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

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35 Replies Last post: May 10, 2009 7:44 PM by flyty

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

Jan 22, 2008 10:45 AM

Rinse 3 posts since
Jan 22, 2008

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

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Jan 22, 2008 11:00 AM

warren.walker 39 posts since
May 1, 2007

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

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Jan 22, 2008 11:24 AM

in response to: warren.walker

Rinse 3 posts since
Jan 22, 2008

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

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Jan 22, 2008 11:34 AM

in response to: Rinse

warren.walker 39 posts since
May 1, 2007

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

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Jan 22, 2008 11:42 AM

in response to: Rinse

Dave.Mishchenko 8,436 posts since
Nov 15, 2005 Moderator

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?

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Jul 31, 2008 11:13 PM

dr00l 20 posts since
Jun 18, 2008

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).

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 1, 2008 4:20 AM

in response to: dr00l

the_norris 6 posts since
Mar 19, 2007

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

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 8, 2008 6:24 AM

mdlister 1 posts since
Aug 8, 2008

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??

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 14, 2008 3:41 PM

in response to: mdlister

Scovndrel 4 posts since
Aug 14, 2008

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.

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 14, 2008 7:40 PM

in response to: the_norris

dr00l 20 posts since
Jun 18, 2008

I'm using the stock onboard SATA controller.

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 17, 2008 11:53 AM

in response to: dr00l

NB_72 5 posts since
Aug 17, 2008

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....

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 17, 2008 12:41 PM

in response to: NB_72

Scovndrel 4 posts since
Aug 14, 2008

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.

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 17, 2008 12:49 PM

in response to: Scovndrel

NB_72 5 posts since
Aug 17, 2008

Its defo a DVD-Rom Drive.

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 17, 2008 12:52 PM

in response to: NB_72

Scovndrel 4 posts since
Aug 14, 2008

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.

Reply Re: Esx 3.5 on a Dell PowerEdge SC440, will this work ? Aug 17, 2008 1:09 PM

in response to: Scovndrel

NB_72 5 posts since
Aug 17, 2008

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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