Installing ESXi 5.0 fails with the error: Fatal error: 32 (Syntax) or Fatal error: 4 (Unsupported)

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot install ESXi 5.0
• Installing ESXi 5.0 on a server fails
• You see the error:

kernel=<FILEPATH> must be set in /EFI/BOOT/boot.cfg
Fatal error: 32 (Syntax)

OR

Configuration error while parsing /EFI/VMware/boot.cfg
Fatal error: 4 (Unsupported)

• The md5sum of the downloaded .iso media is correct

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0

Resolution

To workaround this issue, boot into the ESXi host's BIOS and disable UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) or EFI.

For more information on how to perform this change, consult your hardware vendor.