vmware server issues

microsoft/linux · 05-10-2006, 09:35 PM

So I'm running VMWare server Beta3, and it installed fine, everything seems to be working correctly. However, when I try to power on my Windows XP Virtual Machine, it give me this error

Code:

Cannot open the disk '/var/lib/vmware/Virtual Machines/Windows XP Home Edition/Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.
Reason: The specified device is not a valid physical disk device.

I've got window installed on the HD(hda1), and I'm trying to access this directly. Suggestions?

twantrd · 05-11-2006, 03:10 AM

I'm assuming this is VMware ESX Server? All my vmdk's reside in a VMFS-2 volume. Is that vmdk of yours in a VMFS-2 volume?

-twantrd

microsoft/linux · 05-11-2006, 08:50 AM

no, it's vmware server. http://www.vmware.com/products/server/. Mine are in a folder that the rpm set up. I'll have to get back to you as to which directory, I'm at school right now.

microsoft/linux · 05-12-2006, 07:47 AM

someone's gotta know?

robbbert · 05-12-2006, 01:25 PM

Does the file

Quote:

/var/lib/vmware/Virtual Machines/Windows XP Home Edition/Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk

exist?

If it does (probably), this should be a Windows OS message:

Quote:

The specified device is not a valid physical disk device

Somewhere there should be a config file where that path is in. Change it to a relative ("..\Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk") or absolute ("c:\path\Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk") Windows path.

- Just a guess.

microsoft/linux · 05-12-2006, 03:49 PM

yes, I'm almost positive that file exists, as I created it with vmware. I'll check when I get home. Where's the config file?

robbbert · 05-12-2006, 04:12 PM

Quote:

grep -i "Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk"

should find the files containing the term "Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk"...

You can also specify a more specific path if there's an assumption where this file could be, as otherwise, the search might take a long time...

Thanks
P.S.: As a newbie, I'm only responding as there aren't no better suggestions yet as it appears.

microsoft/linux · 05-12-2006, 05:20 PM

again, I'll have to check at home. As far as I know, everything is the way the binary file set it up to be.

microsoft/linux · 05-13-2006, 01:49 PM

ok, the file exists. When I run the grep command, it just sits there. I'll look around some more, other suggestions?

microsoft/linux · 05-15-2006, 12:26 PM

noone knows? please?

uselpa · 05-15-2006, 03:06 PM

Can you post the contents of the .vmx file?
On a side note, does VMWare Server fully support starting Windows from a physical partition? That used to be experimental.

microsoft/linux · 05-15-2006, 04:08 PM

I had it working, before I upgraded to beta3. I'll have to wait until I get home to get the contents, but yes, I can.

microsoft/linux · 05-15-2006, 10:06 PM

the contents of the .vmx file are

Code:

#!/usr/bin/vmware
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "4"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
memsize = "192"
ide0:0.present = "TRUE"
ide0:0.fileName = "Windows XP Home Edition.vmdk"
ide0:0.writeThrough = "TRUE"
ide0:0.deviceType = "rawDisk"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.fileName = "/dev/hdc"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"
floppy0.fileName = "/dev/fd0"
Ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
usb.present = "TRUE"
displayName = "Windows XP Home Edition"
guestOS = "winxphome"
autostart = "poweron"
priority.grabbed = "normal"
priority.ungrabbed = "normal"
powerType.powerOff = "hard"
powerType.powerOn = "hard"
powerType.suspend = "hard"
powerType.reset = "hard"

uuid.location = "56 4d 42 76 1c 9e 75 0d-44 d1 23 ab 7b c0 5c 01"
uuid.bios = "56 4d 42 76 1c 9e 75 0d-44 d1 23 ab 7b c0 5c 01"

I'm not fully sure what any of that means

uselpa · 05-16-2006, 01:07 AM

I was hoping to find in that config file some reference to a non-existent device, but that one seems normal.

1 - Just to be sure: does native booting into Windows still work?

2 - The other thing that strikes me with your initial error message is that it mentions snapshots. Did you use snapshots before upgrading? If so, you could try to apply the deltas or revert to the original image in order to get rid of the snapshot files, in case they are not readable by the new version?

3 - If native booting is still OK, I would consider defining a new VM for the same raw partition in the GUI, giving it a new name. See if that works.

microsoft/linux · 05-16-2006, 07:41 AM

native booting works. What do you mean by snapshots?