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Ken18195
Contributor
Contributor

Running 64 Bit OS in VMWorkstation 6.5 - EM64T VT

Hi, Just thought I'd pass this comment on to folks in hopes of saving some time. In order to run 64 Bit OS's under VMWorkstation (either 32 or 64 Bit) your processor, BIOS, Motherboard, etc. has to support both EM64T and VT. VT standard for Virtualization Technology. It's code name was Vanderpool. I believe it's a newer name than EM64T. The following is my experience on an ASUS P5E-VM HDMI motherboard with 8 Gig of Memory and AMI BIOS 0604. I'm running Vista x64 SP1 as the base OS (I.e. VMWorkstation is running in this OS). I was able to duplicate the results with Vista x32 as the base OS. VMWorkstation was capable of running 64 Bit Apps (I.e. ESXi 3.5) when using an Intel E6600 (dual core) Processor. However, VMWorkstation was not capable of running 64 Bit Apps (again ESXi) when using an Intel Q8200 (quad core) processor. Intel shows both processors supporting EM64T. However, I believe only the E6600 supports VT. There are no specific settings referring to EM64T, VT or Vanderpool in the latest AMI BIOS ver 0604 for the motherboard. All BIOS settings were default. The problem I was encountering "followed the CPU" when I switched the CPU's between two PCs, thus I'm pretty sure its the CPU.

Anyway, the error In VMWorkstation that I was getting with the Q8200 was "This host is not capable of hardware virtualization, using software virtualization instead". The Software Virtualization was so slow that I could barely log into the VM once it "finally" loaded. It was quite "Zippy" with the E6600 CPU. VMware has a utility that checks for compatibility at . This utility doesn't need VMware to run.

I think the above is all correct (ASUS hasn't gotten back to me) and I hope I save someone else from buying the wrong processor for VMWorkstation if they intend to load 64 bit VMs. The only other thing I can think of is that the BIOS on both of my Motherboards doesn't set up EM64T VT on the Quad processor correctly. I haven't found anything on the INTEL or ASUS sites about this.

Just as an added curiosity, I was able to run ESXi 3.5 natively on the ASUS P5E VM HDMI motherboard with the Q8200 processor as long as I added an Intel Enet card (PCI Pro/1000 GT Adapter) that uses the e1000 device driver. (My home playground machine for learning).

Ken

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Lawrence
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Search for running ESX under workstation or check out the Xtravirt whitepapers on the topic. Basically, ESX3.5 requires large page support (gets huge speed improvement). To run ESX 3.5 under Workstation 6.5 you need a CPU that supports large pages. So early 64-bit CPUs - no go, more recent CPUs (ie one- year old or so) or quad-cores - generally OK

So what you are runing into is NOT an issue of 64-bit. IT has to due to what ESX 3.5 is looking for in terms of CPU support.

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Iwan_Rahabok
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Thanks for sharing.

I have Q8200. This chip does not support VT.

The Q6600 supports VT.

These links statesit clearly. It provides the info:

http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number/chart/core2quad.htm

This link is misleading. It gives the impression that Q8200 does support VT:

HTH for all.

e1
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natedev
Contributor
Contributor

This link suggests EM64T is supported by the Q8200 (with the caveat that the chipset and BIOS have to support EM64T as well):

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLG9S

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

See for a utility that you can run to determine if your host supports VT-x and if VT-x is properly enabled and locked by the BIOS.

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vinlata
Contributor
Contributor

thanks for the tips Ken18195, question is what you and me are going to do with that q8200 cpu? man, I got it on sale and made mistake didn't check if it support virtualization!

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CrazyEnigma
Contributor
Contributor

We are experiencing a similar problem. We encountered the Q8200 chipset, 4GB on Window XP 64-bit, and we are running VMs in a VMWare Workstation environment. We are also running into problems with running multiple VMs. Not too sure if VT is the primary cause of this or if it is disk I/O.

Does anyone know whether VT or I/O is the major problem?

In comparison between ESX and Workstation and the Q8200 and a chip with VT. ESX seems to require VT. Whereas, we find similar performance in Workstation - with or without VT. Can anyone confirm this?

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

In normal conditions a ESX(i) VM should outrun a WS VM.

If it does not I would check your ESX(i) setup.

Nobody here knows the specs of your VMs. So we can't give good answers here.

I would say that VT is not a big variable in judging performance.

Some VMs must have VT - so there is no question at all.

For those VMs that "can make use of VT" but where it is no "must have" I doubt if it makes a big significant difference

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