ESXi hangs on VMkernel initialization after RAM upgrade

[fonsoy]

Dear VMware users,

During the memory upgrade, from 16 to 32GB, ESXI refuses to boot up. The OS hangs on the message; "Starting VMkernel Initialization".

The problem is easy to solve (the system starts normally), by removing the added memory. At this moment, I thought of two potential problems, namely broken memory, or a broken motherboard memory slot.

Therefore, I tried the following;

- The motherboard BIOS indicates it has 32GB memory

- Swapped RAM in another slot

- Memtest86+ succesfully completed multiple passes overnight

I am out of ideas. Where can I look for the problem?

I'm running an ESXi 5.1 host on this system;
- SuperMicro X9SCM-F motherboard
- Intel Xeon E3 1220V2 CPU
- Kingston KVR13E9/8i ECC non reg memory, 4x8GB
- IBM M1015 flashed to IT mode
- Seasonic G-serie 360 watt

Disks are as following
- No-name 1GB USB 2.0 stick (bootable medium for ESXi)
- Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD (datastore)
- Couple of hard disks, attached to the IBM

The BIOS is the latest version. I also tried mounting 3x8GB sticks. This didn't work either, I got exactly the same error.

[JarryG]

I would try to boot *only* with new memory modules, and in the very same slots where you had 16GB up to now. If server does not boot, something wrong is with these new memory-modules. If it boots normally, I'd try to move these new dimms into the other two memory slots (which were empty until now) and again boot up with only these new modules.

BTW, are all (both old and new) dimms of the very same type/model?

[fonsoy]

The system boots up with the set of new modules. It is currently running with that set.

All the DIMMs are the same model, Kingston KVR13E9/8i. It is not on the SuperMicro supported list, although the SuperMicro engineer told me it 'should work'.

I will try to boot up with the DIMM's in the other slots (slot 2 and 4), leaving slot 1 and 3 unoccupied. That is actually a good idea.