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DellRich

7 Posts

77279

January 11th, 2012 17:00

Inspiron 620 - install VMWare ESXi v5

What I want to do is try out/experiment with ESXi 5 on my local Workstation (a Dell Inspiron 620 with an Intel i5-2320 running under Windows Home Premium).

I have registered with VMWare and downloaded VMware ESXi 5.0. See here for Dell supprt details. Workstations do *not* seem to be included.
I burned the .iso to a CD using PowerISO.

I set the boot order to the DVD player first, and the OS next.
I also made sure that the BIOS virualization features are enabled (they are enabled by default).
On boot, the DVD player starts up (I hear it spinning), but does not enter the VMWare install screen.

Is there a way to install ESXi 5 on my Dell Inspiron 620?

speedstep

9 Legend

 • 

47K Posts

January 12th, 2012 06:00

VMWare ESXi 5  is a Server OS not supported on Desktops.

This is not a Dell Issue.

Minimum system requirements for installing ESX/ESXi

Symptoms

  • ESX/ESXi Installation may error before completion
  • ESX/ESXi Installation fails to complete
  • Unable to complete ESX/ESXi Installation

Purpose

This article is to help you ensure that your hardware meets the minimum system requirements for an ESX/ESXi Installation. Failure to satisfy these requirements will result in your installation not completing.

These are the minimum requirements. For enhanced performance, you should scale your server appropriately.

Resolution

ESXi 5.0

64-bit Processor

  • ESXi 5.0 installs and runs only on servers with 64-bit x86 CPUs.
  • ESXi 5.0 requires a host machine with at least two cores.
  • ESXi 5.0 supports only LAHF and SAHF CPU instructions.
  • Known 64-bit processors:

    • All AMD Opteron processors
    • All Intel Xeon 3000/3200, 3100/3300, 5100/5300, 5200/5400, 5500/5600, 7100/7300, 7200/7400, and 7500 processors

RAM

  • 2GB RAM minimum.

Network Adapters

One or more Gigabit or 10Gb Ethernet controllers. For a list of supported network adapter models, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

SCSI Adapter, Fibre Channel Adapter or Internal RAID Controller

Any combination of one or more of the following controllers:

  • Basic SCSI controllers. Adaptec Ultra-160 or Ultra-320, LSI Logic Fusion-MPT, or most NCR/Symbios SCSI.
  • RAID controllers. Dell PERC (Adaptec RAID or LSI MegaRAID), HP Smart Array RAID, or IBM (Adaptec) ServeRAID controllers.

Installation and Storage

  • SCSI disk or a local, non-network, RAID LUN with unpartitioned space for the virtual machines.
  • For Serial ATA (SATA), a disk connected through supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers. SATA disks will be considered remote, not local. These disks will not be used as a scratch partition by default because they are seen as remote.

ESXi 5.0 supports installing on and booting from the following storage systems:

  • SATA disk drives. SATA disk drives connected behind supported SAS controllers or supported on-board
  • SATA controllers. Supported SAS controllers include:

    • LSI1068E (LSISAS3442E)
    • LSI1068 (SAS 5)
    • IBM ServeRAID 8K SAS controller
    • Smart Array P400/256 controller
    • Dell PERC 5.0.1 controller

  • Supported on-board SATA include:

    • Intel ICH9
    • NVIDIA MCP55
    • ServerWorks HT1000

  • Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) disk drives. Supported for installing ESXi 5.0 and for storing virtual machines on VMFS partitions.
  • Dedicated SAN disk on Fibre Channel or iSCSI
  • USB devices. Supported for installing ESXi 5.0. For a list of supported USB devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

Make sure your hardware is compliant by referring to the Hardware Compatibility Guide.

For additional information, see vSphere Installation and Setup 5.0.

Davet50

14.4K Posts

January 11th, 2012 17:00

Try tapping the F12 Key at the Dell splash screen. That should bring up the boot menu. Choose the option to boot from the onboard CDROM(whether you have CD or DVD)

DellRich

7 Posts

January 11th, 2012 18:00

Thanks for responding!

Yes, that is an alternative to using F2 to permanently set the boot device order.

I did try F12 just now, but it did not work for me. One thing though, I received an "on screen" error message, 

"No boot device available, Press any key to reboot the system"

When I press a key, I boot to Windows 7 as usual.

This is pretty much my original issue - I am not sure why the CD is not recognized as a bootable image. So -

 Is there an alternate VMWare .iso that  I need to use with my workstation?

Is there an obscure setting I need to check/change?

Is VMWare ESXi 5 simply not compatible with my Inspiron workstation?

All suggestions welcome!

DellRich

7 Posts

January 12th, 2012 09:00

SpeedStep,

Thanks for the detailed response! I'll look to obtain a properly-configured machine for my testing scheme.

Dev Mgr

4 Operator

 • 

9.3K Posts

January 12th, 2012 11:00

I run ESXi on a Dell Precision Workstation T3400 (picked a barebones 2nd hand unit up for very little). I have a Core2 Q9650 in there with 4 x 2GB of memory. I use a 1GB USB stick where I installed ESXi on and have a 500GB and a 2TB drive inside for holding VMs.

It's not fast by any means compared to what I work with on a daily basis in the office, but it's good enough for several VMs (though more memory would be nice, but not worth it to me right now).

DellRich

7 Posts

January 12th, 2012 13:00

Thanks Dev Mgr!

Using the link suggested by SpeedStep above, I also see there is some support for Intel i3-2100 Series as well as Intel i3/i5 Clarkdale Series. VMWare's site information is limited to specific Dell servers, but I suspected ESXi 5.0 works elsewhere. It may just be hit or miss.

Here is an interesting forum <communities.vmware.com/.../crc> with community-reported results.

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