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Treamon
Contributor
Contributor

Vmware installation not recognizing hard drives connected to Intel motherboard

When I go to install ESXi 5.1 on the server it the installation software doesn't recognize the 1TB hard drive that I have installed. I've updated the BIOS, but that didn't get me any closer to solving the problem. It also doesn't recognize the NIC either. I ran into an issue awhile ago when installing ESXi 3.5 and it couldn't recognize the IDE DVDrom drive and I had to alter the installation software. Does anybody know how to fix this?

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

Welcome to the VMware Communities forums.  Your post has been moved to the vSphere Hypervisor forum - http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/server/vsphere/hypervisor.

What model of hardware are you using for your installation?   It would be ideal if you could post the MB model, model of NIC and model of storage controller.  This will help you find the PCI ids for the NIC / storage controller -  www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/find_PCI_ID.php

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Treamon
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Here's what I have on the server. It has Intel RSTe and ESRT II by LSI for the MegaRAID. I have tried to install it with 1 2TB drive and 4 1TB drives as I've previously stated.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

What mode is the controller in?   I checked a 5.1 installed and the rste driver is included now.

Footnotes  :1: For ESXi 5.0, boot from onboard SAS (aka RSTe mode) requires a custom  ESXi image with the RSTe driver included. 2: RSTe RAID mode not supported.
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Treamon
Contributor
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The server is in AHCI mode with ESRT II *LSI set as the controller.

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Treamon
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How would I get the RSTe driver? 

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Treamon
Contributor
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I was able to get the RSTe drivers, do I need to alter any files prior to attempting to install. I read some chatter about re-compiling the ISO after the alterations were made, do I need a specific OS in order to do that. I'm not totally sure if windows will allow it on its own without some specific software.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
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If you're using 5.1 for the install the driver should be on that ISO.  It may be that you need to change the mode of the controller.

For 5.0 you would have to add the driver and you could use a tool called ESXi Customizer for that (google it and it should be the first link).

If you're trying 5.1 you can access the console during the install (press ALT+F1) after you get an install error. If you then run lspci -p do you see the controller with the driver in the module column?

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Treamon
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I've put it in every mode possible, AHCI, Compatibility, Enhanced, and RAID. None of them allow the install package to recognize the drive. I am installing 5.1.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
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lspci -p will allow you to see if the controller is recognized along with esxcfg-scsidevs -a.   If the device shows up wthen you run esxcfg-scsidevs -a, but no module is listed when you run lspci -p, that indicates that the driver had a problem loading.  The log file /var/log/vmkernel.log may contain some information about why the driver was not loaded successfully.

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Treamon
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I checked using  esxcfg-scsidevs -a and it displayed Intel Corporation Patsburg 6 Port SATA AHCI controller and vmhba0, vmhba32, vmhba33, vmhba34, vmhba35, and vmhba36 with an address of 0:0:31.2 next to it. That seems to be close to the right stuff for the installer to see the hard drives, but it's missing something. What I don't know.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
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If you run lspci -p is a module listed for each vmhba device?

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Treamon
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Nothing showed up, I just checked it again. Here are some pictures from  vmkernel.log.

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Treamon
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2013-02-26t15:24:23.327Z cpu8: 8200)ScsiDeviceIO: 2316: Cmd(0x412440463c0, 0) to dev "mpx.vmhba32:CO:TO:LO" Failed: H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x20 0x0. Act :NONE nmp_ThrottleLogForDevice:2319: Cmd oxLS

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Treamon
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I ran lspci -v | more command and received the following as feedback:

SATA Controller Mass Storage Controller - Intel Corporation Patsburg 6 port SATA AHCI controller vmhba0  Class 0106:8086:1d02

SAS  Controller Mass  Storage Controller - Intel Corporation Class 0200:0806:1521

when I ran esxcfg I received the following:

vmhba0 AHCI link-n/a SATA vmhba0:0:0:31.2

I think the link being N/A might be the problem, do you think it may be what's going wrong with the install?

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Treamon
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Also, I was talking to one of my colleagues and he explained that the other server wasn't compatible with Ubuntu 10.4 so he had to install Ubuntu 12.04 on it and it was all do to driver incompatibility.

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Gardenbear
Contributor
Contributor

Hello  Treamon, i have  same  server  board S2600GZ  and  same problem.

can you   solve   you  problem  with inter rste driver  ?

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mehrn
Contributor
Contributor

hi

i have the same problem.

i have with box pc

motherbord : gaz97 d3h

cpu: core i7

i want to install exsi 5.5 on this pc .first i give error for nic . i download right vbi file for nic and done with esxi customize.

now my esxi 5.5 can see any hard ??

there are pic frome esxi and command .now what can i do ?what vbi file for controller i must download?

help me

i cant find any vbi for my controller. i cant undrestand this pic .where is my controller?what is my controller?

help me tanksIMG_3956.JPG

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mehrn
Contributor
Contributor

i found my controller

intel(R) 9 series chipset family sata ahco controller 8086: 8c82

i found vbi for this sata . i use esxi customize .but when i install 5.1 i see this error

help me:smileycry:

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mehrn
Contributor
Contributor

no body can help me?

i read this article  VMware Front Experience: How to make your unsupported SATA AHCI Controller work with ESXi 5.5

but i cant undrestand with this command

esxcli software acceptance set --level=CommunitySupported

esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient

esxcli software vib install -d http://vibsdepot.v-front.de -n sata-xahci

what is my problem?

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