VirtualBox but have never really started from scratch with Xen.

The idea for project is to convert over entirely from Windows to Linux. I'll be utilizing a compatibility layer for games and anything else using the gaming vitualization guide in the OS forum.

The added little wrinkle to this is that I am using a Sager NP9370 "gaming laptop". This includes a 680m video card (two video outputs), three hard drives and lot of stuff connected to USB 3 ports (and a USB 3 hub). Two monitor are connected directly to the laptop then I have a USB 3 video adapter for a third card.

The first question is whether the Xen VM will even run on this laptop/with this kind of video card. Or that matter will there be any difficulty running Linux on the laptop generally speaking.

I actually have so other projects I have to get done that really rely on windows so I can't just wipe my hard drives and start this immediately.I have to take it very, very slowly. Experiment along the way, find out what I need to find out. And document everything of course.

As kind of an alpha test I was going to use my old desktop (i7, 16 gigs RAM) with my old 5870 video card to go through the process of installing the Xen gaming virtual machine first. Then once I had an idea of what it worked use a separate hard drive to experiment with the Sager.

Laptop harddware specs: Sager NP9370 - Gaming Laptop (Clevo P370EM) (Click to show)
 
  • Display: 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED AntiGlare Screen (1920x1080) (SKU S1X506)
  • Processor: Sager 3rd Generation Intel Ivy Bridge Core i73630QM (2.4GHz 3.4GHz, 6MB Intel Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – S2R174)
  • Graphics Video Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 680M 4,096MB PCIExpress GDDR5 DX11 [User Upgradeable] (SKU S3R707)
  • Ram: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (SKU S4S822AP)
  • Primary Hard Drive: 1,000GB [1TB] 5400RPM [SerialATA II 3GB/s] (SKU S5R353)
  • Second Hard Drive: 1,000GB [1TB] 5400RPM [SerialATA II 3GB/s] (SKU S6R353)
  • External USB Optical Drive: NO External USB Optical Drive
  • Memory Card Reader: Internal 9in1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
  • 802.11 Wireless B/G/N Wireless Card + Bluetooth
  • Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
  • Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio Included
  • Battery: Smart Liion Battery (8Cell)

Purchased separately:
  • Also Intel 335 series 240gig SSD
  • Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930