Windows XP freezes on startup at black screen with stuck white cursor with Bootcamp partition

[sbrawner]

Greetings all,

I've run into a bit of a snag and I'm using VMware Fusion, 2.0.1. This happened with previous versions too, btw, and I first noticed this problem occurring when I was using the evaluation version. Basically my virtual machine based on the bootcamp partition will freeze on startup before the Windows XP screen will show up. After the VMware BIOS (whatever VMWare screen is supposed to be) loads, the screen turns black except for a stuck white cursor as shown in the attached picture. I can still restart my computer and boot into the windows partition just fine, but it doesn't let me use VM with VMware.

I used to think it concerned vmware tools, but that doesn't seem to be the root cause. This last time I went from one day using it just fine, to another getting this screen. The fix has always been the same: delete the 'Boot Camp' folder under ~/Library/Application Support/VMWare/Virtual Machines. The next time I start VMware it sets up the virtual machine again (picture 2) and it will work. I then have to reinstall vmware tools and I'm off and running (picture 4).

Can anyone tell me why this is happening and how to permanently fix the problem?

Thanks a lot-

Stephen

[WoodyZ]

I've run into a bit of a snag and I'm using VMware Fusion, 2.0.1. This happened with previous versions too, btw, and I first noticed this problem occurring when I was using the evaluation version.

FWIW VMware does not have or use an Evaluation Version of Fusion. What you download is the normal release version and you get a 30-Day Trial Serial Number which has no effect on the functionality of what you downloaded vs using a purchased serial number.

Basically my virtual machine based on the bootcamp partition will freeze on startup before the Windows XP screen will show up. After the VMware BIOS (whatever VMWare screen is supposed to be) loads, the screen turns black except for a stuck white cursor as shown in the attached picture. I can still restart my computer and boot into the windows partition just fine, but it doesn't let me use VM with VMware.

Under normal circumstances on both a Physical Machine or VMware Product Virtual Machine at the point that the BIOS passes control to the Windows OS by reading the Boot Sector and Master Boot Record this white cursor appears at the start of that process and if it hangs at that point it's because there is a problem reading the MBR and when it hangs at that point there is not much that can be done other then to repair the MBR.

When you delete the Boot Camp partition Virtual Machine you're enabling Fusion to recreate the pointer to the real MBR and is written into the virtual hard drive use by the Boot Camp partition Virtual Machine to then access the physical partition that Windows is on.

I suspect that something is corrupting the meta-data of the Boot Camp partition Virtual Machine and exactly what I cannot say because there is not enough information being presented to formulate a valid hypothesis.

I would run the usual utilities under OS X to verify that the OS X Filesystem is okay and also use a utility that tests the disk at the block level to ensure there are no bad spots on the platters.

Have you been having any OS X System Lockups that have necessitated you doing a hard reboot of the system?

[sbrawner]

Thanks for the reply, provides good insights.

It just happened again, and this time all I did was run disk utility on my mac partition and then chkdsk booting into windows. In this time, I did have to hard restart my computer once before it was able to get to the login screen. Disk utility and DSKCHK seem to think the drive is ok, but fsck_hfs thinks otherwise. When I get the opportunity to run fsck_hfs from the apple install cd, I will let you know of the progress. Thanks again WoodyZ for the help.

>>fsck_hfs -f /dev/disk0s2

• /dev/rdisk0s2

• Root file system

• Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.

• Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.

• Checking Extents Overflow file.

• Checking Catalog file.

• Checking multi-linked files.

• Checking Catalog hierarchy.

• Checking Extended Attributes file.

• Checking volume bitmap.

Volume Bit Map needs minor repair

• Checking volume information.

Invalid volume free block count

(It should be 5999163 instead of 5999156)

• Cannot repair volume when it is mounted with write access.

• The volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired.

• FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

• REBOOT NOW *****

[sbrawner]

Well, it turns out you don't need the install disc to do fsck at startup, just Single user mode. However for some reason, I run it and it reports all is good. Then when I boot into multiuser mode it comes up with the same error as above. I also realized that Disk_utility basically does fsck_hfs when you run verify or repair. So... ok then.

If the partitions appear to be decent, why would the pointer in the Boot camp Virtual Machine fail to point correctly? Any ideas?

[WoodyZ]

I do not believe fsck_hfs preform a complete block level test not does Disk Utility and while it may not even be an issue it is something that needs to be do to rule out a damaged platter as it only makes perfect sense that the hard drive be verified at the physical disk level and then also at the filesystem level and the verify first this I do when checking out a system is test physical memory with the appropriate tools first and go from there. Anytime there are issue that you can't put your finger directly on the best protocol is to verify the hardware level is without issues and then look at the software level. By ruling out hardware first it makes it easier to determine the next best course of action.