XP Pro will not format during install.

[DHusby]

Hello all,

I have been struggling with this issue for 2 months now and finally am totally out of ideas.

We have a single host, IBM x3650 M4 2x Xeon E5-26200's. ESXi 5.1u1 (IBM build) 32gb (soon to be 64gb) of RAM vsphere Essentials license

I should note that this also happened on ESXi 5.1 (IBM build).

Here's the issue,

I create an XP Pro VM, 80gig HD, stock other settings. I use an XP Pro sp3 image (that I have used on workstations and VM Workstation v6 - 9 just fine) to do the install. It sees the available partition and allows partitioning and formatting.

But each and every time the format fails.

Error (blue screen with white text)

Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged.

Make sure the drive is switched on and properly connected.... blah blah blah.

I've searched google and I can't see any other issues reported.

Dean

[weinstein5]

Have you tried the the recommendations in this link - http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100086...

[DHusby]

Yes, I have tried the buslogic with the "vmscsi.flp" driver loaded as a floppy.

I can see the partition, I can configure it and can select NTFS full and quick formats. But they both fail.

If I make a small partition I can use Fat32 without issue.

So the link above does not pertain to my situation.

[DHusby]

As a follow up. While the XP installer refuses to format the partition. I have found that if I let XP partition and attempt a format and fail, I can then power down the VM, connect the vHD to a w7 VM as a secondary disc. Format it with Disk Manager, remove it from the W7, and power up the XP vm again and start the install. Using the "Leave the format as it" type option it then installs without a hitch.

I have no idea why it fails but it seems I am the only one with this issue.

I will go ask this in the IBM forum for my hardware and see if it is related to that.

Dean

[a_p_]

I actually cannot tell you why formatting doesn't work (I never had issues with this myself), but at least there's a positive aspect with formatting it the way you did now. Windows XP doesn't align the partitions properly, and uses 63 blocks (31.5kB) as the starting offset. Windows Vista and newer use 1MB as the offset to avoid misalignment. Depending on the disk activity, you will benefit from an aligned partition.

André

[arctox]

Hi Dean,

I have the same problem with, I'm using the same Server IBM x3650 M4 . Just wondering how you connect the VHD to a W7 in VM as secondary disc.

p/s: Nevermind I found the way.

Actox

[DHusby]

Interesting. So it appears to be the hardware that causes this issue. Very interesting in deed. Once you have the work around it is not the end of the world but it sure is annoying.