VMware vSphere

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  • 1.  ESXi not allowing 64bit guests, why?

    Posted May 24, 2009 04:58 AM

    I've got a machine here that was happily running Linux + VMware Server, both 32 and 64bit guests. I previously had ESXi 3.5u4 on it, but the onboard NIC was trouble.

    I installed ESXi 4.0 and the SATA required no hackery, and the NIC worked, and I was ecstatic.

    Then I tried adding my VMs back to it via Converter. "Host doesn't support 64 bit guests".

    I figured that had to be a goof, some problem with Converter.

    Set up a new Vista64 guest from scratch, began install, crash "Your computer does not support 64 bit mode". WTF?

    HP dc5800 with a Core 2 Quad Q6600. Has VT.

    Why would it not be able to run 64bit guests under ESXi 4.0? It ran them under 3.5u4 and under Server 2.0 + Linux host.



  • 2.  RE: ESXi not allowing 64bit guests, why?
    Best Answer

    Posted May 24, 2009 05:03 AM

    Be sure that Virtualization (or VT) is enabled in BIOS.

    Check also in HCL to see if your system is compliant:

    http://WWW

    Andre

    **if you found this or any other answer useful please consider allocating points for helpful or correct answers



  • 3.  RE: ESXi not allowing 64bit guests, why?

    Posted May 24, 2009 05:10 PM

    Now I feel dense. I forgot that I updated my system BIOS about a week or so ago. I'm guessing I hadn't run any 64bit VMs in the meantime, and the x64 autostarts were failing silently. Re-enabled VT-x in BIOS and it's working correctly now. Thanks.



  • 4.  RE: ESXi not allowing 64bit guests, why?

    Posted May 24, 2009 05:14 PM

    You're welcome.

    Andre



  • 5.  RE: ESXi not allowing 64bit guests, why?

    Posted May 24, 2009 01:46 PM

    See . This document is mainly aimed at hosted products, but you can use the ISO image to verify that VT-x is locked and enabled at boot. When you were using VMware Server, did you use the 'hv.enableIfUnlocked' setting to work around a BIOS bug? ESX does not recognize that configuration option.