ESXi 5.1 Update 1 clean install hung at 27%

[Jbir]

Hi,

I am installing ESXi 5.1 on a HP BL460c G7 blade. It is stuck at 27% and has been for the the last hour. Previously tried yesterday and it got stuck at the same stage.

I have 6 of these blades and have successfully installed one with the same software. No hardware issues are reported in the OA, but i have swapped the HDDs with ones from one of the others and has made no difference.

Any ideas?

Janine

[khaliqamar]

if disk is well. you can try to download image from hp and install it .

http://downloads.linux.hp.com/SDR/project/vibsdepot/

And if you want to check the hardware's health you can you hp smartstart .

[a_nut_in]

Hi Janine,

There seems to be some issues with the hardware and ESXi 5.1 and a generic google search seems to advise HP customized images

https://www.google.co.in/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=esxi+5.1+update1+HP+BL460c+G7&ie=utf-8&oe...

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&prodSeriesId=...

HP ProLiant BL460c G7 Server Blade -  Advisory: VMware ESXi 5.1 - The Emulex Ether...

Can you (are you) trying the install with VMware's generic ISO or HP's images?

VMware KB: HP images of ESX and ESXi for Proliant BL380 G8, BL460c G7, BL465c G7, BL680c G7 and BL68...

Regards

a

[Jbir]

Thanks, i did download the HP image, which i will try now. I did successfully install a blade with the VMware image the other day with no problems and all drivers etc are there and running ok. This is the exact same spec blade so presumed it would work the same also. I'll let you know what happens.

[Jbir]

That was working but is now stuck on 74%. Luckily i have 4 other blades to try so will do one of those and see if this one has any underlying hardware issues.

[a_nut_in]

Any luck with this?

[Jbir]

Hi,

Not really. I replaced it with another blade which installed fine. Exactly the same spec. I then ran smartstart full diagnostics on the dodgy one and it came back clear. No hardware errors showing up. Think i have to start swapping hardware around to see whats causing the problem now. Joy!

Janine

[F31ixR]

I got the same problem with a Dell Poweredge R410. I have ESXi 5.0 installed on it (exactly the same config, just on a different set of SSD's) without any problems. I tried to install the 5.0 U1 and the 5.1 U1 versions of ESXi and both show the same problem. The installation simply stalls at a certain percentage. Last night I let it sit there all night without any progress.

Did you get anywhere Janine?

-Felix

[admin]

Can you press ALT+F12 during the hung state and have a look at the log indicating any errors? That should give you DEBUG output of what the installer is doing. You can change back to the normal install screen using ALT+F2.

[Jbir]

Hi,

Thanks for the Alt+F12 tip, i was unaware of that. The debug screen does show some warnings of which i don't really understand. It mentions usb storgae which i am not using. I have attached a screen shot below (it looks quite small on here so hoping you can download it and enlarge).

I have opened a support call with HP as the blade is still under warranty, but having to go through the motions with them as diagnostics does not point out any hardware failures. May also open a call with VMware as we have support with them. I also tried installing windows 2008 R2 and that failed at the file copy saying it couldn't find files. Have also tried installing windows and ESXi from a usb key to try and rule out problems using virtual media via the ILO.

[admin]

This probably is your virtual iLO cd drive. Can you disconnect it completly in the iLO screen and try the installation via usb key again?

You are basically getting into an APD state during your installation that is why it is freezing. Seeing that you are having similar issues installing Windows it is not likely that this is a VMware issue.

You can also check if other virtual devices are presented to that host as I vaguely remember IBM hosts do have a vusb0 device after installation which should be caused by the IMM, so I would start looking in that configuration as well.