vSAN ESA VM Deployment Fails with LSOM Checksum Mismatch Behind Tri-Mode Controllers

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

When creating or deploying virtual machines following a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 upgrade, the operation fails. Host logs (/var/log/vmkernel.log) show LSOM checksum mismatch errors:

• LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:536: io total length ####, first mismatch at 0, written byte: e, read byte: 0
• LSOM: LSOM2WritePolicy:8161: Write policy verification failed for component #### with status: Checksum mismatch

 

Example From Vmkernel.log

2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu12:2098234)DOM: DOMOwnerLogEncrContext:5188: obj 2d27456a-7409-7ac2-c99c-######### host 6a1f3c39-5e4b-6e8d-2003-#########
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu12:2098234)DOM: DOMOwnerLogEncrContext:5191: create op: obj 2d27456a-7409-7ac2-c99c-######### G:0 C:1 E:0 A:0 P:0 OK:1 MK:1 LLP:1
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu3:2098575) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:535: device: eui.00a07501544f24fb:2
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu3:2098575) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:536: io total length 24576, first mismatch at 0, written byte: e, read byte: 0
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu3:2098575) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:540: mismatch elem: offset 36357144576, length 352
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu3:2098575)LSOM: LSOM2WritePolicy:8161: Write policy verification failed for component 2d27456a-24c8-7cc3-37d4-######### with status: Checksum mismatch
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu3:2098757) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:535: device: eui.00a0750154607ca8:2
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu3:2098757) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:536: io total length 24576, first mismatch at 0, written byte: e, read byte: 0
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu3:2098757) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:540: mismatch elem: offset 40540176384, length 352
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu3:2098757)LSOM: LSOM2WritePolicy:8161: Write policy verification failed for component 2d27456a-ec8a-7dc3-626b-######### with status: Checksum mismatch
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu13:2098777) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:535: device: eui.00a0750154607ca8:2
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu13:2098777) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:536: io total length 24576, first mismatch at 0, written byte: e, read byte: 0
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu13:2098777) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:540: mismatch elem: offset 1505760509952, length 352
2026-07-01T14:41:49.918Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu13:2098777)LSOM: LSOM2WritePolicy:8161: Write policy verification failed for component 2d27456a-b866-7bc3-53c5-######### with status: Checksum mismatch
2026-07-01T14:41:49.919Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu1:2098672) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:535: device: eui.00a07501544ef144:2
2026-07-01T14:41:49.919Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu1:2098672) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:536: io total length 24576, first mismatch at 0, written byte: e, read byte: 0
2026-07-01T14:41:49.919Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu1:2098672) LSOM: LSOM2ComputeAndCompareSGCrc:540: mismatch elem: offset 32082362368, length 352
2026-07-01T14:41:49.919Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu1:2098672)LSOM: LSOM2WritePolicy:8161: Write policy verification failed for component 2d27456a-a625-7cc3-29f1-######### with status: Checksum mismatch
2026-07-01T14:41:50.016Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu19:2214348 opID=6cd0b2ec)World: 13150: VC opID mqjq3t9w-322377-auto-6wqy-h5:70088912-39-01-d5-ac04-490931ae maps to vmkernel opID 6cd0b2ec
2026-07-01T14:41:50.016Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu12:2098234)DOM: DOMOwnerUnsubscribeClusterEncrState:6706: DOM Owner on 2d27456a-7409-7ac2-c99c-######### received premature cluster encryption state unsubscription
2026-07-01T14:41:50.016Z -WARNING vmkwarning - [esx@4413] cpu19:2214348 opID=6cd0b2ec) VSAN: VsanIoctlCtrlNodeCommon:3377: 2d27456a-7409-7ac2-c99c-#########: RPC to DOM op create returned: Metadata write error
2026-07-01T14:41:50.016Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu19:2214348 opID=6cd0b2ec)VSAN: VsanIoctlCtrlNode:5671: CREATE failed: control node=1eab5bfd-0000-0000-e842-008000450000 2d27456a-7409-7ac2-c99c-######### vsanFDSHandle=0x43101ea01510 cmd=0x56000030 flags=0x12 oflags=0x2d00$
2026-07-01T14:41:50.187Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu12:2098234)DOM: DOMOwnerUnsubscribeClusterEncrState:6706: DOM Owner on 2d27456a-7409-7ac2-c99c-######### received premature cluster encryption state unsubscription
2026-07-01T14:41:50.487Z -INFO vmkernel - [esx@4413] cpu12:2098234)DOM: DOMOwnerZdomPausedCb:7514: 2d27456a-7409-7ac2-c99c-#########: Received zdom pause state update: ZDOM_PAUSE_STATE_NONE, Not found

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1

• VMware vSAN 9.1 ESA or OSA

•  Tri-Mode RAID/HBA controller

Cause

The NVMe flash devices are positioned behind an intermediate physical Tri-Mode RAID/HBA controller. This is an unsupported hardware configuration for vSAN ESA and OSA, which causes volatile memory buffer tracking discrepancies and triggers real-time data integrity write verification failures.

Resolution

Hardware reconfiguration is required to connect NVMe devices directly to the PCIe bus.

Follow the steps located in vSAN support of NVMe devices behind tri-mode controllers to correct this issue. 

1. Place host into maintenance mode using Ensure Accessibility
2. Use Disk Management GUI to decommission the storage pools on the target host.
3. Shut down the hardware and reconfigure the server so the NVMe drives are connected to the PCI bus as intended.
4. Bring the server up and recreate the storage pools through disk management.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 with remaining hosts in the cluster

If further assistance is required open a case with vSAN Support.

Additional Information

Broadcom KB article: vSAN support of NVMe devices behind Tri-mode controllers (314305)

Broadcom Maintenance Policy: Broadcom Software Maintenance Policy Handbook.