64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

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akosmaroy
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. May 2011, 15:36
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows7, MacOS X

64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

Post by akosmaroy »

Hi,

I seem to be unable to install 64 bit guest OSs on an intel Xeon 64 bit host. Is this a known issue?

I'm running ubuntu 10.04.3 x86_64 as my host os, on a Xeon X3470:

Code: Select all

# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS
Release:	10.04
Codename:	lucid
# uname -a
Linux perec 2.6.32-37-server #81-Ubuntu SMP Fri Dec 2 20:49:12 UTC 2011 x86_64 GNU/Linux
# lshw
...
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3470  @ 2.93GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 400
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3470  @ 2.93GHz
          slot: CPU1
          size: 2933MHz
          capacity: 3600MHz
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 505MHz
          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
...
but when I try to install or run any known and otherwise working 64 bit virtualbox VM, it just fails.

I'm using VirtualBox version 4.1.8r75467, and I installed it from the apt package repository documented on the virtualbox.org website.

as a last resort, I started to re-install my VMs on this Xeon host, and it's quite clear that the VMs are 32 bit only. for example, when trying to install ubuntu 10.04.3 x86_64 as a guest OS, the ubuntu installer tells me:

Code: Select all

This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU.
Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU
.

the output of VBoxManage showvminfo for this particular VM is, which is a brand new VM created with selecting 'ubuntu 64 bit' as the guest OS type:

Code: Select all

Name:            ubuntu 10.04 x86_64
Guest OS:        Ubuntu (64 bit)
UUID:            550d121a-d923-4d0b-9844-7abf637afbb4
Config file:     /home/vbox/var/virtualbox/ubuntu 10.04 x86_64/ubuntu 10.04 x86_64.vbox
Snapshot folder: /home/vbox/var/virtualbox/ubuntu 10.04 x86_64/Snapshots
Log folder:      /home/vbox/var/virtualbox/ubuntu 10.04 x86_64/Logs
Hardware UUID:   550d121a-d923-4d0b-9844-7abf637afbb4
Memory size:     512MB
Page Fusion:     off
VRAM size:       12MB
CPU exec cap:    100%
HPET:            off
Chipset:         piix3
Firmware:        BIOS
Number of CPUs:  1
Synthetic Cpu:   off
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode:  message and menu
Boot Device (1): Floppy
Boot Device (2): DVD
Boot Device (3): HardDisk
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI:            on
IOAPIC:          on
PAE:             off
Time offset:     0 ms
RTC:             UTC
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Hardw. virt.ext exclusive: on
Nested Paging:   on
Large Pages:     off
VT-x VPID:       on
State:           running (since 2012-01-24T21:12:49.311000000)
Monitor count:   1
3D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address: 
Teleporter Password: 
Storage Controller Name (0):            SATA Controller
Storage Controller Type (0):            IntelAhci
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0):  30
Storage Controller Port Count (0):      30
Storage Controller Bootable (0):        on
Storage Controller Name (1):            IDE Controller
Storage Controller Type (1):            PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (1): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (1):  2
Storage Controller Port Count (1):      2
Storage Controller Bootable (1):        on
SATA Controller (0, 0): /home/vbox/var/virtualbox/ubuntu 10.04 x86_64/ubuntu 10.04 x86_64.vdi (UUID: 236b6943-de66-4a93-b37d-d8e9fa9febf0)
IDE Controller (1, 0): /home/vbox/var/media/ubuntu-10.04.3-x86_64.iso (UUID: 5b18d6c5-43dc-4cb2-aa41-d27f21e1e63e)
NIC 1:           MAC: 080027C50DF7, Attachment: NAT, Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: 82540EM, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny
NIC 1 Settings:  MTU: 0, Socket (send: 64, receive: 64), TCP Window (send:64, receive: 64)
NIC 2:           disabled
NIC 3:           disabled
NIC 4:           disabled
NIC 5:           disabled
NIC 6:           disabled
NIC 7:           disabled
NIC 8:           disabled
Pointing Device: PS/2 Mouse
Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard
UART 1:          disabled
UART 2:          disabled
Audio:           disabled
Clipboard Mode:  Bidirectional
Video mode:      720x400x0
VRDE:            enabled (Address 0.0.0.0, Ports 3391, MultiConn: off, ReuseSingleConn: off, Authentication type: null)
VRDE port:       3391
Video redirection: disabled
VRDE property: TCP/Ports  = "3391"
VRDE property: TCP/Address = <not set>
VRDE property: VideoChannel/Enabled = <not set>
VRDE property: VideoChannel/Quality = <not set>
VRDE property: VideoChannel/DownscaleProtection = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableDisplay = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableInput = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableAudio = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableUSB = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableClipboard = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableUpstreamAudio = <not set>
VRDE property: H3DRedirect/Enabled = <not set>
VRDE property: Security/Method = <not set>
VRDE property: Security/ServerCertificate = <not set>
VRDE property: Security/ServerPrivateKey = <not set>
VRDE property: Security/CACertificate = <not set>
USB:             enabled

USB Device Filters:

<none>

Available remote USB devices:

<none>

Currently Attached USB Devices:

<none>

Shared folders:  <none>

VRDE Connection:    active
Clients so far:     1
Start time:         2012/01/24 21:12:52 UTC
Sent:               11164 Bytes
Average speed:      0 B/s
Sent total:         11164 Bytes
Received:           50041 Bytes
Speed:              0 B/s
Received total:     50041 Bytes
User name:          akos
Domain:             
Client name:        rakku
Client IP:          127.0.0.1
Client version:     2600
Encryption:         RDP4

Guest:

Configured memory balloon size:      0 MB
OS type:                             Ubuntu_64
Additions run level:                 0

Guest Facilities:

No active facilities.
is this a known limitation?

the guest OSs I had issues so far are:
  • Windows 7 64 bit
  • ubuntu 64 bit
  • MacOS Snow Leopard both 32 and 64 bit
the guest OSs that do work:
  • Windows 7 32 bit
  • ubuntu 32 bit
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: 64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

Post by Perryg »

You need hardware-v (VT-x/AMD-v) to be able to run 64-bit guests
akosmaroy
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. May 2011, 15:36
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows7, MacOS X

Re: 64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

Post by akosmaroy »

Perryg wrote:You need hardware-v (VT-x/AMD-v) to be able to run 64-bit guests
well, VT-x is enabled, as also visible from the showvminfo output...
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: 64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

Post by Perryg »

what about your bios?
akosmaroy
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. May 2011, 15:36
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows7, MacOS X

Re: 64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

Post by akosmaroy »

Perryg wrote:what about your bios?
it seems to, as 'vmx' is listed among the cpu flags:

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cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep vmx
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 ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
the host machine in question is a rented server, thus I never edited or saw the BIOS settings. and while the CPU supports VT-x, it might be disabled in the BIOS.

I'll raise a ticket with the hosting company to double check - thanks for the tip...
akosmaroy
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. May 2011, 15:36
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows7, MacOS X

Re: 64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

Post by akosmaroy »

it seems that VT-x was indeed not enabled in the BIOS. now I can install ubuntu 64 bit.

thank you for pointing this out.

but, I still can't install MacOS X Snow Leopard - but I'll open a different topic on the MacOS guest section...
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: 64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

Post by Perryg »

akosmaroy
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. May 2011, 15:36
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows7, MacOS X

Re: 64 bit guests on a Xeon 3470 host not working?

Post by akosmaroy »

yeah, I saw that after I made my comment here. no new thread will be opened :)
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