Hello serverfault community, and thank you in advance for your time.
Summary: I have an IBM x3650, which I bought secondhand (eBay). I am trying to install and run VMWare ESXi 5.5 on it via a USB flash drive, but it will not boot from a USB flash drive. It simply does not give me option anywhere to boot from a USB device.
Details: I have turned on the USB-related option in the BIOS. I have visited the F12 boot device menu, and there is no USB option. I have booted from the ESXi installer CD, which was able to identify both of the flash drives I plugged in, but only after I pulled them out and plugged them back in. The device summary in the BIOS recognizes my mouse and keyboard in any port, but never sees any other connected USB devices.
Models, versions, etc: Server chassis identifies itself as a 797961U, but motherboard is different from the one in IBM's 7979 User Manual. It is running BIOS v1.19 (latest that I can find). I have tried a Kingston Datatraveler and Sandisk Cruzer Fit. I have tried all 6 external USB ports. There is no internal USB port on this model.
Question: Has anyone else had this issue? Is there a way of tackling this that I haven't considered? Do I have any recourse through IBM with a secondhand server?
Best Answer
Reading regarding this on IBM support forums the suggestions to get it working are:
People report that Sandsik Cruzer's and some other USB's just seem to not work. So try different USB devices with F12 option.
Source: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/forums/html/topic?id=77777777-0000-0000-0000-000014877599
It seems you already have latest BIOS and you have mentioned enabling USB in BIOS, so I would try different USB sticks, even the cheaper ones you have around just to see if you can get it working.