HELP! Folding in VMWare on a Nehalem CPU isn't working.

[MarkJohnson]

I installed VMWare 2.0 and when I insert my Ubuntu 8.04.1 CD, it gives this error:

This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU.
Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU.

Does anyone else have this problem? If not, what Linux are you using or what steps did you take to get it to work

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
-=Mark=-

[toTOW]

Is Virtualization Technology enabled on the CPU (look in the BIOS) ?

Did you set VMWare to the correct OS (Linux > Unbuntu 64 bits) ?

P.S : I moved this thread to "General non-FAH" forum as it's not a problem related to FAH ...

[MtM]

Just curious, vmware 2.0 is 9 years old give or take. Thought well he means vmware player 2.0 as that's rather current, but then again you can't install an os on player you need premade vm appliances.

Also, are you aware vmware only exposes 2 cores in total maximum? So with 8 cores ( ht enabeld ) you will not be able to make sure you even can allocate two physical cores to it, and with ht off, you will need two instances to fully load the cpu?

[Tobit]

When I first setup my i7 920, I had used VMWare 2.0 and Ubuntu 8.04 and didn't have any problems. I've since made the i7 a dedicated folder and running Linux natively. I'd follow toTOW's advice and take a closer look at your setup.

[Tobit]

Just curious, vmware 2.0 is 9 years old give or take.

He's likely referring to vmware server 2.0 which was just released a few months ago.

[MtM]

Arrgh that's what you get when I'm only looking at what I'm familiar with, eg player and workstation

Still even Server only exposes two cores right?

[Tobit]

Still even Server only exposes two cores right?

Correct and this is why I switched to native Linux eventually myself. I was having a terrible time at managing affinity and priority when running multiple VMWare instances.

[MarkJohnson]

Yes, I'm using VMWare Server 2.0. Sorry, I forgot to add the server part.

I tried using Ubuntu and the smp -8 and was only getting around 2k. I get that in windows MPICH. But on my Q9450 I get almost 3k with vmware server 2.0 and Ubuntu 8.04.1 with only 2 cores. I was expecting much better on i7 core with the 8 threads. Is there a trick to get it to fold better in Linux? Maybe other Linux versions? I was using 8.10 and was only getting around 300 ppd for some reason.

I also have Virtualization Technology enabled, as well as, VT-d and the other 3 VT-d options listed with it(VT-d Isoch, VT-d ATS, and VT-d Interrupt Remapping.)

any advice
-=Mark=-
ps. is there anything special I need to do to enable GPU folding or will the Wine fah6.exe command be enough?

[Tobit]

I'm getting over 9K PpD on my Core i7 920 boxen running Ubuntu 8.04 natively (no VMWare), so I don't know. For GPU2 via WINE, you really need to follow the instructions here carefully.

[toTOW]

If you want to use -smp 8 and get best performance, you'll have to use native linux ... VMware can only emulates two CPUs.

You should also avoid using Ubuntu 8.10, there's a bug in the kernel that slows performance ... stick to the 8.04.1 LTS.

[extrasalty]

I was having a terrible time at managing affinity and priority when running multiple VMWare instances.

I know you probably don't need help by now, but WinAFC is the fix (viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5564). Also, VMware has manual VT setting(execution mode) which seem to support the Intel's VT-d, but I'm not sure if the default automatic did detect it.
Look here too for BIOS problems:
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/18 ... ?tstart=30

[Tobit]

I was having a terrible time at managing affinity and priority when running multiple VMWare instances.

That's why you need WinAFC (viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5564).

But I was using WinAFC. I think the performance was suffering so much because there were so many HT cores to deal with.

[extrasalty]

WinAFC detection may be off- I remember seeing someone with nehalem complain, but baobab( The Developer) is always on it- work with him and he'll get it working for you.