FreeBSD 5.4 + VMware

> On Sep 20, 2005, at 1:37 PM, Aaron Peterson wrote:
>
> > I've had problems loading/booting FreeBSD 5.4 in a
virtual machine.
> > If I start in the default mode, it crashes VMware.
 If I start with
> > ACPI disabled it crashes VMware.  If I start in
"Safe Mode" it works
> > great.  So...  I want to learn about what is
different about booting
> > in "Safe Mode" from the default boot
options.  That way I can further
> > troubleshoot and find the culpret hopefully. 
Thanks for any
> > information regarding this issue.

On 9/20/05, Tom Pepper <tomphonebites.com> wrote:
> Aaron:
>
> You're on the right track.  Both FreeBSD and VMWare are
marginally
> aware of each other, though it is possible if you do
enough digging
> to get 5.x virtual machines limping along inside both
GSX and ESX.
> However, expect to see strange behavior in a number of
applications,
> and problems with CPU usage in applications that should
be idle,
> since freebsd's nanosleep() call eats CPU when running
under these
> platforms.
>
> You can boot FreeBSD in standard mode by instructing
the VMware host
> to not use ACPI in each config file (in ESX it's
usually called
> vmware.vmx per-config) and adding the following two
lines before
> restarting the instance:
>
> acpi.present = "false"
> monitor_control.disable_apic = "TRUE"
>
> it's easiest then, once you have an installation
working, to use a
> product like virtualcenter to template and clone the
working instance
> out to other hosts.

I am trying to run FreeBSD 5.4 on ESX, since I seem to have
left that
information out in earlier posts.  I really appreciate the
information, I wasn't aware of any configuration directives
like these
for vmware.  I am left with a couple other questions that
you or
someone might be able to help me with.

Why does nanosleep() "eat CPU when running under these
platforms"?

I was able to get FreeBSD running on a virtual host before
hearing
your suggestion by adding "hint.apic.0.disabled=0"
to
/boot/loader.conf.  I'm sure this does basically the same
thing as
your suggestion, except in the FreeBSD kernel instead of in
the
virtual host configuration.  I wonder what the pros and cons
are of
doing one or the other?

In your opinion, is it worth running FreeBSD 5.4 on ESX in
light of
the quirks you've noticed?

Thanks,
Aaron
_______________________________________________
freebsd-questionsfreebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-que
stions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to
"freebsd-questions-unsubscribefreebsd.org"