upgrade from esxi 4.0 to version 5.5 - using hp proliant dl185g5

[andyamato]

I was successfully running esxi version 4.0 without issues on my hp proliant dl 185 g5. And, decided to upgrade to esxi version 5.5.  Since the upgrade I cannot get the box to boot up.  The controller is showing 'initializing' on boot up but never initializes.  I tried to do a fresh install back to version 4.0 but the hp acu tool also shows that there is no controller available.  been on support with HP for a week.  They have been very helpful so far.  We decided to replace the controller but the issue persists.

also tried flashing the bios.

My question to this community is as follows:

is it possible to break the server or controller with an os that's not compatible with the hardware?

Any suggestions to get this hardware back to a running state?  What would you try next?

Thanks for any input!

[JeffInouye]

I don't think the OS install had any involvement and it would be new to me if it did.  From the hardware perspective this is probably the flow in which i would troubleshoot the controller issues:

http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/mostViewedDisplay/?sp4ts.oid=357...

[abhilashhb]

I don't think it's because of os. It would be a hardware failure. What are the up guys telling?

Have u checked if your server is compatible to run 5.5?

As you said that version 4.0 is not installing too you might have replace the hardware and check the compatibility and install the compatible version.

[andyamato]

personally I find it hard to believe that the os installation could have caused my issue.  but, on the initial call, the support tech from HP stated that it's possible to cause the damage that i'm describing.  The only compatible version with my hardware is version 4.0 according to their site and support.  HP has not even had a chance to test 5.5 as of last week.  So, I think that this server is going to be wasted.  But, I wanted to see if anyone could offer some additional insight before I give up on that machine.

[Bl0ckHarm0ny]

I was at a customer who was trying to upgrade their environment from 4.x to 5.x (can't remember actual versions atm), new HP hardware as well. They were seeing issues of the same nature, eventually HP had them download their bits of ESXi and also they had to pop the CD-ROM drive out of the server, which was supposedly hanging up the install.

HCL's are key and should be ready to go when new versions are GA'd

My $.02

HTH

[abhilashhb]

Like Bl0ckharm0ny says it might work with the one of the ESXi versions. let the HP guys do their work and help you get the server back to life

Sorry we are not being of much help here. I personally have never come across such a issue before.