VMWare ESXi - Can't boot fom CD

[wurzel]

Been trying all day to get a bare metal install of VMWare ESXi 3.5 on a physical machine.

I downloaded the ISO & burned a CD from it but it just doesn't work (deosn't boot) - have changed boot order in BIOS settings etc but to no avail.

It uses ISOLINUX.INF - don't know much about this but I'm wondering if there is some incompatability with this & the CD driver. Doesn't boot at home on my laptop either. Any help appreciated.

[Incognito]

Try a new cd

[wurzel]

Done that. Still no joy.....

[bellymonster]

Should just boot. Maybe the original image was corrupt.

I won't suggest that you might have just copied the ISO to the cd rather than burning it as an image, because nobody would do that would they.

[pmeswani]

Done that. Still no joy.....

Daft questions...

1. Is the CD readable on a different system?
2. Is the CD bootable on a different system?

[RichardCranium]

3. Does the hardware boot from any other bootable CD (e.g. a Windows install CD)?

[dinker]

Are you getting an error message e.g. I/O error, CD installers (XP & Ubuntu) are notorious for not setting the drive mode properly.

[darmstadt]

I would check the recommended hardware for ESX as it will only run and boot on certain systems.

[bellymonster]

I would check the recommended hardware for ESX as it will only run and boot on certain systems.

Regardless of the hardware the CD should boot, whether it will install or boot after installation is another matter.

Just check that the CD is readable on another system, and make sure the cD doesn't just contain the ISO file.

[pmeswani]

Regardless of the hardware the CD should boot, whether it will install or boot after installation is another matter.

Just check that the CD is readable on another system, and make sure the cD doesn't just contain the ISO file.

Strange as it may sound, it may be possible that the VMWare ESX image may place the boot loader on the CD in a different location than expected by the bios.