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Rinse
Contributor
Contributor

Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ?

Hello,

I am trying to get ESX running on a Dell PowerEdge SC440. During installation I get the message "The installer was unable to find a supported network device".

The onboard NIC is a Broadcom BCM 5754. Any chance I will this get running ? if so, how ?

Thanks in advance,

Rinse Lemstra

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35 Replies
warrenwalker
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

Im sorry if this doesnt seem particulraly helpful but if its not in the IO compatibility list then it shouldnt be used. You could always install a supported network adapter.

Cheers,

Warren

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Rinse
Contributor
Contributor

Hello Warren,

Thaks for your answer.

I have no problem with installing a supported NIC, but how big is the chance that I then will face some other incompatibility issues with the rest of the hardware (video, mainboard) ?

regards,

Rinse

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warrenwalker
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Unfortunately Rinse, thats the problem with using unsupported hardware. You could check the server compatability list for a similar spec Dell machine. And then check the IO compatibility list for supported components.

Cheers,

Warren

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

If you add an Intel Pro / 1000 NIC that will get you past the error message, but you still may have problems with the drive controller. What model of drive controller does this system have?

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dr00l
Contributor
Contributor

Just an FYI: After 3.5 U2 upgrade, the onboard Broadcom BCM5754 Gig-E adapter is now recognized. So the SC440 is now completely usable out of the box (both onboard SATA and Ethernet are functional under ESX 3.5U2).

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the_norris
Contributor
Contributor

Hi dr001

Is it the SC440 with the SAS 5/i intergrated controlled for SATA and SAS?

Looking to get one of these servers for myself ESX test system.

Phil

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mdlister
Contributor
Contributor

I also have a Dell PowerEdge SC440 and had the same issues as you have reported, i went through a number of cards till i tried the intel pro 1000 GT Adapter for about £30 on Dabs, works a treat from then, currently have 2 80Gb hard drives and 2Gb Ram, was thinking of upgrading the ram a bit but dell states it cants handle more than a gb in each channel with a total of 4gb is this true?? Smiley Sad

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Scovndrel
Contributor
Contributor

I have a Dell PowerEdge SC440 working out of the box with no hardware changes. ESXi 3.5.0 Update 2 build 110271 (downloaded 8/14/2008) installs with no issues.

Server Hardware Configuration:

Dell PowerEdge SC440

222-3378 Dual Core 3060 Processor, 4MB Cache, 2.4GHz, Xeon, 1066MHz Front Side Bus for PowerEdge SC440

311-6676 4GB DDR2, 667MHz, 4X1GB Dual Ranked DIMMs

341-3756 SAS 5IR SAS, PCI-Express Internal RAID Adapter

341-4180 160GB 7.2K RPM Serial ATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive - Primary (RAID 1)

341-4176 160GB 7.2K RPM Serial ATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive - Additional (RAID 1)

430-0488 On board Network Adapter (Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5754 Gigabit Ethernet)

313-4359 48X CD-ROM Drive

This being an entry level server, Dell has limited it to 4GB RAM. I have not tested this and don't intend to. If I need more than 4GB, I also need a better server.

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dr00l
Contributor
Contributor

I'm using the stock onboard SATA controller.

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NB_72
Contributor
Contributor

Guys - please dont laugh as i am a total new newbie to VMWare. I have been reading abt the SC440 on the forums - i dont have a SAS controller card - am using the onboard SATA controller.

It has 4GB ram, BCM5754 NIC and also a 2nd Nic RTL-8169 Gbic.

Proc is Intel Xeon CPU 3060 @ 2.4Ghz (2 Core)

I am trying to install VMWare 3.5 U2, which i D/L from Vmware site (trial version) - I have burnt the software to a DVD-RW disk

Stupid Q: When i boot the Dell Server with the VMware U2 Disk in - I press F11 to go to the boot device menu. In there i select the Onboard CD-Rom Drive. I then get a message Strike the F1 Key to Continue or F2 to run the Setup utility. If i press F1, i get "selected boot device not available, Strike the F1 Key to continue or F2 for Setup utility".

The CD rom is bootable, it boots with the Dell utility CD - Version 5.3, quite happily ???

So what am i doing wrong ??? I have tried other versions of ESX 3.02 and also 3 and get the same result. The other versions are burnt on CD-Rom not DVD.

Thanks...

Newbie....

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Scovndrel
Contributor
Contributor

It sounds to me like your Dell SC440 has a CD-ROM drive, NOT a DVD-ROM drive, and you are trying to boot from a DVD. You need to either put in a DVD-ROM drive, or re-burn your ISO to a CDR.

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NB_72
Contributor
Contributor

Its defo a DVD-Rom Drive.

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Scovndrel
Contributor
Contributor

OK, next noob trick possibility: Did you burn the ISO file to the DVD as a file, or did you "create CD from image"?

To verify this, put the DVD in another computer and open it with Windows Explorer. Do you see a .iso file on the disc? If so, go directly to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

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NB_72
Contributor
Contributor

lol - yes it has directories on it and is not an ISO image to Disk burn - the directories on the disk are

dosutils

Images

isolinux

scripts

VMware

on the cd root it has the following files

.discinfo (file)

open source licences

Readme

Trans.tbl

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Scovndrel
Contributor
Contributor

Could be compatibility issues with your media? Try burning again, setting it to lowest speed?

Do your burned VMware CDs boot OK in other machines?

Also, I just noticed in your first post that you said some of the ones you tried were burned to CD, not DVD. Sorry about that.

I'm out of ideas beyond that.

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NB_72
Contributor
Contributor

thanks for the help - interesting thought on the media - i am using DVD -RW and also CD -R.

Hopefully someone has a help tip to sort me out.

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adpcyence
Contributor
Contributor

hello NB_72,

try changing the boot order in bios. make the cd-rom as the first boot option. maybe the function keys are messed up :-).

just my 2 cents.

/adp

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NB_72
Contributor
Contributor

cd is defo 1st in boot order as it boots with the dell utility cd in ad also boots with w2k3 cd in... is the directory and file structure mentioned in one of my previous replies correct for an esx cd.

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mobcdi
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Can any of the SC440 users confirm that they were able to install and use ESX on it without needing a 2nd harddrive. I hope to create a very cheap cluster using the SC440 but would like to confirm it will work before I part with my money

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