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I recently installed Xencenter 6.2. I was able to install and configure a Windows VM. However, whenever I boot different Linux distros after the boot menu (syslinux or whatever) the disc always locks up. I tried Fedora 19, RHEL 6, and gparted. I get the feeling that it must be a xenserver or BIOS configuration issue. The processor is an Intel E5-2609 which supports VT-x. Any ideas?

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    A bounty? This is really the type of question that needs a lot of back and forth troubleshooting -- "try this, try that", come back, get an answer/output, try something else, and on and on. A bounty isn't going to get you a definitive answer. Maybe come to Root Access or The Comms Room on chat for help. Nov 8, 2013 at 20:14
  • I didn't know about that. I'll try it out.
    – Alex
    Nov 8, 2013 at 21:04

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The article Linux Virtual Machines are Unable to Boot from DVD on XenServer, although for XenServer 5.5/5,6, might still pertain here :

Unlike Microsoft Windows, which uses device drivers for paravirtualization, Linux virtual machines have a paravirtualized kernel. During the installation of Linux, it is actually running as a Hardware-Assisted Virtual Machine (HVM) and has access to DVD just like Windows. Once the Linux installation is complete, a Xen kernel is swapped in. However, as the paravirtualization is kernel based, this causes issues with accessing the DVD on boot, as the kernel is not loaded.

To allow the Linux virtual machine to boot from DVD, the virtual machine should be set to start in Recovery Mode, as shown in the following screen shot:

image

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  • Unfortunately that doesn't seem to make a difference...
    – Alex
    Nov 14, 2013 at 14:11
  • More possible info: This thread suggested adding clocksource=jiffies to the kernel boot parameters. The poster's answer was that only CentOS Live seems to work on Xenserver.
    – harrymc
    Nov 14, 2013 at 18:31
  • That worked for CentOS but I couldn't get it work on any other distros just like the poster...
    – Alex
    Nov 14, 2013 at 20:18
  • There must be some deficiency in the way Xenserver handles live CDs. I don't know what's different about CentOS Live, but its working on Xenserver is probably just a coincidence. If I had to guess, I would say a wrong implementation in Xenserver of the emulation of some hardware instruction which the CentOS boot just happens not to use.
    – harrymc
    Nov 14, 2013 at 22:26
  • What I don't get is, I used Xencenter in the past and never had these issues. I didn't do anything unique after the install. This should just be working... SO maybe it's my hardware?
    – Alex
    Nov 15, 2013 at 14:07

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