VCF Administrator Reported 'Machine Check Error' 'Cache Hierarchy: Level 2 Cache Generic Error.' Purple Screen on an ESXi Host.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

PSOD occurs when machine check error is reported from the disk, that buffered data is 'dirty'.

A Machine Check Error (MCE) references a hardware-related problem, such as overheating, failing components.

This PSOD will note possible data impact/loss as seen below:

• 0x420018adedc5]CpuSched_IdleLoop@vmkernel#nover+0x12 stack: 0x58
• 0x453a42c1bea0:[0x42001855f3aa]Init_APIdle@vmkernel#nover+0x3f stack: 0x0
• 0x453a42c1beb0:[0x4200184804df]SMPAPIdle@vmkernel#nover+0x27c stack: 0x0
• base fs=0x0 gs=0x420056000000 Kgs=0x0

• [Redacted] logger [Redacted] lost 2167 log messages
• [Redacted] File vmware.log closed with dirty buffers. Possible data loss.
• [Redacted] .scoreboard closed with dirty buffers. Possible data loss.
• [Redacted] 3042: File protectedlist closed with dirty buffers. Possible data loss.

Environment

• ESXi 8.0 U3 and Upwards

Cause

The issue occurs because of a fault in the hardware to reliably write data that is integrous and safe to commit to disk.  As the data blocks appear to be impacted the host will core to ensure the data at rest is protected and its integrity preserved.

Resolution

It is recommended to reach out to your appropriate hardware vendor to perform the necessary health check and replace the impacted disk(s).
Additionally, it is recommended that after rebooting the host, you manually validate if any virtual machine data may have been impacted and refer to 'data-safe' best practices specific to the impact type/vendor team, or open a new support case via the link below if further assistance is needed:

• Create New Support Case