Optiplex 740: Hardware Virtualization support?

 That's correct.  Here are the BIOS Options <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> I see.  If one of those means "virtualization", I don't know which one it would be.  Should I be looking somewhere else?

Athenian,

Are you saying you do not see an option in the bios for virtualization?

see http://amalgamman.livejournal.com/3212.html

An upgrade to the bios (Dell Optiplex 740 version 1.2.3) and flipping the a couple switches in the bios (TPM Activation= Deactivate and No Execute = Off) fixed the issue.

OK I've got a tricky problem for you guys.  As described I'm able to configure the TPM/No Execute settings after upgrading my BIOS to 2.2.5.  The problem is that I had to downlevel my BIOS in order to install ESXi in the first place to 1.1.8 in order to install ESXi!!  Now after flashing the BIOS ESXi will no longer boot.  Arrgh!  Does anyone happen to know the magical BIOS level that will allow me to configure TMP/No Excute while NOT breaking ESXi?

This is for a Dell Optiplex 740.

Hey guys,

Answered my own question, it appears that BIOS ver 1.1.8 has the options mentioned above and also allows you to boot ESXi.  Next I need to figure out why I'm unable to use Vmotion on these machines.

:emotion-18:

Folks, you've got me puzzled. . . .

Here I am with an Optiplex 740, AMD 3800+ processor (that supposedly supports hardware virtualization) and I tried your trick after updating to the 2.2.5 BIOS.

What I did:

• I did not see a "TPM Activate" so I turned the TPM function "on", whereupon I got that.  I made sure it was disabled (which it was by default)
• NoExecute was already set "off"
• I tried setting both options the other way, saved settings, returned them to the other value, saved settings - and so on.
• Tried re-loading BIOS defaults, and repeating the above. . . .  No joy.

I'm just not getting anything anywhere that even SMELLS like hardware virtualization - let alone LOOKS like it.  Any hints as to what I'm doing wrong here?  Where should I be seeing this?

Frustration reigns supreme!  :emotion-39:

Jim

I Jim,

I have never ever ever had it work with any BIOS ver other that 1.1.8.  Downlevel to that and try the install again.

Good luck!

Strange, as soon as I installed that BIOS level it worked right away, no messing around with BIOS settings at all.  Are you installing ESX or ESXi?  At what point does it fail during the install?

I gave up and used a different brand machine for my virtualization work.  I think it's interesting that after  two years, no one from Dell has provided any help at all to customers who have this model.

I'm actually using two Dell 740's (mini tower) as ESXi hosts and a single Dell 740 (small form factor) as an iSCSI host.  All three machines are working fine although I had tonnes of issues setting them up, but now that they're up and running I'm quite happy with them.  Oh well, best of luck to you guys!

I've spent the entire morning and the better part of this afternoon researching the issues surrounding Hardware Virtualization on the Dell Optiplex 740 and have the following findings to share:

Note that these results may only apply to my system configuration - this is why I include MoBo part numbers, etc. so you can verify the identity of your configuation with respect to mine.  My BIOS download was obtained from the official DELL site using my machine's service-tag to look it up.

Summary:

• There is no combination of settings using BIOS 1.1.8 that will enable Hardware Virtualization.
• The mere fact of updating to BIOS version 2.2.5 is sufficient in and of itself to enable Hardware Virtualization.
• Hardware Virtualization is a silent feature.  Even though enabled and working, there is no mention of it anywhere in the BIOS setup pages, regardless of settings used.

System Configuation:

• Dell Optiplex 740 using AMD Athlon 3800+ (Socket AM-2)
• Motherboard Part # (Stenciled on PCB, near PCI-E slot)
  316754000401_R01
• Motherboard Part # (Printed on bar-coded label near center of PCB)
  CN-0HX340-70821-7A5-L0AU
  Rev A01
• BIOS used:  Version 2.2.5, downloaded from Dell (File Name - O740-225.EXE
  MD5 checksum = 64fe04b9c9166080db4492978682710c
  SHA-1 checksum = d8c1ece338f95a5fecee0d60514826952a06a768
  (Calculated using HashCalc download here:  http://www.slavasoft.com/hashcalc/index.htm)
• Installed Memory: 3Gig organized as two 512 meg sticks in slots 1 & 2, two 1 gig sticks in slots 3 & 4.
• PS2 adapter installed so it would interface with my KVM switch.

Operating System:

• Windows Server 2008-R2 (with Service Pack 1 installed) - Virtualization enabled version installed and activated.
• HyperV and Remote Desktop/ Remote Management roles installed.
• Computer was made a member of my internal domain as a member server.
  (Internal domain is a Win-2K8 domain with Active Directory)

Virtual Guest System:

• System configured with 20 gigs VHD (static) and 512 megs VRAM.
• Installed Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop - standard (English) install with no fancy features.
• Verified that guest O/S would boot and run.

Tests Performed:

(BIOS 1.1.8)

• Installed BIOS 1.1.8 using Windows flash method (double click on the executable).
• Caught at BIOS, (when the machine automatically rebooted), and loaded setup defaults.
• Allowed machine to reboot and load Server 2K8
• Attempted to launch Virtual Machine:  FAILED  Error:  Hypervisor not running.
• Shutdown, reboot, catch at BIOS, and make the settings changes as specified above.
• Allowed machine to reboot and load Server 2K8
• Attempted to launch Virtual Machine:  FAILED  Error:  Hypervisor not running.
• Tried setting, then resetting the required settings, still fails.
• Tried all of the above adding a total machine shutdown, unplug for at least 5 minutes.  Still fails.
• Tried additional combinations of these settings.  Still fails.

Conclusion:

Using various combinations of the settings described above - there is no combination of settings that will enable Hardware Virtualization.

(BIOS 2.2.5)

• While machine was still running 2K8 server with the 1.1.8 BIOS, I closed all open windows and flashed the 2.2.5 BIOS using the Windows flash method described above.
• Caught at BIOS, (when the machine automatically rebooted), and loaded setup defaults.
• Allowed machine to reboot and load Server 2K8
• Attempted to launch Virtual Machine:  PASSED   Ubuntu 10.04 loaded and ran.
• Shut down running VM (by shutting down the guest instance of Ubuntu)
• Rebooted and caught at BIOS again.
• Set my personal preferences, (Boot order, SMART reporting, etc.),  leaving the No Execute bit set "ON" and TPM set to "OFF" - which are the system defaults.
• Allowed machine to reboot and load Server 2K8
• Attempted to launch Virtual Machine:  PASSED  Ubuntu 10.0.4 loaded and ran.
• At no time during these tests was there any mention, or option, about Virtualization in the BIOS.

Conclusion:

Hardware Virtualization appears to be enabled by default in BIOS 2.2.5.  However, since this appears to be a "silent" feature, it can only be tested by loading a virtualization-enabled operating system and attempting to run a virtual machine.

Additional Configuation Notes:

No additional virtualization-enabling software was installed, (i.e.  ESX / ESXi etc.)  This was run on a plain-vanilla 2K8 install loaded with only the two required roles installed for virtualization.

What say ye?

Jim

Wow, awesome job, I'll definately keep it in mind if I ever start using Hyper V!  I can definately vouche for the fact that ESX/ESXi works under 1.1.8, but it's great to know 2.2.5 works for Hyper V.

I have ESXi 4.1 i installed on an optiplex 740. I am running bios 2.2.5 and an AMD athlon 4450B chip. I am able to virtualize Windows and Linux VMs and vmotion to the second optiplex

Today I attempted to upgrade to ESXi 5.0 and I got a purple screen of death

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1020181

Can it be the optiplex 740 works with ESXi 4.1 but not 5.0 ? 

(quote dbutch)

Wow, awesome job, I'll definately keep it in mind if I ever start using Hyper V!  I can definately vouche for the fact that ESX/ESXi works under 1.1.8, but it's great to know 2.2.5 works for Hyper V.

(/quote)

Maybe someone (other than myself!) can propose this as an answer?  That will make it easier to find.