VMware Block Device showing 0 MiB Capacity

[squeaky369]

Fresh Install of ESXi on a HP Proliant GL380 G5.

I have 4 750GB HDD's in a RAID 5 configuration that I am trying to install on and that's what is showing the 0 Capacity when trying to install.

I've installed on this server once before with 2 72GB HDD's in a RAID 1 configuration and it worked great.

So I have no idea what is going on. I've formatted the drives with a few different formats and nothing will fix it.

Attached is a photo of the information on the drive.

I've tried some Google searches, and natually all I get is garbage.

[sparrowangelste]

try deleting the current lun in the hp raid setup and see if that helps.

create a new one and install.

[squeaky369]

I just tried that and got the same result.

It is a SATA RAID. And I think I just read:

NOTE: IDE RAID and SATA RAID are not supported for the VMFS file system.

Which is probably my issue. But yet, on the other side of that comment, I've read other people using a SATA RAID with a Dell Perc 5 / 6 card(s) and not having any issues.

[a_p_]

Welcome to the Community,

assuming you are using the P400 controller you may be affected by http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2006942. In this case you may consider to run the ACU (Array Configuration Utility) from the SmatStart CD and split the RAID5 set into multiple logical volumes smaller than the maximum supported size of 2TB minus 512 bytes.

André

[squeaky369]

Let me try that and I'll report back.

Thanks for the quick responses!

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

While configuring the system anyway, make sure "VT-x" as well as "Execute Disable Bit" are both enabled in the BIOS and the power settings are set to "Static High Performance". Btw. do you have BBWC attached to the controller? This makes a HUGE difference in disk performance (usually factor 10x or more).

André

[squeaky369]

Done, Done and Done.

Everything worked.

And no, I don't have BBWC attached. I'll have to look and see if I can get one.

Thank you again for the assistance. I was starting to get a little aggravated!