VMware Cloud Community
microlytix
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎07-06-2020 02:21 AM

strange thermal issue after patching to ESXi 7.0b

Did anybody else experience CPU thermal issues after patching to latest ESX 7.0b 16324942 build?

I'm using Supermicro SYS-E300-9D-8CN8TP with Xeon D-2146NT. BIOS 1.3

CPU temperature goes berzerk during ESX boot. Same host on Ubuntu-Live CD is fine.

4 hosts affected. 3 with critical temperature >98C and one >80C. Problem occured right after patching and host reboot. Cluster was fine on 7.0 GA.

I noticed there was a microcode update included.

Read details on findings here: https://www.elasticsky.de/en/2020/07/strange-thermal-issue-after-update-to-esxi-7-0b/

I guess it's system specific. Yet the E300-9D is HCL compliant.

Can anyone confirm?

TIA

Michael

blog: https://www.elasticsky.de/en
22 Replies
Kev_Johnson
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎07-16-2020 12:31 AM

Sadly no support entitlement - these are vExpert and VMUG Advantage licenses. I'll give SuperMicro a nudge on the BIOS front, as I'm running the latest that is publicly available - I had specifically asked about a microcode update.

0 Kudos
RazvanConstanti
Contributor
Contributor
‎07-17-2020 01:17 AM

Updated to 1.3a without any problems/errors.

Updated ESXi to the problematic 7.0b-16324942

Rebooted and no more temperature problems.

Rebooted again to double check. Everything is fine.

microlytix
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎07-19-2020 11:50 AM

A big shout out for my buddy Kev_Johnson​!

He has opened a support ticket with SuperMicro and received a beta BIOS 1.3a which looked promising on his hosts.

I've opened a support ticket too to receive the beta BIOS.

All of my 4 hosts now have the new BIOS 1.3a and patching to ESXi 7.0b works without any trouble. CPU temperature remains in a normal range and the cluster is fully functional.

The BIOS 1.3a is still inofficial and beta, but it seems to resolve the issue.

Currently the only way to get it is to open a support ticket with SuperMicro.

You can refer to my ticket SM2007174180 and Kev's ticket SM2007063871 to speed up the process.

I've updated the findings on my blog https://www.elasticsky.de/en/2020/07/strange-thermal-issue-after-update-to-esxi-7-0b/

https://www.elasticsky.de/en/2020/07/strange-thermal-issue-after-update-to-esxi-7-0b/

blog: https://www.elasticsky.de/en