Problem installing ESX 4.0 on Dell T610

[varun_tbd]

I am trying to install ESX 4.0 on a standard Dell T610 system. This system is supported by VMware in their Hardware compatibility guide. However the installation freezes when it is around 26% done. The display shows that it is doing an installation of glibc-common. Someone suggested to try using the noapic option while booting the kernel for a different Intel processor. Tried that, but it still is stuck in the same place. Could anyone suggest where I could be going wrong. I am installing ESX using a DVD which has the ESX 4.0 image.

Thanks

Varun

[Sanjana]

Hi Varun,

I'm assuming you've already checked out the following obvious reasons this could be happening-

- you have enough disk space to continue the install

- ensured that your media is not corrupt, by comparing the md5 checksum.

Also, do you have any other T610s that you could try this on?

--sanjana

[SergeySokolov]

26 % - loading storage modules, IMHO

Try add noapic to kernel boot

[varun_tbd]

hi sanjana,

thanks for the reply. i am starting with a fresh T610. it has enough disk space for the install. We did install the esx 4 on another machine using the dvd we are using for installation on the T610. We were able to install esx 3.5 u4 on the T610 using a cd. could you suggest where else i could be going wrong?

thanks

varun

[varun_tbd]

hey sergey,

i made a typo earlier. sorry about that. its actually 29% during the actual installation(this is after the drivers have been installed). the display says its installing glibc or glibc-common(depending on where it gets stuck). i did try the noapic earlier, but that did not fix the problem.

thanks

varun

[Formatter]

Have you tried installing esxi u4and upgrading to vsphere? are you running off a cf card? Interested because I have a 610 and I am looking to upgrade mine.

[admin]

Can you go to a different terminal by hitting Ctl-Alt-F2? If the machine is truely wedged and you can not get a shell prompt it's likely that the system had a critical fault, but it's unclear as to why it happened at that point (maybe a disk or memory issue?).

[Formatter]

Did anyone figure out what is happining with this?

[varun_tbd]

Hi Formatter,

Sorry about the delay in posting this update. I could not figure out what the problem exactly was with the installation. However on trying an upgrade using the same installer cd through a vmware update mechanism (comes with the new vsphere client) it worked fine(I need to double check on what exactly the update mechanism is called. Will do it in a couple of hours by editing this post). Specifically I ran this update mechanism on a remote vsphere client machine and through the network ran the update on the esx 3.5u4 that I had earlier installed on the same system. So now I have esx4 running on my Dell T610.

Thanks a lot for all the help.

Varun

[Formatter]

Thanks,, I updated two other machines but not the T610,, I imagine it would be the same process. Are you running on a sd card?

[varun_tbd]

Hi Formatter,

My machine does not run of a sd card. Also the vmware update mechanism I used, is specifically the vmware host update utility.

Varun

[varun_tbd]

Thanks Patrick. Though initially I can switch between terminals after the problem shows up, I can't switch between terminal screens. Found a way around for my specific problem by using vmware's host update utility.

Varun

[Formatter]

Yes the vsphere host upgrade utility 4.0, That what I have been using. Running off the SD works well and I have a backup sd card just in case, so maybe I will try it and see what happens, Worst comes to worst I will have to change the sd and reboot.

[admin]

Hi Varun,

More than likely you just had a bad burn of the ESX Server DVD, or if you are using DRAC/iLO there was some kind of network hiccup. If you burned the ISO to a DVD, you should be able to use the media check to make sure the the burn worked correctly.

Alternatively, you can actually still use that DVD to do a fresh installation. Put the contents of the download ISO onto a local web server and then boot the DVD on the system. At the boot prompt, hit F2 and add the parameter "askmedia". The installer will ask you for the location of the ESX packages and the install should work fine.

--Patrick.

[varun_tbd]

Hi Patrick,

I actually used the same dvd to install esx 4 on another Dell machine(not a t610) and it worked fine. Also, I used the same dvd for finally upgrading the t610 from esx 3.5u4 to esx 4(using the vmware update host facility). Hence, I guess the dvd should be fine. But yes that was definitely one of the possibilities when I started out.

Thanks

Varun

[varun_tbd]

Hi Formatter,

Do let me know if you had similar problems while installing from scratch.

Thanks again

Varun

[admin]

Hi Varun,

Very weird. Maybe you got a smudge/scratch on the DVD or the DVD reader on the t610 was having a bad day. 😄

If it happens again you should check the log files by switching to a terminal (Ctl-Alt-F2) and then looking in /var/logs to see if they shed any light on the matter. The file weasel.log would be the first place I would check. My guess is that it tried access the file a few times and then gave up.