Unable to See Disk from VIOS Installation Menu

Answer

1. VIOS partition does not have disk I/O controller.

Recommendation
Login to the VIOS management GUI (i.e. HMC, IVM, FSM, etc) and verify the VIOS has the expected disk I/O controller allocated in the VIOS partition's profile. For assistance determining what resources are allocated to the VIOS partition, contact your local GUI management Support Representative.

Recommendation

If the environment involves IBM i or was previously used for IBM i, it is possible that the disk may be formatted for IBM i OS. Ensure the disk is formatted for AIX/VIOS OS. For details, refer to How to Format i Drives to AIX Format for the Purpose of Installing VIOS.


SAS disks formatted as pdisk can be used as ARRAY candidates and cannot be seen during the VIOS Installation screen. Ensure disk(s) format is JBOD (512 byte blocks).
Contact your local IBM Hardware Support Representative for assistance reformatting the disk drive.

Recommendation

1. Verify the machine type/model supports the VIOS level you are trying to install. For details, refer to the System to VIOS maps.

Recommendation

Verify system, adapter, and disk microcode are up-to-date.


Microcode is available for download at FixCentral.
Note: some adapter microcode levels may have minimum VIOS level requirements. Check the README file for your specific adapter type and microcode level (available on FixCentral) to see if it has VIOS level requirements.
For microcode update questions, please, contact your local IBM Hardware Support Representative.