ESXi 6.5 HP OEM Purple Screen in HP 380 G7 Server

[crazycen]

I installed ESXi 6.5 HP OEM in my lab HP 380 G7 Server.

ISO:VMware-ESXi-6.5.0-OS-Release-4564106-HPE-650.9.6.0.28-Nov2016.iso

after installation ，esxi crash.

but VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0-4564106.x86_64.iso not have this issue.

[dmeyner22]

Sounds like a driver packaged with the HP ISO?  Maybe try firmware/bio upgrades first then the install HP packaged ISO.  I had a similar problem recently with a Dell server and firmware upgrades resolved my issue.

[sybiz]

You may be hard pressed to get any help with that crazycen.

From my understanding DL380 G7 Servers are not supported or certified.

http://h17007.www1.hpe.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/supportmatrix/vmware.aspx#.WDPeklyz6Y8‌

I'm currently disappointed as the features and enhancements made in 6.5 would make a big difference for me.

[tulsianandg]

Greetings,

Can you please confirm iLO firmware version installed on the server.

Please update the iLO and Bios to latest versions and try using HPE custom vmware images available for download.

If the issue still persists, perform offline diags and verify the firmware and drivers versions for network and HBA cards as per vmware recipe available vibsdepot.

Please reach out if you still require any further assistance.

Thanks

Tulsi Anand G

[dmeyner22]

‌Correct me if im wrong but isn't that pretty much what I said in my post?

[crazycen]

871790_001_spp-2016.10.0-SPP2016100.2016_1015.191.iso

Has been upgraded to the latest

[crazycen]

871790_001_spp-2016.10.0-SPP2016100.2016_1015.191.iso

Has been upgraded to the latest

Re: ESXi 6.5 HP OEM Purple Screen in HP 380 G7 Server

[gamanoleg]

I have same error on HP ProLiant DL360 G7

Firmware already updated too.

But when I Installing standard ISO - it works normal.

What we will lost if we won't use HP vmware ISO? May be this specialized drivers could be installed in some other way ?

[dmeyner22]

What you lose is the HP drivers packaged with the ISO.  Typically on HP site or VMware site they will show you what list of drivers are packaged with the ISO.  You can always install the standard ISO and install whatever drivers are missing as long as they are HP/VMware certified drivers.

[RAJ_RAJ]

Hi,

This server is not supported by vSphere 6.5

If you are able to install ESXI 6.5 with VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0-4564106.x86_64.iso not have this issue.

use with that only , this issue came due to the driver compatibility on OEM iso ( oem iso having only supported drivers / latest )

[gamanoleg]

The best my try was - install standard ISO and then UPDATE with HP ISO, after this ESXi 6.5 worked better but not stable.

So I installed 6.0U2 and that is works good.

[RAJ_RAJ]

6.5 HPE iso won't work , you may have to use the standard  version only or 6.0 u2 with latest patches

[Rufat777]

HP Proliant BL460c G7 Server

Tried VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0 and works fine.

[aisgroup]

Same issue on HP ML110 G9.

Only now I have read that ML110 G9 is not compatible with 6.5

Is there any way to downgrade to 6.0 U2 without lost any VMs?

Thanks

[sp4rt4n]

BL460c G7 is working flawlessly...

Just my 2 cents on this:

I guess this could be a problem with your RAID controller or local storage, have you tried the following:

- using earlier SSP (e.g. 2016.04) for FW updates, HPE is constantly killing FW updates in newer SPPs for older servers like G7; keep an eye SmartStorage FW updates...

If that doesn't work:

- booting without RAID controller/local storage (use SD card)

hope this helps.

Edit:

aisgroup‌

Downgrade to 6.0 U2:

I woult EVER Install ESXi on an a seperate USB thumb drive or SD card, then there is no problem with losing VMs. This should also provide a solution...

(There is a microSD card slot on your ML110 Gen9 which can be used for ESXi boot)

Edit2:

My fault... BL460c G6 is working flawlessly

On BL460c G7 or other ProLiant G7 the problem is the component "hpe-smx-provider" (650.03.11.00.17-4240417), I've managed to solve the problem with exchanging the component with "hpe-smx-provider 600.03.11.00.9-2768847" from 6.0 U2 HPE December ISO. This could be done via Image-Builder.

Another (easier) workaround would be:

1. Install 6.0U2 HPE December ISO

2. Upgrade to 6.5 with VMware vanilla iso (WITHOUT HPE components!!!)

Edit3:

After quick testing both workarounds, I realized that there could be a minor issue with running 6.5 on BL460c G7. There seems to be a problem with the communication between iLO and ESXi as the hostname in iLO isn't synced with the servers hostname as it was with 6.0 or 5.5 .... again this could be a minor issue, but one should keep in mind that the communication between iLO and ESXi is very important. (At least in a blade infrastructure).

I don't know which other components aren't working correctly but most of the sensors seems to show the corrct values:

[Sigvart]

Same issue on HP ML 350 G9

VMware-ESXi-6.5.0-OS-Release-4564106-HPE-650.9.6.0.28-Nov2016

The host may run for days without fail.

[skyraven]

Hi sp4rt4n,

Is it still running stable after your changes?

Hi anyone else:)

I'm thinking about doing the same..Step 3 I mean:)

I've never used Image Builder but am curious to see with it what the steps are to remove something and add something else to it (am googling now for a tutorial)

EDIT 1:
I just did the same steps and for now, no more Pink Screen of love on my screen.

To make it easier for others also:

I made a custom ESX 6.5 image by using:

     - HP ESXi 6.5 image as depot + cloned it via the image builder

     - removed the hpe-smx-provider

     - added the HP ESXi 6.0 U2 image as a depot

     - added the hpe-smx-provider from it to the ESX 6.5 clone I made

     - exported the clone as a new ISO

Instructions:

#add the offline bundle from 6.5

Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\Tmp\VMware-ESXi-6.5.0-OS-Release-4564106-HPE-650.9.6.0.28-Nov2016-depot

.zip

#view and select an image profile

PowerCLI C:\tmp> Get-EsxImageProfile

Name                           Vendor          Last Modified   Acceptance Level

----                           ------          -------------   ----------------

HPE-ESXi-6.5.0-OS-Release-6... Hewlett Pack... 11/18/2016 1... PartnerSupported

#clone it

New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile HPE-ESXi-6.5.0-OS-Release-6* -Name "ESX-6.5-old-driver"

PowerCLI C:\tmp> New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile HPE-ESXi-6.5.0-OS-Release-6* -Name "ESX-6.5-old-driver"

cmdlet New-EsxImageProfile at command pipeline position 1

Supply values for the following parameters:

(Type !? for Help.)

Vendor: Custom

Name                           Vendor          Last Modified   Acceptance Level

----                           ------          -------------   ----------------

ESX-6.5-old-driver             Custom          11/18/2016 1... PartnerSupported

#remove new hpe-smx-provider

Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage ESX-6.5-old-driver hpe-smx-provider

#add ESX 6.0 depot (offline bundle) - I renamed it as I was getting lazy to write those long names

PowerCLI C:\tmp> Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\VMware-ESX6-depot.zip

Depot Url

---------

zip:C:\tmp\VMware-ESX6-depot.zip?index.xml

# we see both packages

PowerCLI C:\tmp> Get-EsxSoftwarePackage | findstr smx

hpe-smx-provider         600.03.11.00.9-2768847         HPE        4/15/2016 11:...

hpe-smx-provider         650.03.11.00.17-4240417        HPE        11/3/2016 10:...

# add only the old one

add-esxsoftwarepackage -imageprofile ESX-6.5-old-driver -softwarepackage "hpe-smx-provider 600.03.11.00.9-2768847"

#export to ISO

Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile ESX-6.5-old-driver -ExportToIso -filepath "c:\tmp\gigel.iso"

# list packages in a vib to be sure the right one was included

(Get-EsxImageProfile -name ESX-6.5-old-driver).viblist | findstr smx

Burn the ISO.

The machine on which I was testing, just as a reference (and google keyword) is an HP DL385 G7 with 2 x AMD 6282SE CPUs.

Also extra for the search engines: Running ESX 6.5 on HP DL385 G7 / ESX 6.5 on G7.

Thanks to sp4rt4n for the whole idea!! You rock.

Before I saw your post I had abandoned any attempt at playing with this and did not think that just replacing a driver with an older version would solve it.

[aisgroup]

But.. a simply downgrade to 6.0 HPE is problematic (any risk of losing vm data)?

Thanks

[sp4rt4n]

Hi skyraven,

sorry for my lateness in reply.

Server is still running, but there is really a problem with hw monitoring... got some coincidence here: one RAM DIMM was faulty last day and ESXi doesn't recognized it... this behaviour was no problem with 5.5 or 6.0!

So be careful and have a look at your iLO interface (or configure alert mail / SNMP traps).

Thank you for clarifying and writing the solution with the image builder, one sidenote to this: when using an "old" vCenter server with "old" viClient, there is a GUI Extension from VMware flings which makes this process a little bit easier to do. Another way would be using the new image builder built in vCenter Server 6.5 (service is not running by default I think).

"Burn the ISO"?   ... use .NET console of iLO with Virtual media to mount your ISO

aisgroup‌: as I said in my previous post: install your ESXi on a microSD and boot it from this device, this way your VMs are always safe when updating/upgrading/downgrading

[skyraven]

Hi sp4rt4n,

Hmm that HW monitoring part is a bit tricky.

I will configure iLO to send me snmp traps.

I wrote burn the ISO in a hurry I was trying to get this running on a personal server which was 1m away for me so I found it easier to just insert a DVD into it