Host crashing/PSOD with error "Spin count exceeded - possible deadlock"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

ESXi host fails with a PSOD as below

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)@BlueScreen: Spin count exceeded - possible deadlock
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)Code start: 0x420018000000 VMK uptime: 79:02:09:30.072
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b5e0:[0x4200180fec3b]PanicvPanicInt@vmkernel#nover+0x327 stack: 0x453950d9b6b8
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b6b0:[0x4200180ff194]Panic_NoSave@vmkernel#nover+0x4d stack: 0x453950d9b710
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b710:[0x42001801b976]Lock_CheckSpinCount@vmkernel#nover+0x26f stack: 0x1
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b760:[0x420018108aa3]SP_WaitLock@vmkernel#nover+0xe4 stack: 0x4
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b7a0:[0x420018108b80]SPLockWork@vmkernel#nover+0x29 stack: 0x420040c06790
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b7b0:[0x4200180817fe]MCEReapMCABanks@vmkernel#nover+0x193 stack: 0x6
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b8a0:[0x420018081c3c]CMCIBottomHalf@vmkernel#nover+0x21 stack: 0x0
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b8c0:[0x4200180c0187]BH_DrainAndDisableInterrupts@vmkernel#nover+0x120 stack: 0x0
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b940:[0x4200180dfb22]IntrCookie_VmkernelInterrupt@vmkernel#nover+0xb3 stack: 0xfffffffffffffffb
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b960:[0x420018154aac]IDT_IntrHandler@vmkernel#nover+0x9d stack: 0x0
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9b980:[0x42001814d067]gate_entry@vmkernel#nover+0x68 stack: 0x0
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9ba48:[0x420018084484]Power_ArchPerformWait@vmkernel#nover+0x70 stack: 0x420040c00980
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9ba50:[0x4200180845f2]Power_ArchSetCState@vmkernel#nover+0x8f stack: 0x0
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9baa0:[0x4200183abe48]CpuSchedIdleLoopInt@vmkernel#nover+0x275 stack: 0x420040c00100
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9bb10:[0x4200183afe8c]CpuSchedDispatch@vmkernel#nover+0x1a7d stack: 0x420040c00140
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9bd50:[0x4200183b0c9f]CpuSchedWait@vmkernel#nover+0x2f4 stack: 0x430200000000
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9bed0:[0x4200183b0fee]CpuSchedTimedWait@vmkernel#nover+0xb7 stack: 0x431e04649248
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9bf70:[0x4200183b10bd]CpuSched_NoEvqTimedWaitTC@vmkernel#nover+0x22 stack: 0x41ffd86a4b00
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9bfa0:[0x42001854be0a]VSCSIPollCallback@vmkernel#nover+0x13b stack: 0x453951c9f140
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9bfe0:[0x4200183b1871]CpuSched_StartWorld@vmkernel#nover+0x86 stack: 0x0
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z cpu3:2097691)0x453950d9c000:[0x4200180c4a5f]Debug_IsInitialized@vmkernel#nover+0xc stack: 0x0

Environment

VMware ESXi
VMware ESX

Cause

This could happen because of a hardware problem.

Resolution

Raise a support case, as it is difficult for a user to determine whether the PSOD is caused by a hardware problem.