ML110 G5 - VM ESXi 4.0 U1 - enabling Intel VT-x

[GMartinez]

02/23/2010 13:19h

Hi.

is there any way to disable Intel TXT in order to full enabling VT-x so ESXi VMDirectPath works?


I've got this system working at home:

VMware ESXi 4.0 Update 1 running on a:
ProLiant ML110 G5 - (Xeon 3065 2,33GHz)
BIOS 015 - 03/12/2009 http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?swItem=MTX-88855a19cf384e07b3ca617154〈=en&cc=us&idx=2&mode=4&

BMC v3.11 (A) - 06/29/2009 (System Fan LOUD fix) http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=au&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=3577708&swItem=MTX-c003654e6340476b8af81d2f3b&prodNameId=3577715&swEnvOID=4024&swLang=8&taskId=135&mode=4&idx=3

3GB RAM
200GB SATA HDD

I'm trying to enable VMware VMDirectPath (hardware passtrough) capabilities for gain USB port access from a guest machine.

To do this, I've found I need to enable Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x) from BIOS. No problem with this. But to get really enabled Intel VT-x it's also necessary to disable Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT), but I cannot found any BIOS option to do this.


Thank's in advance.
Guillermo

[GMartinez]

02/23/2010 14:18h

Well, in my research I think I've found the answer:

Intel® Xeon® Processor 3065 supports VT-x, but for enabling ESXi 4.0 U1 VMDirectPath VT-d (Directed I/O) is needed.

As an VMware expert said: "they do not virtualize VT-x" http://communities.vmware.com/thread/253925

So, it seems it's not possible to enable ESXi 4.0 U1 VMDirectPath on a ML110 G5 with Xeon 3065.

Anyway, any further information wolud be appreciated.


Here Intel's official papers about:
Intel VT-d (Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O)
Intel VT-x (Intel Virtualization Technology for processors)
http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/WhitePaper/IDCchoosingvirthardware.pdf
http://download.intel.com/technology/computing/vptech/Intel(r)_VT_for_Direct_IO.pdf
http://download.intel.com/business/resources/briefs/xeon5500/xeon_5500_virtualization.pdf

Guillermo