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stargazer7
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Installing ESXi on a EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 System

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.

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ScottChapman
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Are you able to see and use multiple drives with this setup now?

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stargazer7
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Scott, Yes I was able to see 2 SATA II Drives after I performed the ISCSI bypass in the install config.

On a side note, I have since added a Adaptec ICP5125BR 12-Port SATA/SAS PCIe RAID adapter, and it works great!

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ScottChapman
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OK, that's good to know. I was experiencing a problem with my motherboard, and their tech support suggested I RMA it.

The problem I was seeing was that apparently the BIOS was reporting incorrect disk geometry.

Can you confirm that when you are in the standard BIOS settings page, and you open up one of your SATA drives, does it properly show you your disks geometry?

I am expecting a replacement MB today so hopfully I can get it up and running, but I would be curious if yours works properly...

Thanks in advance!

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ScottChapman
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So, my replacement MB had same problem, and I even tried re-flashing the BIOS, and even going back to BIOS version P06. All had the same problem.

Essentially what I am seeing is that the disk geometry reported by the BIOS doesn't match the actual geometry of the drive. I am seeing this error message in the /var/log/messages file:

Mar 2 12:37:16 Hostd: 2009-03-02 12:37:16.675 'Partitionsvc' 16384 info

Error Stream from partedUtil while getting partitions: Error: The partition

table on /dev/disks/vmhba501:0:0:0 is inconsistent. There are many reasons why

this might be the case. However, the most likely reason is that Linux detected

the BIOS geometry for /dev/disks/vmhba501:0:0:0 incorrectly. GNU Parted

suspects the real geometry should be 238475/64/32 (not 30401/255/63). You

should check with your BIOS first, as this may not be correct. You can inform

Linux by adding the parameter disks/vmhba501:0:0:0=238475,64,32 to the command

line. See the LILO or GRUB documentation for more information. If you think

Parted's suggested geometry is correct, you may select Ignore to continue (and

fix Linux later). Otherwise, select Cancel (and fix Linux and/or the BIOS now).

Geometry Known: 0

While it appears that the machine is working OK, as soon as I really start using it (copy new VMs to it using the VI Client for example), it just hangs. Locks up tighter than a drum.

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ScottChapman
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So, the only way I have been able to get this to run reliably was to go into the BIOS and turn off APICID. However, I seem to be running on just one CPU (atleast that's what the client tells me).

Did you set anything interesting in your BIOS by any chance?

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MaximusPrime
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May I ask how you did the iSCSI bypass, as I am experiecing the same problem ?:|

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EricCarter
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I have this same motherboard, P10 BIOS and I'm having this exact same problem. ESXi 6.0.0 installs but locks up trying to copy a VM using VMware converter to the server; tried both from either a VMware image and a shut down VM on another ESXi 6.0.0 host.

Did anyone ever find a solution to this issue? Is it a geometry issue, or and ACPI setting?

Thanks for any assistance that can be offered!

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