Disable GPT disk check - VMWare Converter 5.x

[nextech]

Dear VMWare,

I can't believe that this is STILL a problem after all of these years, this is still a problem????

C'mon now!!  Get off your backsides, and fix this!!

I have used the older versions of the VMWare Converter on an Apple Mac Pro (all of our Apple Mac Pro's) without any problems for YEARS.  Then suddenly you added some stupid "GPT disk checking" crap, that causes people to NOT be able to use the newer/newest VMWare 5.x converters.

If ANY GPT disks are detected at all in the computer, the converter will not work.  (So you have to manually open up the computer and disconnect any hard drives that are GPT).

This is a real pain in the butt, and please stop doing this STUPID CRAP!!!

Just disable/remove any GPT checking, and just IGNORE all GPT drives!! 

If you're not going to take the time to do things right, and add GPT disk support to VMWare Converter (which is the CORRECT and RIGHT way to do things) and you're too lazy to do that, then just IGNORE all GPT drives until you do FIX the Vmware converter and DO add GPT disk support to the converter!!

This is not rocket science, please take the time to either ADD GPT DISK SUPPORT to the VMWare converter, or just IGNORE all GPT disks so that we can still continue to use the converter, but don't do half-AS**(  crap and create some stupid GPT-disk checking crap that just BREAKS the converter!  That's stupid!

At least let the converter run, and at least let us go back to using/converting using the converter, and just IGNORE any GPT disks!

We used to be able to select/deselect drives, and GPT disks didn't even show up when we did our conversions, and we never had any problems before.  This new VMWare Converter 5.x crap with the GPT disk checking error is a real pain in the backside.  So please tell us how to DISABLE your GPT disk check, so we can go back to using the converter again like we always have done in the past.

[peetz]

Hi,

I understand your frustration: VMware Converter cannot handle GPT disks and refuses to work if it discovers any of them.

I agree that this is something that needs to be fixed, because GPT disks are becoming more and more common with modern Windows versions and EFI hardware. At least it should just ignore GPT disks.

However, swearing and using offensive language in a forum's post won't change anything about this. I suggest that you file a feature request with VMware (see http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/feature.html) to make yourself heard. Of course there is no guarantee that this will help. The Converter product does not seem to be a top priority for VMware these days as other recent issues also showed. After all it's a free product ...

- Andreas

[Dave8472]

Hi,

Completely agree with the etiquette complaint. There is a process (feature request) which allows for a voice for both interesting new features and complaints about missing ones, such as this. The level of faith in the process is probably lacking, however, but that doesn't mean one shouldn't try. I would encourage more people looking for support for EFI-based GPT-formatted systems to come forward, and as you stated, this is a more common in many Windows installations, beginning with the first EFI-based systems a few years ago.

I disagree when it comes to simply ignoring GPT-based volumes though. OS volumes can be automatically formatted as GPT when the Windows setup process is run on a UEFI system. Ignoring them negates the purpose of conversion. I suggest that the solution is for VMware to fund development for the complete support of these systems in the Converter tool. Overall this is damaging customer and partner business relationships, as a result of the gap which has formed around these now-standard system types. Both UEFI BIOS and GPT is not new by any standard.

Regards,

Dave

[patanassov]

You are right. There is work in progress about UEFI/GPT support.

Regards

Plamen

[nextech]

Yes, but it could take months/years for VMware developers to fix the problems with GPT compatibility.

In the meantime, at least revert back to the way things were in the past (which actually WORKED) and at least let the converter run, and at least let us users that have GPT partitions (and own a 2008-2012 Apple Mac Pro which uses a very early version of EFI and GPT) at least go back to using/converting using the standard converter (which has always worked in the past), and please just allow the converter to IGNORE any GPT disks!  (or at least make this a "checkbox" option that users can select or de-select, so that GPT disks can be ignored and the converter can still be used!)

Please just remove the GPT disk checking and instead go back to the old way of giving users the ability to select/de-select GPT drives.  In the past, we used to be able to select/deselect drives, and GPT disks didn't even show up when we did our conversions, and we never had any problems before.  Please give users the ability to just deselect GPT drives and remove the automatic GPT disk checking from the converter, and allow the converting process to work (instead of automatically failing due to some silly GPT disk checking).

Thank-you,

[patanassov]

I am puzzled. This discussion is an year old. We have released versions 5.1 and 5.5 since and both support UEFI and GPT disks. And of course disks can be selected/deselected as usual regardless whether they are MBR or GPT.

Regards