ESXi stop error on a purple screen with SSD Disk RAID configuration

Troubleshooting

Problem

VMware ESXi 5.5.x or 6.x host encounters a stop error on a purple screen (also known as a purple screen of death (PSOD)) while the system is idle and VMFS partitions installed on Solid State Drive (SSD) technology hard drives.

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN Tip: Not Used

Symptom

Affected Configurations

The system is configured with at least one of the following:

VMware ESXi 6.0, any model Any Update
VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.5 with IBM Customization Installable, any model, any Update

The system is configured with one or more of the following IBM Option part numbers:

400 GB 12Gb 2.5-inch SED Sunset Cove Plus, Option part number 00FN419, any model
400 GB 12Gb 2.5-inch non-SED Sunset Cove Plus IBM, Option part number 00FN394, any model
400 GB 12Gb 2.5-inch non-SED Sunset Cove Plus Lenovo, Option part number 00FN389, any model
400 GB 6Gbps SAS 2.5 inch SFF G2HS SSD, Option part number 49Y6134, any Optimus SAS
400 GB 6Gbps SAS 2.5 inch SFF SS SSD, Option part number 49Y6149, any Optimus SAS
400 GB 6Gbps SATA 1.8 inch MLC SS SSD , Option part number 41Y8371, any model
400 GB 6Gbps SATA 1.8 inch SSD, Option part number 49Y6124, any model
400 GB 6Gbps SATA 2.5 inch MLC HS SSD , Option part number 41Y8336, any model
400 GB 6Gbps SATA 2.5 inch MLC SS SSD , Option part number 41Y8356, any model
400 GB PCIe 2.5 inch MLC HS Enterprise Value SSD for IBM System x, Option part number 90Y3227, any 400GB PCIe 2.5"
400 GB SATA 1.8 inch MLC Enterprise Value SSD for IBM System x (Intel), Option part number 68Y7788, any 00W1121
400 GB SATA 1.8 inch MLC SS SSD, Option part number 00AJ050, any model
400 GB SATA 1.8 inch MLC SS SSD, Option part number 90Y4318, any model
480 GB SATA 1.8 inch MLC Enterprise Value SSD, Option part number 00AJ345, any Option part number
480 GB SATA 2.5 inch MLC Enterprise Value SSD, Option part number 00AJ330, any model
480 GB SATA 2.5 inch MLC G3HS Enterprise Value SSD, Option part number 00AJ181, any model
480 GB SATA 2.5 inch MLC HS SSD, Option part number 00AJ010, any P400e
480 GB SATA 2.5 inch MLC HS SSD, Option part number 00AJ030, any model
480GB SATA 3.5 inch MLC HS Enterprise Value SSD, Option part number 00AJ470, any model

This tip is not system specific.

The system has the symptom described above.

Note: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software.

Please see the compatibility page for more information:

http://www.ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us/

Solution

This issue is still under investigation.

Workaround

Avoid using Solid State Drive (SSD) Disk RAID as VMFS storage for VMware ESXi 5.5/ 6.0 host.

(where VMFS = Virtual Machine File System)

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

System x Hardware Options:VMware vSphere 5.0 x64

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