Non-VT dual core 64bit CPU support

[stangri]

I'm struggling with the VMWare compatibility matrix and in general the CPU requirements for ESXi 4.1. Will it install (for the purpose of running just one slim VM) on the non-VT dual core 64bit CPU like an Intel E2200 with 2Gb RAM? Or do I *need* the VT in order to install?

Can I install it on the headless system over the serial console?

thanks!

[a_p_]

Welcome to the Community,

Will it install (for the purpose of running just one slim VM) on the non-VT dual core 64bit CPU like an Intel E2200 with 2Gb RAM? Or do I *need* the VT in order to install?

You may be able to install ESXi, however you will not be able to run 64-bit guests without VT support. With only 2 GB RAM you will be able to install the OS and run it, but there will not be too much RAM left for the VM you want to run.

Can I install it on the headless system over the serial console?

Not sure what kind of console this is. As long as you can run the installation from the CD or attach the ISO as a virtual CD you should be able to install it. You will have to try it. If this does not work there may be other options. E.g. prepare an USB key with ESXi, attach it to the system and boot the Hypervisor from USB.

Whether or not it is possible to install and run ESXi on your system, not only depends on the CPU. There are other requirements for the hardware too. Like the disk controller, the network cards, ...

André

[DSTAVERT]

The installer is text mode so if you are able to get a BIOS screen with the redirected serial console you should be able to install ESXi. As Andre suggests you can use a pre installed USB stick. You can even use VMware Workstation or or perhaps Player to install ESXi to a physical USB stick if you have access to a computer with VT capabilities.

[stangri]

André,  DSTAVERT thank you for your replies guys.

I have tried to boot both the ESXi installer (from the unetbootin-prepared USB stick) and boot from the CF-card I installed ESXi onto in the VMWare Fusion and they both freeze my (currently non-upgraded system). The installer freezes on loading ienviron.vgz and the installed ESXi process freezes at almost 99% of the initial (grey bar being filled with white status bar) process.

I haven't installed neither Dual Core CPU nor 2Gb stick yet and currently it runs the (64bit capable) Celeron 420m and 512Mb RAM. Do you think the ESXi is crashing because either of those or do you think the rest of my box causes ESXi to crash? In other words would it make sense for me to hunt for the obsolete CPU/memory or do you reckon I couldn't run ESXi anyways?

Also, from what I've read about the memory usage/overhead with 1 dual-core CPU the running ESXi 4.1 shouldn't take more than 512Mb memory and the OS I want to install in a VM runs fine in 512Mb, let alone 1.5Gb which will be left to it. The reason I want ESXi installed first is that it's a headless system and I want to ease future remote maintanence/upgrades.

Thanks!

[DSTAVERT]

ESXi requires a minimum of 2GB just to run. ESXi loads directly into RAM and also creates a RAM disk for writing log files. You could try the old method of installing ESXi 3.5 to USB. http://www.vladan.fr/how-to-install-esxi-40-on-usb-memory-key/

[stangri]

Well, I've tried to see what happens when I set RAM to 512Mb in the VM-installed ESXi and it does display a message on the pink background saying not enough RAM.

What I experience with the Intel SS4200 system is a freeze before I even get to that message. It's right after installer is done with ienviron.vgz and before it loads the installation dialogues (which I've tried to disable with the ks.cfg and it still freezes).

When I use the pre-installed image -- it freezes when the initial progress bar (gray on the black background) reaches abou 99%.

Could it be some BIOS settings I can tweak or is something in the system unsupported? When you do boot ESXi on unsupported hardware -- does it crash or does it display an error message? How can I narrow down what (if it is hardware problem) part is causing the freezing? Maybe it's a network card or a USB which I can disable in BIOS and using something else.

Any ideas?

thanks!

[stangri]

Is there a log-file or something? How can I troubleshoot the failed ESXi boot-up process?

I've tried disabling everything (video card, usb, network, etc) in BIOS and that doesn't help -- I still can't boot properly into ESXi.

[DSTAVERT]

Most install problems revolve around unsupported components. These would be things like embedded NIC cards or disk controllers. I would check to see what brand/model NIC card you have. Use the HCL to see if it is supported http://vmware.com/go/hcl You can also check out http://vm-help.com if your card isn't on the list to see whether there are any workarounds etc. You can use the ALT + F12 screen to see realtime log information ALT + F2 to return.