Installing ESXi - fatal error 6 (Buffer too small)

[jim0074]

I tried to install the evaluation version of VMware ESXi 5 server and I finished pretty fast. The only thing I could see on the screen was:

Loading /tboot.b00

Loading /b.b00

Loading /useropts.gz

Loading /k.b00

Loading /a.b00

Loading /ata-pata.v00

Loading /ata-pata.v01

Loading /ata-pata.v02

Loading /ata-pata.v03

Loading /ata-pata.v04

Loading /ata-pata.v05

Error loading /ata-pata.v05

Fatal error: 6 (Buffer too small)

Could anyone please help me a bit? I don't know at all, what's going on and how should I continue with the installation.

Thanks.

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Community - What type od system are you installing to? How much memory and disk space? Is your systen on VNware's supported hardware list - http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

[jim0074]

I am installing the ESXi 5.0 server to rackmount HP ProLiant DL360 G7, with 2 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5650 @ 2.67GHz, 12GB RAM and 4 x 300GB SAS disks in RAID5. I checked the compatibility list, and yes, there it is...

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=server&productid=12843&devic...

Thank you for any hint.

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Community,

to rule out media issues, please verify the md5 checksum of the downloaded ISO image and - in case you are installing from a CD - burn another CD.

André

[golddiggie]

What RAID controller is the server using? To rule that out, try installing to an USB flash drive 1-8GB in size. Don't use a cheap flash drive, but a quality one (I've had solid results with SanDisk Cruzer models).

[jim0074]

As it never ever happened before, I actually didn't check it... but now I did. Yes, the downloaded image had the same size, but wrong MD5 checksum.

Thank you all for your welcome and for the patience with my childish problem, sorry. 😉

[Selvakumaran201]

we got the error after install the Vsphere 5.1 U1 HP image

fatal error 6/k.00

Fatal error 33/s.00

we installed the same image in another same configuration server (HP BL460C G7)

please let me know the solution

[Justin_808]

any solution to this issue???

[StephenRahul]

Hi,

We got the same boot message (screenshot below) after rebooting one hosts,

The host was rebooted as after upgrading VC to 5.5 u2d, we got a new FDM package and the package was failing with the following message:

*********************************************************************************************************************

fdm-installer: [43617873] 2015-10-23 06:56:29: Installing the VIB

fdm-installer: [43617873] 2015-10-23 06:56:38: Result of esxcli software vib install -v=/tmp/vmware-root/ha-agentmgr/vpx-upgrade-installer/vmware-fdm.vib: Installation Result

fdm-installer: Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.

fdm-installer: Reboot Required: true

fdm-installer: VIBs Installed: VMware_bootbank_vmware-fdm_5.5.0-2442329

fdm-installer: VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_vmware-fdm_5.5.0-1750787

fdm-installer: VIBs Skipped:

fdm-installer: [43617873] 2015-10-23 06:56:38: There is a pending reboot.  Remove the vib...

*********************************************************************************************************************

Tried to reset the server again and it did boot successfully the second time. Even though the server rebooted successfully, We got the following messgae during new FDM agent install:

fdm-installer: [38599] 2015-10-28 05:05:47: Installing the VIB

fdm-installer: [38599] 2015-10-28 05:05:57: Result of esxcli software vib install  -v=/tmp/vmware-root/ha-agentmgr/vpx-upgrade-installer/vmware-fdm.vib:  [InstallationError]

fdm-installer:  There was an error checking file system on altbootbank, please see log for detail.

The error is documented in - VMware KB: Remediating an ESXi 5.x and 6.0 host with Update Manager fails with the error: There was ...

Following the above article i got the following output:

/vmfs/volumes/550d5b11-0aa0a2b1-8c0d-001b21ce6bc0/log # dosfsck -a -w /dev/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5

dosfsck 2.11, 12 Mar 2005, FAT32, LFN

/dev/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5: 105 files, 42300/63929 clusters

This in my case there was a possible corruption in the altbootbank partition as FDM agent did install successfully after this.

[Digitalberg]

I had a same issue, i had to download new ISO with right SUM. after works like a charm.

Regards

[RobertFranz]

Sometimes, the error is pretty much what it says.

I was getting the same error installing on a lab whitebox - turns out the motherboard is just weak and won't handle the ram modules on a full load at rated speed - dropping from 1600 to 1333 was my solution.

[ShafiullahHelal]

Dear

What to do if the installation still fails with Fatal Error 6:

• If you are installing the image from a USB stick or other USB connected device, try to use the USB ports on the back of the system, which are USB 3.0 capable, and such has a larger buffer.
• Change from BIOS boot mode to UEFI boot mode
• Install using the iDRAC virtual console / virtual media

I hope Its a best procedure for this Fatal Error 6. Pls try it one by one.

Thanks

Md. Shafiullah Helal

System Engineer