Dell PowerEdge R430 with H730 PERC Controller running ESXi 6.5

Question

Hi Everyone,

I recently bought the Dell PowerEdge R430 with H730 PERC Controller. Below are the steps I did to setup it:

1- Configure the BIOS and iDRAC basics settings
2- Update every firmware and BIOS to the latest versions
3- Create my Virtual Disk (RAID10) with iDRAC
4- Install ESXi 6.5 with this image: VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0-4564106.x86_64-Dell_Customized-A00.iso

Everything seems to work correctly except the RAID drive, I'm not able to see it to create a datastore on the RAID.

I tried to installed ESXi 6.0 (with the image VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0.update02-3620759.x86_64-Dell_Customized-A00.iso) and with this OS) and it seems that the good drivers are included in this image from Dell because I can see the RAID and create a datastore on it.

Is it a know issue with ESXi 6.5 ?

Thank you !

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

Hi, What happens when you try to create the datastore? Is there an error?

lunaid · Answer

With ESXi 6.5 it says No device are detected to create a datastore. The list of physical/virtual devices is empty and I cannot select any to start the datastore creation. It looks like a driver is missing in the ESXi 6.5 Dell customized version.. Did you get any report about that ?

Oh another detail, even on the OS (ESXi 6.5) installation process, I cannot detect the RAID. I installed the OS on a USB key.

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

I do not see a known issue. Can you run esxcli storage core adapter list and esxcli software vib list and let me know the output? Make sure it matches the HCL. www.vmware.com/.../detail.php

lunaid · Answer

[root@localhost:~] esxcli storage core adapter list
HBA Name Driver Link State UID Capabilities Description
-------- -------- ---------- -------------------- ------------ ----------------------------------------------------------
vmhba0 lsi_mr3 link-n/a sas.544a84203af81900 (0000:01:00.0) Avago (LSI) Dell PERC H730 Mini
vmhba1 vmw_ahci link-n/a sata.vmhba1 (0000:00:11.4) Intel Corporation Wellsburg AHCI Controller
vmhba2 vmw_ahci link-n/a sata.vmhba2 (0000:00:1f.2) Intel Corporation Wellsburg AHCI Controller
vmhba32 vmkusb link-n/a usb.vmhba32 () USB

vib list and HCI compatibility print screen are in attachement.

Do I need to get all the drivers listed ? I don't see these 2 in the vib list: megaraid-perc9 version 6.901.57.00-1OEM and megaraid_perc9 version 6.901.55.00.1vmw

Thank you for your help !

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

You only need one of the divers listed. Can you generate a Tech support report? http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/4/SLN295784

lunaid · Answer

Attached is the Tech support report. Thank you !

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

Thanks. Are the drives Dell branded drives?

lunaid · Answer

No the drives are SEAGATE OEM 2TB ENT CAP SAS HDD 7200 RPM 128MB 2.5IN Thank you !

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

This may be the problem, our controller is only seeing them as 250GB drives and not 2TB drives.

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

The tech support report shows VMware ESXi 6.0.0 build-3620759 as the OS when it was run. Is this not what was installed?

lunaid · Answer

I have another SAS drive connected to the RAID controller and tagged as Non-RAID drive. It's a 300GB 10K Dell Drive.

In the RAID Controller BIOS or in iDRAC I can see the SEAGATE drives and create the virtual drive so I doubt the RAID Controller is not able to see the drives. Also, in ESXi 6.0 the OS can detect the RAID volume.

It seems to be a driver issue in the Dell customized version of ESXi.

What do you think ?

lunaid · Answer

Hum it was VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0-4564106.x86_64-Dell_Customized-A00 Let me double check..

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

Can you reinstall 6.5 and pull the same logs as before? We have not had issues in the lab with 6.5.

lunaid · Answer

I already did it twice (you got the log from the 2nd time), but if you want me to retry a third time I can try to reinstall everything.

lunaid · Answer

I confirm, 6.5.0 was running while I created the support assist. I did it again and attached the report to this message. Regards,

PowerEdge OS Forum

Dell PowerEdge R430 with H730 PERC Controller running ESXi 6.5

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