VMware Communities: Message List - VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

tom howarth — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:53:21 GMT

Thread moved to the correct sub-forum

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Tom Howarth VCP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: www.planetvm.net
Contributing author for the upcoming book "VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment”. Currently available on roughcuts

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

cheipler — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:25:26 GMT

I had a similar issue today after updating the ql4xmaxqdepth setting for my QLogic 4062's on 2 of my ESX boxes. After rebooting I was getting the "Mounting root failed". Ended up rebooting into troubleshooting mode and then removing the last line in the /etc/vmware/esx.conf file, which referenced the setting changes I had made (looked something like "vmkernel....esxcfg-module -options ql4xmaxqdepth=200........").

Anyway hope that helps someone now I have to find out what the proper value is seeing how the EqualLogic documents say it should be 200.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

shaymandel — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:32:49 GMT

I ran into the same issue, with ESX 3.5, running a HP Proliant DL 145, 2 CPUs with 4GB RAM. I have tried starting in troubleshooting mode, and got this error:

Initialization of vmkernel failed, status 0xbad0013

I found a solution for this here: http://www.shocknetwork.com/forum/vmware-discussion-f20/esx-vmkernel-doesn-load-0xbad0013-t89.html

and followed the description there, which said that the DIMM memory cards should be installed as 2 per each CPU, and not 4 for one CPU. This solved my issue.

I am posting this here, as the initial issue I saw was Mounting Root Failed and I invested quite some time following the messages in this thread without luck, and with a lot of work.

I hope this will help some more people.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

cybermage — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:17:46 GMT

I tried it with both existing and new VM's. I have rebuild the server between each test.

Also installing 3.0.2 over 3.5 and only keeping the VMFS then those VMs work again.. It is really strange.

I have actually installed the latest iso thinking that it might have to do with the rpm issue, but it wasn't.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

Rkelly — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:26:02 GMT

I was able to get mine working. Call technical support. Apperently in the ESX 3.5 Build I had there was an RPM that did not run during the upgrade. VMWare has since released a new build that corrects this problem.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

DeGreat — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:59:21 GMT

I have only 2 VMs on my PE2600. They are in production. I would love to add couple of more to test. The VMs that are getting corrupted are the new VMs or the old VMs?

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

cybermage — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 08:44:08 GMT

Running firmware 199A does indeed allow 3.5 to boot and appear to be working.

I have however another problem. If I install 2-3 VMs on the local VMFS it works fine. Any subsequent VMs seem to get disk corruption.

I would run chkdsk on a VM and it would find errors, it will then repair and if I run chkdsk again it will again find errors, the errors are also not the same.

I have tried creating new VMs, restore exising VMs, nothing seem to work part around 2-3 VMs.

3.0.2 works just fine, Even VMs that seem to have corruption work if I leave the VMFS volume intact when downgrading from 3.5 to 3.0.2.

Rolling back to 3.0.2 again.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

DeGreat — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 23:11:01 GMT

I had the same issue. I have a PE2600 with Perc 4Di. I had the latest firmware ans was getting the same error. I rolled back the FW to the following and 3.5 works great.

http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R71754&formatcnt=5&libid=0&fileid=93120

Let me know if this helped.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

henka01 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:21:09 GMT

I had the same issue during upgrade from 3.0.2 to 3.5 with esxupdate on 4 DELL PE 2950. This solved the problem for me:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003801

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

Svante — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:48:17 GMT

Same/similar problem here. HP BL460c, internal RAID used for ESX installation. Had 3.0.2, all patches installed, running just fine, used the 3.0-3.5 tarball to upgrade. Everything seemed fine, no disks anywhere near going full, no error messages during upgrade. After reboot, can't mount root. I figured the quickest solution for me was to do a clean 3.5 installation rather than trying to find out what went wrong. Feels more clean anyway, but of course a serious problem for those not having that option.

Clean 3.5 installation went fine, and it boots. Having some iSCSI problems now, but that is another story.. Back on 3.0.2 for now (I had mirrored disks so I could go back to 3.0.2 with minimal effort)

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

wolvie724 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:44:13 GMT

I have a 2500 with a Perc3/DC in the test enviorment that I tested installing 3.5 on. I had it up to firmware level 199D and got the "mounting root failed" error.

I took the firmware back one level to firmware level 199A. And the install went fine (boots up fine). I going to have to test a Perc4 to see what happens. But maybe that is a place to start looking

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

mtestino — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:20:11 GMT

thank you!

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

C.Ruhnke — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:11:58 GMT

Confirmed! Downgrading the firmware on the PERC 3/DC controller from rev 199D to rev 199A resulted in a bootable VMware 3.5 server.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

wolvie724 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:34:18 GMT

Here is a the link to 199A

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&SystemID=PWE_PNT_P3C_2550&servicetag=&os=WNET&osl=en&deviceid=1370&libid=35&catid=-1&impid=-1&typecnt=0&vercnt=9&releaseid=R126654

and if you need to do the same with other PERC cards go to the current firmware page. Click on the firmware you want to DL and under the Download Now link you will see a link called Other Versions. Click that link and you will get links to all the old firmwares.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

mtestino — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:22:45 GMT

where the 199A firmware can be downloaded? I've searched on the dell site but i could only find the latest version.

thanks

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

mphodge — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:12:42 GMT

Managed to fix my "mounting root failed"...

Downgraded the Perc 3/DC firmware from 199D to 199A and now ESX 3.5 boots up

VMware officially do not support this RAID card, don't know why?!

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

sthoppay_wipro — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:27:16 GMT

I have Dell 6850. Executed the following command to increase the queue depth

esxcfg-module -s ql2xmaxqdepth=64 qla2300_707_vmw

and esxcfg-boot -r

After reboot, I got the same error "Mounting root failed" and busybox prompt.

I can login into troubleshooting mode without any issues & it mounts the root volume.

I tried executing

esxcfg-boot -p

esxcfg-boot -r

but, no luck.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

phenneberry — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:15:02 GMT

On the IBM 336 xSeries running VMware ESX 3.5, LSPCI -v shows:

00:if.2 IDE Interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller

On the same machine when running ESX 3.02 which works fine, LSPCI -v shows:

00:if.2 IDE Interface Intel Corporation Unknown device 24d1

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

99matt99 — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:57:23 GMT

01:00.0 RAID bus controller: Adaptec Adaptec Rocket (rev 02)
Subsystem: International Business Machines ServeRAID 8k/8k-l8
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
Memory at e7a00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) size=2M
Memory at e7e00000 (64-bit, prefetchable) size=128K
I/O ports at 5000 size=256
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> disabled size=32K
Capabilities: 40 #10 0001
Capabilities: e0 Message Signalled Interrupts: 64bit+ Queue=0/2 Enable-

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

Rkelly — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:31:17 GMT

Adaptec IBM serve Raid 8k

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

rpartmann — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:15:22 GMT

Hi,

if possible start your ESX box in troubleshooting mode and do a lspic -v and lspci -v -vv and post the vendorID:deviceID
and the type of your scsi/sas/sata card.

kind regards,
Reinhard.

ps: Award points if you find answers helpful. Thanks.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

Rkelly — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:17:09 GMT

Add me to the list with this problem.

IBM x3650

Upgrading from ESX 3.0.2 update 1 to 3.5

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

99matt99 — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:11:40 GMT

Interestingly we ran into a problem with our upgrade from 3.0.2 to ESX 3.5 in that the initrd file was too big to fit into the default ramdisk so the upgraded server would boot to service console but not full esx (kernel panic).

We edited the grub kernel parameter and set the ramdisk_size parameter to be bigger than the initrd for full ESX. The server would then boot into esx. Why the initrd file ended up being 92MB in size for only used about 18 MB of files puzzles me but at least the server came up.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

phenneberry — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:15:20 GMT

I'm using an IBM xSeries 336 and the same issue others have experienced holds true with this model.

I'm booting from a SAN via qlogic HBA, and have disabled the internal RAID controller. I also have upgraded to the latest firmware but to no avail.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

a18041967 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:19:28 GMT

I've experienced a very similar problem using the MegaRaid in a whitebox solution, I'll be watching this thread to see if there's a solution.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

rpartmann — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:34:11 GMT

Hi,

probably is it like with some SATA Controllers.
Check the PCI id and try the procedure as mentioned in the thread below.

I think you should look into these files:
/etc/vmware/pciid/ aacraid_esx30.xml or
megaraid2.xml.

http://communities.vmware.com/message/833574#833574

kind regards,
Reinhard.

ps: Award points if you find answers helpful. Thanks.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

nextlevel — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:35:43 GMT

Weird.

I do it on an identical PE6850 and it works. Same firmware of MEGARAID too

This machine doesn't work:
v2.10.7 (Release Date: Sat Jun 5 02:32:59 EDT 2004)
PERC 4/DC
Controller Type: 438/466/467/471/493/518/520/531/532
Controller Supports 40 Logical Drives
Controller capable of 64-bit memory addressing
Controller using 64-bit memory addressing
Base = 3fe02000, Irq = 153, Initial Logical Drives = 1, Channels = 2
Version =*352D*:1.10, DRAM = 128Mb
Controller Queue Depth = 254, Driver Queue Depth = 126
...

This machine works:

v2.10.7 (Release Date: Sat Jun 5 02:32:59 EDT 2004)
PERC 4/DC
Controller Type: 438/466/467/471/493/518/520/531/532
Controller Supports 40 Logical Drives
Controller capable of 64-bit memory addressing
Controller using 64-bit memory addressing
Base = 0b402000, Irq = 153, Initial Logical Drives = 1, Channels = 2
Version =*352A*:1.10, DRAM = 128Mb
Controller Queue Depth = 254, Driver Queue Depth = 126

*The ONLY difference is the REVISION (Correction:FIRMWARE) of the controller*

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

nextlevel — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:10:36 GMT

But it is the NEW 3.5 ESX that does not work on the NEW firmware, where 3.0.2 works!

There ist http://kb.vmware.com/kb/5966817
But it is related to 3.0.x, not 3.5 and not excactly hits the problem.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

Texiwill — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:46:15 GMT

Hello,

A Revision change can make a difference! If the rev is newer than the one tested or older than the one supported there could be issues. I suggest you open a call with your VMware Support Agent to at least get the HCL updated.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky
VMware Communities User Moderator
====
Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education. Available on Rough Cuts at http://safari.informit.com/9780132302074

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

mtestino — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:25:46 GMT

same problem here, we have two pe6650 running esx 3.0.2, tried to install esx3.5, mounting root failed, probably this problem will be fixed in the next "update 1" release, at least i hope so.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

C.Ruhnke — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:32:20 GMT

Both the host and the MegaRAID adapter were updated to the latest firmware
available from Dell prior to the installation of ESX V3.5.

--CHRis

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

Texiwill — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:34:30 GMT

Hello,

I had a similar issue.... Ensure that your Hardware firmware is up-to-date. I had a downlevel disk firmware and network card, which prevented my systems from booting. The firmware was good for ESX v3 but not for 3.5.... So I would check this first.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky
VMware Communities User Moderator
====
Author of the forthcoming 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', publishing January 2008, Copyright 2008 Pearson Education. Available on Rough Cuts at http://safari.informit.com/9780132302074

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

C.Ruhnke — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:42:16 GMT

Problem has been logged with support. No replies from them, yet.

--CHRis

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

nextlevel — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:10:22 GMT

I can confirm this problem on a Dell 6850 4 DualCore with PERC/4...

Any solutions?

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

StefanST — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:00:14 GMT

Hi all,
same problem here on DELL 1800 (PERC4,SC) and DELL 6650 (PERC4,SC) latest PERC Firmware.
That must be a driver bug. With ESX 3.02U1 without problems.
I hope that it will give for it soon a solution.

Nice surprise between the holidays

Stefan

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

C.Ruhnke — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:04:38 GMT

I moved my hard disks from the PERC3/DC RAID controller to the Adaptec SCSI adapter and was able to successfully install and boot ESX 3.5.

After installing I moved the "working" installation back onto the RAID controller and the original problem recurred.

I suspect there is something malfunctioning in the megaraid2 driver.

Re: VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

mphodge — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:27:50 GMT

Just had the same problem on a Dell PE 2600.

I used the upgrade tarball with esxupdate and when the server rebooted, it was not able to mount the root

My next step was to try an install from the CD... until I read this thread.

Think I'll got and watch Dr Who then...

VMware ESX 3.5 Install/Upgrade reboot error "Mounting root failed."

C.Ruhnke — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 23:30:54 GMT

Configuration: Dell PE 6650, 4 CPU, 4GB, PERC 3/DC, 3 36GB drives configured as JBOD.

Trying to install ESX 3.5 from a CD burned with the ISO image from www.vmware.com/download.

After install is finished, when the server reboots it terminates with the message "Mounitng root failed. Dropping into basic maintenance shell."
The same thing happens if I try to upgrade a successful installation of ESX 3.0.2 to ESX 3.5.
Booting to the "Service Console only" mode is successful and the installation root disk is successfully mounted.
This sounds like there is something hosed in the VMware startups.

Anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions to resolve this problem?

Thanks!