After installing the nVidia VIB on your ESXi host as per Installing and configuring the NVIDIA VIB on ESXi (2033434), you experience these issues:

• The Xorg service fails to start on the ESXi host
• Running the /etc/init.d/xorg start command fails to start the Xorg service
• In the /var/log/Xorg.log file, there are no entries from the time the service was started

1. Connect to the ESXi host using SSH. For more information, see Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.x (1017910).
2. Run this command:
   
   grep -A 10 -i "Loading module nvidia" /var/log/vmkernel.log
   
   You must see an output similar to:
   
   2013-11-15T13:13:11.727Z cpu5:9641)Loading module nvidia ...
   2013-11-15T13:13:11.737Z cpu5:9641)Elf: 1852: module nvidia has license NVIDIA
   2013-11-15T13:13:11.882Z cpu5:9641)module heap: Initial heap size: 8388608, max heap size: 68476928
   2013-11-15T13:13:12.135Z cpu5:9641)Mod: 4485: Initialization of nvidia succeeded with module ID 80.
   2013-11-15T13:13:12.135Z cpu5:9641)nvidia loaded successfully.

1. Connect to the ESXi host using SSH. For more information, see Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.x (1017910).
2. Run this command:
   
   esxcli hardware pci list –c 0x0300 –m 0xf
   
   You see an output similar to:

000:001:00.0

Address: 000:001:00.0

Segment: 0x0000

Bus: 0x01

Slot: 0x00

Function: 0x00

VMkernel Name:

Vendor Name: NVIDIA Corporation

Device Name: NVIDIAQuadro 6000WHITE PAPER / 28

Virtual Machine Graphics Acceleration

Deployment Guide

Configured Owner: Unknown

Current Owner: VMkernel

Vendor ID: 0x10de

Device ID: 0x0df8

SubVendor ID: 0x103c

SubDevice ID: 0x0835

Device Class: 0x0300

Device Class Name: VGA compatible controller

Programming Interface: 0x00

Revision ID: 0xa1

Interrupt Line: 0x0b

IRQ: 11

Interrupt Vector: 0x78

PCI Pin: 0x69

Spawned Bus: 0x00

Flags: 0x0201

Module ID: 71

Module Name: nvidia

Chassis: 0

Physical Slot: 1

Slot Description:

Passthru Capable: true

Parent Device: PCI 0:0:1:0

Dependent Device: PCI 0:0:1:0

Reset Method: Bridge reset

FPT Sharable: true

If the Module Name is different than nvidia, the graphics card may not be presenting properly on the ESXi host, which results in the Xorg service failing to start.

1. Reload the NVIDIA VIB on the affected ESXi host. For more information on reloading the VIB, see Installing and configuring the NVIDIA VIB on ESXi (2033434).
2. Disable the 64-bit PCI Resource Allocation option (sometimes referred to as PCIe 64-Bit Resource) through the UEFI/BIOS of the ESXi host. For instructions to disable this option, consult your hardware vendor.
3. Confirm that the ESXi host is at the latest BIOS level per the hardware vendor.
4. Confirm from the third party hardware vendor that there are no advisories regarding the affected nVidia graphics card.

If this does not resolve the issue, open a Support Request with VMware for further assistance and investigation. For more information, see Filing a Support Request in Customer Connect (2006985).