Paars

- Outcome of the update: SUCCESSFUL - DSM version prior update: DSM 6.2.2-24922-update 4 - Loader version and model: Jun's Loader v1.03B - 3615XS - Using custom extra.lzma: No - Installation type: VM - ESXi 6.7.0 update 2 Build 13006603 (on HP Microserver Gen8) - Additional comment : FixSynoboot.sh & Update grub.cfg to have "DiskIdxMap=0C00"

If ESXi is stopping your from booting up a VM because it is missing a drive that is something with ESXi. Are you getting an error that it can't find the drive's vmdk file? That seems a logical thing to me, in my limited experience. I expect you should also remove the drive listing from the VM before booting it up (don't remove the file, just remove it from the VM). I got it working by adding a simple SATA card. Cheaper and more energy-efficient than adding another RAID controller. The only downside is that the B120i that is in the Gen8 HP MicroServer won't give you SMART data in XPEnology, as it is not officially supported for ESXi. I installed ESXi on an SSD connected to a Syba SY-PEX40039 Sata PCI-E card and passed through the B120i controller to the XPEnology VM. Very fast, stable, and most importantly, no issues with file transfer speed. I have no experience regarding 918+ and the 1.04b loader. I do remember it not being compatible with something with the Gen8 HP MicroServer, but don't remember what it was.

- Outcome of the update: SUCCESSFUL - DSM version prior update: DSM 6.2.2-24922-update 2 - Loader version and model: JUN'S LOADER v1.03b - DS3615xs - Using custom extra.lzma: NO - Installation type: VM - ESXi 6.7.0 update 2 Build 13006603 (on HP Microserver Gen) - Additional comments: Passthrough of SATA controller. NIC: E1000e. ESXi installed on SSD on secondary PCI-E SATA controller. Updated through auto install.

Thank you for posting your solution to this issue. I have been busy trying to figure out why the performance is so terrible of my similar setup. The speed drops from a nice 130 MB/s to around 225 kb/s after 15 seconds of file transfer. It is a pain! I found many people reporting similar things online, but mostly everybody just installs another RAID card, not really the solution I was hoping for. Having somebody confirm that a setup works is always nice I'm going to buy the same card and hope my experience is similar to yours. I'm booting from USB with the SSD as a swap/datastore for ESXi. I'm debating whether I should re-install ESXi on the SSD directly. I know it would improve boot time, but other than that I don't think it changes much performance wise (or am I mistaken in that)?

Thank you for the very quick response! I was afraid that it would be the B120i and AHCI. I currently have ESXi installed on a RAID 1 array which is made by the B120i. Turning it to AHCI mode will mean I have to reinstall everything. Unfortunately, for me to make a setup with the B120i in AHCI mode, I will require one more HDD, using the ODD slot. But I don't have the necessary power cable (FDD to SATA) to try it right now. Oh well, something to look forward to. Guess I'm going back to my barebones setup for now.

A big thanks to jadehawk for this topic, it was really helpful. I'm trying to move my Xpenology from bare-bones Microserver Gen8 to ESXi but without much luck. I am able to get VM to boot and am able to reach it via the web browser. I can then install DSM on a virtual disk. So far so good. However, what I really want is to RDM to my existing disks, as in the video. However, even though a disk can be seen by DSM, it is "Not initialized". It seems not to be recognized by the OS as already having synology partitions. This disk is one of an array of 2 (RAID 1 array). I tried it like this, because if something goes wrong, I still always have the bare-bones installation on the other disk of the array and I can just re-sync them, no harm done. Might this be a reason why it isn't working? I though I would be able to just RDM this 1 disk and DSM should be able to start from it directly, without needing to install anything first, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm using ESXi 6.7 and Jun loader 1.02b (with DSM 6.1.7-15284 Update 3 on DS3615xs). This is on a Microserver Gen8 and using the B120i RAID controller (i.e. not set to AHCI mode). Can anybody point me in the right direction what I might be doing wrong? Any help is much appreciated!

- Outcome of the update: SUCCESSFUL - DSM version prior update: DSM 6.1.4-15217 - Loader version and model: Jun's Loader v1.02b - DS3615xs - Installation type: Baremetal (HP Proliant Microserver Gen8) - Additional comments: Requires reboot, RADARR had to be manually started again, 'DSM Date' reads "2017/12/14"