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mdhampton
Contributor
Contributor

VMWare Player 2 won't open OS

I was using VMWare Player (1.0.3) with no problems (host is XP SP2, target is Vista). I upgraded to VMWare Player 2.0.0 build-45731, and I get this error:

Jun 14 12:32:13.020: vmx| DISK: OPEN scsi0:0 '
xphampton\c$\MyVirtualMachines\Vista\Windows Vista (experimental).vmdk' persistent R\[(null)]

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| DISKLIB-SPARSE: "
xphampton\c$\MyVirtualMachines\Vista\Windows Vista (experimental).vmdk" : failed to open (36872): Underlying file system does not support files that large.

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| DISKLIB-DSCPTR: Failed to open extents for embedded descriptor file in normal mode

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| DISKLIB-LINK : "
xphampton\c$\MyVirtualMachines\Vista\Windows Vista (experimental).vmdk" : failed to open (The file is too large).

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| DISKLIB-CHAIN : "
xphampton\c$\MyVirtualMachines\Vista\Windows Vista (experimental).vmdk" : failed to open (The file is too large).

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| DISKLIB-LIB : Failed to open '
xphampton\c$\MyVirtualMachines\Vista\Windows Vista (experimental).vmdk' with flags 0xa (The file is too large).

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| Msg_Post: Error

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| \[msg.disklib.tooBigForFS] VMware Workstation cannot open one of the virtual disks needed by this VM because it is larger than the maximum file size supported by the host file system. Some remote file systems do not support files larger than 2 GB, even though the file system on the server might.

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| \[msg.disk.noBackEnd] Cannot open the disk '
xphampton\c$\MyVirtualMachines\Vista\Windows Vista (experimental).vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.

Jun 14 12:32:13.098: vmx| \[msg.disk.configureDiskError] Reason: The file is too large.----


Jun 14 12:32:57.259: vmx| Module DiskEarly power on failed.

It wasn't too large for 1.0.3, so why does 2.0.0 complain? File system is NTFS.

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14 Replies
RDPetruska
Leadership
Leadership

Workstation 6/Player 2 have more strict checking for files which can get too large for the underlying filesystem they are on. Either change the filesystem to one which supports large files, or convert the virtual disk to a split-disk type.

Are you certain the filesystem is NTFS in this case? I'm surprised at the message which indicates you are connecting via a UNC path instead of merely using the local file...

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mdhampton
Contributor
Contributor

I changed it to a local reference and it works. It just doesn't like the UNC path.

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gregconquest
Contributor
Contributor

I'm having a similar problem. I have my WinXP on an ext2 partition (using Ext2 IFS for Windows (www.fs-driver.org)). I've been running the WinXP virtual machine from both WinXP and from ubuntu (I run torpark/XBBrowser in the virtual machine. The browsers are virgin -- never used to connect anywhere except via tor).

Now that I've upgraded to 2.0 on the WinXP side, I can no longer use the virtual machine. From ubuntu it is still fine.

Error 1:

Windows XP Pro - Windows XP Pro

VMware Workstation cannot open one of the virtual disks needed by this VM because it is larger than the maximum file size supported by the host file system. Some remote file systems do not support files larger than 2 GB, even though the file system on the server might.

Cannot open the disk 'V:\VMs\WinXPPro\WindowsXPPro.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.

Reason: The file is too large.

Error2:

Windows XP Pro - Windows XP Pro

Error while powering on: VMware Workstation cannot open one of the virtual disks needed by this VM because it is larger than the maximum file size supported by the host file system. Some remote file systems do not support files larger than 2 GB, even though the file system on the server might.

Cannot open the disk 'V:\VMs\WinXPPro\WindowsXPPro.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.

Reason: The file is too large.

The virtual machine is 6GB or so, but is on a physical disk inside this PC.

Is there currently no other way to run VMware virtual machines shared between linux and Windows than to downgrade to 1.0 and use an ext partition?

Thanks,

Greg Conquest

PS I copied the VM over to a ntfs partition to run from Windows, but now I have two VM's slowly diverging.

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RDPetruska
Leadership
Leadership

Run vmware-vdiskmanager and convert your virtual disk to one of the 2 2GB-Split disk types.

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gregconquest
Contributor
Contributor

That would be good, but vmware-vdiskmanager.exe is not in my VMware Player folder, nor is it listed in the VMware Player pdf manual. Can I use this even though I'm using Player?

Message was edited by:

gregconquest

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

Try adding

diskLib.sparseMaxFileSizeCheck= "false"

to the vmx-file - maybe that helps.


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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RDPetruska
Leadership
Leadership

Ahh, forgot about that. Nope, you need to have Workstation or Server available to use that to convert your VM files. Sorry.

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gregconquest
Contributor
Contributor

So, I'll have to downgrade or find another workaround. There should be a utility for splitting VM's into 2GB chunks . . .

I'll check on that and post back here if I find one.

Thanks,

Greg

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gregconquest
Contributor
Contributor

Try adding

diskLib.sparseMaxFileSizeCheck= "false"

to the vmx-file - maybe that helps.

continuum, do you mean the

WindowsXPPro.vmx~

file?

Greg

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

Have you tried the entry I posted ?

Also you can install a VMserver into a VM and have it convert the disk via network Smiley Wink


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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gregconquest
Contributor
Contributor

Continuum, as I posted just above, no, I didn't know which file you were referring to -- WindowsXPPro.vmx~ ???

As to installing VMserver into a VM, I kind of like that idea. I suppose there is no VMware Server virtual machine available? I did a search at the virtual machine marketplace

http://www.vmware.com/appliances/

but there were none listed.

Still, if I were to do this, I would:

\- make a copy of my WinXP VM on a NTFS drive

\- start the WinXP VM (under VMware Player)

\- install VMware Server into the WinXP VM running inside VMware Player

\- start the VMware Server inside the VMware Player's WinXP

\- access the copy of the VM

\- split it.

Is this really possible? I seem to recall somewhere that VMware (Player) will not allow two virtual machines inside one another. No?

Greg

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thomsuey
Contributor
Contributor

Adding 'diskLib.sparseMaxFileSizeCheck= "false"' to my vmx file as suggested solved the issue for me.

I am sharing a 4GB XP VM between Ubuntu and Vista, and am using the Ext2 IFS driver to access the VM on an EXT3 partition.

I initially tried to store the VM on my NTFS (NTFS-3g driver) partition, but the Linux side gave me an error. I guess I'll cross my fingers and hope that I get no corruption with the EXT driver.

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gregconquest
Contributor
Contributor

OK. Thia worked for me too. Thanks for the post, thomsuey.

Greg

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Blav
Contributor
Contributor

Do not use UNC path when opening the vmware. Map the folder to a disk drive. No need to split the vmware disk into 2GB disks neither you need to shrink it.

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