Laptops and hardware virtualization

[blu-Z8efaSeK1ezqlBn2x/YWAg at public.gmane.org (Edward Ned Harvey)]

> Most of the CPU chips out in the field today support hardware
> virtualization (some low-end Intel chips do not).  But, many consumer
> laptops  do not have the chipset or BIOS support. Without the BIOS
> support there is no way to enable the hardware virtualization
> acceleration. Certainly you can run VWWare, Virtualbox and QEMU without
> vhardware support, but it poses some limitations. For instance in
> Virtualbox, you can't run 64-bit guests unless the hardware
> virtualization is enabled.
> I was just wondering what laptops might have support for
> virtualization.
> I know that the Toshiba Satellite and Acer Aspire do not have BIOS
> support (or the chipset) to support hardware virtualization. However, I
> do know that some business laptops do have virtualization support.

Just like long mode (aka LM, aka 64bit), the extra functionality for VM or
LM inside the CPU costs extra to manufacture or purchase, so I'm going to
make a disputable claim that laptop manufacturers won't put VM or LM enabled
CPU's into their laptops, unless they're going to build the rest of the
components in the laptop to support it too.

There are lots of laptops and netbooks out there that do not have these
options.

I think if you don't have the VM option in BIOS, it's either enabled by
default, or it's not in the CPU either.  For example, I know my macbook pro
supports vmx, and I don't think there's any way to disable it.

You can prove me wrong if you wish.  Look in BIOS and see that there is no
VM enabling option ... Then boot from some linux system, and cat
/proc/cpuinfo.  Look for the "AMD-v" or "vmx" flag.  Optionally, you can
also look for the "lm" flag.  If you find it present in the CPU ... and not
present in BIOS ... I contend that it's enabled and you can't disable it.

That being said ... I know I use Dell Latitude, Dell Precision, Lenovo T500,
and Apple Macbook Pro.  These all support 64bit and virtualization.