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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
oturn
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I recently noticed the on-board NIC in my Mac Mini 6,2 is only inserting at 100Mb, not 1000Mb as would be expected. Can others confirm this? Is anyone getting 1000Mb / 1Gb on the Mac Mini 6,2, using the custom ISO on the virtuallyGhetto site?

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Yalvarez
Contributor
Contributor

Make sure that the switch you have it plugged to is 1000mb and not 100mb. Perhaps that is why you are seen 100mb and not a 1000mb.

Sent from my iPhone

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oturn
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Yes, it is a 1000Mb switch. Can anyone confirm that they have a 1000Mb / 1Gb link speed on the Mac Mini 6,2, using the custom ISO on the virtuallyGhetto site?

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BreeeZe
Contributor
Contributor

Mine is running at 1Gb Full duplex with the ISO from VirtuallyGhetto.

Make sure that you are also using a fully wired ethernet cable with all 8 wires, made that mistake too once..

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oturn
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thank you for confirming! We had a lightning strike, and I was almost certain it was connected at 1Gb before. I'm not going crazy after all. Add 1 more item to the list...

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helux
Contributor
Contributor

yes,

updated from virtualghetto 5.1u1 iso to latest patches and everything is still working. looks like vmware fixed the apple smc stuff and put it in the latest patchbundle!

also confirming both nics, onboard ethernet and thunderbolt working at 1gbs

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Yalvarez
Contributor
Contributor

Can you please post the url to the lasted iso? Thanks

Sent from my iPhone

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helux
Contributor
Contributor

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Yalvarez
Contributor
Contributor

Lol sorry i thought you meant a new iso from vmware. My bad that is the one i'm using

Sent from my iPhone

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oturn
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

helux -- Did you use Update Manager to apply the latest updates? There are 6 updates available. 1 from 5/22, and 5 from 7/25. When I use Update Manager, I get the error "The host returns esxupdate error code:15. The package manager transaction is not successful". I followed this KB article VMware KB: Remediating an ESXi 5.x host fails with the error: The host returns esxupdate error code:... to no avail.

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oturn
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Updated using esxcli as suggested above. All patches installed, and everything is working well!

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RGSMA
Contributor
Contributor

I am a newbee here so any help will be appreciated.

I have similar macmini configuration and facing the same pink screen as reported by saltmaster. The background was that I was able to install the ESXi 5.1 on the mac mini from USB. When I boot my mac mini I got the same pink screen. Now I am stuck as I cannot even reformat my entire mac mini hard drive.

I am in a desperate situation.

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thorsfall
Contributor
Contributor

Hi RGSMA,

Do you have the same error as posted on page 1 of this thread?  If so, the workaround posted by Darius (also on page 1) should be all that is required to get your Mac Mini booting ESXi 5.1 again.

I have a Mac Mini 6,2 (2012), also installed via USB using the pre-customised ISO file (links earlier in the thread), and it works fine.

Worst case, you may need to perform an NVRAM reset and re-install you preferred OS.

Regards,

Trev

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tesfahunmelese
Contributor
Contributor

NOT ANSWERED!

I received similar pink color display even after I typed and enter the following texts: iovDisableIR=TRUE. Could someone please help me in starting my MacMini?

Thank you!

IMG_1375.JPG

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lamw
Community Manager
Community Manager

You will need to enter iovDisableIR in two places, once to get the installer up and running and once more to get it booted up after installation. I suspect you might have missed the latter?

You can also just use the custom ISO I've built which requires no additional work and you can just install it, take a look:

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/04/installing-esxi-51-update-1-on-mac-mini.html

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/09/running-esxi-55-on-apple-mac-mini.html

tesfahunmelese
Contributor
Contributor

Thank you very much for your reply. However, the IOS is already installed and was working good. It is I think due to power fluctuation that the MacMini stacked. I already enter iovDisableIR to run the machine during startup. Could you please tell me ways to boot and access my files and programs?

Thank you!

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lamw
Community Manager
Community Manager

If it was working and then this happened, it could be hardware related. May want to get it checked out. If you have a spare, you could swap the drives and see if it'll boot up

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telecastle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Ia there an ESXi 5.1 U2 image that would work on the Mac Mini 6,2 (late 2012)? The Thunderbolt NIC adapter support is crucial in my case

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telecastle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Has anyone been able to use a Thunderbolt DAS with a Mac Mini running ESXi 5.1 or 5.5 as an ESXi datastore?

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Rhinofart
Contributor
Contributor

I'm currently using my Pegasus R6 Thunderbolt enclosure via my MacMini Server on ESXi 5.1U2 It's great. I did have to download a stex driver VIB to make it work. It's just a RAID driver as Thunderbolt is just a PCIE extension anyways. But sadly since my update to ESXi 5.5 my Thunderbolt NIC doesn't work, so I have to track down the driver for that and install it. I did have to take the bottom off the MacMini though, as with the amount of VMs I'm running on it, she warms up quite a bit.

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