Check with Dell they might still have an upgraded BIOS for that model. If nothing else see if they will sell you the replacement MB/SB that will run VT enabled software. I talked to them about a similar issue and after almost 2 months of going back and forth they admitted they had a replacement board but due to the cost of upgrading both the CPU's and board it was not viable in my case. The machine was a PE 2850. Is seems there is 2 of these. Early production and later production. Later production would run VT type of stuff but the early models would not.
Jon On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 2:23 PM, Mike Wiebke <[email protected]> wrote: > Be aware that the BIOS has to support VT as well as the CPU. I did the > same as you and bought a Dell 2850 off of ebay with the 2.8 dual core Xeons > that support VT. But because the 2850 Bios doesn't have any way to enable > VT, I still can't run a 64 bit guest. The price was right and it screams > with ESXi 4 but I can only use 32 bit guests. I really wanted to play with > 2008 R2 on this machine but it doesn't seem to be possible under ESXi on > this server. > > Mike Wiebke > Rapid Fire Solutions > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Philip Brothwell <[email protected]> > *To:* NT System Admin Issues <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Wed, December 30, 2009 1:08:42 PM > > *Subject:* Re: Hardware for 64 bit guest OS in Vmware > > Sean, > > That looks like it will do. I guess I'll be pestering sellers for CPU > details until I find what I'm looking for. > > > Thanks everyone! > > Phil > > > > On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 1:53 PM, Sean Martin <[email protected]>wrote: > >> If you're looking at a box with an Intel Proc, review this: >> http://ark.intel.com/VTList.aspx >> >> If you're looking at AMD, review this: >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Athlon_64_microprocessors >> >> - Sean >> >> On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 9:47 AM, Damien Solodow < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I’d check the VMware guide to see if the server/cpu is supported for >>> ESX 4. ESX4 is itself 64-bit so if the hardware supports it, odds are really >>> good it will support 64-bit guests. >>> >>> What are your current servers? >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* Philip Brothwell [mailto:[email protected]] >>> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 30, 2009 1:41 PM >>> >>> *To:* NT System Admin Issues >>> *Subject:* Re: Hardware for 64 bit guest OS in Vmware >>> >>> >>> >>> Correct. CPU and BIOS have to support it. I was hoping someone had some >>> tips on figuring this out BEFORE buying that shiny server off of eBay. >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 1:33 PM, Richard Stovall < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> IIRC you have to enable hardware virtualization in the BIOS. If your CPU >>> doesn’t do that I think you’re out of luck. >>> >>> >>> >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_virtualization#Hardware_support >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* Damien Solodow [mailto:[email protected]] >>> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 30, 2009 1:30 PM >>> >>> >>> *To:* NT System Admin Issues >>> >>> *Subject:* Re: Hardware for 64 bit guest OS in Vmware >>> >>> >>> >>> VMware has a cpu check util on their site. However, there are certain >>> BIOS setting requirements as well which might be your current problem. >>> They have a support doc on running 64 bit guests that says what is >>> required. >>> -------------------------- >>> Sent using BlackBerry >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> *From*: Philip Brothwell <[email protected]> >>> *To*: NT System Admin Issues <[email protected]> >>> *Sent*: Wed Dec 30 13:26:14 2009 >>> *Subject*: Hardware for 64 bit guest OS in Vmware >>> >>> Hi, >>> >>> Anyone know of a easy way to tell if a computer will be able to run a 64 >>> bit guest in Vmware? I have two 64 bit machines in my home lab, one running >>> ESXi and one running Vmware Server. Neither will run a 64 guest so I'm >>> looking to upgrade to do some testing with 2008 R2. Any ideas? >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> >> > > > > > > > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
