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dpoc74
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VMWARE ESX on a DELL R300, VITUAL MACHINE WONT BOOT FROM CD ROM

Hi

I have installed VMWARE ESX 3.5 r2 on a dell R300 server. It went on with no problem. I am trying to install a Windwos 2003 Server from an install CD. I have created the virtual machine using all of the default settings, I have powered up the machine, entered the BIOS, set the CD ROM to be the first boot device, but whether I use the client CD ROM, the host CD ROM, or point the CD ROM to use a .iso image of the CD I created, whenever I power on the machine, it first tries to do a PXE boot, and then says No OS found !! When I disable the virtual network card, it powers up and says NO OS straight away. Am I being completely stupid Smiley Wink

Thanks

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weinstein5
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I do not think that is it because you tried to boot off an iso image that would bypass the hardware - is the iso image bootable?

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weinstein5
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welcome to the forums - it is often overlooked - in the cd settings is the check box 'connect at power on' selected?

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dpoc74
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Thanks for the reply.

Yes the CD is checked to be connect at power on.

I know that it should work but it doesn't. I am wondering if it is something to do with the fact that it is on a DELL Poweredge R300 which isn't officially supported. The VMWARE infrastructure client see's the CD though so I can't really see what the problem is.

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weinstein5
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I do not think that is it because you tried to boot off an iso image that would bypass the hardware - is the iso image bootable?

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bernd2nd
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Things i would check:

1. try to mount a CDROM from ServiceConsole

login as root and execute the cmds

#mount /cdrom ; ls /cdrom ; umount /cdrom

2. try to choose the boot device from the BIOS

start the VM and press ESC - this should result in breaking the boot process. You can choose the boot device

dpoc74
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It helps to have other people check that you are not being a complete pillock.

Someone gave me the Windows Server CD, I assumed it was bootable, etc. etc. etc.

Have just put a known working bootable CD in and it works a treat.

Thanks for the replies Gents. It sometimes really helps to go back to basics. The server won't boot. Is it a bootable Cd . Doh Smiley Wink

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Andrej201110141
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Same problem here.

I also have Dell PowerEdge R300. When I try to connect host CD/DVD to virtual machine the ESXi server I get: No Devices Available.

I know the CD-ROM drive and the CD is functioning since I installed the ESXi with exactly that CD.

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Rumple
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check this out...its mainly for booting, but might have something to do with it.

http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/drivercd/esx35-sata-cdrom-1.0.0.html

905 and 900 are just the AMD/Intel versions so probably same ide controller.

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Andrej201110141
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Rumple,

I am quite new to ESXi and do not know how to make an update for ESXi.

We do not use ESX Server 3.5 but ESXi 3.5. Will research how to do it on our system and post back results.

Thans!!!

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Dave_Mishchenko
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You won't be able to use this patch on ESXi as with ESXi you replace the entire firmware - see this how-to on patching - http://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/Patch_3i_without_VC.html.

With ESXi some servers have a problem using the host's CD-ROM in a guest and the work around is to use the client CD-ROM option or a datastore ISO.

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dpoc74
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I couldn't get ESXi working on an R300. It kept coming up with fatal error when I tried to install it (using the R2 release). I thought this was because it had limited drivers on it being such a small footprint, and as the R300 wasn't on the hardware list there was no chance of getting it working. Maybe I will try again. ESX does however work a treat on it.

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Andrej201110141
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OK, if I understand correctly, I need at least VC foundation to update the ESXi. Probably I will try with te VC evaluation version first.

Othervise I am super satisfied with ESXi on R300. It works perfectly. Workaround for the CD issue is to install OSs from Clients CD or ISO image from my inexpensive WD Netcenter ethernet disk that supports NFS.

But will follow your instructions for solving the CD issue and post back the results.

Thanks!

Andrej

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lfchin
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Maybe you can try the step here, 1st open the console and power up your VM. Since your VM is without OS at this moment, it will stuck anyway. Then you can try to mount the ISO through the console which you launch from the Virtual center. Then you click you mouse on the console screen to make sure you had control on the console with your keyboard. Try to press esc and it should able to boot to the iso file you mount. if not, after you coonnected your iso through the virtual center, try to do a reset, and press ESC, there will be an option to boot from CD rom as well. Good luck

Rolando

Craig http://malaysiavm.com
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lfchin
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Maybe you can try the step here, 1st open the console and power up your VM. Since your VM is without OS at this moment, it will stuck anyway. Then you can try to mount the ISO through the console which you launch from the Virtual center. Then you click you mouse on the console screen to make sure you had control on the console with your keyboard. Try to press esc and it should able to boot to the iso file you mount. if not, after you coonnected your iso through the virtual center, try to do a reset, and press ESC, there will be an option to boot from CD rom as well. Good luck

Rolando

Craig http://malaysiavm.com
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MrJoshB
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Hi, I have a Dell R300 as well and experienced this behavior. What I did was in the vSphere client I went to the boot settings and put a delay of 10000 milliseconds. This allows you to see and execute the <ESC> option to get to a boot menu and select the cdrom. Hope this helps.

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atakacs
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Hi

I'm having a very similar problem (i.e. install on Dell R300 works just fine but after reboot message "no operating system").

Not quite sure to understand how I would go about loading the vSphere client as per you suggestion.

BTW: runing (or trying to run) esxi 4

Regards

alex

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