ESXi on UCS c220 Boot issue

[Khurram Tariq]

dear all

i am confguring Esx 5.1 u2 on UCS c220-M3-S server, my CIMC version is 1.5(3). i have installed esxi 5.1 u 2 successfully but when it reboot for the first time to start it did not find any bootable device,even my boot order is hardrive in whihc installed esxi

Error: PXE-E61 media test failure chech cable

PXE-M0F exiting intel boot agent 

kindly help me out on this issu.

[Dragan Ilic]

But after you disabled embedded controller you should use new cabling with MegaRAID card and then configure virtual drive on it...and after that ESXi custom install...

Do you have cables for doint that? As I saw for your RAID controller cables are not sold by cisco so there must be some option to purchase them...

BR,

Dragan

[Khurram Tariq]

i have csco customized esxi 5.1 update 1 but it gets stopped during installation on this server, thats why i have downloaded esxi 5.1 u2 , 

[Dragan Ilic]

According to your firmware version 1.5(3) last supported custom esxi for you is 5.1U1...here is the link:

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/interoperability/matrix/r_hcl_C_rel1-53.pdf

But if you do firmware upgrade you can go up to 5.5 like on this link:

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/interoperability/matrix/r_hcl_C_rel1-55.pdf

Can you try something of this two?

BR,

Dragan

[Khurram Tariq]

these are my server specs

UCSC-C220-M3S	UCS C220 M3 SFF w/o CPU  mem  HDD  PCIe  PSU  w/ rail kit
CON-SNT-C220M3SF	SMARTNET 8X5XNBD UCS C220 M3 SFF w/o
UCS-CPU-E5-2609	2.4 GHz E5-2609/80W 4C/10MB Cache/DDR3 1066MHz
UCS-MR-1X082RY-A	8GB DDR3-1600-MHz RDIMM/PC3-12800/dual rank/1.35v
A03-D500GC3	500GB  6Gb SATA  7.2K RPM SFF hot plug/drive sled mounted
CAB-9K10A-UK	Power Cord 250VAC 10A BS1363 Plug (13 A fuse) UK
UCSC-PSU-650W	650W power supply for C-series rack servers
UCS-RAID9286CV-8E	MegaRAID 9286CV Raid card  with 8 external SAS/SATA ports
R2XX-RAID5	Enable RAID 5 Setting
N20-BBLKD	UCS 2.5 inch HDD blanking panel

[Dragan Ilic]

There you see that you have external MegaRAID card...there you should configure your virtual drive. If controller is working OK just disable embedded one and reconfigure MegaRAID controller using it's tool...

BR,

Dragan

[Keny Perez]

Hello,

You need to reseat the controller (not a reset).

If you boot the server, do you see your disks and RAID controller during POST?  If you do, press CTRL+H to get to WebBIOS and configure the array from there.

In the boot selection, you need to select your RAID controller and not the individual disks.

-Kenny

[Khurram Tariq]

yes kenny i see both disk and raid controller when it boots but when i press Ctrl + H in webbios physcial view and logical view is empty it shoould show the disks in it like UNCONFIG GOODS, but there is no disk after selecting a raid controller from selection TAB.

[Manuel Velasco]

Hi 

Power off the sever, remove the power cables, remove the top cover of this server and take a picture  of the inside. Please provide this picture.  From the post above I can tell you have a

UCS-RAID9286CV-8E	MegaRAID 9286CV Raid card  with 8 external SAS/SATA ports

PCIe adapter.  My guess is that you have the sas cables of this controller connected to the motherboard instead of the raid controller.

If you don't know how to remove the top cover go to the link below and search for "

removing and Replacing the Server Top Cover"

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/c/hw/C220/install/C220/replace.html

[Keny Perez]

Hi,

Could you please tell me the RAID controller model? And what type of Disks are you using, SAS or SATA?

According to your description above, you said that you dont see the disks and also that you dont see the RAID controller... could you try to open the server and reseat the controller?

-Kenny