ESXi 5.x with E1000e adapter fails with purple diagnostic screen

VMware vSphere ESXi

You must apply the patch provided by VMware on the ESXi host to resolve this issue.

Symptoms:

The ESXi 5.x host with a virtual machine that uses an E1000e adapter fails with a purple diagnostic screen (PSOD).
You see the backtrace:

@BlueScreen: #PF Exception 14 in world wwww:WorldName IP 0xnnnnnnnn addr 0x0
PTEs:0xnnnnnnnn;0xnnnnnnnn;0x0;
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]E1000PollRxRing@vmkernel#nover+ 0xdb9
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]E1000DevRx@vmkernel#nover+0x18a
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]IOChain_Resume@vmkernel#nover+0x247
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]PortOutput@vmkernel#nover+0xe3
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]EtherswitchForwardLeafPortsQuick@#+0xd6
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]EtherswitchPortDispatch@#+0x13bb
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]Port_InputResume@vmkernel#nover+0x146
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]Port_Input_Committed@vmkernel#nover+0x29
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]E1000DevAsyncTx@vmkernel#nover+0x190
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]NetWorldletPerVMCB@vmkernel#nover+0xae
0xnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnn]WorldletProcessQueue@vmkernel#nover+0x486

This issue is resolved in:

ESXi 6.0 GA, available at VMware Downloads.
ESXi 5.5, Patch Release ESXi550-201410001, available at VMware Patch Downloads. For more information on downloading patches, see How to download patches in Customer Connect (1021623).
ESXi 5.1 Update 2, available at VMware Downloads.
ESXi 5.0 Patch Release ESXi500-201401001, available at VMware Patch Downloads. For more information on downloading patches, see How to download patches in Customer Connect (1021623).

Note: Ensure to update VMware Tools immediately after updating the ESXi host version.

To work around this issue if you do not want to upgrade, use one of these options:

Use the VMXNET3 virtual adapter and reduce the usage of the E1000e series adapter. For more information on adding or modifying a virtual machines virtual network interfaces, see Change the Virtual Network Adapter (NIC) Configuration in the vSphere Web Client section in the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide.
In virtual machines that use the E1000e adapter, disable RSS or configure the RSS multiple rx queue to 1 in the guest operating system.
To enable or disable TCP Chimney Offload on Windows, follow these steps:
- Open Device Manager.
- Under Network Adapters, double-click the network adapter that you want.
- On the Advanced tab, click Enabled or Disabled in the box next to the TCP offload entry.

Note Different manufacturers may use different terms to describe TCP Chimney Offload on the Advanced properties page of the network adapter.