Specs:
- Dell Precision T5500 running VMware ESXi 4.1
- CPU dual 2.66 GHz Six core 6.4 GT/s Intel X5650
- BIOS Dell A09
- onboard NIC Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5761 Gigabit PCIe / storage controller working
- oem.tgz used to update ESXi 4.1 iso to recognize BCM5761
- storage controller support RAID / battery backup for write cache
- Intel 82801 SATA RAID controller
- LSI Logic Symbios Logic MegaRAID SAS 1078 bus controller
- PERC 6i SAS HBA RAID controller for 3 2TB Dell HDD (RAID5)
- MB support Intel VT (vt-x)
- nVidia Quadro 4000 video

Problem: Poweron of VM fails

SuccessfulSequence:
# Make the disk
vmkfstools -c 15G -a lsilogic $1/$1.vmdk
# Register new VM
vim-cmd solo/registervm /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/$1/$1.vmx
# Poweron the VM
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on 16

from /var/log/messages

info 'ha-eventmgr'] Event 44 : $1 on localhost.tx.boeing.com in ha-datacenter is resumed
0 FFF40B90 error 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/4e71f8a0-4f57fb5a-62eb-14feb5eae480/aas_p8core/aas_p8core1.vmx'] Invalid transition req
0 FFF40B90 warning 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/4e71f8a0-4f57fb5a-62eb-14feb5eae480/aas_p8core/aas_p8core1.vmx'] Failed operation
0 FFF40B90 info 'TaskManager'] Task Completed : haTask-16-vim.VirtualMachine.powerOn-84 Status error
1 FFF40B90 info 'App'] AdapterServer caught exception: 58b2d628
1 FFA4BE90 verbose 'HttpSvc.HTTPService'] User agent is 'VMware-client/4.1.0'
1 FFA4BE90 verbose 'HttpSvc.HTTPService'] HTTP Response: Client: NeedsContentLength: false UnderstandsChunking: true CanKe
1 FFDC4B90 verbose 'HttpSvc.HTTPService'] HTTP Response: Complete (processed 1273 bytes)
3 58E18B90 verbose 'Proxysvc Req00064'] New proxy client SSL(TCP(local=127.0.0.1:55969, peer=127.0.0.1:443))
4 FFA4BE90 verbose 'HttpSvc.HTTPService'] User agent is 'VMware-client/4.1.0'
4 FFA4BE90 verbose 'HttpSvc.HTTPService'] HTTP Response: Client: NeedsContentLength: false UnderstandsChunking: true CanKe
5 58C40B90 verbose 'App'] CloseSession called for session id=5235529f-eafe-7227-caad-ba98721b0617
5 58C40B90 info 'ha-eventmgr'] Event 45 : User root logged out
~

Have you taken a look at the vmware.log file in the folder where the vmx file is?

I could not find a vmware.log in that folder nor where I ran the vnsvc/power.on 64 command from.

I reattempted create/poweron sequece removing the ethernet1 settings from the .vmx file, since only one interface exists but same result:

Powering on VM:
Power on failed

No vmware.log and the related entries in /var/log/messages show:

Invalid transition requested (VM_STATE-INVALID_CONFG -> VM_STATE_POWERING_ON)

.vmx Failed operation
Task Completed : haTask-64-vim.VirtualMachine.powerOn-982 Status error
AdapterServer caught exception: ffela780

I also noticed that most of the vim-cmd vmsvc/get.summary 64
is <unset>

I used following min vmx file which was successful for vnsvc/power.on and did create a vmware.log

config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "7"
guestOS = "rhel4-64"

Probably best to add config features incrementally ...

Modifying .vsx files for VM directly on the ESXi server was difficult since incompatible parameters resulted in this VM_STATE_INVALID_CONFIG

Once I went to viclient access (VMware vSphere Client) it was much simpler to create and modify VM settings without encountering any such miss configuration issues. viclient is the way to go. Its a shame that there is only a windows version.