no compatible network adapters found - UCSC C220 M3S

[Thomas Obbekaer Thomsen]

Hi all

I am a little new at the Cisco servers so here is my question.

I have been trying to install esxi on our new C220 M3S server.

But after the installation I get to the esxi screen it says "No compatible network adapters found. Please consult ...... "

Any sugestions to what could be wrong ?

I have tried to install different versions of the esxi Cisco custom image (5.5 5.1 5.0) with the same result.

/Thomas

[Walter Dey]

Hi Thomas

I assume this is a standalone Server ? what is the Hardware configuration ? which Network adaptor ? VIC-1225 ?

ESXi has a the proper enic/fnic Driver bundled.

[Thomas Obbekaer Thomsen]

Hi wdey

Yes you assume correct. This is a standalone server.

Hardware wise this is a C220 M3S with two E5-2620-V2. 4 x 8 GB RAM. 4 x 300 GB Disk set up to Raid-5 on the 2008M-8i Mezzanine Card. And finally this server was shipped with the Flexible Flash "module" (I cant even remember we ordered that, but it was in there ... so :-) )

No extra NICs where added, i just have the two onboard Gigabit ports (Intel I350 Ethernet controller as far as i know ?).

I have installed the ESXi on the Flash module.

In my opinion this ought to be pretty straight forward, and I just cant see what Im doing wrong.

The only thing i have been "playing" around with was the CIMC configuration.

The default configuration was set to Shared LOM EXT. I changed that to "dedicated" to use the specific mgmt port for CIMC. (I have also tried to change it back just in case.)

Furthermore I have updated "everything" : BIOS, CIMC,  2008M-8i Mezzanine Card bios and so on. Nothing has helped.

[Walter Dey]

Depending on your CIMC settings, the CIMC can be accessed through the 1-GbE dedicated management port, the 1-GbE LOM ports, or a Cisco virtual interface card (VIC).

So I assume, that you have 2 network connections: one for mgt (CIMC), and another one  (LOM) for data ? And it seems, that ESXi doesn't see the latter one, because the proper driver is most likely missing ?

[Thomas Obbekaer Thomsen]

I agree that this seems to be the case. But should the driver for The LOM not be included in the Cisco Custom image ?

[Walter Dey]

within ucs-cxxx-drivers.1.5.4e.iso you will find all drivers for ESXi (see attachment), including the Intel ones.

Is "NIC Redundancy" set to none ?

[Thomas Obbekaer Thomsen]

I will try to download the driver iso and add the I350 driver to the standard esxi iso using the "ESXi Customizer" software.

The "NIC Redundancy" in CIMC is set to none.

Its the only option when selecting "dedicated".

But what I still dont get, is why this driver is not included in the Custom image. When the "Release Notes for the VMware Installable Cisco Custom ISO Image" seems to indicate that it shoud be.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/release/notes/OL_26617.html 

[Walter Dey]

Hi Thomas

I was checking with

http://www.cisco.com/web/techdoc/ucs/interoperability/matrix/matrix.html

see attachment

and get this result for ESXi 5.5

Manufacturer     = Intel

Adapter Driver   = 5.0.5.1
Adapter Firmware = 1.6-3
Boot Code / BIOS = v1.5.43

Note 8: Boot from SAN requires Cisco Customized ISO image available for download at www.vmware.com.

The C220-M3(SFF) server requires release 1.5.(4)3 [use HUU 1.5.4-3].

The majority of customers are installing a additional CNA, most likely VIC-1225

In your case, it will be Ethernet 1G, no CNA, no FC;

of course I understand your situation.

I would open a TAC case

[Reuben Farrelly]

I wonder if the OP was trying to boot with UEFI?

I recently ran into this exact same issue with the C220M3 - if I attempt to install in UEFI mode, ESXi starts to load but eventually fails with the same error about a network card not being found.

If I go back to legacy BIOS and attempt with the exact same installation iso (the Cisco 5.5U1 ISO), it works 100%.

This is with the 2.0 firmware - I didn't try on any earlier versions.

I'm not sure if this is a bug or if I just need to flash the i350s with the UEFI boot image from Intel.  If the latter, I am not sure if this will be supported by Cisco or not...

[Reuben Farrelly]

The Intel i350 onboard LOM definitely is included in the customised image, and it is included in the non customised generic VMware image also.  I know because I have installed VMware with this controller both in my C220M as well as a whitebox with an i350 card.  It's not a cisco specific device, this Intel controller is widely used outside of UCS also.

It sounds like either (a) your server is faulty or (b) the onboard NICs not enabled in the BIOS somewhere.

[Manuel Velasco · Accepted solution]

Hi Thomas,

It is possible that the optionROM for the onboard adapter is not enable.  Try to enable it in the BIOS, you can do it via the CIMC (see cimc_enable_optionrom attached ). You also want to verify this option gets enable in the bios.  You can get into the bios by pressing f2 during boot up (see BIOS_Option_ROM attached)

  Also if these are disable you might need to run through the installation again.   See the Cisco custom image link below for ESXi 5.5.  I noticed that you are using ESXi 5.5 Update 1, but this is still not supported.

Download CISCO Custom Image for ESXi 5.5.0 GA

Download CISCO Custom Image for ESXi 5.5.0 GA

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?productId=353&downloadGroup=OEM-ESXI55GA-CISCO

[Reuben Farrelly]

There's a VMware Cisco Custom Image for 5.5.0 Update 1 as well:

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=OEM-ESXI55U1-CISCO&productId=353

Just to clarify - are you saying this is not supported?

[Manuel Velasco]

Hi Reuben,

With the latest firmware version available 1.5(4e) for this c-series server, ESXi 5.5 update 1 is still not in part of the compatibility matrix this will become supported after 1.5(5). See below documents

Cisco UCS compatibility Matrix

http://www.cisco.com/web/techdoc/ucs/interoperability/matrix/matrix.html

Cisco UCS C240 M3 Rack Server Software

http://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=284296254&flowid=31743&softwareid=283850974&release=1.5%284e%29&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest

[Thomas Obbekaer Thomsen]

The option Roms for the onboard NICs where already enabled, and I veryfied with the BIOS.

But your screenshots got me thinking about the "PCIe Slotx Rom".

In my setup they where set to disabled. So just for fun I enabled them.

This seems to have done the trick ?!?!?!

A new installation of ESXi with the Cisco Custom Image worked.

Thank you all for your assistance.

[darrenslaughter]

Hi Manuel/Thomas

I had same issue, and is now RESOLVED using similar method. It took me a week to get through this with much reading of Release Notes, and Conpatibilty Guides etc to no avail.

Hardware:

Cisco UCS C240 M3S SFF

BIOS: 1.5(7c)

VMware: Cisco Custom Image for ESXi 5.5.0 Update 2 (Build 2068190)

I could successfully install ESXi onto the server (internal SD card), but whenever it booted up, it would say No network adapters found, even though the BIOS could see them fine.

ANSWER:

Two BIOS settings that needed to be changed:

1) Set Boot Mode to Legacy in BIOS web GUI (See 01_BIOS_Setting.jpg)

2) Needed to switch all the LOMs to Legacy Mode (See 02_BIOS_Setting.jpg)

Restart server, and all ok (See 03_Working_Config.jpg)

Hope this helps somebody out there and saves a week's worth of troubleshooting

Cheers

Darren