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devinhuang
Contributor
Contributor

"Clearing RCEC Errors" always appears on serial console when using bootable USB drive for ESXi 6.7 installation on Intel C3000 platform

Hi,

I'm trying to install vSphere ESXi 6.7 or 7.0 on Intel C3000 platform (C3758 8x core 2.2GHz + 16GB RAM + M.2 SATA SSD 240GB + Graphic Port=None). I created a bootable USB drive to start installation under UEFI shell, unfortunately it starts, loading installer, modules, etc and stuck at "Clearing RCEC Errors" on serial console. After 30 mins nothing changes. The detailed installation log is in attachment.@

Any idea what to do?

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lucasbernadsky
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hi there! Ir seems to be a PCIe error. It is probably physical and not an ESXi issue.

Have you tried booting the same physical hardware with another OS or another USB? Also, are you sure your bootable USB is working fine?

Maybe changing the PCIe ports may help

Mapping table

      FS0: Alias(s):HD1f0b:;BLK3:

          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x15,0x0)/USB(0x5,0x0)/HD(1,MBR,0x06B7ECD7,0x800,0x1D6B800)

     BLK2: Alias(s):

          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x15,0x0)/USB(0x5,0x0)

     BLK0: Alias(s):

          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x13,0x0)/Sata(0x0,0xFFFF,0x0)

     BLK1: Alias(s):

          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x13,0x0)/Sata(0x0,0xFFFF,0x0)/HD(1,MBR,0x5E292BF3,0x3F,0x1BF230C1)

     BLK4: Alias(s):

          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1C,0x0)/SD(0x0)

devinhuang
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

Thanks for Lucasbernadsky's response.

Actually, I had already tried booting the same physical hardware before then with the CentOS 8 installation successfully on this C3000 platform.

I'm also sure this ESXi 6.7 bootable USB drive is working fine.

Since I have already used this bootable USB drive to install ESXi 6.7 on other Intel C2000 platform successfully (C2518 4x core 1.7GHz + 8GB RAM + 100GB mSATA SSD + with Graphic Port).

The major hardware difference between these two Intel platforms is the C3000 platform without graphic port output.

For ESXi 6.7 installation on C3000 platform, I'm trying to modify the boot.cfg file in the bootable USB dirve to add following commands in it to redirect console to the serial port.

"kernelopt=cdromBoot runweasel text nofb com1_buad=115200 gdbPort=none logPort=none tty2Port=com1"

But It seems to be not working.

I would like to know how to config console port for ESXi installation if platform dosen't have graphic port output.

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lucasbernadsky
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Do you have access to the host IPMI? maybe managing the server via console will be faster and simpler for you.

I found a similar problem in this forum [SOLVED] Can an ESXi host run without a graphics card? - Spiceworks

And I think I found the solution in this post Installing ESXi over serial console (headless, no video card) | vmware admins

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