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scooter_
Contributor
Contributor

Adding local Dell Disk Datastore - Times out - Hangs server

I have a new Dell R620 server and PV3200 DAS.  The DAS volumns are mounted on the ESXi host, though when I try and mount the disk physically in the server, I get to tjhe screen that says: Current Disk Layout. On the lower 1.3 of the Screen it says: Loading...

A few minutes later I get a dialof saying that the Connection has been lost and it is attempting to reconnect. 

The only want I can get vCenter Client to connect back to the ESXi server is to reboot ESXi from the console.

This happenes on two servers that are setup the same.

Any suggestios?

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sparrowangelste
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

that is weird.

where is esxi installed?

usb or local? does it see the vmfs where the esxi is installed?

--------------------- Sparrowangelstechnology : Vmware lover http://sparrowangelstechnology.blogspot.com
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scooter_
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ESXi is insalled on an Internal SD Card.

The Local RAID1 143gb drives are partitions into the standard Dell three partitions, 39mb diag, 2gb Data Recovery and 139 free.

I just wanted to take advantage of the 139gb.

I can see the vmimage folder inthe Datastore browser as well as the three volumes on the DAS unit.

IN the edvices I can also see the local CD ROM drive listed, though have not tried to mount it.

This last time I tried to jsut let the server sit without rebooting it.  About an hour later I tried to reconnect back to it and I was able to without having to reboot.

Thanks!

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sparrowangelste
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

is your raid controller on the hcl?

--------------------- Sparrowangelstechnology : Vmware lover http://sparrowangelstechnology.blogspot.com
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scooter_
Contributor
Contributor

I have not Specifically Checked, though the Server came preinstalled with ESXi. Would seem odd that they would see a server with HDs that are not on the HCL. The PV3200 was an add-on, so it was not part of the original order.

I've attached a Picture of the Datastore Devices with the Local Drive hightlighted.

I've attached a Picture of the screen it timesout on.

Thanks!

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sparrowangelste
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

thats weird that the disk is parallel scsi and not a block adaptor type.

--------------------- Sparrowangelstechnology : Vmware lover http://sparrowangelstechnology.blogspot.com
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scooter_
Contributor
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I dont really need it, though I thought that since there was 130gb of unused storeag I could put CD ROM ISOs and other Common Software and maybe even the vCenter Server VM on there for each of the servers.

So I tried again.  On the same 'Cuttent Disk Layout' scrre, I hit Back, then next and hte Next Button then Hightlights.  HI Hit next and asks me for a Name of the datastore.  I give it a name and then I get another Dialog (Attached), in it it has the Error:

Call "PropertyCollector.RetrieveContents" for object "ha-property-collector" on ESXi "10.19.128.242" failed.


Then I get the Familiar reconnecting Message (attached)

I'm still waiting for my Licensing to be processed forore I can call Support. )-: should be any day now.  I just wanted to get going as my Deadline is coming up soon!

Thanks!

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JurijC
Contributor
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I have the exact same problem on a Dell R720 with 2 300GB disks in RAID1 on an H310 controller. I have installed ESXi from the Dell provided ISO image which is the one to use because of the "NIC not found" issue.

I will file a support request tomorrow when I get to the office.

Did you try patching ESXi with the latest bugfixes from VMware? I can't do it since I can't copy the files to the server, because I can't mount a datastore :smileyangry: (ESXi is booting from the internal SD card, I haven't connected the MD3000i yet)

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scooter_
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MY Dell is an R620, the Internal SAS drives are connected to a PERC H710 mini.

My System boots ESXi (that was preinstalled) from an Internal SD Card.

I have the U1 Patch though I have not installed it yet, as I'm not sure how and I jsut got vCenter Server Running just a bit ago.

Now if I could get my 9 VMs I've already installed to take the Virtual Product Key from the Datacenter Product Sticker I'd be in much better shape!

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JurijC
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I already have U01, my ESXi's build number is 623860, but there are newer builds out there, you can download the patch to build 768111 from the support page. I don't know the upgrade process on ESXi 5 yet, but I suppose it is similar as in v4.1. I haven't installed vCenter yet, so I have no idea how to update ESXi through vCenter, I will give it a try tomorrow... (going to sleep now, GMT+2 here)

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JurijC
Contributor
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We have managed to configure the datastore!

The solution was simple - delete the virtual disk in the Dell BIOS utilities and make a new one. That's it.

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mattdon
Contributor
Contributor

same error here with a new Dell R720 with a preloadedESXi5 on internal dual SD Card, client times out while trying to create a local datastore on the perc h710 disks.

I ssh'd in and used fdisk to delete the existing partitions and then I could finally create the datastore.  bit easier than recreating the raid as noted above.

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scooter_
Contributor
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I'm pretty new to linux and to ESXi.

I'm ssh'd into the server, though I'm not 100% sure of the procedure to fdisk the drive.

In the vSphear client I see that the ID of the drive is:

    naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f

Though in the /dev/disks I see several entries referncing that ID:

[...snip...]

-rw-------    1 root     root       146163105792 Aug 13 10:04 naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f
-rw-------    1 root     root           41094144 Aug 13 10:04 naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f:1
-rw-------    1 root     root         2147483648 Aug 13 10:04 naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f:2
[...snip...]
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root                 36 Aug 13 10:04 vml.02000000006d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f504552432048 -> naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root                 38 Aug 13 10:04 vml.02000000006d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f504552432048:1 -> naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f:1
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root                 38 Aug 13 10:04 vml.02000000006d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f504552432048:2 -> naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f:2
[...snip...]
Here is the results from the list Partitions:
/dev/disks # fdisk -l naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f
Disk naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479f: 146.1 GB, 146163105792 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 17769 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
                                Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479fp1             1         5     40131   de  Unknown
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary
naa.6d4ae520a784e000178835441489479fp2   *         6       267   2097152    c  Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary
Thank you!
   Scott<-
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tuomapet
Contributor
Contributor

Same problem with PowerEdge R420.

Reinstalled with Dell customized ESXi 5.1, no change. Then found this thread.

1. SSH

2. fdisk -l

- Fdisk shows that it is deprecated, use partedUtil instead.

3. partedUtil delete <diskName> <partNum>

- I ran this on both (1 and 2) partitions. SD has 5 partitions instead of just two.

This solved the problem.

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IMMIAnt
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

There's a KB article on how to use partedUtil to delete partitions

VMware KB: Using the partedUtil command line utility on ESXi and ESX

This helped me figure out what I need to do

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