Workaround:
Install VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 1 and then upgrade to update 2.
or
Install VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 1, reboot the system and install ESXi 5.5 Update 2 for a clean installation.
or
If it is a UCS Manager integrated UCS C-Series server then scrub the FlexFlash and install VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 2. (CSCus51007)
or
From VMware ESXi recovery console (Alt + F1) recreate disk partition as gpt by executing:
partedUtil mklabel /vmfs/devices/disk/mpx.vmhba33\:C0\:T0\:L0 gpt
VMware has root caused the issue and this is what they had to say :
In 51u3+ and 55u2+ we have introduced a new change that does not initialize unknown disks
with msdos master boot record (MBR), This change was necessary due to other issues than can occur
and the change cannot be reversed
Behavior:
When user has custom partition schemes that are not recognized by installer
(in this case, it's Cisco flex flash partition scheme), The installer don't understand it and therefore can't use it
In older ESX versions we used to initialize with empty msdos MBR - equivalent to putting empty msdos partition layout - and proceed with installation
Workaround:
(1) to install old versions of ESXi (51u2, 55u1) and upgrade to (51u3+ or 55u2+ or 60+)
-or-
(2) Cisco has to remove the flexflash partition scheme and use raw SD card as is
We have tried installing to raw SD card by connecting it to UCS via USB-SD card adapter and it worked fine
