Hi there,

did your "mount" command execute succesfully?
try mount without parameters, and check what is where mounted.
/mnt/eroot ist the root (=/) partition of your new esx server.
make a ls -al /mnt/eroot and check what is there.

Check a running ESX server in /etc/vmware/pciid

hth, Reinhard

ps: Award points if you find answers helpful. Thanks.

So, I tried getting ESX 3.5 to install on an IBM x306 server with SATA drives am also having the root drive failing to mount problem. Attached are my lspci output as well as a modified version of the script rpartmann has graciously provided. I noticed that on Ubuntu 7.10, when running the script I was getting the following error:

./enable_ml110g2_sata_esx3.5_v0.1.sh: 61: lines: not found

Which turned out to be due to the way the script was doing its arithematic in bash... I put in a quick fix to use the bc command instead, and the script runs fine, however it still doesn't help me with booting up ESX properly.

The SATA controller is an Intel 6300ESB with a PCID of 25a3... Has anyone else tried installing on similar hardware?

Paul

Update: I had to go into the BIOS and totally disable my IDE controller, at which point I was able to boot and mount the local SATA disk with no issues. Thanks to everyone in this thread for the fantastic help!

Dave, for the x2200 you're pointing to a source that doesn't appear to say anything about how to get it working, it might be worth directing people to this thread instead.

The x2200 uses the MCP55 SATA controller just like the HP ML115, and the script on this thread works fine if you're using SATA drives.

I believe (but have not tested) that with SAS drives ESX just works. The x2200 is on VMware's HCL, and from what I've read the server was certified for use with ESX with SAS drives fitted.

I'm able to boot into ESX after having disabled the IDE controller in my BIOS, however now the system recognizes the disks as /dev/hd* devices, and not /dev/sd* devices, so it doesn't mount any of the local vmfs storage I created to run my VMs off of.

Is anybody else experiencing a similar issue? Is there anyway to get ESX to recognize these formerly created VMFS partitions, or recreate new ones on the /dev/hd* partitions?

Hi Dave,

another system which works: hp d330 (intel 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller 8086:24d1 )
Is in the ata_piix.xml on the standard install.

(very similar to the hp d530 systems i think)

kind regards,
Reinhard

ps: Award points if you find answers helpful. Thanks.

Many thanks, great news, So I guess it should work too. I was a bit frustrated not being able to choose between versions. I initially thought about this option, but it was really uncertain, so switched to 3i, and it was ok.

I will give a try when time permit on another disk and post the outcome.

steph

Hi Dave,

tested another SATA Controller
Intel SCRS28x / PCI-X 8xSATA Firmware rev. 814D RaidBIOS H431
http://www.intel.com/design/servers/raid/srcs28x/index.htm

/etc/vmware/pciid/megaraid2.xml

<device id="0409:8086:3008">
<vmware label="scsi">
<driver>megaraid2</driver>
</vmware>
<name>LSI Logic MegaRAID SATA</name>
<table file="pcitable" module="megaraid2">
<desc>LSI Logic|MegaRAID</desc>
</table>
<table file="pcitable.Linux" module="megaraid2">
<desc>LSI Logic SATA|MegaRAID SATA</desc>
</table>
</device>

as i figured out in that case it was important to also add the SUBSYSTEM ID´s because the boot process didn´t continue.

bye,
Reinhard

ps: Award points if you find answers helpful. Thanks.