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CraigSlough
Contributor
Contributor

Vmware ESX server on HP Proliant DL385 G2

Hi

Im in need of a bit of help. We have just brought a new server in which is a Hp Prolaint DL385 g2, with 10gb of ram 2x 2.4gb amd opteron processor 4x 146.6 gb hard drives

Have download the iso, and burnt to a black disk with Nero 7.

Put the CD into the drive and automatically boots into loading vmware Iso and starts installing, after about 10 minutes the i get this error, could not find kernal image: menu.c32

Have downloaded the iso 3 times now and used 3 different cd's.

Can anyone help me please

Many Thanks

Craig

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18 Replies
doubleH
Expert
Expert

have you checked the md5 hash to ensure you have a solid download of the ISO?

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CraigSlough
Contributor
Contributor

MD5 checksum matches

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doubleH
Expert
Expert

what about firmware...is it all up to date? is the installation seeing your hard drives? how are the drives configured (RAID 1+0, 5, etc?)

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aguacero
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Try using a different CDR since the cdrom may have issues reading that burnt CD. Also try using a different burning software if that doesn't work. I'll lean more towards the CD being the issue.

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Troy_Clavell
Immortal
Immortal

also, if you have iLO hooked up, try using that and just mount the .iso file.

CraigSlough
Contributor
Contributor

Yes seeing all 4 hard drives. had it set up as a raid 5, then deleted this to try both options. currently haven't got a raid setup

Checking firmware now

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CraigSlough
Contributor
Contributor

Have tried using two different cd/r and used 3 different programs to burn the iso to disk, still comes up with the same error.

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Patrick_Miller
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I would try a different cd rom in the server, or like another poster said, try mounting the .iso directly using iLO.

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CraigSlough
Contributor
Contributor

I have now set up the ILO2 port, have mounted the iso direct

This is the error i now have

isolinux: disk error 80, ax = 421a, drive 9f

The disk are set up as raid 5, from the HP Smartstart CD, should i remove this?

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CraigSlough
Contributor
Contributor

I have removed the raid 5 configuration

Mounted the ISO direct to the ILO2, then i got this error

error while reading file: -3, install.tgz

Boot;

isolinux: disk error 80, ax = 421a, drive 9f

Boot failed: press any key to retry...

Then when i press a key reboots the server, any ideas?

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doubleH
Expert
Expert

i would load my favorite OS (windows in my case) to ensure all the hardware is working correctly. have you tried this?

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CraigSlough
Contributor
Contributor

Yes have already tried this - installed windows 2003 server enterprise, worked fine

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CraigSlough
Contributor
Contributor

I have also upgraded the firmware of ilo2 and the firmware of the Bios, which HP have released for VMWARE ESX 3.0 - link here

I am still getting the error Could not find kernel image: menu.c32

Anyone have any ideas?

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binoche
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Maybe one CPU has all memory installed but the other has none, can u have a try when each CPU installed with such as 5 GB Memory?

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vmorales
Contributor
Contributor

I'm having a similar issue on an HP DL360 G4 server. In my case, I actually had vmware running fine (created virtual machine and everything). Then when I removed the server from my desk and had it racked into our colo space, it would not boot. The error would read:

"PANIC: Error while reading file: -3, state.tgz"

and then presents me with a "boot: " prompt, where anything typed results in the following error:

"Could not find kernel image: "

Prior to the "panic" error, it appears that the system is loading multiple modules, before failing on "state.tgz".

When I try to use iLO interface to load virtual CD/DVD media, I get a network error:

"Network Error (java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: connect)"

Perhaps I do not have the required ports opened for this feature?

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for any and all input.

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mav1ms
Contributor
Contributor

I had some similar issues like this, but this was on previous gen DL's. For mounting the ISO over the ILO make sure the speed and duplex is at 100/Full (auto/auto is fine, just make sure those are the minimums) I have had issues (specifically with ESX) when trying to boot ISO's over 10/Full or 100/Half. Another thought on the CD is that it is not unusual for the burner that was used and the CD ROM drive in those servers to have issues; in the past I have had to try different combinations of CD's/CD ROM's and burner. I have had this both on Windows CD's and with ESX. A bad CD ROM drive has been the usual suspect.

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vmorales
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your response. We ended up moving to a Sun X4100 server... Smiley Happy

Vlad

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yardjockey
Contributor
Contributor

You have to get a updated version of menu.c32. I used Iso to USB and it updated it for me. Problem solved on mine anyway.

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