Dell PowerEdge R620 install issues

[thisple]

Hi Folks,

First time asking a question, please be gentle :-)

We just bought a brand new dell poweredge r620 to use for VMWare.

I am trying to get ESXi 5.0 installed but it is telling me that it doesn't recognize or detect the onboard NICs.

I am a vm newbie... please help!

thanks!

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Community - Have you confirmed the installed NICs are supported by ESXi 5? You can do so here  - http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php - 

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Welcome to the VMware Communities forums.

Are you using ESXi 5.0 or 5.0 Update 1?

If may be that you need to update the installation image with an appropriate driver.  There's a similar thread here (in German) which would seem to suggest that is the case - http://vmware-forum.de/viewtopic.php?t=25678.

[ukdboyd]

I think you may need to head over to the Dell support site and download the customized ESXi 5 ISO image that they provide.  I had the same situation recently where the ISO from VMware would not install correctly.  Using the Dell supplied image worked fine and it includes drivers for their NICs.  It also sets the necessary kernel boot parameter for VT-d. 

Hope that helps.

[abruso]

We are having the same issues as you.  3 brand new R620 servers with Broadcom eXtreme 1GB NIC cards and it errors out when trying to install.

Tried installing the esxi 5.0 U1 ISO from vmware's site and I've tried using the system deploy CD that comes with the server and selecting esxi 5 from the OS list which supposedly is customized for Dell.

I am currently downloading the custom esxi 5 image from Dell's website after entering my service tag number.

This is very frustrating!

[Vegim]

Hi all,

I am in the same boat as you.  It seems that the Broadcom 1GB NIC driver is not included in 5 or U1.

After a long while of messing with PowerCLI and ImageBuilder, it turns out that Dell does not provide the offline-bundle of their ESXi package.  Being that we only need to make one change (adding or modifying the NIC for net-bnx2), I decided to use the unsupported ESXI-i Customizer (http://v-front.blogspot.com/p/esxi-customizer.html)

I was told this is the right driver package from Dell support:

https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/details?downloadGroup=DT-ESXi50-Broadcom-bnx2x-17254v502&productId=229

VMware ESXi 5.0 Driver CD for Broadcom NetXtreme II Network/iSCSI/FCoE Driver Set 1.72.54.v50.2

However, after trying to create my own custom bundle with Image Creator, I was very unsuccessful.  Dell does not offer the offline-bundle, so I was pretty much at a loss.  I could use the regular one but Dell won't support the software unless it's their image.  Either way, this did NOT work in either the VMware provided ISO or the Dell provided ISO.

Using the offline zip file that is found when you unzip this package, only changed one thing:

[Thu 08/02/2012 14:33:50.57] ... old version: 1.72.18.v50.4-1OEM.500.0.0.472560
[Thu 08/02/2012 14:33:50.57] ... new version: 1.72.54.v50.2-1OEM.500.0.0.472560

I burned the ISO and am still getting the "No Network Adapters" issue.

Dell hasn't come out with an image that is updated for the R620, and the drivers that they claim to work do not work.

Anyone come up with a fix for this yet?

[abruso]

The esxi5 image that is available on the Dell support site when you enter your service tag does work for these NIC's, however I wanted the esxi 5u1 image.  That image is NOT available on Dell's site, however the technician that was working with me on this case was able to find one that works with these models and NIC's.  He put it in a drop box for us to download and everything has been working fine since using that image.

He also gave me a bootable ISO that updated all of the server firmware and drivers to the latest versions on these models.  I'm not sure if that was even required or not, but I ran that too.

[Vegim]

Anyway you could link me to that image?  I was on their chat support for ~ 2.5 hours with no luck, but the technician was very nice and was trying to help me build my own image.  In the end, my solution ended up not working.

Would appreciate it..

[sparrowangelste]

here is the Dell ISO: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?DriverId=PHTJP&FileId=2988919716&productCode=poweredge-r320&urlProductCode=False

Ill try to keep the link updated here:

http://sparrowangelstechnology.blogspot.com/2012/08/dell-customized-esxi-iso.html

[Vegim]

This isn't the right image.  Already tried this, it's missing the drivers for the NIC.

[sparrowangelste]

ah ok :smileysad:

[abruso]

Vegim,

I sent you a PM with the info, not sure if it's still valid.

[Vegim]

Yep not valid, trying to get Dell chat support to give me the packag but they gave me the same one sparrow posted.

Appreciate the effort guys, I'll get this image one way or another. 

[abruso]

Tell the tech this is the file name:

VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.0.0.update1-623860.x86_64-Dell_Customized_RecoveryCD_A00

I still have it on my computer.  If all else fails I may be able to upload it somewhere but it might take some time.

[Vegim]

This is the one I'm burning right now.  Sorry guys - should have made sure I was burning the right image.  I have 4 different versions and didn't try this one.

It looks like a consensus that this is the right image.

[ukdboyd]

I think this is the one that I used recently and it worked fine:

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/RC960214/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats/Product/poweredge-r620?DriverId=F40KH&FileId=2988106708&urlProductCode=False

[Vegim]

Ok so I've ruled this one out.

VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.0.0.update1-623860.x86_64-Dell_Customized_RecoveryCD_A00.iso is the ISO I just burned and attempted to install on my R620.

The network adapter is plugged in and recognized in the BIOS.  ESXi Installer still says No Network Adapters.

B5720 QP 1Gb DC - Broadcom 5720 Base-T (Broadcom 5720 Quad-Port Gigabit rNDC)

[MadEmY]

Hi all,

this work fine (tested):

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/b/techcenter/archive/2012/05/08/no-network-adapters-were-detected-error-message-while-installing-esxi-on-dell-poweredge-12th-generation-servers.aspx

bye!

[thisple]

I am OOTO this week traveling to Oregon.

I will only have limited access to voice mail and email.

Please email [e-mail] for any help required.

Or call 877-755-9029

Thanks!

-Mark

[Vegim]

Ah man.  With all of these VMware images I have now, I must have confused the burns.  I just checked all of my discs, only 1 of them is the 623860, and that's the one from the VMware website, not Dell.

I am now burning the link you sent me, and I will let you guys know.

But most likely, this is the right one.