Hello everyone,
I am trying to get my first ESXi System up and running and I am running into problems, When I load the ISO from my CD Rom, I get an error saying it was unable to find a valid storage device.
Below is a list of my computer hardware.
Motherboard: EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 Bios Rev P06
CPU: Intel Q6600 (Quad Core)
Memory: 8GB G-Skill
Hard Drive: Samsung 1 TB SATA
Alt Hard Drive: Maxtor 1.6GB ATA
Alt Hard Drive: Pny 8GB Thumb Drive USB
Keybord & Mouse: Generic USB
Video Card: ATI 7000 (PCI)
DVD Rom: Sony 52x ATA
DVD Rom: Samsung SATA
I have tryed the following drive configurations:
SATA Channel 1 Hard Drive - SATA DVD Rom
SATA Hard Dive - ATA DVD Rom
SATA Channel 5 - ATA DVD Rom
SATA Channel 5 - SATA DVD Rom
SATA Channel 1 - SATA DVD Rom - USB Drive
ATA Master - SATA DVD
ATA Master - ATA DVD Slave
ATA Master - SATA DVD - USB Drive
So.... what am I missing? Please help me.
Sorry - I thought you were booting for the USB flash drive. When you get to the point of getting the 'can't find support hardware' try this install method - http://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/ESXi_install_to_IDE_drive/ESXi_install_to_IDE_drive.php.
What's the chipset of your storage controller?
Im not sure that is part of my problem, from what I have been able to find out... it sounds like it comes right off the MCP
NVIDIA MediaShield Storage
nForce 780i SLI MCP
NVIDA Raid
nVidia Corporation MCP55 IDE
Bios Info: 10DE 036E 0101
nVidia Corporation MCP55 SATA Controller
Bios Info: 10DE 037F 0101
The message you're getting indicates that ESXi is not recognizing your storage controller and the drives attached to them correctly. Is the MCP on the HCL?
According to the MCP55 Sata Controler should work with ESXi 3.5 Update 2 and newer, I have been trying to install ESXi update 3. So I am downloading Update 2 right now and I will see if I have better luck with it... I will update this once I have attempted to install update 2.
nVidia Corporation | 10de | 0036 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | MCP04 Serial ATA Controller |
10de | 003e | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | MCP04 Serial ATA Controller | |
10de | 0053 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | nForce4 Parallel ATA Controller | |
10de | 0054 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | CK804 Serial ATA Controller | |
10de | 0055 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | CK804 Serial ATA Controller | |
10de | 0056 | 0000 | 0000 | network | forcedeth | nVidia NForce Network Controller | |
10de | 0057 | 0000 | 0000 | network | forcedeth | nVidia NForce Network Controller | |
10de | 0065 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | nForce2 IDE | |
10de | 0085 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | MCP2A IDE | |
10de | 008e | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | nForce2 Serial ATA Controller | |
10de | 00d5 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | nForce3 IDE | |
10de | 00e3 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | CK8S Serial ATA Controller (v2.5) | |
10de | 00e5 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | CK8S Parallel ATA Controller (v2.5) | |
10de | 00ee | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | CK8S Serial ATA Controller (v2.5) | |
10de | 01bc | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | nForce IDE | |
10de | 0266 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | MCP51 Serial ATA Controller | |
10de | 0267 | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | MCP51 Serial ATA Controller | |
10de | 0268 | 0000 | 0000 | network | forcedeth | nVidia NForce Network Controller | |
10de | 0269 | 0000 | 0000 | network | forcedeth | nVidia NForce Network Controller | |
10de | 036e | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | MCP55 IDE Controller | |
10de | 0372 | 0000 | 0000 | network | forcedeth | nVidia NForce Network Controller | |
10de | 0373 | 0000 | 0000 | network | forcedeth | nVidia NForce Network Controller | |
10de | 037e | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | MCP55 SATA Controller | |
10de | 037f | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | MCP55 SATA Controller |
If you query the PCI id for your controller is it coming up with the ID of 036e or 037e?
ESXi Update 2: Failed as well.
According to the bios, I have both one is the ATA controler and one is the SATA controler. Is there a beter way for me to look other than bois and I have tryed install it to ATA and SATA Drives.
Here is the info from PCI Database
Returning 5 matches for: "MCP55"
Sorted by: Device ID
Vendor Id | Vendor Name | ||
---|---|---|---|
0x036E | MCP55 PATA Controller | 0x10DE | |
0x036F | MCP55 SATA/RAID Controller | 0x10DE | |
0x0371 | MCP55 High Definition Audio | 0x10DE | |
0x037E | MCP55 SATA/RAID Controller | 0x10DE | |
0x037F | MCP55 SATA/RAID Controller | 0x10DE |
And the data from the Hardware Support Page
10de | 036e | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | MCP55 IDE Controller | |
10de | 0372 | 0000 | 0000 | network | forcedeth | nVidia NForce Network Controller | |
10de | 0373 | 0000 | 0000 | network | forcedeth | nVidia NForce Network Controller | |
10de | 037e | 0000 | 0000 | storage | sata_nv | MCP55 SATA Controller | |
10de | 037f | 0000 | 0000 | storage | ide | MCP55 SATA Controller |
So it looks to me that it is supported.
The question Dave was asking is what is the PCI ID of YOUR storage controller, and does that PCI ID match the ones listed in the database?
Sorry for the misunderstanding I will check tonight when I get back home. Thank you for all of your help so far.
Here are the results you are looking for.
00:13.00 IDE Interface Mass storage controller: nVida Corporation MCP55 IDE Controller
Class 0101: 10de:036e
00:14.00 IDE interface Mass storage controller: nVida Corporation MCP55 SATA Controler
Class 0101: 10de:037f
00:14.01 IDE interface Mass storage controller: nVida Corporation MCP55 SATA Controler
Class 0101: 10de:037f
00:14.02 IDE interface Mass storage controller: nVida Corporation MCP55 SATA Controler
Class 0101: 10de:037f
I hope this helps.
Could you also run fdisk -l?
Disk /dev/disks/vmbha2:0:0:0: 1000.2 GB 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = Cylinders of 16065*512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk /dev/disks/vmhba2 :0:0:0 dosen't contain a valid partation table
Disk /dev/disks/vmhba32:0:0:0: 8254 MB, 8254390272 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1003 Cylinders
units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks ID System
/dev/disks/vmhba32:0:0:1 * 1 1004 8060896+ b Win95 Fat32
Partition 1 has diffrent physical.logical endings:
phys=(1002,254,63) Logical = 1003,137,30)
The drive is connected to a port that is being recognized as an IDE controller (i.e. the 037f device - vmhba2). Plug it into the SATA port that is showing up is vmhba0 (036e). That uses a different driver and you should then be able to add it as a datastore.
I tryed adding a 1.6 GB ATA IDE Drive to that port and it sill would not see it.
Right now if you go to Configuration \ Storage and then start the Add Storage wizard does it see the 1 TB drive there?
I cant get that far, I have not been able to get past trying to load the software onto the server. I get the following error when I try to install
VMWare ESX Server 31 3.5.0 Installer
Installation operation failed!
The installation operation has encountered a fatal error:
Unable to find a supported device to writethe VMware ESX Server 3i 3.5.0 image to.
The following system inforamtion will assist the VMware Support team with your problem. Please record this inforamtion before proceeding
System Information:
Manufacture: EVGA
Model : 132-CK-NF78
Service Tag: 1
Bios Rev: P06
Enter Reboot
Sorry - I thought you were booting for the USB flash drive. When you get to the point of getting the 'can't find support hardware' try this install method - http://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/ESXi_install_to_IDE_drive/ESXi_install_to_IDE_drive.php.
SUCCESS!!!! Its up and loaded and can see the drive in storage!
Thank you everyone for all your help!!!!!