No virtualization (VT-x) support on MacBook Pro?

A

aspa

Bit poster
i'm testing Parallels Workstation on a MacBook Pro. the Parallels Workstation installation guide says that if the CPU has Intel Virtualization Technology support, this should be visible by checking the 'About Parallels Workstation' screen.

on my machine the additional information sections looks like this:

Additional information:
Virtualization mode: Software mode 0
Remote client off
session:

does this mean that VT-x support is not available to Parallels on this machine?

aren't the MacBook Pro CPUs supposed to have VT-x support?
 
here's what the info looked like, when i just tried it with a guest os session running:

Additional information:
Virtualization mode: Intel VT-x
Remote client off
session:
 
That means VT-x is working.

PS. The first time you did NOT have it running?! When I look at the about window with no session running, I see "Virtualization mode: off" instead of showing a software mode.

Odd.
 
When VM is just starting and passing BIOS and guest bootloader it works in "Software mode 0". And only after 3-4 seconds it switches to "Intel VT-x".

It happens because Intel doesn't support VT-x for real CPU mode and we are bound to pass real mode in software virtualization mode. Once guest OS is switches to protected CPU mode VM switches to "Intel VT-x" mode.

Bottom line: during first 3-4 seconds after VM start you could see "Software mode 0" in About even if VT is enabled. In that case just wait a little and check About again.

PS: For real mode OSes like MS-DOS VT-x won't switches at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top