The operation on file "/.../...vmdk" failed

[dodegaard]

I have a single file (DevMachine-000003.vmdk to be exact) of a VM disk set that has an old date on it from 12 hours prior than the other disks.  That date seems to correspond to the last time a snapshot occurred.  Now I can fire up the VM but when starting the Win 7 VM it can never get fully active or dies.  I have attached the full error messages.  I have rebooted to assure memory is not an issue. Attached are the support file and images of the error if anyone can possibly help me.  Paid Support incident into VMWare right now has no answer for 5 hours and I am getting desperate as billable hours slip away.  Thanks so much.

Full error:

The operation on file "/Volumes/Data/FusionVM/CU Fusion.vmwarevm/Dev Machine-000003.vmdk" failed.

If the file resides on a remote file server, make sure that the network connection and the server where this disk residesare functioning properly. If the file resides on removable media, reattach the media.

Select Retry to attempt the operation again.

Select Cancel to end this session.

Select Continue to forward the error to the guest operating system.

Fusion 5.0.3

Thanks in advance for your help.

[dariusd · Accepted solution]

Hi dodegaard, and welcome to the VMware Communities!

It looks like your MacBook Pro's 750 GByte Toshiba hard drive is failing.  You should probably have the hard drive tested (and replaced if necessary) and verified before attempting to recover your VM.

Jun  9 23:30:03 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun  9 23:30:23 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun  9 23:30:42 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun  9 23:31:02 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun  9 23:31:21 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun  9 23:31:41 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun 10 06:21:30 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun 10 06:21:57 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun 10 06:22:17 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

[...]

Jun 10 07:05:29 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun 10 07:05:49 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun 10 07:06:09 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Jun 10 07:06:56 kernel[0]: disk1s2: I/O error.

Capacity: 750.16 GB (750,156,374,016 bytes)

Model: TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF                    

Volumes:

Data:

   Capacity: 749.3 GB (749,296,615,424 bytes)

   Available: 272.83 GB (272,833,568,768 bytes)

   BSD Name: disk1s2

   Mount Point: /Volumes/Data

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

--

Darius

[dodegaard]

Thank you so much for getting back to me with that.  So do you happen to have any advice on recovering that file so I can move it to another drive?  That is the part I am most concerned about.  I do have Auto-Snapshots but am still a beginner with sys admin stuff on my VMs.

[dariusd]

My preferred file-recovery technique is through the command-line, using the dd tool built in to Mac OS, with the conv=sync,noerror options, but... that's not for everyone (and must be done carefully in order to not make things much, much worse).  :smileysilly:

I don't actually have experience with Mac OS data recovery software beyond that...   Others here might have opinions/experiences to contribute, or try your favorite search engine to seek out data recovery software for Mac OS.

The best approach is really to have good backups, though... to avoid the need for data recovery.

Good luck!

--

Darius

[WoodyZ]

dodegaard wrote: So do you happen to have any advice on recovering that file so I can move it to another drive?  That is the part I am most concerned about.

I would use ddrescue over dd however while dd is a part of OS X ddrescue is not.   For OS X I had to download the source code and compile it on my system.  If you don't have Developer Tools installed like a gcc compiler and make or Xcode I can upload the version I compiled on my system.  You might be able to find a compiled copy for OS X on the Internet, I don't know for sure as I prefer to compile from source code on my own system.

[WoodyZ]

dodegaard wrote: I do have Auto-Snapshots but am still a beginner with sys admin stuff on my VMs.

I would never under any circumstances whatsoever use the AutoProtect feature in its present inception!  It might as well been called AutoDestruct and was one of the most ill conceived features VMware ever introduced because it as no aggregate controls like explicit scheduling, being able to be prompted and delay an AutoProtect Snapshot if necessary it it wants to take a snapshot at an inopportune time, etc.   Causes overall performance degradation as the number of snapshots increases and become fragmented.  Cause the VM to use much more Host disk space then the intelligent use of the normal Snapshot feature.  I could go but you should be able to get the point.

Now don't confuse the normal Snapshot feature, and using it in an intelligent appropriate manner, with the AutoProtect Snapshot feature.  Using normal Snapshots has it uses, its just the AutoProtect Snapshot feature in its present inception that I'm making a point about!

[JustinSK]

After researching other messages in here, I disabled Windows Defender and that did the trick.