You can also find an article on common issues for ESXi 3.5 / 40 here.
1) After you install ESXi 4.0 you get the error: Failed to find boot partition
It may be the case that your host is trying to boot from the wrong disk. Check the mode of your SATA controller and take a look at this thread.
2) During the install your host hangs at: Initializing Power Management
It’s possible to disable power management and other options like disabling ACPI or checkCPUIDLimit by setting vmkernel options.
3) During the install you get the error: Failed to load lvmdriver
Unlike ESXi 3.5, 4.0 will require that a compatible network card be present in the host during the install. The IP address that the host obtains is used to generate a unique identifier for the host. Without a NIC that ESXi can use, it will stop with the error: Failed to load lvmdriver. To resolve this add a NIC like the Intel Pro/1000 GT or look at VMware’s HCL or the white box HCL.
4) Does ESXi 4.0 support USB devices within VMs?
.ESXi 4.0 does allow the addition of a USB controller, but passthrough of USB devices is not supported.
5) ESXi 4.0 hangs while loading the IPMI driver
This mostly likely indicates a server or BIOS issue and it would be best to first ensure that the host is running the latest BIOS version. If you want to disable the IPMI driver to the following, but note that this will disable certain portions of the health status that is displayed in the VI client.
1) Access the console and run cd /etc/vmware/init/init.d
2) Run the command chmod +t 72.ipmi. This will enable the sticky bit on the file and ensure that it gets backed up into the system backup file.
3) Edit the file 72.ipmi. You can use vi or the command sed -i ‘/Exec/s/^/return ${SUCCESS} # disable IPMI\n\n/’ 72.ipmi. This command will essentially change the file from
#!/bin/sh
# Copyright 2008 VMware Inc.,
Exec esxcfg-init -I || {
return ${NON_CRITICAL_FAILURE}
}
to
#!/bin/sh
# Copyright 2008 VMware Inc.,
return ${SUCCESS} # disable IPMI
Exec esxcfg-init -I || {
return ${NON_CRITICAL_FAILURE}
}
6) During an upgrade you get one of the following errors: patching this host is not supported by utility / ERROR: Unsupported boot disk /
The boot device layout on the host does not support upgrade
If you’re running ESXi Embedded you may have to wait for a patch to be released as mentioned in the release notes. You may want to reboot your host in case you have a pending update already installed prior to starting the upgrade. In some cases, some installs on SATA controllers will generate the error and the new install is required.
7) The warning message The Execute Disable/No Execute CPU feature is not enabled for this machine appears on the local console when ESX 4.0 is installed on either an HP system with the No-Execute Memory Protection option disabled in the machine’s system BIOS or on a Dell system with the Execute Disable option disabled in the machine’s system BIOS.
Enable the No-Execute Memory Protection or Execute Disable option in the HP or Dell machine’s system BIOS respectively.
8) You have the following errors when loading ESXi:
Loading 34.storage-drivers
status: progress=0.27 ; messageID=LOADDRIVERS; Loading 34.storage-drivers
26% Complete - Loading 34.storage-drivers
This may indicate an issue with the storage controller. It would be recommended to update the firmware and run a diagnostic.
9) You experience a PSOD with an error like File redefined for non-file usr/share/hwdata/pci.ids
Some files have changed locating between ESXi 3.5 and 4.0. pci.ids is an example of that and is now located in /etc/vmware. If you’re using a custom oem.tgz file, then update the file with the proper location.
10) You edit a VM to hot add a hard drive to a VM but get an error about needing a hot plug license.
With ESXi 4.0 this feature is now only available with vSphere Advanced or higher licensing.
11) When running the upgrade you receive the error: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
If you are running the host update utility on Windows Vista, try setting the application compatability mode to Windows XP SP2 and check the option to “Run this program as an administrator”.
12) You try to upgrade your host to ESXi 4.0 and get the error: VI Update Client fails with “Invalid Update Bundle