Blue Screen of Death after install ESX 3i

[rsxsr]

Hello, this is my first post. I have a Compaq/HP Proliant ML 570 server. I downloaded and burned to CD the ISO image. The install seemed to go as the documentation until the reboot. When I have the option to F2 into setup, the server blue screens. I have removed the fiber nic as one choice, but no difference. The hardware compatibility list seems to include this server. It has 4 xeon processors, 1 gig of memory, and a 5300 Raid Controller with 6 scsi hot swap hard drives. Configured for a Raid 5 single logical drive and online spare. While I realize tech support is not included, I need to at least get to the point where I can get the server to come up. Not sure what to try next. I was thinking about doing away with the logical drive as the next step. I also so a post about non matching memory could cause the BSOD. I might be able to verify that. Othere that reading the install directions, I have no experience wth VM ware. We have lost a few servers over the last couple months and have been robbing parts to get them back up. The idea of multiple server instances on one hardware appliance appeals to me. If anyone can shed some light, I would appreciate it. Mark

[RDPetruska]

Thread moved to VI:ESXi forum.

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Welcome to the VMware Community forums. Have you updated the BIOS and firmware for the various components?

[rsxsr]

Dave, thank you for the quick reply. This server was in service as a windows 2003 enterprise server. HP/Compaq uses their softpak downloads for updating the server hardware. So the hardware was up to date for the Windows OS. I was thinking on the drive in, that I might need to at least check for an update on the motherboard bios. To be honest, I don't even know what version of VM Ware I need. I sat down with a reseller a year or so ago when developing my disaster recovery location. In then end, went with individual servers. The VMWare seems to be very complicated to a beginner. I may not even need ESXi. I have since downloaded ESX 3.5. From reading, that may be more suited to what I am trying to accomplish. I will check HP to see what is available for updates for my hardware. Perhaps they have something suited for VM Ware. Regards, mark

[RParker · Accepted solution]

Just for kicks try a different ESX, maybe 3.5 (the one with the console) or maybe an older version say ESX 3.03. Give those a try.

[GregBradley]

Which ML570? Is it a series 4 (ML570 G4) with the CPU that is listed (7140) as being compatible with ESXi Installable in the compatability list? Looks like even a G4 with a 70xx CPU will not run ESXi and you would have to use ESX.

I have to believe that if it has 4 CPUs and 1Gb of RAM it must be a VERY old unit that is not supported. I have a stack of ancient G3 ML370s for which I would have lots of use if they could load ESXi even though you couldn't get much RAM into them. I can tell you that ESXi works great on the typical ML370 G5 that I am using with 2 4-core Xeons and 16Gb of RAM.