Supermicro E200-9b in a lab

[fafa24]

Dear All,

We bought a Supermicro E200-9B Server with the idea
to install ESXi 6.5 in a lab environment. We know this server is not on the HCL
of Vmware. However on the internet there are several blogs or discussion that
it should work.

Unfortunately we have an issue. The Installation
starts from the USB stick and get stuck at "relocating modules and
starting up the kernel". The message on screen before says "....firmware
services".

Various indication on the Internet says it is a
graphic issues. Indeed I think the bootloader is nearly finished before it
changes the screen in another mode. First thing we tried SHIFT+O
ignoreHeadless=TRUE

I tried several things to change settings in the
Bios and even removed the m.sata HD and memory. Installed ESXi 6.0. Nothing
helped.

Motherboard is: X11SBA-LN4F with Bios version 1.1
dated 01/23/2018

So I'm reaching out to you if you have another idea or experience with this model? I read there is a possiblitiy with serial cable to log the loader process. It seems quite complicated since there are only USB ports available.

Thanks,

Edy

[msripada]

You can look for live vmkernel log if the vmkernel is started using ALT + F12. As the hardware is not in hcl list, there are chances that it might or may not work as 6.5 has some strict hardware parameters it verifies.

Thanks,

MS

[Edyxx]

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately at this stage ALT+F12 doesn't work yet. Attached is a screesshot of the hang. This time I even tried ESXi 5.5. It appears regardless of which version I tried to install it hangs at the stage of relocating modules.

[msripada]

can you try the steps in this Loading ESXi installer issue " Relocating modules and starting up the kernel"

[Edyxx]

Thanks for this. This thread I know and tried to find the settings in the bios of my server. Yes it is quite possible it is a graphic issue. Attached a screenshot of the various settings I can check.

[msripada]

I do not know but I failed to see the attachments, donno why

Thanks,

MS

[fafa24]

Hello All,

After trying various things I gave up. I even installed ESXi on a Intel NUC 5th generation which worked fine and used that USB with the Supermicro.

I contacted Supermicro support and they friendly replied that they have no records for the E200-9b model. However they mentioned the E200-8D works. Indeed the blogs on the internet indicate that E200-8D should work with ESXi. I compared the spec of both models, E200-9b pretty new, and noticed the graphic chipset is not the same. I'm pretty sure the issue is the graphic chipset.

I hope this posts will help someone before buying a Supermicro mini server.

Thanks,

Edy

[JoseSousa]

Hello, did you install the ESXi on the Supermicro sys-200-9b?

I have the same hardware and I have the same problem. I was able to install Citrix XenServer on a good one.

[golddiggie]

What make/model USB device were you trying to use for the ESXi install?? I've seen various issues with sub-par USB (thumb) drives with ESXi installs. These are ones that appear to be fine when used with a Windows system, but will not work right (if at all) for ESXi.

Personally, I've had solid results with a variety of (not the cheapest models) Sandisk and Kingston USB thumb drives. With the costs going down, and capacity going up, it's almost harder to find a small drive these days. Small as in under 16GB.