Error "ACPI motherboard layout requires EFI" when setting ESXi 8.0 VM to BIOS

[EpicLPer]

Hello,

I've recently set up ESXi 8.0 and migrated my VMs over, however I noticed when I tried booting VMs (no matter if Windows or Linux) and set the boot option to "BIOS" I'm only getting the error as in the title: "ACPI motherboard layout requires EFI"

I haven't found anything about this error anywhere. I've also already tried various settings that I thought might help, but so far had no luck. There isn't anything I can change about any motherboard layout at least in the Web GUI, is there anything else I'm missing? On ESXi 7.x this worked just fine still.

Thanks for your help already!

[maksym007]

Check-in VM settings in boot options. 

[compdigit44]

Is the hardware you are using on the HCL for ESXi 8?

[Kinnison]

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[Kinnison]

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[lamw]

Could you describe the workflow in how you migrated the VMs over and what changes you applied post-migration?

Did you simply copy or vMotion these VMs to an ESXi 8.x hosts? If so, what was the source ESXi version, VM Hardware, Firmware configuration (BIOS or EFI) and OS that you had installed? It sounds like you _made_ some changes after the migration and its difficult to pin-point your exact workflow ... ACPI motherboard layout is a new feature in vSphere 8 and applies to VM level, but again, hard to get a sense of what you did to get this error? 

As others have mentioned, if you configure the VM using a specific firmware (BIOS or EFI) and you install the OS, you can't simply change firmware and expect things to work. Ideally, the VM moved should continue to work unless you made further changes ... but again, can't comment until you provide more detailed breakdown of your steps

[lamw · Accepted solution]

I believe the issue you ran into is that at some point you created an ESXi 8.0 (vHW20) VM configured with EFI firmware and then change it to BIOS, which adds a new VM Advanced Setting called chipset.motherboardLayout with value of acpi. Attempting to power on the VM will fail as the error message indicates that ACPI motherboard layout requires EFI

To remedy the issue, you will need to change the value from acpi to i440bx on the VM via ESXi Shell and make sure to reload the VM configuration, so the changes take effect. You can also automate this via PowerCLI, but this would be quick solution to workaround the problem you're facing

Once completed, you should be able to now power on your VM without issues

[Kinnison]

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[pmkrautle]

I just received the same error when attempting to boot an Esxi 8 virtual machine on a NUC11i5 processor with 32 GB memory. When I went into the virtual machine -> boot options,
changed the firmware to BIOS, and powered up the machine,
Esxi immediately responded with 'ACPI motherboard layout requires EFI' message. I power down the VM, change the firmware setting back EFI,  and power up. After the EFI timout, the boot manager comes up and I select the 'EFI Vmware virtual SATA CDROM drive option' - the boot manager cycles back.
I power down the VM, go into the VM->advanced->Configuration settings, edit, add the chipset.motherboardLayout i440bx parameter, hit SAVE, and then edit the  parameters again - the chipset.motherboardLayout entry is there. I get out of editing the VM mode and then back in to look at the configuration parameters again - the
chipset.motherboardLayout entry is missing.

I asssume the chipset.motherboardLayout entry must be done by esxcli - can you outline the exact steps to set this entry permanently? btw really enjoy your posts!

[lamw]

Can I ask why you changed the VM firmware to BIOS? When you install OS, it uses the configured firmware (BIOS or EFI) to do install and it matters and by changing it, you're indirectly causing the VM to not properly boot

This also tells me the VM was installed using EFI, so why are you changing the firmware in first place? The error in this case makes sense as I've described above, you're switching firmware and the new motherboardLayout option requires EFI but your VM is using BIOS

[pmkrautle]

Many thanks for the response. I changed to BIOS as the Boot manager would not start the virtual manager would not start the ISO defined with the CD/DVD settings of the virtual machine.

[Kinnison]

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[lamw]

Here's blog post with further details + remediation options https://williamlam.com/2023/01/acpi-motherboard-layout-requires-efi-considerations-for-switching-vm-... 

[Kinnison]

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[lamw]

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@Kinnison wrote:

upgrading an existing virtual machine from an older hardware version to the new hardware version 20, does not change the motherboard layout

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This is already mentioned in the article and goes back to earlier point in post that we can't simply "upgrade" from one motherboard layout to another ... the GOS won't be able to get the benefits and to be able to take full advantage of new motherboard layout, a brand new VM must be created along with the OS being installed afterwards. 

[pmkrautle]

Thanks everyone and understood. I deleted and redefined the VM, selected Esxi7 U2 virtual machine compatibility, and was able to move forward and build the machine. Peter

[Kinnison]

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[pmkrautle]

Now I want to go the other way, enable TPM, and upgrade a Windows 10 Pro machine to Windows 11 on a NUC11i5 processor. The firmware has been upgraded with the latest BIOS update from Intel, PTT enabled, and secure boot enabled. However the dreaded "TPM 2.0 device detected but a connection cannot be established" message appears. I've seen many postings on how to turn it in Esxi 7 but not how to turn it on and enable. Any insights appreciated!

[Kinnison]

@pmkrautle,

Excuse me, that's a whole different story, but if you're referring to installing (or upgrading to) ESXi 8 "bare metal" in combination with consumer hardware, it has already been discussed on this same forum not too long ago: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/ESXi-Discussions/ESXi-8-0-tpm-2-0-status-shown-as-quot-TPM-2-0-dev...

And you'll find a good explanation in this article(s), although the author explicitly refers to "NUC" systems, AFAIK (so I could always be wrong) the same applies to various systems from other manufacturers as well: https://williamlam.com/2022/10/quick-tip-tpm-2-0-connection-cannot-be-established-after-upgrading-to...

Regards,
Ferdinando

[pmkrautle]

Thanks Ferdinando. Given the Windows 11 TPM 2.0 requirement, I assume Intel will address this issue in a future BIOS update?