Xen users - Feb 2008 - Hardware for HVM

I am using a Asus M2A-VM mainboard with Athlon X2 2300 cpu. The
mainboard features a AMD 690G chipset. I thought this hardware is amd-v
compatible. While using xen with hvm I get the message:

root@pluto:/etc/xen# xm create /etc/xen/win.cfg -c
Using config file "/etc/xen/win.cfg".
Error: HVM guest support is unavailable: is VT/AMD-V supported by your
CPU and enabled in your BIOS?

Nothing to configure in the BIOS. No comments at the vendors website.
Who knows if hvm works with the above hardware?

If this hardware/mainboard is not compatible which one would be? I want
to use the rest of hardware (cpu, ram, nics)

Xen 3.1 is running in ubuntu 7.10.

Best regards, Christoph

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Christoph wrote:
> I am using a Asus M2A-VM mainboard with Athlon X2 2300 cpu. The
> mainboard features a AMD 690G chipset. I thought this hardware is amd-v
> compatible. While using xen with hvm I get the message:
>
> root@pluto:/etc/xen# xm create /etc/xen/win.cfg -c
> Using config file "/etc/xen/win.cfg".
> Error: HVM guest support is unavailable: is VT/AMD-V supported by your
> CPU and enabled in your BIOS?
>   
What is the output of "cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep svm" ?
> Nothing to configure in the BIOS. No comments at the vendors website.
> Who knows if hvm works with the above hardware?
>
> If this hardware/mainboard is not compatible which one would be? I want
> to use the rest of hardware (cpu, ram, nics)
>   
Some vendors are known to ship cpus with virtualization support in it, 
but they leave it disabled by default in BIOS and wouldn''t provide any 
option in BIOS to re-enabled that. If that is the case with your BIOS, 
then get in touch with your vendor and would get resolved by a bios update.

BTW, you can''t reuse the cpu.

--Sadique
> Xen 3.1 is running in ubuntu 7.10.
>
> Best regards, Christoph
>
> _______________________________________________
> Xen-users mailing list
> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
>
>   

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Hello Christoph,

your CPU (AMD X2) has Virtualization-Support built-in. But you can also 
check with "grep svm /proc/cpuinfo".
The problem is most of the time the lack of support for virtualization 
in the bios. I had the problem myself with a Gigabyte M61P-S3 rev1 
motherboard. I hat to modify (unhide the allready built-in 
virtualization feature) the bios binary file myself, as gigabytes 
technical support, wasn''t willing to support virtualization. Maybe this
works for your bios too, but it also could break your motherboard...

greetz Holger

Christoph wrote:
> I am using a Asus M2A-VM mainboard with Athlon X2 2300 cpu. The
> mainboard features a AMD 690G chipset. I thought this hardware is amd-v
> compatible. While using xen with hvm I get the message:
>
> root@pluto:/etc/xen# xm create /etc/xen/win.cfg -c
> Using config file "/etc/xen/win.cfg".
> Error: HVM guest support is unavailable: is VT/AMD-V supported by your
> CPU and enabled in your BIOS?
>
> Nothing to configure in the BIOS. No comments at the vendors website.
> Who knows if hvm works with the above hardware?
>
> If this hardware/mainboard is not compatible which one would be? I want
> to use the rest of hardware (cpu, ram, nics)
>
> Xen 3.1 is running in ubuntu 7.10.
>
> Best regards, Christoph
>
> _______________________________________________
> Xen-users mailing list
> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
>
>   

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cpuinfo says:
root@pluto:/etc/xen# grep svm /proc/cpuinfo
flags           : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36
clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt lm 3dnowext
3dnow pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy misalignsse
flags           : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36
clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt lm 3dnowext
3dnow up pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy misalignsse

@Holger: How did you modify the BIOS binary? I can''t find a switch for
the Virtualization feature in the BIOS. Probably they did not activate
it by now.

Best regards, Christoph


Age_M schrieb:
> Hello Christoph,
> 
> your CPU (AMD X2) has Virtualization-Support built-in. But you can also
> check with "grep svm /proc/cpuinfo".
> The problem is most of the time the lack of support for virtualization
> in the bios. I had the problem myself with a Gigabyte M61P-S3 rev1
> motherboard. I hat to modify (unhide the allready built-in
> virtualization feature) the bios binary file myself, as gigabytes
> technical support, wasn''t willing to support virtualization. Maybe
this
> works for your bios too, but it also could break your motherboard...
> 
> greetz Holger
> 
> Christoph wrote:
>> I am using a Asus M2A-VM mainboard with Athlon X2 2300 cpu. The
>> mainboard features a AMD 690G chipset. I thought this hardware is amd-v
>> compatible. While using xen with hvm I get the message:
>>
>> root@pluto:/etc/xen# xm create /etc/xen/win.cfg -c
>> Using config file "/etc/xen/win.cfg".
>> Error: HVM guest support is unavailable: is VT/AMD-V supported by your
>> CPU and enabled in your BIOS?
>>
>> Nothing to configure in the BIOS. No comments at the vendors website.
>> Who knows if hvm works with the above hardware?
>>
>> If this hardware/mainboard is not compatible which one would be? I want
>> to use the rest of hardware (cpu, ram, nics)
>>
>> Xen 3.1 is running in ubuntu 7.10.
>>
>> Best regards, Christoph
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Xen-users mailing list
>> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
>> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
>>
>>   
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Xen-users mailing list
> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
> 
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Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
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Hi Christoph,

I just checked the recent 1604 version of your BIOS and it seems that 
Virtualization-Feature is available under "Advanced / CPU 
Configuration". It''s called "AMD Virtualization"...
Maybe you consider a BIOS-Update? But this only makes sense, if you have 
the "svm" flag! So check this first.
And keep in mind that bios updates could go terribly wrong (but I guess 
your motherboard is able to recover broken bios-flashes, so personaly, I 
would try this).

Greetz Age_M

Christoph wrote:
> I am using a Asus M2A-VM mainboard with Athlon X2 2300 cpu. The
> mainboard features a AMD 690G chipset. I thought this hardware is amd-v
> compatible. While using xen with hvm I get the message:
>
> root@pluto:/etc/xen# xm create /etc/xen/win.cfg -c
> Using config file "/etc/xen/win.cfg".
> Error: HVM guest support is unavailable: is VT/AMD-V supported by your
> CPU and enabled in your BIOS?
>
> Nothing to configure in the BIOS. No comments at the vendors website.
> Who knows if hvm works with the above hardware?
>
> If this hardware/mainboard is not compatible which one would be? I want
> to use the rest of hardware (cpu, ram, nics)
>
> Xen 3.1 is running in ubuntu 7.10.
>
> Best regards, Christoph
>
> _______________________________________________
> Xen-users mailing list
> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
>
>   

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Thanks for the hint with the 1604 BIOS. I used the 1603 before where
this feature was missing.

For all others: Asus M2A-VM mainboard with Athlon X2 CPU gives full
virtualization using Xen 3.1. I am now trying to install a windows machine.

Best regards, Christoph

Age_M schrieb:
> Hi Christoph,
> 
> I just checked the recent 1604 version of your BIOS and it seems that
> Virtualization-Feature is available under "Advanced / CPU
> Configuration". It''s called "AMD Virtualization"...
> Maybe you consider a BIOS-Update? But this only makes sense, if you have
> the "svm" flag! So check this first.
> And keep in mind that bios updates could go terribly wrong (but I guess
> your motherboard is able to recover broken bios-flashes, so personaly, I
> would try this).
> 
> Greetz Age_M
> 
> Christoph wrote:
>> I am using a Asus M2A-VM mainboard with Athlon X2 2300 cpu. The
>> mainboard features a AMD 690G chipset. I thought this hardware is amd-v
>> compatible. While using xen with hvm I get the message:
>>
>> root@pluto:/etc/xen# xm create /etc/xen/win.cfg -c
>> Using config file "/etc/xen/win.cfg".
>> Error: HVM guest support is unavailable: is VT/AMD-V supported by your
>> CPU and enabled in your BIOS?
>>
>> Nothing to configure in the BIOS. No comments at the vendors website.
>> Who knows if hvm works with the above hardware?
>>
>> If this hardware/mainboard is not compatible which one would be? I want
>> to use the rest of hardware (cpu, ram, nics)
>>
>> Xen 3.1 is running in ubuntu 7.10.
>>
>> Best regards, Christoph
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Xen-users mailing list
>> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
>> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
>>
>>   
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Xen-users mailing list
> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
> 
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On Sat, 9 Feb 2008, Christoph wrote:
> Thanks for the hint with the 1604 BIOS. I used the 1603 before where
> this feature was missing.
>
> For all others: Asus M2A-VM mainboard with Athlon X2 CPU gives full
> virtualization using Xen 3.1. I am now trying to install a windows machine.
what? I thought the AMD folks (Matt ??) had stated on the list that the 
BIOS makers did not need to do anything to enable AMD''s hvm 
capabilities... that was sort of the neat thing about the AMD solution, it 
would work in any motherboard with the right socket because you didn''t 
have to worry about whether the BIOS supported it or not... now it sounds 
like (at least in some versions) the BIOS makers are explicitly disabling 
it without providing a re-enable capability... ouch.

-Tom

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> 
> what? I thought the AMD folks (Matt ??) had stated on the list that
the
> BIOS makers did not need to do anything to enable AMD''s hvm
> capabilities... that was sort of the neat thing about the AMD
solution, it
> would work in any motherboard with the right socket because you
didn''t
> have to worry about whether the BIOS supported it or not... now it
sounds
> like (at least in some versions) the BIOS makers are explicitly
disabling
> it without providing a re-enable capability... ouch.
My understanding was that you didn''t need to do anything to enable it,
but that it could be disabled semi-permanently (eg like the P3 CPUID
function, once disabled it can''t be re-enabled until the next reboot).
Not being able to do so could be a security concern...

James


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