guest dual processor questions

[mick171]

Hello, I am running Vista 64 bit ultimate on an Intel quad processor with an XP 32 bit Pro guest. I have set the number of processors to 2. In the guest device manager it shows 2 (Q6600) processors but task manager only shows 1 CPU Usage History.

I'm confused. Is the guest running with 2 processors or not? If not what can I do to resolve this problem.

vmx details below:

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "6"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

memsize = "1024"

floppy0.fileName = "A:"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.fileName = "Realtek Digital Output (Realtek"

usb.present = "TRUE"

displayName = "winxp"

priority.grabbed = "high"

priority.ungrabbed = "normal"

tools.syncTime = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.fileName = "winxp Hard Disk.vmdk"

ide0:0.present = "TRUE"

ide0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

ide0:0.filename = "H:"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:4b:38:3a"

ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

ethernet1.present = "FALSE"

ethernet1.addressType = "generated"

ethernet1.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:4b:38:44"

ethernet1.generatedAddressOffset = "10"

guestOS = "winxppro"

parallel0.present = "FALSE"

parallel0.bidirectional = "FALSE"

parallel0.filename = "LPT1"

parallel0.fileType = "device"

sound.virtualDev = "es1371"

sound.autodetect = "FALSE"

uuid.location = "56 4d ea 5b 33 50 51 51-fb 3c b3 ae 4c dc 89 e0"

uuid.bios = "56 4d 2c 49 59 fa 14 b8-f5 8b 3e e6 01 4b 38 3a"

ide0:0.autodetect = "FALSE"

ethernet1.startConnected = "TRUE"

workingDir = ""

scsi0:0.redo = ""

ide0:0.startConnected = "FALSE"

sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"

parallel0.startConnected = "FALSE"

sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "E:\cutdvds"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "share"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

ethernet1.connectionType = "bridged"

numvcpus = "2"

usb.autoConnect.device0 = ""

ide0:1.present = "TRUE"

ide0:1.fileName = "Windows XP Professional.vmdk"

ide0:1.redo = ""

ethernet0.connectionType = "bridged"

floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"

ethernet0.startConnected = "TRUE"

usb.autoConnect.device1 = ""

checkpoint.vmState = ""

processors.NUMAnode = "2"

annotation = "Main AT&T service machine"

ethernet1.vnet = "VMnet2"

usb.autoConnect.device2 = ""

sound.startConnected = "TRUE"

snapshot.disabled = "TRUE"

ethernet0.vnet = "VMnet0"

fileSearchPath = ".;E:\vmware\winxp;G:\vpc\vmware;I:\vmware\winxp"

sharedFolder1.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder1.enabled = "TRUE"

sharedFolder1.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder1.writeAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder1.hostPath = "F:\cutdvds\"

sharedFolder1.guestName = "transfers"

sharedFolder1.expiration = "never"

usb.generic.skipsetconfig = "true"

usb.autoConnect.device3 = ""

usb.generic.autoconnect = "FALSE"

powerType.powerOff = "soft"

powerType.reset = "soft"

isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "FALSE"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

tools.upgrade.policy = "manual"

uhci.syncWriteback = "TRUE"

gui.fullScreenAtPowerOn = "TRUE"

powerType.suspend = "soft"

sharedFolder.option = "alwaysEnabled"

pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"

ehci.present = "TRUE"

svga.autodetect = "TRUE"

pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"

scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"

ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "32"

ehci.pciSlotNumber = "33"

svga.numDisplays = "3"

svga.maxWidth = "7080"

svga.maxHeight = "5310"

svga.vramSize = "150379200"

extendedConfigFile = "winxp.vmxf"

sound.pciSlotNumber = "34"

[rsa911]

I suppose you installed your XP guest with only 1 cpu assigned then assigned a second one after ?

then your guest has been assigned two vcpus but you still need to change windows XP HAL to support multiple cpus...

Homever, before doing this, be aware you cannot go back easily (reverting to a single cpu hal) !

You'll also notice, your guest perf won't be that faster (can even be slower) with two vcpus

so before going further, be sure you really want to assign two vcpus to your guest

you can search the forums for hal changes, vsmp etc... this has been discussed many many times lately

[continuum]

Also keep in mind that the guest with 2 CPUs will very likely not run faster than it runs now.

Only in some rare cases you really should use 2 cpus.

[KevinG]

but task manager only shows 1 CPU Usage History.

You most likely do not have a SMP Windows kernel/HAL installed. You can confirm this by look at Device Manger in the guest OS under "Computer". If you have a ACPI uniprocessor, it is not a SMP kernel and task manager will show only one CPU

You should create a full clone of this VM and test/benchmark with one running 1 virtual CPU and the other with 2 virtual CPU's to see which has the best performance. Running 2 virtual CPU can over commit the host CPU resources in some cases.

[MaxVernon]

I hate to ask the obvious, but did you configure task manager to show you both CPUs or just a single graph for all CPUs in the system?

From the Performance Tab, select "View" -> "CPU HIstory" -> "One Graph Per CPU"