Virtual Machines with network adapter type as flexible fails to boot post power cycle on Esxi 8.0

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Virtual Machine (VM) with network adapter as Flexible/Vlance fails to boot post power cycle
• Issue is not seen on ESXi 7.0
• /vmfs/volumes/<datastore name>/<VM folder name>/vmware.log:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vcpu-0 - IOSPACE: 2nd registration for port 0x2018 (Lance reset), old 0x282a501660 user, new 0x282a501660 user
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vcpu-0 - IOSPACE: 2nd registration for port 0x201c (Lance BCR), old 0x282a5021f0 user, new 0x282a5021f0 user
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vcpu-0 - MsgHint: msg.monitorEvent.14552
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vcpu-0 - *** Access to misconfigured virtual devices ***
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vcpu-0 - Your guest operating system has accessed an I/O range where multiple devices overlap. This can have a variety of unpredictable results including virtual machine failures. Click OK to reset the virtual machine or click Cancel to ignore the error. If you choose to ignore the error, shut down the guest operating system as soon as possible to minimize instability. If the problem persists after you reboot the virtual machine, see the knowledge base article at http://vmware.com/info?id=46
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05)+ vcpu-0 - ---------------------------------------
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vcpu-0 - VM reset requested: Attempting CPUs/Devices reset.

Resolution

Broadcom is working towards a permanent fix for this issue.

As a workaround, modify the network adapter on the VM to use vmxnet3. Refer to Change the Virtual Machine Network Adapter Configuration