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The-Kevster
Contributor
Contributor

SATA Support Clear as Mud!?

From the updated I/O sheet this is what's mentioned on supported SATA controllers....

Supported SAS/SATA Dual Controllers

ESX Server 3.5 supports selected SATA devices connected to dual SAS/SATA controllers. This support is limited to ESX Server 3.5. It is not included with ESX Server 3.0.x.

The supported dual SAS/SATA controllers are:

  • mptscsi_2xx (PCIE) ‐ LSI1078*

  • mptscsi_pcie ‐ LSI1068E (LSISAS3442E)*

  • mptscsi_pcix ‐ LSI1068 (SAS 5)*

  • aacraid_esx30 ‐ IBM serveraid 8k SAS controller*

  • cciss ‐ Smart Array P400/256 controller*

So what is the best PCIE card for me to put into my S5000PAL server that will use the above driver, if only someone could make a list :smileygrin:

Thanks,

Kev

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

You might want to try what I posted here - http://communities.vmware.com/message/834672#834672. Is it ESX 3i or 3.5 that you have installed and if you run lspci, what device ID does the ICH5 controller show.

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rpartmann
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

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.

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pdewild
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Contributor

Hi Asgard, the "script" is for nVidia controllers only. Perhaps it's an idea to expand the script for use with an Intel chipset based mainboard, but I'm not sure if that's an option Smiley Happy (because I don't have the Intel based option to try out)... Can you provide a "lspci" and seperate a "lspci -n" :).... Perhaps the SATA/IDE option in a BIOS would provide a solution, but again, I don't have one of those here....

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supz
Contributor
Contributor

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!

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

I have the controller recorded as working (on a supermicro motherboard) in a list I'm compiling here - http://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3.5/Whiteboxes_SATA_Controllers_for_ESX_3.5_3i.htm - but make note of the BIOS changes that were required.

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myxiplx
Contributor
Contributor

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.

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Dave_Mishchenko
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Immortal

I've updated it. Thanks.

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supz
Contributor
Contributor

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?

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stephdum
Contributor
Contributor

ESX Server 3i 3.5.0 build-70348 : setup ran just fine on an Asus Pundit P3-P5G33

SATA controller ICH9

only add to put an Intel Pro /1000 GT

(but no way to setup ESX Server 3 3.5.0 build 64607 - cannot pass the controler card choice stage)

steph

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rpartmann
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

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.

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Dave_Mishchenko
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I had a similar problem with an Intel board with the ICH9 controller and had to use an HTTP install to install ESX 3.5. http://communities.vmware.com/thread/123254

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stephdum
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Contributor

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

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jaapr
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I have a Sun Ultra 40 M2 with two internal SATA disks. It install well, but does not reboot.

I followed the "Service Console" procedure from Dave and also the "script" procedure

from Reinhard. In both cases I do not have a good result. It still fails on the mounting

root failed.

I have attached the lspcii output when I'm booted with the Ubuntu LiveCD. There are

multiple SATA controller entries with 10de:037f. This Ultra 40M2 has 8 slots for disks.

In the BIOS I did not configured RAID (I did one time, but ESX still sees two disks).

Hope sombody has another suggestion for me to fix this issue.

Thanks in advance,

Jaap

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rpartmann
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

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

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.

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rpartmann
Hot Shot
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Hi Dave,

next System for your list

hp xw8200 (Dual Xeon Workstation) ICH5 (82801EB)

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF10a/12454-12454-296719-307907-296721-424560.html?jumpid=oc...

bye,

Reinhard.

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

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rpartmann
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hi Dave,

hiace (here is a controller entry) Smiley Wink

Promise SATA300 TX4 (pci 32bit) works like a charm.

kind regards,

Reinhard

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

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excelsi
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hello mpxipix,

unfortunatly your workarround to get the script working doens't work with me.

The workarrund for itself works. But when i execute the script for the ml115 (which i have) the same errors like "command not found" or "directory not found" come up again.

Its strange because other people with the same hardware say that it works.

I hope that somebody knows what I can try anymore...

Regards

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rpartmann
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hi,

boot your server in the troubleshoting mode. Transfer the file to your ESX box and run it.

I tested it and hopefully it works also for you. (but i assume the is always one more bug Smiley Happy )

hth

reinhard.

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

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jims_tx
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Hm, I'm not positive, but I was looking through the script and it seems that "umount $BOOT_PREFIX" and "umount $ROOT_PREFIX" are commented out. So I was hesitant to run it because as written, the script may wipe your ESX install ... I'll leave it to someone else to verify Smiley Wink

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rpartmann
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hi,

to which version to you refer?

You probably may be right.. commented in the unmout code back.

But when you run the scrip from the

troubleshooting mode it should be no problem. (as that was the inteded use!)

But when youre are runing from a live cd, this

might happen. Didn´t test that way recently.

thanks

reinhard.

>Reinhard Partmann,

>A new message was posted in the thread "SATA Support Clear as Mud!?":

>http://communities.vmware.com/message/861480

>Author : jims_tx

>Profile : http://communities.vmware.com/people/jims_tx

>Message:

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