Re: Running KVM on a Laptop

Ross McKay
2009-02-13T02:08:35Z

dnjap wrote:

>I'm looking for a laptop on which I can run KVM.
>
>1. Does anyone have a list of AMD-V or VT-x capable laptop CPU's?

Is it not as simple as checking for the svm or vt flags?

egrep '(vt|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo

Take a bootable LiveCD into your local computer shop and check.

>2. It seems Turion 64 X2 and some of Core 2 Duo processors can run KVM.
>Does anyone know which of these CPU's implement Nested Page Tables or
>Extended Page Tables? (Xen's compatibility list doesn't provide such
>details: http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/HVM_Compatible_Processors)
>
>3. If you're running KVM on your laptop, could you share the
>information? Does your laptop's BIOS support AMD-V or VT-x?

FWIW, I have KVM running on my ASUS laptop, with the following CPU:

AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TK-55

I don't know about nested/extended page tables no BIOS support, perhaps
someone who knows something can help you there. I can tell you that all
I did was check for the svm flag, and once confirmed, I compiled and
installed KVM and it ran.

NB: don't use recent sources (post v80) if you want to run compressed
qcow2 images, as you'll only get corruption. I was told on this list
that QEMU has resolved the problem but that the patch hasn't been ported
across to the KVM branch yet. As such, get a laptop with a *big* hard
drive if you plan to run the latest versions.
--
Ross McKay, Toronto, NSW Australia
"Let the laddie play wi the knife - he'll learn"
- The Wee Book of Calvin