Esxi 4.0 on Dell 1850 This host does not support VT. You have configured this virtual machine to use a 64-bit guest operating system.

[josephro]

Hi there,

I have in data-center 3 Dell 1850, identical hardware configurations. I have installed Esxi 4.0 using dell custom ISO from Wmware website. It installed successfully on all servers, with no errors at all. I have updated them all to the last build, using VMware vSphere Client. I have a problem with one of the server when I want to use 64 bits machines, it reports: This host does not support VT. You have configured this virtual machine to use a 64-bit guest operating system. However, this host is not capable of running 64-bit virtual machines or this virtual machine has 64-bit support disabled. For more detailed information, see http://www.vmware.com/info?id=152. I don't understand why I got this, the servers are identical, the BIOS versions, firmware and all updates are the same.There is also a warning in configuration tab, on the health status link.

Thanks in advance for any helpful hint.

[J1mbo]

This might help. Enable VT and disable DBS in the BIOS, according to the Dell guide.

Please award points to any useful answer.

[admin]

Please post a vmware.log file from the 64-bit guest that failed to boot.

[josephro]

This is the message from the server:

Message from curly.mydomain.com: This host does not support VT. You have

configured this virtual machine to use a 64-bit guest operating system.

However, this host is not capable of running 64-bit virtual machines or

this virtual machine has 64-bit support disabled. For more detailed

information, see http://www.vmware.com/info?id=152

I manage to import a machine with Solaris 10 x64 but it runs in 32 bits mode. I also tried to migrate to this server, using Vmware Converter, a generic x64 machine and Vmware Converter says that the server doesn't support x64 machines.

[josephro]

There is no VT and DBS setting in BIOS. I downloaded Dell OpenManage, but it is first time I use it, so I'm hopping to find some settings using it.

[DSTAVERT]

You can run ESXi4 but without VT it will NOT support 64 bit Guests. END of story.

[byoung111]

Once you get openmanage working, expand "Main System Chasis" then click on Processors. Click on one of your processors, and you will see the attributes.

Attributes	Capable	Enabled
64-bit Support	Yes	Not Applicable
HyperThreading(HT)	No	No
Virtualization Technology(VT)	Yes	Yes
Demand Based Switching(DBS)	Yes	No
Execute Disable(XD)	Yes	Yes
Turbo Mode	No	No

|

If you need to change your VT, click on BIOS, click on the setup tab. Click on Processor Virtualization Technology. Enable VT, apply your changes, and reboot your server.

[admin]

Please post the entire vmware.log file.

[josephro]

As I said before, I have 3 IDENTICAL servers, DELL 1850. Two of them are working perfect with 64-bits guest OS. I said that I haven't found the VT option in BIOS settings. The Bios is very light, not so much options to choose from.

[DSTAVERT]

Are the processors identical across the three servers. Same versions in each. The processor must support VT. Earlier models of the 1850 may have had non VT capable processors. J1mbo posted a link to a Dell document.

[admin]

You might be running afoul of Intel erratum AW67 or AV69, depending on your processor. However, I can't tell without seeing the entire vmware.log file.

[josephro]

This is the log file downloaded from server.

[admin]

Unfortunately, that's not the log file I need. I need the vmware.log file for the VM itself.

Why don't we just skip a step and assume that this is a case of Intel erratum AW67 or AV69? In that case, I would tell you that the solution is a microcode patch, which would normally be provided as a BIOS update from your system vendor. Can you check to see if a more recent BIOS update is available?

[josephro]

That's the problem...the servers are identical. The version of BIOS is A6. It's true that the last one is A7, but if all of them have A6, why only this one has this problem.

I'm sorry for wrong log file, I guess I missunderstood the question. Tomorrow I'll patch the BIOS, but there is a very strange situation, having 3 servers identical hardware, identical firmware and BIOS and only one with this problem.

I check-ed the ID of processor for servers and all are the same F0034

[admin]

Something about the one server must be different. Based on the messages you posted previously, this server is reporting that it does not support VT. Assuming that all three servers have identical processors, this one should support VT. One possible consequence of errata AW67 and AV69 is that the processor may report that it does not support VT (and many other features as well), when in fact it does. I'm not entirely sure what can trigger these errata, but I believe it has something to do with power management within the BIOS. You said that the BIOS settings are limited for these machines, but are all available BIOS settings (particularly those related to power management) identical?

[josephro]

Thank you for your very quick answer ! I've checked ALL the BIOS settings for two servers (one that works and the one that is not working) and all the settings are the same. Tomorrow I'll patch de BIOS and maybe I get lucky !

[josephro]

I have updated the server to BIOS version A07, the lsat version of BIOS on DELL website. There is NO GO with x84 machines. I have attached some print screens from VS client. I gave no idea what to do next ( if there is smth that it can be done)

[DSTAVERT]

One screen shot shows a memory alert. Anything about memory arrangement that could prevent VT? (ram chips not populated equally ???) Just asking.

Did you download the vmware processor check utility?

[admin]

See . Though this is aimed at hosted products, you can still boot the ISO and get some useful information. Meanwhile, if you can upload a vmware.log file from a failing VM, I'll take a look at that.

[admin]

I'm not sure that these CPUs are supposed to support VT. What 64-bit guests are you running on the other two? Can I also see a vmware.log file from a 64-bit guest that works?