cant get above i686 in Linux VM

[technologist]

Hi,

New to Linux programming. Successfully connected my windows host to my Ubuntu 16.04 guest iso using VMPlayer. Problem is -name -i and lscpu commands with root user indicate the VM is 32 bit despite my host PC being 64bit. My processor is an i7-4820 and the bios says it supports virtualization tech - Intel VT, Intel EIST, hyper-threading, Intel 64, Boost, etc.

Is there any way to get a 64bit VM out of this PC?

[helios]

You can run an 64-bit VM on an 64-bit CPU regardless of whether the CPU supports virtualization extensions and whether they're enabled in the BIOS (they're often disabled by default), as long as the host is a 64-bit OS and the guest was installed from a 64-bit image.

[technologist]

The image name says "ubuntu-16.04.4-desktop-amd64"

[helios]

I don't know what to tell you then. A 64-bit image won't install a 32-bit OS. If your host was somehow unable to run 64-bit guests, the image wouldn't even boot.

[technologist]

Well that was candid and rather truthful : )
But that does seem like a wired outcome with a 64bit image.
Maybe I'll go bother the VMPlayer guys and see if someone has an idea.

[technologist]

Interestingly all of the Hyper-V services are in the services.msc - off.

Hyper-V Guest Service Interface
Hyper-V Guest Shutdown Service
Hyper-V Heartbeat Service
Hyper-V Remote Desktop Virtualization Service
Hyper-V Time Synchronization Service
Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Requestor

"The hyper-v remote desktop service on local computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs"

The bios says all of these are enabled.

I tried configuring virtual-box and it doesn't give me any x64 options as well.

[helios]

Hyper-V is Microsoft's hypervisor. It has nothing to do with the hardware's configuration.

Note that if you enable Hyper-V you will no longer be able to run VirtualBox until you disable it again. The two are mutually incompatible.

[technologist]

Thx for the heads up. It wont let me start the service anyway.

What are your thoughts on one versus the other?

[helios]

Hyper-V integrates better with Windows guests and overall gives slightly better performance for all guests. On the other hand, it does not support audio emulation. The only way to get audio out of a Windows Hyper-V guest is to RDP into it.
If you run a server host, Hyper-V supports PCI passthrough, to give guests direct control of some hardware components such as additional GPUs.

[technologist]

Thanks for diffusing a number of rabbit holes I almost went down with this problem.

I doubled back and re-accessed my bios, and I was surprised to have missed the virtualization parameters several times over. Embarrassing, but true. I enabled the technologies and now virtual box is asking me for 64bit options. Going to install ubuntu 17, and see what I get. : )

[helios]

So you're saying VirtualBox did not emulate x86-64 without VT-x? Huh, I did not know that. That's usually the first thing I enable when I build a new machine, so that's probably why.
Actually I have no idea why manufacturers continue to leave it disabled by default.