I have an Acer Aspire 5685 notebook (CPU T7200), which should support the Intel VT (virtualization technology).

I'm using Slackware 12.0 with the hugesmp default kernel.

When I try to insert the kvm module, I get the following error:

# modprobe kvm
# modprobe kvm_intel
FATAL: Error inserting kvm_intel (/lib/modules/2.6.21.5-smp/extra/kvm-intel.ko): Operation not supported

The kvm module was installed using a Slackware package downloaded from Slacky website. According to the packager, that kvm package was built for the default Slackware 12.0 kernel, which is 2.6.21.5-smp.

How can I do to load the module into the kernel ?

Is there somethinh else I should do ? Do I have to change something in the BIOS ?

Two possible processors you could have are:
http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SL9SL
http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SL9SF

Both of which have "Intel® Virtualization Technology".

1) First, make sure you enable this VT in the BIOS, it should already be enabled by default, but who knows for sure, go and check.

2) Do not use the hugesmp kernel for daily use, please switch to a generic kernel (like generic-smp). Make sure to make an initrd, because it won't boot if it doesn't have support for your filesystem built-in.

3) You must compile the kernel module yourself, download the KVM source and follow the instructions, it's not hard, really it isn't. If you have problems post them and we will help. Whatever package you're using for a kernel module is very very likely NOT to work. Compiling this module requires that you have the kernel sources installed, please also make sure they are installed.

pino_otto (I know what's your real name, but won't reveal it here ), I'm also running Slackware 12.0 and kvm doesn't work for me either. That isn't surprising considering the following:

Linux darkstar 2.6.18.1 #2 Sat May 12 18:57:10 CEST 2007 mips GNU/Linux ;-).

All joking aside, you could just build a custom kernel (module) to include the module by default. Support was integrated with 2.6.20, maybe you could ask Patrick to include the modules in the next release. Good luck .

Dear psychicist,

I'm not trying to install KVM on "that" marvelous MIPS machine !

I'm trying to install it on my x86 regular computer.

By the way, any progress on your Slackware porting job ? I am curious to know about it.

Dear H_TeXMeX_H,

thanks for your reply.

I checked in my computer BIOS, but I didn't find any options for enabling/disabling VT. I hope that VT is enabled by default.

Why do you suggest to use a generic kernel for daily use ? What is wrong with huge-smp, besides the bigger memory usage and maybe a slight downgrade on performance ?

Anyway, I will try to compile the kernel module and let you know.

I read that KVM is faster than VMware ? Do you confirm that ?

Thanks again for your help.

Well, typically hugesmp has problems because it has too much built-in, this often leads to problems. For example, what if a module is both built-in and as a module, then you try to modprobe it ... it gives you an error. Also, you can't rmmod any built-in drivers that may be causing problems or conflicts with other modules (which does happen).

I would say the best thing to do is compile a custom kernel designed specifically for your processor, this will also help performance of KVM. It's just that many people have complained in the past that this recommendation is too much to handle for most users. If you decide to compile a new kernel, I would recommend starting with the .config file from generic-smp and going from there, making sure to build the kvm as a module along with kvm-intel.

Sorry for waking up an old thread, but I had the same problem as you on my acer aspire 5684WLMi, that Intel VT was disabled in bios and was not possible to enable. It appears that Intel VT should be easily configurable from the bios, but acer have removed this setting from bios and disabled it. However, by searching on the web I found a forum thread regarding this issue. This thread was for bios hackers sharing knowledge of trying to enable Intel VT on different bios'es. In short, they reverse-engineered the bios image to find information regarding Intel VT. While I was looking I came across this post where a guy had reverse engineered his aspire 5684 bios. I followed the general instructions and used the info on his post to enable Intel VT on my computer, and it worked!

Note: The information provided here is provided "as is" for informational purposes only. It worked for me, but don't blame me if this will screw your computer.... I also assume that you (not only the topic starter, but other readers too) actually have an Intel VT processor, and an acer laptop (preferably an 5680 series) and, of course, no visible bios option for enabling Intel VT.

First, go to the acer download page for the 5680 series, download the latest bios (3.60 at the moment) and flash it. I have disassembled it myself and confirmed that the info on this post applies to the 3.60 version of bios for acer 5680 series, although he used 3.50 bios, so it shouldn't be necessary for you to disassemble and check yourself. However; if you want to, or if someone else with another bios version and/or another acer series, I reccomend you to disassemble.

To disassemble a phoenix bios image you first need to extract it. The image is located in the 3.60 bios package in Winflash_360/BL50360A.WPH (or something equal with another bios version). Install phnxdeco [apt-get install phnxdeco]. View the content with [phnxdeco BL50360A.WPH -ls] and extract it with [phnxdeco BL50360A.WPH -xs]. In my bios version, the Intel VT part is located in the file BIOSCOD6.ROM. Disassemble it with your favorite disassembler, I used ndisasm in the ndasm package. I ran [ndisasm BIOSCOD6.rom > BIOSCOD6.asm] to save the output to BIOSCOD6.asm. I am no bios hacker, so I can only help you check that the Intel VT part of your bios is equal to mine. Search for [mov ax,0x30f] in the BIOSCOD6.asm file. If you find it, compare that part of your bios with the disassembled part of the bios on this post. If it looks the same (check that [mov ax,0x30f], [mov ax,0x312] and [mov ax,0x330] is present), it is probably safe to do the following hack. I repeat myself; YOU DO THIS ON YOUR OWN RISK.

You will have to use symcmos, a dos utily to make changes to bios. You will also need a working DOS environment. If your computer have a floppy drive, make a system floppy disk from windows, or do as me, use a boot cd (I didn't have a floppy drive...). Make sure you copy both symcmos and a dos editor (I used Dos Edit, in the system32 folder in windows xp, you only need the file edit.com). Fire up the boot cd, and make sure that you have free space (I had to use a temporarily folder on my fat32 partition). Run [SYMCMOS -v2 -lNVRAM0.TXT] (small L). This will extract the part of the bios that can enable Intel VT. Open NVRAM0.TXT with an editor. If you use bios 3.50 or 3.60 you should find <(0312) [0000]>. Edit the file so that 030F, 0312 and 0330 all have the value 0001 (you may have to add 030F and 0330 to the list; I had to). Save the file as TRY01.TXT. Apply it with [SYMCMOS -v2 -uTRY01.TXT]. If you did this correctly, you will now have Intel VT enabled by bios!

Credits to the guy posting this post; I am just rewriting the same information so it is a little easier to understand.

Hehe, that's pretty cool. I wonder why they disabled it tho.