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chiefmojo
Contributor
Contributor

Another 64 bit guest problem...

I'm having trouble getting 64 bit guest operating systems installed on an ESX 3.5 host (a Dell SC1430 with 2 quad core Xeons). The hardware itself definitely has all the right bits -- Intel VT, a 64 bit proc. VT is turned on in the (latest) BIOS and booting a CPUID disk shows that VT is enabled on all procs. If I boot off a CentOS 5 64 bit CD it'll install just fine and /proc/cpuinfo shows vmx support. ESX's cpuinfo doesn't show this however:

root@mcp root# cat /proc/cpuinfo

processor : 0

vendor_id : GenuineIntel

cpu family : 6

model : 15

model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5310 @ 1.60GHz

stepping : 11

cpu MHz : 1595.975

cache size : 4096 KB

<snip>

flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss tm nx lm

bogomips : 3185.04

I'm a bit perplexed. This looks like it might be a bug, but I'd love to have some input -- I may well have missed something along the way.

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6 Replies
RParker
Immortal
Immortal

Is the SC1430 on the HCL? If not (And I don't think it is) there is the problem.

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chiefmojo
Contributor
Contributor

No, it's actually not. Still, the HCL mostly indicates that the server has been tested as functional, no? I'm interested in more of a technical discussion than a philosophical one Smiley Happy I've installed ESX on several servers that weren't on the compatibility list without issue. It's not like it's causing me heartache, but I'd like to figure out what's going on because not knowing just kinda bugs me. shrug

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supahted
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Chiefmojo, did you get the 64 bits guest working on the Dell Poweredge SC 1430. I'm actually looking to buy the Dell Poweredge SC 1430, but want to run 64 bit guests on it.

blog: http://vknowledge.wordpress.com/
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IVOXY
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

bump

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chiefmojo
Contributor
Contributor

I'm still working with Dell support on this actually. No resolution yet but as soon as I have something concrete I'll be sure and update this thread. Based on what I'm seeing this will probably be resolved by a patch to ESX at some point in the future. Problems with VT support aside, unless you have an immediate requirement for 64-bit guest support the SC1430 is an excellent buy. Keep in mind though that they only support 8GB of memory, so you'll probably run into memory constraints before you reach CPU or bus limits.

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chiefmojo
Contributor
Contributor

Well, we've isolated this to a problem with ESX. Dell shipped me a replacement system board and procs. After replacing them I was seeing the exact same problem, so that effectively rules out a problem faulty hardware.

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