Hi,
I'm trying to install ESXi 4.0 on a machine where 3.5 used to work well. Here is the configuration :
Motherboard: DFI Lanparty UT SLI-D (NForce4)
CPU : Athlon 64 3200+ (Rev D0) (http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=116&f1=AMD+Athlon%E2%84%A2&f2=&f3=&f4=&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=&f10=False&f11=False)
RAM : 3GB DDR (21GB + 2512MB)
Disk : Western Digirtia 500 GB Sata
Video : Matrox mystic
I use a USB DVD Writer to boot the CD, choose install and waits that all tgz file are loaded (fills the screen with a lot of dots). After the last file the following message is displayed :
Booting: MBI=0x000100d8, entry=0x00100212
And the system reboots just after displaying the message.
I found others having the same problem but there were suggested that it was because their CPU did not support 64 bit. However my CPU is an Athlon 64, and according to the guide about 64 bit CPU on vmware site it has to be a revision D CPU, and my CPU is indeed D0 revision (check provided link for more details). I also checked device compatibility guide for ESXi 4.0 and the NForce4 chipset is supported.
I tryed GA build 164009 and new build 171294 but the results were the same. I also booted from an USB key with the same result.
Thank you for your help !