PSOD during install on X11SCL-F board with all vmware approved hardware

[SPCRich]

Trying to build an ESX system with the following hardware:

Supermicro X11SCL-F board (latest BMC/BIOS)
Xeon E-2134 CPU
2x4GB sticks of DDR4-2133MHz memory *
Samsung 250GB 960 EVO m.2 NVME drive
Intel X710-DA2 2x 10Gb SFP+ nic
SMC 1u Chassis (not that it matters)

I've tried the following versions of esxi:
6.5
6.7
6.7U3
7.0

At first I got it to install, with 6.7, but I couldn't enable SR-IOV with the trial license (would say enabled/reboot, no matter how many times I restarted the system). But after a while, It would always PSOD after the initial load of everything into what I assume is ram. I would get various different PSOD messages, usually with one of the following:

failed to decompress s.v00
failed to decompress VIM.v00
failed to decompress sb.v00

or something to that effect. reading online, all i could find was that most PSOD's are caused by hardware, but AFAICT, all of this is on Vmware's approved HCL. The nic, the system, etc. Only maybe is the NVME drive, and ram (can't find ram on their site, so I'll assume its ok. The interesting thing is ,that the initial "loading....." works, it's only once it starts the installer. Based on the error, "failed to decompress" seems more like maybe a memory issue? I've tried the following steps to remedy the situation:

1.) Load optimized BIOS defaults
2.) Try without the NVME drive in
3.) Try with only 1 stick of memory in
4.) Try with Legacy BOOT/OPROM settings as well as UEFI
5.) verify good download by comparing sha-256 hashes with posted ones.
6.) Try installing by mounting ISO to BMC interface as well as via USB drive.
7.) Tested with the Nic removed

Thinking maybe my ram is wonky, I tried running memtest, for around 2 hours, no errors (probably should've let it run over night), and I've ordered 2 8GB sticks of SMCI approved ram thinking maybe its just weird compatibility isssues with the sticks...again thinking that "failed to decompress" sounds like a memory issue.

The CPU I bought off ebay, but looks brand new (from a US seller with good feedback), the board is brand new. Is there anything I'm missing here? RAM should be here by Thursday or so. in the meantime I'm out of ideas on what to try next.

 

[i386]

Did you try to install linux or windows just to see if these os have any problems?

 

[SPCRich]

Did you try to install linux or windows just to see if these os have any problems?

I haven't, although esx did install once. I can try that tomorrow, and maybe get a linux based CPU burnin tool like prime95 to test the cpu. I can test that while I'm waiting on the SMCI approved ram to arrive (purchased direct from Supermicro as well, so new)

 

[MoMeanMugs]

If you removed the NVMe drive, what did you install ESXi on? I would guess a bad drive.

 

[SPCRich]

If you removed the NVMe drive, what did you install ESXi on? I would guess a bad drive.

i couldnt even get to installation, the installer crashes.

RE: linux, tried an ubuntu live cd over ipmi.. got the following:

this is while the installer is starting up.

given that it says "MM_XXXXPAGES", my guess is it has to do with memory?

 

[MoMeanMugs]

Ahh, I misunderstood what you stated initially then when you were talking about trying to enable SR-IOV.

Yes, segmentation faults would be a memory issue. Have you tried running MemTest? There is a bootable version you can run:

MemTest86 - Booting MemTest86 from CD/DVD

 

[dswartz]

Ahh, I misunderstood what you stated initially then when you were talking about trying to enable SR-IOV.

Yes, segmentation faults would be a memory issue. Have you tried running MemTest? There is a bootable version you can run:

MemTest86 - Booting MemTest86 from CD/DVD

I no longer build any servers without running memtest86 overnight at the least.

 

[SPCRich]

Ahh, I misunderstood what you stated initially then when you were talking about trying to enable SR-IOV.

Yes, segmentation faults would be a memory issue. Have you tried running MemTest? There is a bootable version you can run:

MemTest86 - Booting MemTest86 from CD/DVD

Tried memtest, but only for a few hours. I just received 2 new sticks from Supermicro (ordered from their approved memory list for the board), popped them in, and still get PSOD's during install...

Going to try doing a factory reset of the BIOS again, and burn the ESX installer to a USB stick once more.

Any chance this could be processor related?

1st attempt: failed to decompress sb.v00 status: Failure.
2nd attempt: failed to decompress s.v00 status: Failure.a

Edit: I was just about to order a G4900 Celeron (~49$ on ebay), when I found out that I already had one lying around. Threw it in and what do you know:


So it seems the cpu/memory-controller on the CPU is bad. returning the processor. thanks everyone!

 

[junior466]

@

Tried memtest, but only for a few hours. I just received 2 new sticks from Supermicro (ordered from their approved memory list for the board), popped them in, and still get PSOD's during install...

Going to try doing a factory reset of the BIOS again, and burn the ESX installer to a USB stick once more.

Any chance this could be processor related?

1st attempt: failed to decompress sb.v00 status: Failure.
2nd attempt: failed to decompress s.v00 status: Failure.a

Edit: I was just about to order a G4900 Celeron (~49$ on ebay), when I found out that I already had one lying around. Threw it in and what do you know:
View attachment 17233

So it seems the cpu/memory-controller on the CPU is bad. returning the processor. thanks everyone!

@SPCRich So in the end, the CPU was the culprit? I have the exact same issue. Nothing works. Just today the motherboard and memory module was replaced and still nothing. Same message as yours.