pabby061203
asked on
VM ware ESXi 5 on internal SD card wont boot on new Dell R710
HI,
Trying to install Esxi 5 - got the ISO for Dell machines and copied the files to the brand new sd card but with the SD card set as the 1st boot device and the hard drive sequence set with the SD card at No1 and SD emulation as hard disk - we get the message "No Bootable Media".
So we tried to run the installation by burning the ISO to CD and installing to the SD card which also failed with a path error. Tried another SD card with Esxi5 in a laptop to see if it would boot there - but no joy.
Then - we put the files onto a USB key and put the key in the back of the server and set the USB as the boot device - and it worked immediately and we were able to go through the rest of the installation, set up VM's etc.
I need it to work on the internal SD card - but its just refusing to boot and its not playing if we try to install from the CD to the SD either - your assistance would be greatly appreciated - thanks
Trying to install Esxi 5 - got the ISO for Dell machines and copied the files to the brand new sd card but with the SD card set as the 1st boot device and the hard drive sequence set with the SD card at No1 and SD emulation as hard disk - we get the message "No Bootable Media".
So we tried to run the installation by burning the ISO to CD and installing to the SD card which also failed with a path error. Tried another SD card with Esxi5 in a laptop to see if it would boot there - but no joy.
Then - we put the files onto a USB key and put the key in the back of the server and set the USB as the boot device - and it worked immediately and we were able to go through the rest of the installation, set up VM's etc.
I need it to work on the internal SD card - but its just refusing to boot and its not playing if we try to install from the CD to the SD either - your assistance would be greatly appreciated - thanks
ASKER
Hi Hanccocka,
Bit more detail. First I have carried a number of similar instals and have followed the same path s below;
1. Downloaded Dell specific 4.1 (now 5) iso from VM
2. Extracted the iso to a CD
3. Booted server from the CD and followed through the instructions. It reads the SD card, tells me its 987Mb etc
4. Then looks like its starting to work and comes up with a 'path not found' error , no part ion exists message for the SD card.
Solutions tried so far;
1. Took out the SD and using my laptops SD card socket formatted it FAT and then tried again with FAT32 - No Joy same error.
2. Run the install CD from laptop but it would not recognise the SD card
3. Run the CD from laptop and using a USB pen drive was able to create a bootable 4.1 and then later a 5.0 Esxi USB
4. Booted the server from this USB pen drive and hey presto we have a ESXi infrastructure - able to create datastore virtual machines yada yadda no problem.
However do not want to keep using the USB would like to boot from the internal SD card that we bought for this purpose. This is where we have the issue, just can't seem to get either esxi on my laptop to recognise the SD but more concerning the R710 can see the SD (as discussed above) but cannot find the path when in the middle of trying to format it and write the file structure from the 4.1 or 5. image. (These are obviously OK images as they were able to burn successfully a boot USB as discussed above)
Cheers
PS Tried two different SD cards (one of which was supplied by Dell with the R710)
Bit more detail. First I have carried a number of similar instals and have followed the same path s below;
1. Downloaded Dell specific 4.1 (now 5) iso from VM
2. Extracted the iso to a CD
3. Booted server from the CD and followed through the instructions. It reads the SD card, tells me its 987Mb etc
4. Then looks like its starting to work and comes up with a 'path not found' error , no part ion exists message for the SD card.
Solutions tried so far;
1. Took out the SD and using my laptops SD card socket formatted it FAT and then tried again with FAT32 - No Joy same error.
2. Run the install CD from laptop but it would not recognise the SD card
3. Run the CD from laptop and using a USB pen drive was able to create a bootable 4.1 and then later a 5.0 Esxi USB
4. Booted the server from this USB pen drive and hey presto we have a ESXi infrastructure - able to create datastore virtual machines yada yadda no problem.
However do not want to keep using the USB would like to boot from the internal SD card that we bought for this purpose. This is where we have the issue, just can't seem to get either esxi on my laptop to recognise the SD but more concerning the R710 can see the SD (as discussed above) but cannot find the path when in the middle of trying to format it and write the file structure from the 4.1 or 5. image. (These are obviously OK images as they were able to burn successfully a boot USB as discussed above)
Cheers
PS Tried two different SD cards (one of which was supplied by Dell with the R710)
We've only seen issues like this with faulty cards.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Sorry reading back, just in case of confusion. At step I meant I WAS able to format, but no koy once I then put back in Dell and tried to write data using the CD, it still gave the sakes path not found, no partition found error
so it detects it in the dell server, but cannot write after?
ASKER
Used a different media -usb stick with sd card as storage
Here is the VMware KB on installing 4.1 on USB/SD:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1020655
Here is the VMware KB on installing 5.0 on USB/SD:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2004784
You need to Burn the Dell Custom OEM ESXi 5.0 installer to a CDROM, boot the CDROM, and run the installer.
When you run the installer, does it see the SD card flash partition?
Have you check the SD card can be formatted, in a normal SD flash card reader or Camera?
What brand of SD card have you tried?