TS200 with ESXi4.1

[Heathy65]

Hi,

Is anyone using a TS200 with ESXi4.1?

I have made a few attempts at it and it seems to sort-of work?

I've tried using it on USB and also on the hard disk.

The various problems I've had are hanging at boot (at various point), disappearing datastores and other seeming random issues/errors.

I have seen here http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/WW/EMEA/merchandising/pdf/en/TS_Operating_System_Certifications.pd... 

that, apparently, the TS200 is supported with ESXi, but I've checked on the VMware website and it's not listed!

The IBM ServeRAID M1015 card seems to be recognised OK, I can even see the status of the RAID array via the VMware client.

It just doesn't seem to be "running right".

Any thoughts, comments, appreciated.

Cheers Ian

[m4dm4n]

Hm, I have installed Vmware ESXi 4.1 version on a TS200 model and it went without any issues. Few Virtual machines are already running on it , RAID mode is mirroring (only two disks). For the actual support on the problem, it's probably a good idea to wait if someone with a biger knowledge can solve your problem. All I can confirm that the specific situation is running OK.

[zaitcev]

I am unable to install ESXi 4.1 on TS200v. It fails with this:

  File "/usr/lib/vmware/installer/Core/DatastoreEnumeration.py", line 15, in __init__
    vmfs3Module.Load()
  File "/lib/python2.5/vmkctl.py", line 11328, in Load
    def Load(*args): return _vmkctl.ModuleImpl_Load(*args)
vmkctl.HostCtlException: Unable to load module /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmod/vmfs3: Failure

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 beta seems to work without issues, but plain 6 did not recognize the onboard Ethernet (they had the drivers that knew the chip, but apparently the BIOS some MSI-X routing tables screwed up). So, I'm wondering if anyone knows of any BIOS updates or perhaps has a rebuilt ESXi 4.1 ISO.

Thanks,

-- Pete

[zaitcev]

I bought Ethenet card from here:

 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-PWLA8391GT-1000-Network-Adapter/dp/B00030DEQE/

With that card installed in TS200v, installation continues to partitioning.

[cboothe]

If you don't mind going unsupported, you can inject drivers into the esxi install iso. Go to www.vm-help.com for more info.  I was able to inject drivers for the built-in intel ethernet.  Works great.   Intel ICH10r is supported, but not in "raid" mode.  I needed raid, so picked up a cheap Perc 6i  (LSI)+ battery off ebay for ~$100.   So far everything works great!