Which version of VirtualBox 3.2.10 for CentOS 5.5?
 

Hello :)

Which of the many versions of VirtualBox 3.2.10 listed here is right for a CentOS 5.5 system on which both the arch and uname -m commands report i686?

Running the VirtualBox-3.2.10-66896-Linux_amd64.run file, downloaded from "All distributions i386 | AMD64", gave "Detected unsupported x86 environment".

For VirtualBox 4.0 (too early for that yet) this download page lists "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ("RHEL5") / Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 ("OEL5") / CentOS 5 i386 | AMD64" so maybe the right version of 3.2.10 is "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ("RHEL5") i386 | AMD64".

Or, maybe, the reported i686 is misleading and a 32-bit version is required.
:scratch: :confused:

Best

Charles

Use the i386.

Hello Charles,

Are you getting that error when installing the .run file or when trying to install a 64bit OS in a virtual machine? I never had any problems using the .run file.

Kind regards,

Eric

PS: To clarify a bit, I installed the AMD (64bit) version on a 64bit host system and still had to enable the a 'virtual' option (don't remember which one) in my BIOS so that VirtualBox was able to detect my CPU as 64bit. Are you referring to that?

Thanks Brian :)

Thanks Eric :)

The error is while trying to install VirtualBox on what will be the host.

From the VirtualBox manual:

3.1.2 64-bit guests

Starting with version 2.0, VirtualBox supports 64-bit guest operating systems. Starting with version 2.1, you can even run 64-bit guests on a 32-bit host operating system. The hardware prerequisites are identical for both cases. In particular, 64-bit guests are supported under the following conditions:

1. You need a 64-bit processor with hardware virtualization support (see chapter 10.2, Hardware vs. software virtualization, page 146).
2. You must enable hardware virtualization for the particular VM for which you want 64-bit support; software virtualization is not supported for 64-bit VMs.
3. If you want to use 64-bit guest support on a 32-bit host operating system, you must also select a 64-bit operating system for the particular VM. Since supporting 64 bits on 32-bit hosts incurs additional overhead, VirtualBox only enables this support upon explicit request.

From the referenced page 146: Note: On many systems, the hardware virtualization features first need to be enabled in the BIOS before VirtualBox can use them.

You were probably recalling point 1.

The processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.20 GHz and there is no such setting in the BIOS so I'm probably out of luck on that one and will have to install a 32-bit guest -- not ideal because this is for testing prior to installing a 64-bit OS on production hardware.

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.20 GHz
Are you sure that's only a 32-bit processor? Run cat /proc/cpuinfo, and look for lm in the flags. If lm is included, it's 64-bit. And the vmx flag for virtualisation capability (or whatever).

Please note that i686 is not the same as 64bits...

Are you running CentOS 5.5 32 bits or 64bits on the host?

It looks like you are trying to run a 64bit version of virtualbox on a 32bit operating system...

According to Intel's product page it is 64 bit bit does not have the VT-x feature :(

You don't need VT-x to run VirtualBox. From the manual:

Thanks Brian :) True but you do need VT-x to run a 64-bit guest on a 32-bit host. I'm not yet clear what a 32-bit host is :scratch: I'm thinking it might be a host with a 32-bit OS or it might be a host that looks like 32-bit to VirtualBox -- which is what the error message might be saying unless I've got the wrong .run package ... :confused:

Yeah, yours (the Centos 5.5) is a 32-bit host, i686, unfortunately.

Brian, I am so stupid, I did not realize an i686 was 32-bit (686 is such a big number, it ought to be 64-bit!). That's where you were coming from with your first post in this thread and thank you for putting me straight. My gob is smacked, my flast is gabbered and my flum is oxxed that the people who set this box up installed the 32-bit version of CentOS 5.5!

Shouldn't that be: my flabber is gasted? :)
Tell whoever it was to put a 64-bit version on immediately, or they'll be gobsmacked (literally).

A 32bit host is a host machine running a 32bit operating system.
As expected, a 32bit OS can't run 64bit applications... which is what I thick you are trying to do, by running a 64bit version of virtualbox on a 32bit version of CentOS 5.5
To find out which one you have, post the output of and

So... I guess you didn't read my first post, heh? :-)