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8 Replies Last post: Mar 5, 2009 2:28 PM by ScottChapman

Host lockups posted: Mar 2, 2009 8:43 AM

ScottChapman

103 posts since
Dec 8, 2008

So, I am experiencing some host lock ups, entire ESXi server (updated to latest) is unusable. No client works, annd VMs are down.

Only think I can do is physically restart the machine.

Any idea how I might go about figuring out what is tyhe culprit?

I have attached my messages file which might help.

Here is an error I am concerned about, it is one the host's root disk:

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

Since it is on the root drive of the host, I am not really sure how to address it.

Thanks in advance!

Attachments:

putty.log (453.6 K)

Re: Host lockups

1. Mar 2, 2009 12:53 PM

in response to: ScottChapman

Dave.Mishchen…

8,974 posts since
Nov 15, 2005

Are you able to press ALT+F1 and / or ALT+F11 at the console to see if there are any errors there?

Re: Host lockups

2. Mar 2, 2009 2:21 PM

in response to: Dave.Mishchen…

ScottChapman

103 posts since
Dec 8, 2008

After a clean boot I can press ALT-F1 which brings me to a text screen. Not sure what I can do there, but I do not see any errors. Alt-F11 just brings be to a different screen with very little info on it.

I can pretty easily get it to hang, should I leave it in the ALT-F1 messages screen and see if anything comes up? Or is there something else I can read to understand how to use those two screens (I am not familiar with them).

One interesting thing, when I go into the BIOS of the motherboard (it is a new MB) it is not showing me the correct disk geometry. So, that message above appears to be correct...

But I am not sure how to proceed. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

Re: Host lockups

3. Mar 2, 2009 2:52 PM

in response to: ScottChapman

ScottChapman

103 posts since
Dec 8, 2008

OK, so I got into the unsupport console, and just left that up.

Pretty much doing anything significant with the drives (I was just trying to upload a new VM) causes the machine to wedge. It just hung. No messages on the console, and no response from the console.

Re: Host lockups

4. Mar 2, 2009 2:57 PM

in response to: ScottChapman

Dave.Mishchen…

8,974 posts since
Nov 15, 2005

That should have been ALT-F12 and not F11. It'll show you the vmkernel log and you might see something there. Sounds like the BIOS issue might be the best place to start.

Re: Host lockups

5. Mar 2, 2009 3:04 PM

in response to: Dave.Mishchen…

ScottChapman

103 posts since
Dec 8, 2008

Yea, I have ordered a replacement MB. Hopefully my disks are not trashed at this point...

Re: Host lockups

6. Mar 2, 2009 3:17 PM

in response to: ScottChapman

Lightbulb

1,391 posts since
Aug 15, 2008

Is the new MB (That you are now replacing) the same model/version that was previously woking on your system? If not you should check if the MB is one that is on the HCL or that somebody has gotten working with ESXi, just a thought.

If it turns out that you need to recover the VMs check out http://sanbarrow.com/moa.html

Re: Host lockups

7. Mar 2, 2009 5:40 PM

in response to: Lightbulb

ScottChapman

103 posts since
Dec 8, 2008

So, this is part of an upgrade I am doing. I had ESXi running just fine on some very old hardware (premulti-core), and I wanted to upgrade to something more current.

It is an eVGA 780i based motherboard. I did see someone posting about it. But I am not understanding what theychanged in their system.

Incidentally I did look at the kernel, and I didn't see any error, but I did see it report the incorrect disk geometry.

Re: Host lockups

8. Mar 5, 2009 2:28 PM

in response to: ScottChapman

ScottChapman

103 posts since
Dec 8, 2008

OK, here is my latest update. I am really stumped.

I have replaced my MB, flashed the BIOS, down-reved the BIOS, did clean installs on a competely different disk, and no luck. Always see the this same message, and my machine is very unstable.

But here comes the interesting part.

I also noticed something in the log, I was getting an alert for the other CPUs (multi-core CPU). I was getting multiple APICID alerts ESR=0x40.

So, I went into my BIOS, disabled APICD, and it works like a champ. Except that I appear to only be using one CPU...

Any more ideas?

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