Using an Adaptec 3405 with 2x WD 1TB Black Drives

[gatox]

Good afternoon,

I have created a single RAID 1 (983Gb usable) partition in the ADAPTEC 3405 RAID controller. This partition was builded and verified before it was made available to ESXi.

The install process of ESXi Update 1 when smooth and no problems where detected with the hardware.

On the first reboot, ESXi got stuck "fat loaded successfully" and then it showed me the fatal error "Failed to find boot partition".

Please note that I have tried to install Subunit .9x server, Windows 2008 64 server and even Enterer using the same RAID partition without a single problem.

This is very annoying since this RAID card is under the ESXi/sphere HL list.

Any hints ????

Does ESXi manages the RAID from within client ? If so I will undo the RAID partition and manage it trough client.

Regards,

Luis

!http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/cry.gif!

[sfluk]

wrong reply there

[gatox]

Hi sfluk,

Adaptec 3405 is on VMware HCL list , see : http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?action=search&deviceCategory=io&productId=1&advancedORbasic=advanced&maxDisplayRows=50&key=&release[]=34&datePosted=-1&partnerId[]=-1&ioTypeId[]=14&manufacturer[]=1&vid=&did=&svid=&ssid=&rorre=0

Adaptec

Adaptec 3405\

Adaptec

SAS/SATA-RAID

ESX / ESXi 4.0 U1\^[*1\

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?action=search&deviceCategory=io&productId=1&advancedORbasic=advanced&maxDisplayRows=50&key=&release%5B%5D=34&datePosted=-1&partnerId%5B%5D=-1&ioTypeId%5B%5D=14&manufacturer%5B%5D=1&vid=&did=&svid=&ssid=&rorre=0#drivers]^ , ESX / ESXi 4.0\^[*1\

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?action=search&deviceCategory=io&productId=1&advancedORbasic=advanced&maxDisplayRows=50&key=&release%5B%5D=34&datePosted=-1&partnerId%5B%5D=-1&ioTypeId%5B%5D=14&manufacturer%5B%5D=1&vid=&did=&svid=&ssid=&rorre=0#drivers]^

Where *1 = 1. aacraid version 3.5.10.5vmw

Details when I click on ESX /ESXi 4.0 U1*1 :

Model detail:

Model	Adaptec 3405
Device Type	SAS/SATA-RAID
Manufacturer	N/A
Partner Name	Adaptec
Firmware Version	N/A
Number Of Ports	N/A
VID	9005
DID	0285
SVID	N/A
SSID	N/A

Model/Release detail:

Release	Device Driver(s)	Type
ESX / ESXi 4.0 U1	aacraid version 3.5.10.5vmw	inbox
ESX / ESXi 4.0	aacraid version 3.5.10.5vmw	inbox

So probably it is not in your Whitebox ACL but it is in VMware HCL official list.

Cheers,

Luis

[DataAnywhere]

Did you find a resolution? I'm just starting to search for a solution and found your post.

ANSWER: More searching proved that disabling VT/d in BIOS resolved the issue for us.

Thanks,

Geoff

[AndyChip]

I've discovered the same fix when trying a near-identical configuration. It's all very well switching off VT but that also means you can't run a 64bit OS under ESXi. This is not good.

[gatox]

Hi All,

I got an ASUS P5E-VM DO MoBo with an adaptec 3405 running ESX 4.1 with 6 VMs: Windows 7 64 Bit, Windows 2008 Server R2 64 Bits + Windows 2003 R2 64 bits enterprise server and 3 more Linux VMs 32/64 bits.

So by disabling VT on my motherboard everything works now.

Been running of a USB key since day 1 and started with ESXi v4.0 and did a straight replacement/install of ESX on my USB key and all partitions stayed intact and just needed to add back the VMs to the inventory.

Hope this helps.

Luis

[AndyChip]

Hi Luis, thanks for the info but it doesn't help!

I'm running a brand new Dell Poweredge T410 with ESXi 4.1 (Dell's build) with the Adaptec 3405. I cannot get ESXi to reliably work with the 3405 if I enable VT. Sure, it can see the controller in the vSphere client but the vmkernel logs (Alt-F12 on the host console) tell me that SCSI enquiries and general disk detection is bad. Any operation on the disks is hit-and-miss. For example, sometimes creating a VM works first time or it sits there and hangs the client, while the vmkernel log churns out SCSI timeout messages.

As I've said the only way to make it work is to turn off VT but that means I can't run 64bit OSes. For example, when running the Windows 2008 R2 installer, VSphere compains that VT is switched off so it can't install this 64 bit OS.

So I'm confused why you are able to run 64bit OSes with VT turned on.

[gatox]

Hi Andy,

Sorry to hear that you have so many problems with the Adaptec & DELL Server.

I would take the issue with DELL since it was pre-configured with ESXi & ADAPTEC RAID CARD and you must have purchased support for sure.

It could be simply a firmware upgrade that your T410 requires or simply a vanilla ESX4i 4.1 install since it has the latest ADAPTEC 3405 drivers.

My Asus MoBo has a bad implementation of the VT functionnality that impedes anything requiring that function to work. I had previoulsy tried WIndows 2008 Hyper-V Server, Citrix Xenserver and VMware ESXi 4.0 without any luck before I found a post at ASUS stating the error on the Mobo. Once I disabed the function well everything worked from there on and has been rock solid since then. Even got an open-e DSS v6 NAS server VM running as my video/music NAS storage off the same ESX server.

So, I strongly recommend that you take this major issue with DELL and get a fix for it.

Cordially,

Luis

[AndyChip]

Hi Luis,

No, the Dell server didn't come with the Adaptec. It came with a SAS 6iR adapter, which doesn't support RAID 5 - which is what I wanted. I read a load of forums and reckoned that an Adaptec was the card to go for. Unfortunately this has not turned out to be the case, despite it being on the HCL. And no, I don't have a support contract with Dell, just the hardware warranty.

I've ordered a Dell PERC 6i card and I'm hoping this will work. This will be the third RAID card I've tried since I bought this server. I can't afford to spend much more now!

But tell me, how does ESXi run all your 64 bit OSes if you don't have VT enabled on your ASUS mobo???

Andy.

PS: I'm using the Dell build of ESXi 4.1. This recognises and reports on all the hardware beautifully. I've also updated every bit of updateable firmware I can.

[gatox]

Hi Andy,

Like I said, my ASUS MoBo and some other manufacturers too have a bad implementation of VT-d on the BIOS, so mine works by disabling it and as long as my processor is VT-d compliant it will work.

Haven`t tried other Mobo but it is the same issue with other hypervisors and the VT-d implementation.

You mentionned that you have 2x drives but looking to have RAID 5? this will require at least 3x drives on your T410.

Luis

[AndyChip]

Ah, I understand. So that means my Dell Poweredge is well-behaved... so it won't work!

Re. drives: no, I have 2x1TB in a RAID1 and 3x2TB in a RAID5.

I should be receiving my Perc 6i tomorrow so I shall report back if anyone's interested.

Andy.