Here is what i want to know:

Boot up the 3.5 CD, sees my SATA drive, install to it. Reboot, and i get the whole "Mounting root failed"

So not supported right? well if i boot into the recovery console option it boots like a champ. Debug mode doesn't work also. I am thinking the damn kernel image is missing the SATA drivers, cause it isn't loading them. If you dmesg and look at the two diffrent boots they are VERY diffrent.

So what is up there?

z

Also you may want to consider using OpenFiler. With OpenFiler I can do iSCSI SANs or NAS. This allows me to do vmotion.

Also using the LSI LogicMegaRAID 150-4 SATA and works great on my ESX 3.0.2/HP ML110 G4 XEON Core DUO 3040 1.86GHZ, 4GB RAM. Thinking of getting (2) 500GB SATA drive and add more storage to make it 1TB. Does anyone knows the limit storage on 3.0.2? Also, how can I clock the speed to the maximum if possible?

Regarinding Openfiler, do you need a solid machine to host this or a low budget should do as i'm planning to test out the Vmotion aspect as well?

Thanks.

Dont forget to add the $3000 for ESX.

Hope your not running it on the same license

E4600 | $133au
Gigabyte GB-P35-DS3R | $139au
4GB 800 RAM | $96au
128MB 7300 Video Card | $28au
SATA HDD | $43au
Intel 10/100 nic | $20au
Case | $40au

$499 for an ESX server

http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

like youngy100 said ; i had to also boot from an external USB DVD as it will boot from the ESX CD on the onboard IDE but will not install.

i used the same SATA port on board as well.

in BIOS i have the RAID disabled and the SATA set to IDE

i don't use an external SATA controller in the machine ; my disk is all NFS (presented from a W2k3 server running Windows Services for Unix.

big thanks to youngy100 for the post and the idea. cheap way to create your home lab ; and with 3.5 having the 60 day eval, and a rebuild taking only a short period of time, its a winner!