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Elitoh
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

ESX3i installs but doesn't boot.

Installed esxi on a dell sc1430 install goes through fine but after reboot it does not start up. Has anyone encountered a problem like this?

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

Does it generate any sort of error message when you boot or hang at a certain point? Do you get any error messages if you press ALT-F12 or ALT-F1 during the boot process?

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Elitoh
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Before the install I didn't have to do the "TAB" option or shift + o. The install goes through fine and when it reboots the only error message is from the post screen telling me that there is no bootable drive. Doesn't even attempt to load past that.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

Was there anything on the disks prior to the install? You might want to completely wipe them if there was. What sort of storage controller and disk setup do you have?

Elitoh
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Yeah there was an install of esx 3.5(Trial Version). Didn't see any option to completely remove or format the drives. Its using the onboard Sata controller. I believe its an ICH9 or maybe ICH7.

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Elitoh
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I do get an error message during the install when I push alt F11 or F12 it says" CPU7: 1155USB Controll/Bulk Timeout USB device may not respond.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

You might want to check that the ESXi partition were written to disk. If you boot with the install process, and then press ALT-F1 when you get to the install screen, you can access the console (use root to login / no password). Then run fdisk -l. The output should be similar to what is attached.

Elitoh
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Yeah I got to the part and its kind of the same with the exception of the drive name (or letter) on mine it starts with vmhba1:0:0:1 do you happen to know the command to format the drives? I have 2 drives but it looks like only one is partitioned.

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Elitoh
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

One thing that I had mentioned before is that I already had esx 3.5(demo) running on the machine. I tried to install esxi with a non supported RAID Controller (Adaptec SA1430). I think what happend is that I connected the drives in opposite of what they were connected prior to the raid card. I switched them around and ran the install one more time with my fingers crossed. It installed and booted up correctly. NOT SURE WHY. Before I had done that I tried to boot from an ubuntu 8.04 and format the drives and I did but that didnt work either. Hope this helps anyone else coming up with the same issues.

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