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Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? Apr 4, 2008 1:24 AM
in response to: tdubb123
Click to view Dave.Mishchenko's profile Guru Dave.Mishchenko 6,710 posts since
Nov 15, 2005
Moderator
ESX 3.5 would be a good idea. With that you should be able to get the PCI id for the NIC / disk controller and that way we can see if ESX 3i will recognize it.
Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? Apr 5, 2008 10:48 PM
in response to: f5alcon
Click to view tdubb123's profile Enthusiast tdubb123 215 posts since
Feb 15, 2008

I am trying to boot 3.5 from cd on this T105 and frezzing up on

ATA3: DEV0 atapi, MAX UDMA /100

ANY IDEA?

Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? Apr 7, 2008 12:08 AM
in response to: tdubb123
Click to view khai's profile Enthusiast khai 28 posts since
May 23, 2007
I have the same symtom as tdubb123 too. Bought a brand new T105 and tried to installed 3.5 and it hangs at the same location. At first I thought it's the SATA controller, so I went out and bought a Promise SATA300 TX2PLUS controller but it still hangs. I think it hangs on the next device it's looking at, but I don't know which on it is... :(
Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? Apr 7, 2008 9:52 AM
in response to: khai
Click to view tdubb123's profile Enthusiast tdubb123 215 posts since
Feb 15, 2008
yeah what is going on? 3i seems to work fine but i want to run 3.5.
Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? Apr 13, 2008 6:14 PM
in response to: tdubb123
Click to view Martin Vincent's profile Novice Martin Vincent 11 posts since
Oct 3, 2006
Have you tried to boot from a USB key?

Look for "HOWTO: Installing ESX Server from a USB flash drive" on the vmware communities.

For the controller, I think only the Dell SAS 6/iR is supported (See page 9 of the esx35_io_guide.pdf)

Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? Apr 14, 2008 9:26 AM
Click to view Todd.Simmons's profile Novice Todd.Simmons 11 posts since
Nov 12, 2007

I puchased the Dell PowerEdge T105 to use for VMware ESX 3.5, and I have experienced the following:

The server has SATA power connectors only, therefore you must use drives that have SATA power. Sure there are adapters to convert SATA power connections, however if you decide to use them you will have to install your hard drive in the 5.25" bay. When attached to the standard hard drive bays the connector will not allow you to close the case.

If you buy a memory upgrade, remember that this model supports 800MHz memory, DDR2 PC2-6400.

There is an onboard USB port that can be used for an ESX Server 3i installation.

I have not been able to successfully use an VMware ESX Server 3.5 Installer CD. The USB Keyboard locks up during installation. The Server does not include PS/2 ports.

You cannot boot from a USB device if the SATA controller is disabled.

If you unplug (not disable) the SATA controller you can boot from the USB device.

If you boot from the USB device and use the nousbboot option by pressing SHIFT+O at the boot menu, you will receive the following error. PANIC: Failed to find SIMULATED boot partition.

If you boot from the USB device, you will receive the following error: PANIC: Failed to find USB partition.

I have attempted the installation with a reliable LSI Logic LSI21320-IS Adapter Card, as well as an Adaptec 29320 PCI-X1 card.

The BIOS offers limited functionality.


Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? May 13, 2008 1:29 PM
in response to: tdubb123
Click to view RicStar's profile Lurker RicStar 1 posts since
May 13, 2008

I had the same error as you. I disable the onboard NIC. And install a pci card. I got esx 3.5 installed on my T105. It installed fine with the build in SATA controller. However, you cannot create any VM's on the SATA drive you still need SCSI or an LSI RAID controller for the VMFS.
Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? Jan 5, 2009 12:24 AM
in response to: Todd.Simmons
Click to view gklooste's profile Novice gklooste 4 posts since
Dec 19, 2006
I have ESXi 3.5 U2 running now for a couple of months (started just after the time-bomb-bug) on my DELL Poweredge T105.

I wrote about it on my blog on http://blog.virtualarchitect.nl. I am not experiencing any problems with this version of ESX(i). I recognize the issue about the network and SATA controller being unavailable, but this only happens if you use an older version of ESX. Because the internal broadcom networkadapter is relatively new this device is not supported in older versions. I told the BIOS to boot from USB first (If I recall correct, this option is 'hidden' beneath the SATA option).

I have made no modifications to the system other than adding extra memory which I ordered through a local computer store. So no disabling of devices etc. I use local storage at the moment with the SATA controller that's part of the standard configuration (no SAS -RAID controller).

(update: changed url because blog moved to other url)

Message was edited by: gklooste

Reply Re: will this run esx 3.5? Dec 2, 2008 2:42 AM
in response to: gklooste
Click to view seancrookston's profile Lurker seancrookston 1 posts since
Dec 2, 2008
I recently bought a t105 and tried the lates esxi(update 3). It fails with a message PANIC: Failed to find HD boot partition. I'm trying update 2 now as I see that is what the poster above me used and am hoping that will work.
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