ESXi 3.5 problems and questions!

[GenesisFactor]

hey, i'm stuck with ESXi 3.5 U2 until i get a new opty socket F. i have B2 stepping.

I have 3 problems

1) every time i automatically update, it forces me into an ESXi version that refuses to boot with my computer, giving me the unsupported CPu error. i cannot tell it NOT to update the firmware and leave only the tools. When i try to do a manual update, even when i pick stuff for the correct build, it refuses to accept my zip files, saying its an invalid patch

2) I have the lovely MCP55 Chipset for my SATA drives, as well as an ACARD 6880 IDE RAID adapter. Neither one is being seen ESXi. This wouldnt be THAT big of a problem, but i have ONE ide cable and it already is on the 8gb SSD and the DVD burner which installs the I tried the MCP55 hack that i found online, but my sata xml file doens't exsit. Infact, the whole FOLDER doesn't exist. ir researched it, and i know i'm supposed to update, which leads me back to the second half of problem 1. can someone help with that?

3) I want some ice cream.

thanks to any and all assistance!!!