VMware Communities: Message List - Disable the CPUID value

Re: Disable the CPUID value

allamiro — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:24:47 GMT

I had the same problem with Dell GX520 and updating the bios will give you the ability to disable the the CPU ID limit check however after that I got a fatal error saying that

unable to find supported device to write the VMware ESX server 3i 3.5.0 image to

My device is Dell OPtiplex GX520

BIOS A11 last bios

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:00:45 GMT

See here for instructions on installing ESXi to IDE drives. It's not supported and it won't perform well, but for a test / home box it'll work fine assuming the IDE driver with ESXi will work with your MB.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

mcowger — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:49:05 GMT

IDE and PATA devices are not supported.

--Matt

Re: Disable the CPUID value

rpmahone — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:21:52 GMT

i can get past the nocheckCPUIDLimit problem, but now it says no storage device available.. i have tried this using the onboard PATA controller and now a maxtor IDE/SATA I controller... any ideas?

Re: Disable the CPUID value

rpmahone — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:21:49 GMT

background:

trying to install ESXi 3.5.0 on a DELL SC 420, added the "nocheckcpuidlimit" at boot and that got me farther into the install. now i get this message:

Unable to find a supported device towrite the VMWAre ESX server 3i 3.5.0 image to

Dell SC 420 onboard controller, deleted all volumes on HDD...

has anyone seen this or know how to fix? thanks for all your time and effort!!

-rpm-

Re: Disable the CPUID value

jlandrith — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:29:33 GMT

controllers on sc420 under esxi are:

vmhba32 8280 1fr/frw (ich6r/ich6rw) sata controller

same just with 33 and 34 after vmhba

vmhba1, same

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:21:57 GMT

If you go to Configuration \ Storage Adapters, what controller does ESXi list the system as having?
Also take a look at this thread about tweaking the memory config to get some extra memory for VMs - http://communities.vmware.com/message/1029161

Re: Disable the CPUID value

jlandrith — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:48:27 GMT

Ok just finished.

I have a SC420 built on MB controller (On MB), 146 Gi SATA Drive, and 1 Gig of Ram with Celron Processor.

ALL work just fine with bootable install of esxi on ISO (not thumb drive)

You have to follow this thread and disable the cpucheck, otherwise it works fine. Look and make sure you go into vi client and disable the CPU check there as well. DELL SC420 420 Server.

My Built in NIC worked as well.

Overall, very easy. I would add that I already have a vm running of XP on the system now, do this makes for a good basic test lab.

THANK YOU everyone who contributed. Now if I can find a low cost CPU upgrade and a bit more ram I am set. Might even see if I can get thumb drive to work someday..Ill post if I do.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:07:12 GMT

What model of SATA controller do you have?

Re: Disable the CPUID value

jlandrith — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:06:10 GMT

Ill update my own question.

1.> While the thumbdrive did not work for the Tab option, the CDROM ISO did following above instructions. Do SC420 will install if add nocpuchecklimit...during initial boot up.

--Not sure yet about local SATA Drive..

Re: Disable the CPUID value

jlandrith — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:58:18 GMT

I also have a Dell SC420.

Im using the thumbdrive to boot, the TAB trick does not work, do I need to try a CDROM bootabel?

I have an internal SATA drive, has anyone got that to work?

Last - (i know), I have a 2.8 Celron processor, should it work for testing?

Re: Disable the CPUID value

bengbrewer — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:47:50 GMT

Im trying to install the latest version of Esxi on my PowerEdge sc420. Ive done the nocheckCPUIDlimit but about 3/4 of the way through loading the iso, it crashes and is showing crazy colors with changing pixels (its like it is a video driver problem) It happens in the exact same spot every time. Anyone know of anyway to get around it?

Re: Disable the CPUID value

damin.assad — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:42:45 GMT

sorry, never read all the posts...
Jsculb's solution worked perfectly

Re: Disable the CPUID value

damin.assad — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:27:16 GMT

This topic has helped me a lot, thanks.
The only problem is that I now have to enter nocheckCPUIDLimit at every boot up.
I'm using a Dell PowerEdge, but don't have access to the limit CPUID value in the BIOS.

Is there any other way to boot VMware hypervisor without having to enter nocheckCPUIDLimit at startup?

Re: Disable the CPUID value

iXuPi — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:02:04 GMT

Thanks so much for your help. You saved me time and money and I learned something new. Much appreciated!:)

Re: Disable the CPUID value

edifyyo — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:08:50 GMT

I'm running the Promise cards with a JBOD.

However, I THINK I might have figured out my problem, but I would appreciate your confirmation (or rejection): the Promise cards support both PATA and SATA (they each have one PATA and one SATA connector), and I am using PATA hard drives on them. Looking through the ESXi installation guide again, it appears that ESXi only supports SATA drives. Is this correct? Is there any way to force the detection and use of PATA drives?

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:24:45 GMT

Are you running the Promise card with a RAID array or JBODs. With ICH / MCP controllers that support RAID via a software driver, ESX doesn't seem to support that functionality. May be the same with the Promise card.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

jsculb — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:26:28 GMT

If you were able to get the install to work with the nocheckCPUIDlimit, during the boot, hit shift o, and a screen will appear with advanced options at the bottom. Enter the nocheckCPUIDlimit and press enter, the system will boot to 3i. After boot, connect to the server using the VI client and modify advanced options, boot. There will be an option to force CPUID check. Uncheck that and apply and the server will boot without intervention.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

iXuPi — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:04:52 GMT

I have this same probelm on my Dell Precision 670. I put that string in on install and it worked great. However after ESXi gets installed when it reboots it comes up again. I do not have the option to hit tab and input that line again. So it works to get it installed but not beyond that. Any other ideas? I really don't want to have to purchase or build another machine.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

edifyyo — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:27:30 GMT

OK, the next step in the saga: I used the instructions at vm-help.net to access the tech-support console (ALT-F1) from the Installer and ran lspci. It shows my two SATA cards as "Unknown mass storage controller"s, but then correctly lists them as "Promise Technology, Inc. PDC20375 (SATA150 TX2plus)". The vendor ID and device ID of both are listed as "105a:3375".

Checking the list of supported hardware at vm-help.net shows that "105a:3375" should be natively supported. Any idea what might be wrong?

Also, there are no other "unknown" devices listed by lspci - these are the only two.

Thanks!

Nathan

Re: Disable the CPUID value

edifyyo — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:07:52 GMT

Excellent link - thanks again, Dave! In my case, I have controllers using the Promise PDC20375 chip, which that list says is supported, so I'll play aorund a bit and see if I can figure out the problem.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:50:31 GMT

Take a look here for your option - http://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/Hardware_support.php.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

edifyyo — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:45:48 GMT

Well, that's the NEXT problem - the installer didn't recognize any storage devices. I have 4 drives hooked up to two Maxtor SATA/150 PCI adapters. I'm going to try connecting 2 of them directly to the motherboard tomorrow, but this does put a bit of a damper on my plans.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:41:29 GMT

Glad it worked for you. Did the setting make it through to booting ESXi after the install as well? Also what SATA controller does the system have?

Re: Disable the CPUID value

edifyyo — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:31:14 GMT

Dave, YOU ARE THE MAN! This worked! The solution is:

At the initial bootloader screen (when booting from the ISO), press TAB to edit the boot options
Hold down the left-arrow key to move the cursor back to the beginning of the boot options, and add "nocheckCPUIDLimit" right after "vmkernel.gz", so that the first part of the boot options BEFORE the first "---" reads: "mboot.c32 vmkernel.gz nocheckCPUIDLimit ---"
Press ENTER.

Voila! The Installer will load successfully.

Thanks very much!

Nathan Lee

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:08:14 GMT

You should just type it in as is - no hypens, etc.

The switches will work for both ESXi when installing or running it. The vmkerel is the same for both. The difference between the boot options for installing and running in the addition of -- install.tgz as a boot option. I'm don't beleive shift-o works anymore - it was part of the better but removed from the final release.

Re: Disable the CPUID value

edifyyo — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:59:25 GMT

Dave, Thanks for the suggestion - I did a little digging and found the blog post at ntpro.nl you pulled this from: http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/233-ESX-3i-Boot-Options.html

However, I'm unable to figure out where/when in the ESXi iso boot process, if at all, I can enter this value. Any idea exactly what to do with this?

At the initial boot screen from the ISO you can press TAB to enter boot options; however, these appear to be nothing more than the list of .tgz files for the bootloader to process (and in what order) - I tried tacking "nocheckCPUIDLimit" onto the end of this (no effect), and at the beginning ("Panic! Cannot load "nocheckCPUIDLimit", then it returns to the initial boot screen).

The instructions on ntpro.nl (for ESX 3i) says that if you press SHIFT-O "during the bootstrap you can put in additional commands", and says this is done "during initial startup." I wonder if this only applies after you have already installed ESX, rather than during the installation process from the CD?

Thanks very much!

Nathan

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Jasemccarty — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:24:25 GMT

Where the heck did you find that?

I guess you would enter it as a command line option in the boot up of ESXi?

I found the thread... Cool!

Jase McCarty
http://www.jasemccarty.com
Co-Author of VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center
(ISBN:1420070274) from Auerbach

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:50:41 GMT

You don't regularly peruse the vmkernel with a hex editor? Neither do I

Originally was posted on ntpro.nl. Here's the update 2 list - a few have been added like the noforce36BitMTRRMask.

maxPCPUS serialPort overrideSerialPortAddr baudRate fakeNUMAnodes cpuCellSize netNumPortsets netNumGPBuffers netMaxPCPUPktCacheSize netPktNumSlabSizes netPktHeapMinSize netPktHeapMaxSize storageHeapMinSize storageHeapMaxSize passthruMem BOOTIF BOOTUUID clockMultiplierMayVaryPerNode memmapMaxPhysicalMemMB acpiDbgLevel nouseNUMAInfo nompsIntRouting noforceCRS noforce36BitMTRRMask noACPI noexecutePOST nopageSharing nomemCheckEveryWord nohyperthreading nologicalApicId nodumpDiag norealNMI nologOnScreen nonetESX2LegacyMode nonetPktBufUseSlab nonetPanicBadDevOpen nonetUseProc nonetUseMemcpyNt nonetNetqueueEnabled noioapic nopassthruEnabled novga64 nosmallFontForTTY noauditMode notechSupportMode norollback nofsCheck nousbBoot nouwSwap nooem nobusSpeedMayVary noclockMultiplierMayVary noassumeCommonBusClock noassumePerNodeBusClock nobusSpeedMayVaryPerNode notimerEnableTSC notimerForceTSC notimerEnableHPET notimerEnableACPI notimerEnableMPMC nomemmapStressHighBitMPNs nopanicOnVmkernelAbort noconsole noxapicAMDDetect noxapicForce nocheckCPUIDLimit novmkKeyboard novmkTerminals nouseTSCForCPUHz nodebugBreak nologSynchronous nofastHzEstimate buddyPhysicalMemoryDebugStruct noclockMultiplierMayVaryPerNode nobuddyPhysicalMemoryDebugStruct

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Dave.Mishchenko — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:21:55 GMT

Try this option - nocheckCPUIDLimit

Re: Disable the CPUID value

edifyyo — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:00:49 GMT

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I am running the latest BIOS for the 420 (A02) - there is no option to configure the CPU ID.

Is there a way configure the boot options, when booting the ISO, to have it ignore the CPU ID?

Thanks!

Nathan

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Jasemccarty — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:50:31 GMT

Not sure if this will help you, but here are the links to the bioses for the SC420:

http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/sc420a00.exe
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/sc420a01.exe
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/sc420a02.exe

Jase McCarty
http://www.jasemccarty.com
Co-Author of VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center
(ISBN:1420070274) from Auerbach

Re: Disable the CPUID value

Jasemccarty — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:46:15 GMT

If you are going to whack this box anyway, I'd start by rolling back the bios to different versions:

Here are the links for the Dell Precision 670 bioses from A00 to A07:
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/WS670A00.EXE
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/WS670A01.EXE
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/WS670A02.EXE
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/WS670A03.EXE
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/WS670A04.EXE
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/WS670A05.EXE
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/WS670A06.EXE
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/WS670A07.EXE

Jase McCarty
http://www.jasemccarty.com
Co-Author of VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center
(ISBN:1420070274) from Auerbach

Re: Disable the CPUID value

edifyyo — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:39:25 GMT

I am having exactly the same problem, but with a Dell SC420. A solution to this will make my day!

Re: Disable the CPUID value

jp500 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:54:10 GMT

Lamw,

Thanks for responding.

I should have been a bit clearer in my post. The error occurs during the ThinEX install process and so I can't actually install ESXi.

I'm hoping there is some alternative install switch or configuration.

Thanks again,

Joe

Re: Disable the CPUID value

lamw — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:16:53 GMT

I've never played with this option, but it means that you've exposed some of the NX/ND bits to your VM and you'll need to verify that your VM and application still functions when you revert this change, to really figure out what gets changed, I would backup your VM's .vmx configuration file, then go to your VM through VIC or VC and click on edit-settings->Options->CPUID Mask and I assume it probably says expose NX flag, so you'll need to disable that and verify that your VM is still functional and the application works. Once you've changed it, I don't know if it requires a reboot or not, but make another copy of your VM .vmx file and compare the changes, if it's a simple line like guiestCPUID = "blah" then you can automate the process, but be careful about making these changes until you're positive, if not you can always do it via the GUI.

Disable the CPUID value

jp500 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:49:50 GMT

I'm playing with VMware ESXi Update 2 on a Dell Precision 670 (not supported, I know). During the initial installation I received an error message that states I need to Disable the CPUID value or enable legacy OS support.

Many other workstations have this ability in the BIOS, but not the 670. I'm running the latest BIOS, version A07.

Does anyone know of another way to accomplish this? Any config files, install options, etc? Am I just out of luck?

Thanks,

Joe