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ChrisCred
Contributor
Contributor

vSphere 5 cd won't boot

I am trying to upgrade from ESXi 4.1 to 5.  I put in the 5.0 cd with the ISO but it just ignores it and boots into 4.1.  I verified the CD is correctly burned and also verified the hardware supports 5.0.  Not sure what to do next.

Thx,

Chris

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27 Replies
vmroyale
Immortal
Immortal

Hello and welcome to the communities.

What kind of system is it? Have you verified that the system can boot to a disc, or will any other disc work?

Good Luck!

Brian Atkinson | vExpert | VMTN Moderator | Author of "VCP5-DCV VMware Certified Professional-Data Center Virtualization on vSphere 5.5 Study Guide: VCP-550" | @vmroyale | http://vmroyale.com
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ChrisCred
Contributor
Contributor

Dell Poweredge 1950. I verified the system can boot from the 4.1 CD. I even made a second copy of the 5.0 CD just in case there was an issue.

Thx,

Chris

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vmroyale
Immortal
Immortal

Have you tried that media in another server? Did you verify the checksum, after the download - this sounds like a bad download.

Brian Atkinson | vExpert | VMTN Moderator | Author of "VCP5-DCV VMware Certified Professional-Data Center Virtualization on vSphere 5.5 Study Guide: VCP-550" | @vmroyale | http://vmroyale.com
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wolf
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Tried to go into the bios preferences and force cd/dvd as first boot media in the boot sequence ?

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ChrisCred
Contributor
Contributor

I verified the checksum. I also downloaded it again but it didn’t make a difference.

Thx,

Chris

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ChrisCred
Contributor
Contributor

The CD is listed above the Hard Drive. I also tried booting from the USB drive but this didn’t work either.

Thx,

Chris

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vmroyale
Immortal
Immortal

What about that media in a different server? Have you tried the Dell Systems Management CD to start the process? It would then prompt you to enter the ESXi media at some point. If the media is good, that might be a way to get it to work.

Brian Atkinson | vExpert | VMTN Moderator | Author of "VCP5-DCV VMware Certified Professional-Data Center Virtualization on vSphere 5.5 Study Guide: VCP-550" | @vmroyale | http://vmroyale.com
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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

Have you tried with an external (USB) optical drive?

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RParker
Immortal
Immortal

Does the machine have a DRAC?  I would try installing via the DRAC and ISO

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maytrix0
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Just want to clarify based on your original wording.

Did you download the ISO and then burn the ISO file to the disc or did you create the disc based on the ISO file?  To test, if you put the disc in a windows computer and browse the disc, what's on it?

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

Just looked over the OP too... You need to burn a disc FROM the ISO image, not a disc with the ISO on it. The ISO file IS the disc image that has what's needed to boot the host for the install. Most burning software has the ability to burn disc FROM ISO. There are some other, third party, applications that will also do it (for free) if you don't have one of the better burning applications on your system.

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ChrisCred
Contributor
Contributor

There are 70+ files on the root of the CD plus two directories, Upgrade and EFI. I burned the CD twice thinking maybe it didn’t burn correctly the first time.

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maytrix0
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

It sounds like it burned correctly.

Can you boot the CD in another system?

I don't recall off hand, but perhaps you need to hit a key to get it to boot from the ESXi 5 CD?  I've only installed once myself, so I can't recall off hand if that was necessary or not.

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

It's not, as long as the CD is set to be the boot device. I installed yesterday from a CD burner from the ISO to an USB flash drive on my host. Simply used F12 to select the boot device for that time (common for Dell hardware, as well as some others) and selected the CD/optical drive to boot from. On reboot, I did the same thing, selecting the USB flash drive as my boot device. I plan on running from the flash drive for a while, to test, before committing to the onboard hard drives.

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sgv510
Contributor
Contributor

I am having the same issue with Dell PowerEdge 2970.  ISO is burned correctly.  Select to boot from CD Rom on bootup but server ignores the CD and boots into 4.1.  

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

Are you hitting the F12 key, selecing the onboard (or onboard/USB cd-rom drive) from the list? I've had 100% success on Dell systems with the F12 method.

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sgv510
Contributor
Contributor

I hit F11, select CD-ROM drive but server ignores the CD and proceeds to boot up as usual. F12 on the 2970 is for PXE boot.

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ChrisCred
Contributor
Contributor

I go to the Boot menu and choose the CD-ROM but it never boots from the CD. It just goes straight into ESXi 4.1.

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

Have you tried using an external (USB connected) optical drive yet?? There have been cases [with prior releases] where the internal optical drives simply didn't work for installing ESX/ESXi...

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