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jcck20007
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

ESX 3.5 not installing 64bit OS

I'm trying to install Long server 64-bit on ESX 3.5 and it eorrs out at the beginning of the install stating that the processor is not 64-bit.

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause... File: \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe Status: 0xc000035a Info: Attempting to load a 64-bit application, however this CPU is not compatible with 64-bit mode."

I'm installing on a Dell Intel Dual-Core Xeon processors and 6GB of memory. Here are the basic VM settings:

I am sure its 64bit compatiable because I had installed Windows server 2003 64bit as the base OS before on this system (straight install not on a VM)

Host memory Memory: 6GB

Host type : Dell PowerEdge 2850

Processor, Xeon 3.0 Ghz 800Mhz bus and 2MB Cache on each

CPUs: 2

Floppy/CD: Client Device ISO file

Network: VM Network Device

SCSI Controller: Dell PERC 4Di Logic

Guest OS: Microsoft Windows server 2008 RC1 64bit

does this mean i have to make some modification on the BIOS, I checked but didnt see anything there to configure

thanks

J

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi,

You need to enable VT in the bios in order to support 64 bits VMs on an intel processor followed up by a cold (unplug power) reboot.

Just shutting down is likely not to be sufficient.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership

power down your machine and boot into the BIOS, enter advanced properties and in there should be a setting along the lines of Enable VT Extentions. do so, exit out of the BIOS remembering to save and reboot ESX. you will now be able to install 64Bit Guests.

Tom Howarth

VMware Communities User Moderator

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
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notorious_bdg
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I don't believe that the 2850 has BIOS support for VT, so you won't be able to run 64-bit VMs.

TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership

my bad, I misread the orignial post, you are correct the 2900 was the first Dell to support VT extensions. the 2850 does not support VT extensions and as such is not able to run 64Bit Guests under ESX.

Tom Howarth

VMware Communities User Moderator

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
jcck20007
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I talked to Dell, they said both 32bit and 64bit is supported under ESX 3.02 in PowerEdge 2850, but not tested in 3.5, could this spec/requirement possibly have been changed by Vmware ?

thanks

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sthoppay_wipro
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

From the installation and upgrade guide

There are specific hardware requirements for 64-bit guest operating system support. For AMD Opteron-based systems, the processors must be Opteron Rev E and later. For Intel Xeon-based systems, the processors must include support for Intel's Virtualization Technology (VT). Note that many servers that include CPUs with VT support might ship with VT disabled by default, and VT must be enabled manually. If your CPUs support VT but you do not see this option in the BIOS, contact your vendor to request a BIOS version that allows you to enable VT support.

To determine whether your server has the necessary support, you can use a CPU Compatibility Tool included on the ESX Server product CD-ROM in /images/cpuid.iso.

Use the CPUID tool to determine whether your server supports 64-bit VM.

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LongishHorns
Contributor
Contributor

Hello All,

Reading through this post, I notice that someone mentions the Dell 2900 as supporting?? EM64T / VT... yet the is no function in BIOS so one assumes a firmware upgrade to get this set..

However, All said, is it possible to get anyone to confirm if Windows 2008 64-bit was tested on v3.5 SP3 recently, whilst I bash away and try and get this to work...

It is appreciated....

Kind regards,

D.

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dickybird
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

loook at following as this eems to be known issue with Poweredge model, there are some helpful tips

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Texiwill
Leadership
Leadership

Hello,

Moved to ESX 3.5 forum.


Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009, Virtualization Practice Analyst[/url]
Now Available: 'VMware vSphere(TM) and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing the Virtual Environment'[/url]
Also available 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise'[/url]
[url=http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Blog_Roll]SearchVMware Pro[/url]|Blue Gears[/url]|Top Virtualization Security Links[/url]|Virtualization Security Round Table Podcast[/url]

--
Edward L. Haletky
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vSphere Upgrade Saga: https://www.astroarch.com/blogs
GitHub Repo: https://github.com/Texiwill
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