Hi,

I tried to install ESXi 4.1 on a HP Workstation z400.

I had 2 problems at first.

First (solved): When i booted from the ESXi 4.1 CD the ESXi didn't recognize the built-in Broadcom NIC and I got a ThinESX.py error message after i hit on the Install button.

I could make available the built-in NIC with these commands:

1) press ALT+F1 to get to the console - login will be root / no password
2) run "esxcfg-nics -l" - you should get nothing for output
3) run "vmkload_mod tg3.o" to load the Broadcom driver
4) run "esxcfg-nics -l" again to see if the driver is able to load up OK for one of the NICs
5) run "vmkload_mod lvmdriver"

Second problem:

When i run "cd /usr/lib/vmware/installer" and then enter the command "python ThinESX.py" then (after 2-3 clicks on ESXi setup windows) i get another error message that "Unable to find a supported device to write the VMware ESXi 4.1.0 image to."

Okay, i thought it is an HDD recognizing problem so i searched the PCI IDs of the controller:

Intel(R) ICH10 Family 2 ports Serial ATA Storage Controller 2 - 3a26
Intel(R) ICH10 Family 4 ports Serial ATA Storage Controller 2 - 3a20

I can set the BIOS on HP z400 only(!) to IDE or AHCI/RAID mode...

I checked the original simple.map file from oem.tgz and these lines seem to be correct:

8086:3a20 0000:0000 storage ata_piix.o
8086:3a22 0000:0000 storage ahci.o
8086:3a25 0000:0000 storage ahci.o
8086:3a26 0000:0000 storage ata_piix.o

Could anyone help me to fix this problem please?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Roland

Hi All,

I solved the 2nd problem too.

1. I built a new custom ESXi 4.1 ISO with Varazir's 3.9.7 mkesxiaio script with my HP Z400 customized oem.tgz.
2. I set HDD mode to IDE in the BIOS.
3. I removed all the partitions from the disk.
4. I created a new full disk NTFS partition.
5. All problems have been solved, the installation was perfect.

So HP Workstation Z400 can run VMware ESXi 4.1

The customized oem.tgz has been attached.

Regards,

Roland

Good work there

It's good to get some feedback on my script too

Hi,

Thank you for your post.
I'm waiting for the moment when somebody put HP Z400 to the vm-help.com's Whitebox HCL.


Thank you for your great script.

Regards,

Roland

Hi fumarola

I have a hp Z400 and was running into the same issues in your first post. Following your steps has got me further through the install process however once I select the drive to install to and then press F11 to confirm a message in a Grey box appears and says

"Unable to find system image to install. This is due to the image not being mounted correctly or the CD-ROM not being supported..."

its an odd error because I am installing off a USB stick using and install modified using Varazir script and your OEM file.

Did you run into this error? have you got any suggestion on how to get past it?

Cheers
Joel

ESXi by default try to search for media on a CD. (http://benincosa.org/blog/?p=171)
You can go around that by using a kickstart file.
My latest script(4.1) has that option when you select USB installation.
Another workaround I have read about is to install a CD drive in the system.

Thanks Varazir

I got it working by using fumarola's oem.tgz files and your script choosing option 1 ISO Installation. I then burnt the image to cd and installed from the cd drive.

I did then try to use option 2 from you script and choose yes to add kickstart file and install off the usb but I got a new error after you see the yellow install screen and all the moduals have been loaded.

I see it trying to scan something over and over then if i press alt F11 i see the follow error.



I am happy that it installs from cd

Thanks for your help.

Hi everyone, (I'm French then sorry in advance for my poor English...)

I was looking for a solution for a while and I got it working by using fumarola's oem.tgz files and Varazir script aswell. It works perfectly !
I burnt the iso.

Also, I got the same two errors than Fumarola and got through doing exactly what he did. Thank you for that Fumarola and also for your oem.tgz. It spared me some precious time !

Big thanks to Varazir aswell for the great script.

I used the topic "Linux:Bash script to create a custom installation" done by Spike to help me going through not having many linux knowledge and everything went well. Thank you Spike !

Regards,

Timothé

You are welcome
Good to hear it worked out well.

A question did you run Linux in French or in English ?

I used Vmware player in French and created on it a VM ubuntu in French aswell. It worked well.

Why this question ?

Tim