Hi Everyone,
I'm attempting to install ESXi 4 however I'm running into some issues.
I reach the initial boot loader screen and select the ESXi Installation option. From there, a series of files are loaded on a black screen with many ..... (periods) representing progress. Once this completes, I reach a black and yellow screen with a progress bar at the bottom. This appears to complete on the step: loading dvfilter successful (or something like this). At this point, the server reboots and the install progress begins again at the beginning. Am I missing something with this? Any help is most certainly appreciated.
IBM xseries 346 with 2 x Xeon 3.6GHz CPU
8GB RAM
6 x 73GB SCSI HDD's configured in a RAID 5 with one hot spare.
Thanks,
Scott
Welcome to the VMware Community forums. dvfilter is part of this new feature - vNetwork Appliance API. You might just want to check that the NICs are on the list that ESXi can recognise - http://www.vm-help.com/esx40i/Hardware_support.php. If you press ALTF1 and ALTF12 during the boot do you see any other errors?
Is your system in HCL?
Is Intel VT enabled in BIOS?
Andre
**if you found this or any other answer useful please consider allocating points for helpful or correct answers
Welcome to the VMware Community forums. dvfilter is part of this new feature - vNetwork Appliance API. You might just want to check that the NICs are on the list that ESXi can recognise - http://www.vm-help.com/esx40i/Hardware_support.php. If you press ALTF1 and ALTF12 during the boot do you see any other errors?
are you seeing this issue every time? are you using the latest BIOS?
-
I just found out that the UpdateExpress CD I was given isn't the correct one, so I will be reattempting with the correct CD to ensure all firmware has been updated correctly.
To answer a few questions, yes, this does happen everytime. If it happens again I will attempt to report any errors that appear by using the keystrokes provided. As far as HCL, I'm actually not sure; I'll try and verify. If all this still fails, I'll follow any advice in this post and respond with results.
Thanks again,
Scott
One of my NIC expansion cards was not on the HCL. Removed the hardware and everything worked great after this. Thanks again to all for the help.
Scott
Hi Skillam,
Im having a difficult time getting ESXi (3.5, 4.0, 3.5 w IBM Customizations and 4.0 w IBM Customizations) to install on my xSeries 346 (8840-11U). I keep getting a VMWARE cannot find supported device to install image error.
Did you have to do any special customizations to your xSeries 346?
I only have two SCSI drives installed (slot 0,1) and the others are emplty. My box is running ServeRAID-7k (firmware 7.12.12 ) - any ideas on what im doign wrong?
Specs:
xSeries 346 - 8804-11U
2 x Xeon 3.0Ghz, 2 x 73GB SCSI 320, 4GB RAM
You really should start your own post. This question is marked answered so you risk having people ignoring your post.
The ServeRAID-7k is the issue. You server is not on the support list for 4.0 so I would focus on 3.5 to start. The controller is listed in the Hardware Compatibility List with a subtext reference. ips version 7.10.17 which may mean that the firmware level you have is a problem. You need to check to see if the controller is detected. Check at
http://www.vm-help.com//esx40i/esx40_whitebox_HCL.php#Servers to see what you may need to do.
http://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/ESXi_35_common_issues.php
Dave
VMware Communities User Moderator
New book in town - vSphere Quick Start Guide -http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2009/08/12/new-book-in-town-vsphere-quick-start-guide/.
Do you have a system or PCI card working with VMDirectPath? Submit your specs to the Unofficial VMDirectPath HCL - http://www.vm-help.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=21.
So after a week of tinkering with ESX and my x346, I was finally able to install it properly. Even though the IBM x346 is listed on the HCL, there are a few quirks - apperantly it has something to do with the RAID card it has - ServeRAID-7k - my driver was 7.12.12 and in one of the documentation it says it only supports 7.10.10........so while I was going to downgrade my RAID bios, i found a upgrade to my system BIOS.....to my suprise, one of the changes that this new bios had implemented was support for ESX4. I upgraded it and that was it...its now working, no changes to hw
Thanks again all you guys for the help!!
So was it ESX or ESXi that you finally got working?
Dave
VMware Communities User Moderator
New book in town - vSphere Quick Start Guide -http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2009/08/12/new-book-in-town-vsphere-quick-start-guide/.
Do you have a system or PCI card working with VMDirectPath? Submit your specs to the Unofficial VMDirectPath HCL - http://www.vm-help.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=21.
Dave,
It was ESXi 4.0 on IBM x346 (884011U). Thanks for all your help.