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ViennaAustria
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ESXi 5.x on new Apple Mac Mini 6,2 Late 2012 *NOT* working

Hello!

I bought one of the new MacMinis, which were presented yesteraday, plugged two 8GiB DD3-1600 modules in (OsX reported 16GiB of memory, as the models before) and tried to install ESXi 5.1 Build 799733. It started promising:

Initializing chipset...

Initializing timing...

Initializing scheduler...

Initializing processors...

Initializing ACPI...

*BANG*

Pink screen! Smiley Sad

NOT_REACHED bora/vmkernel/hardware/intel/vtd.c:3638

cr0=0x8001003d cr2=0x0 cr3=0x449ad500 cr4=0x12c

*PCPU0:4096/bootstrap

PCPU  0: SISISISISISISIS

Code start: 0x41800c600000 VMK uptime: 0:00:00:04.301

and a stackdump.

macmini.png

I tried instalkling 5.0 and 5.0 U1 also, but with the same result.

It is the regular MacMini with an i7 4C 2.3GHz and one 1TB SATA drive (http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MD388LL/A with no extras), not the MacMini Server.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

PS1: I was unable to boot the ESXi setup from USB key! Since other USB keys (OsX setup for example) didn't work either, I suspect that there's some EFI boot problem from the new USB3 ports. Booting from CD worked, however.

PS2: on the earlies models we had the problem, that the Alt key wasn't recognized after powering on, when there is an USB hub between the keyboard and the Mac (a KVM switch for example). That seems to be fixed now: whenever I press the Alt key at the powerup chime, I get the Apple "boot menu", even with our KVM switch in between.

338 Replies
AK_____28
Contributor
Contributor

If the drobo can be an iscsi target, why not just set up the volumes on a different machine, then setup esx to use the target? No drivers need for esx to use those volumes.

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telecastle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Drobo Mini / Drobo 5D cannot be an iSCSI target; they don't have any Ethernet interfaces - only Thunderbolt and USB 3.

There's a Drobo B800i, but it costs $2500 barebones. It has two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, and the only protocol it supports is iSCSI. So, it's designed specifically to be an iSCSI datastore with RAID (up to 8 HDs or SSDs). This is way too expensive, and also, it's quite noisy.

I'm interested specifically in Drobo Mini /Drobo 5D, which are purely Thunderbolt and USB 3 devices.

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AK_____28
Contributor
Contributor

Sorry I misunderstood.

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helux
Contributor
Contributor

guys,

i got a patch from dariusd to fix smc with the latest build.

i have to hexedit something and i will do that for you, create the file needed to be placed on your boot-disk (i use an USB-stick, keep the internal disk for OSX and use an iSCSI datastore).

i will receive the mini today. so probably this weekend i can help you out!

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AK_____28
Contributor
Contributor

telecastle,

     I'm not seeing a .kext any where in the Mac OS X Drobo Dashboard 2.3.5 download. Nor do I see an included bundle that has one either. I'm gonna continue to look in to the package, but my first impression is that there isn't a specific drobo driver included. It may just use a generic USB Storage driver, which most OS's already have..I'll post again if I find anything to contradict this idea. I can't really say how it would work via thunderbolt, but I'm looking to see if other vendors require a driver for their thunderbolt attached drives. Seagate at least doesn't seem to provide a driver for their thunderbolt attached drives. (And I could just be 100% wrong and looking in the wrong place.)

At least now I'm curious.. Lol

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telecastle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thank you very much for looking into this. You are more knowledgeable in this field than I am.

I can see why other Thunderbolt enclosures do not require a driver. However, the Drobo is a RAID device, so I don't know if it requires a driver for the OS.

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone

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studentguy
Contributor
Contributor

Hi all,

Sorry to go a bit off topic - I'm using a Mac Mini 5,1 (2011) with ESXi 5.1.

I want to play with smoothwall to use a VM are my firewall, but I need two NIC's to do this - can anyone confirm that the Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter works on 5.1 on the 5,1? I've seen people say it works with ESXi 5.0, and that it works on 5.1 with the 6,1 mini, but not in my exact config!

Thanks folks Smiley Happy

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vSean1
Contributor
Contributor

TB NIC on the 2011 mini is working fine, assuming you have the latest tg3 driver loaded.

But if your switch supports vlans you could do it all on one nic.

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AK_____28
Contributor
Contributor

And don't forget the new USB NIC driver available.. Smiley Wink

Sent from my iPhone

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studentguy
Contributor
Contributor

Isn't that the same driver that the built in NIC uses? In which case, i'm golden, I slip streamed it in when I installed it Smiley Happy (only got a basic switch, this is for home use)

Thanks

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Yalvarez
Contributor
Contributor

Guys i just want to thank every one of you for the hard work. This has converged from a lab environment to a school, to an amazing community work. I just want to say that before any of this i had cero experience with ESXI now i can create and modify VMs on my job since we are fully virtualize. I am a network Tech f you need any help with networking or anything related even to test drivers, please do not hesitate and let me know i am here to help. Thank you for everything.

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twuhabro
Contributor
Contributor

new build 1021289...

anyone have made the upgrade?

(SMC? LAN? still work?)

EDIT: tested today:

- SMC support => NONE (unlockall does the trick)

- LAN + Thunderbolt ETH => work

- 10.8 + SSD => still have houge problem (random boot failure, random freezes, random crash... A RANDOM WORKING SERVER :smileylaugh: )

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andrew_mackeret
Contributor
Contributor

We ideally need a standalone patch for the SMC issue, if possible, maybe @helux or @dariusd can point us in the right direction?

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natewilson
Contributor
Contributor

> Anyone ever get the latest patch (build 914609) applied to these Mini's successfully?

I came here looking for the same info..    I have ESXi 5.1 799733 running on my Mac Mini 6,2.  It's working fine, but there are a lot of ESXi updates availabile after that build.  So, I was thinking about upgrading.     On the other hand, it's not broke....

The questions I have:

- Can I apply the standard patches on this system, or do I risk losing some of the updates made to get it working in the first place?  If not, is there a process for applying the update?

- Is there a process to apply the SMC fix to my already installed ESXi build?   I have seen others ask the question, but I didn't find an answer.

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andrew_mackeret
Contributor
Contributor

I think we are the state of the last two posts, i.e. you can apply both the 914609 and 1021289 patches, all should be OK except for the SMC patch. So once applied OS X will not work, that is until we get either a standalone patch for SMC or it is included in an official VMware patch, I understand it is on the build list for a future update.

To get OS X to run will require the use of an "Unlocker", and since the hardware is a late 2012 Apple MiniMac use of an Unlocked ESXi should be covered by the Apple EULA?

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andrew_mackeret
Contributor
Contributor

While not directly related to the original post on this thread, can I ask if anyone has Apple MiniMac's running ESXi in a vCenter cluster, and if so can vCenter manage OS X virtual machines.

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AK_____28
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, VSphere can manage an OS 10 machine.

I haven't heard of anyone running them in a cluster to date, however, since the XServe server's can be run in a cluster, I don't see any reason why the mini couldn't. However, I'm not an expert by any means.

If anyone else has a clearer understanding, please feel free to enlighten us both. Thanks!

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helux
Contributor
Contributor

i am running two minis in a cluster. one mid 2011 one and one late 2012 one.

using an unlocker tool breaks vcenter control of osx guests. vsphere checks the apple smc.

i didn't have time to test the 'hacking' for the smc still works on the latest patchbundle.

vmware should solve this asap!

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dirkyn67
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for the ISO work!

I am having an issue with it though which it sounds like nobody else is.

The booting process starts up great, I enter the iovDisable=TRUE value but when the installer gets to:

Loading /scsi_mpt.v02      entry, it 'sticks'.   I just hang there forever.

This is with a brand new mac mini purchased yesterday.  Just the 2.3 i7 cpu.

Anyone have any thoughts?  I have burned the CD twice to make sure it wasn't a bad 'burn' the first time.

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twuhabro
Contributor
Contributor

"unofficially" an Intel SSD solved all Mountain Lion Server problems...:smileydevil:

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