MSI Z87-G43 + I5-4670K cant boot/install

[SteffanS]

Hi guys,

I have been scratching my head for the last couple of hours on this one.

I just want to upgrade my well running Q9550 ESXi with some new hardware, because i needed more RAM (old setup only supports 8GB)

So i got the following with the mail today:

MB: MSI Z87-G43

CPU: I5-4670K

RAM: Kingston DDR3 HyperX 1600MHz 8GB * 2

i took the old MB, CPU and RAM out of the server, og put the new in. then i put in a freshly downloaded (4 hours ago, to make sure i had the latest) ESXI 5.1 CD and bootet it up.

I starts out fine, loading the drivers and so on, but then it hangs at "Initializing IOV ...." with a yellow/gray background.

I googled this, and found out it had something to do with the VT-X/VT-D so i went to the BIOS to see if it was enabled - It was.

I tried disabling it, just to see if that made any difference, but sadly no.

The motherboard and CPU both support VT-X/VT-D.

I have made the standard testing with memtest, to make sure the RAM was not dead on arrival (This has happened a lot to me, so i always test them) so the hardware is working.

I also tried booting the old installation from when the old motherboard was installed, just to see if i got any other errors, and it hangs at the same message.

Does anyone know what the problem is?

Thanks for reading, i hope some of you can help me!

I have attached a picture of the "initializing IOV ...." screen where it hangs.

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Community - Did you confirm that the MB is supported - http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/cat/119

[SteffanS]

Thanks

Sorry, but i think i'm too dump to use that link, whatever i type in it just finds no results...

When i googled around, i found that other people got Z87 MB's and Haswell (4th gen. i5+i7 CPU's) working without any problems.. only problem they had was a realtek onboard network adapter that did not work, so they had to disable it in BIOS. I tried this too, but no success.

is there any way to see what causes the error in the ESXi installation ?

I also just tryed going insane in the BIOS, i just disabled everything possible except "Execute Disabled Bit", even disabled VT-X/VT-D, but the result is still the same.

[SteffanS]

I just did a BIOS update from v 1.1 (was on the board when i got it) to 1.3 (newest version from MSI's official website), this sadly did not help either.

[SteffanS · Accepted solution]

Hi, again.

I just found this post: http://communities.vmware.com/thread/448394

And seems like i looked at the wrong CPU on intel's site.. what i got is a 4670K, and it does NOT SUPPORT VT-D (i thought it did)!!

I the post i found, the guy has a i7 with K at the end, and got a i7 with S and the end instead, and this works. since they supports VT-D!

CPU i got: ARK | Intel® Core™ i5-4670K Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.80 GHz)

CPU i need instead: ARK | Intel® Core™ i5-4670 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.80 GHz) Or the "S" model ( ARK | Intel® Core™ i5-4670S Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.80 GHz) ) , but that one is a little bit slower - but uses much less power..

I will try and see if i can get it exchanged from where i bought it, but i sadly dont think so since i got it in a "upgrade package" with MB, RAM and CPU.

But thanks for everyone trying to help, i hope i did not cause too much head scratching!

Maybe this post will help others with the same issue..

[SteffanS]

Just want to let you all know, that i recieved my i5-4670 (without the "K" at the end) today, and just installed esxi 5,1 update 1 on it.
Works like a charm!!
No problems at all, even the Realtek network adapter in the motherboard works out-of-the-box!