Synopsis

xenpv-win bug fix update

Type/Severity

Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

An updated xenpv-win package that fixes various bugs is now available for Red
Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Description

The xenpv-win package contains installation images for para-virtualized drivers
for guests running Windows XP or later on Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts.
Para-virtualized drivers provide significant network and disk I/O performance
improvements for fully virtualized guests over the same guests running with
fully virtualized drivers.

This updated package provides CD-ROM images containing the para-virtualized
network and disk drivers for instances of Windows XP or later, running on a Red
Hat Enterprise Linux host.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Due to different requirements imposed by Linux and Windows on the
  implementation of checksum offloading, Windows Server 2003 guests running with
  para-virtualized drivers previously experienced many TCP retransmissions and
  showed poor network performance. With this update, checksum offloading has been
  disabled in the drivers and TCP sessions on Windows Server 2003 guests no longer
  exhibit problematic behavior. (BZ#718329)
  
• Previously, the para-virtualized Xen network driver did not report when it
  consumed packets. As a result, when using traffic control on virtual networks,
  Windows virtual machines dropped packets. Now, the driver correctly implements
  the "rx-notify" feature, packet consumption is reported promptly to the network
  back end running on domain 0, and traffic control does not cause unexpected
  packet drops. (BZ#697999)
  
• Para-virtualized Xen drives did not handle properly the "MODE SENSE" command.
  Consequently, Windows guests failed to initialize a mirror or a striped dynamic
  volume that included a para-virtualized Xen drive, leaving the volume in a
  failed state. With this update, the "MODE SENSE" command implementation has been
  fixed and dynamic volumes now work properly with para-virtualized Xen drives.
  (BZ#692961)
  
• A variable was not reset to NULL when Windows XP sent a ScsiStopAdapter
  control message to the RHELSCSI driver. Consequently, when running the debug
  version of the drivers on Windows XP, an assertion failure was reported during
  hibernation. Now, the stored device extension is reset to NULL when the adapter
  is stopped and the assertion failure no longer occurs. (BZ#685049)
  
• Previously, Windows guests did not acknowledge the "xm shutdown -H" command
  run from a host. Consequently, attempting to turn off a Windows virtual machine
  with "xm shutdown -H" failed. Furthermore, it prevented "xm shutdown" from
  working until the virtual machine was rebooted. Now, the para-virtualized Xen
  network driver triggers a shutdown of a virtual machine when "xm shutdown -H" is
  sent, thus fixing this bug. (BZ#725342)
  
• Due to different requirements imposed by Linux and Windows on the
  implementation of checksum offloading, Windows guests running with
  para-virtualized drivers were unable to communicate with other guests running on
  the same host. With this update, checksum offloading has been disabled in the
  drivers and communication between Windows guests running on the same host now
  works correctly. (BZ#657540)
  
• Para-virtualized Xen drives did not handle properly the "READ CAPACITY(16)"
  command. Consequently, the "SCSI compliance test" in the Windows Logo Kit
  failed. Now, the "READ CAPACITY(16)" command implementation has been fixed and
  the compliance tests for it no longer fail.
  

Note that this bug does not cause any known problem in normal operation.
(BZ#734813)

All users of xenpv-win are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which
fixes these bugs.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously-released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to
use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
https://access.redhat.com/kb/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 657540 - xenpv-win net driver can not do tcp with other guests on the same hyperhost.
• BZ - 685049 - XP-32 get BSOD when run "Plug and Play Driver Test" for BLK WHQL testing
• BZ - 692961 - Windows PV driver does not work with software raid
• BZ - 725342 - xm shutdown -H option dose not work for windows hvm guest

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5

SRPM
x86_64
xenpv-win-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: c9a373318bb32dd09ed5af8d902955bc4a1bebc2ff269da33876f31c5f19419c
xenpv-win-debug-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: 333790f2d8947d8f45d82b67cccae9c675b16ffc016ae4704767ea7240188286
i386
xenpv-win-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: c9a373318bb32dd09ed5af8d902955bc4a1bebc2ff269da33876f31c5f19419c
xenpv-win-debug-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: 333790f2d8947d8f45d82b67cccae9c675b16ffc016ae4704767ea7240188286

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5

SRPM
x86_64
xenpv-win-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: c9a373318bb32dd09ed5af8d902955bc4a1bebc2ff269da33876f31c5f19419c
xenpv-win-debug-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: 333790f2d8947d8f45d82b67cccae9c675b16ffc016ae4704767ea7240188286
i386
xenpv-win-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: c9a373318bb32dd09ed5af8d902955bc4a1bebc2ff269da33876f31c5f19419c
xenpv-win-debug-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: 333790f2d8947d8f45d82b67cccae9c675b16ffc016ae4704767ea7240188286

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5

SRPM
x86_64
xenpv-win-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: c9a373318bb32dd09ed5af8d902955bc4a1bebc2ff269da33876f31c5f19419c
xenpv-win-debug-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: 333790f2d8947d8f45d82b67cccae9c675b16ffc016ae4704767ea7240188286
i386
xenpv-win-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: c9a373318bb32dd09ed5af8d902955bc4a1bebc2ff269da33876f31c5f19419c
xenpv-win-debug-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: 333790f2d8947d8f45d82b67cccae9c675b16ffc016ae4704767ea7240188286

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5

SRPM
x86_64
xenpv-win-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: c9a373318bb32dd09ed5af8d902955bc4a1bebc2ff269da33876f31c5f19419c
xenpv-win-debug-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: 333790f2d8947d8f45d82b67cccae9c675b16ffc016ae4704767ea7240188286
i386
xenpv-win-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: c9a373318bb32dd09ed5af8d902955bc4a1bebc2ff269da33876f31c5f19419c
xenpv-win-debug-1.3.12-3.el5.noarch.rpm	SHA-256: 333790f2d8947d8f45d82b67cccae9c675b16ffc016ae4704767ea7240188286