Why won't Esxi 6.5 not install on an older system?

[MartinHorton]

I have a server with an  Intel S5000VSA motherboard with dual Xeon 5150 CPUs each with 2 cores. This system is happily running Esxi 5.5 at the moment.

When I try to install or upgrade Esxi 6.5 I get a warning that while in will install on most platforms it is only supported by systems in the HCL. But during installation to a USB drive it fails with a message which from memoru says it needs the "No Memory Execution Protection" My BIOS contains an "Execute Disable Bit" which is enabled.

Why won't Esxi 6.5 not install?

[virtualtech_wor]

Hope you checked this VMware KB 1017758

[MartinHorton]

Yes, I checked that. But as I said in my original post the "Execute Disable Bit" is enabled. In fact, if you turn that off even 5.5 won't run.

[MartinHorton · Accepted solution]

In comparing different Intel Xeon CPUsI notice that newer CPUs support SLAT (Secondary Level Address Translation) but that my 5150s do not.Does Esxi 6.x require SLAT? If so, that explains my problem. But if that IS correct, then VMWare needs to change the error message to identify the problem as missing SLAT and not No Execute Memory Protection..

[virtualtech_wor]

Yeah I read that in your post. Agree, error should be have been more clearly defined.