Firmware Type Cannot Be Changed - Win7 x64

[MetalDave2003]

Author : John Domenichini

URL : http:////docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Fusion/10.0/com.vmware.fusion.using.doc/GUID-4219647D-7736-4F25-8...

Topic Name : Configure a Firmware Type

Publication Name : Using VMware Fusion

Product/Version : VMware Fusion/10.0

Question :

Per the documentation, I should be able to change the Firmware Type for a VM in VMWare Fusion 10.  However, the option does not appear as the documentation indicates.  In fact, there is no "Firmware type" menu, selection, etc.  Am I missing something or has this feature been eliminated?

I am trying to change my firmware selection from UEFI to Legacy BIOS which should be a, relatively, simple thing.

Message was edited by: Dave Soumas

[johndomenichini]

The firmware-type feature still exists. However, the firmware type is not selectable for many guest operating systems.

The documentation topic says the following:
"The following firmware types are available depending on the guest operating system."

In might be that our guest operating system does not support UEFI; therefore, the Firmware Type menu does not appear.

[Mikero]

Looks right to me.

Go to the VM's settings (not Fusion's settings...) > Advanced

Near the bottom there is the Firmware option.

[MetalDave2003]

Thanks, John.  You did point me in the right direction, and I found myself a Win7 x64 SP1 image to use instead.  It seems that SP1 is required for EFI / UEFI support (per Microsoft documentation).  However, the result is the same, so I'm suspecting that VMWare is not "aware" or capable to differentiate between the capable and non-capable version of Windows 7.

[MetalDave2003]

Thank you for the illustration, Mikero.  I'm a believer that it can happen. 

After performing an installation with an SP1 image of Win7 x64, I was able to confirm that it did boot in an EFI environment (thanks to the steps outlined here for Win7).  Thus, I know my Guest OS has appropriately detected the UEFI and is leveraging it.  However, I still do not see a "Firmware type" selection option in my Advanced settings.

As I mentioned in my earlier reply to John, I'm guessing this is by design due to the many distribution flavors of Win7 (32-bit, 64-bit, 64-bit SP1, etc.).  Maybe it's worth opening a ticket with VMWare, but I'm guessing that it's almost a moot point due to the vintage of the OS.

Thanks to you (and John) for the feedback and assist!

[MetalDave2003]

Here's a good TechNet article on how to verify your EFI status in Win7 (for reference).

[Mikero]

Can you share a screenshot of your VM Settings > Advanced window?

Firmware type should be there for every OS, regardless of type.

[joberman71]

I too have this same issue.  I converted my Windows 10 machine from MBR to GPT this morning, but I do not have the Firmware Type as an option in my Fusion 12 player.  Until I can switch the firmware type, my machine is stuck attempting to boot via network.  I just realized I have to sign in to add the screen shot showing the absence of the Firmware Type.

[rapamatic]

I'm having the same issue - my advanced menu looks the same. No firmware option to be found.

[syntaxfx]

I too had this problem. The workaround is to find the <name of your vm>.vmx file and add the line:

firmware = "efi"

It won't show up in the advanced features, but the VM will boot as a UEFI system.

I've dug into everything I can, but I can't make it show (I'm on Fusion 12.1.2).

I did the mbr2gpt changes (per MS instructions) and then changed the .vmx file (__before__ encrypting).  It worked fine.

After encrypting, I was able to add the TPM capability.

[camner]

This did not work for me.

My VM started as a Win7 x64 system, and then when Win10 came out, I took advantage of the free upgrade to upgrade to Win10. So I don't have the ability to change the firmware type from within Fusion's settings.

I did the mbr2gpt changes, and added firmware="efi" to the .vmx file.

After spinning for a bit, I got this error message:

Operating System Not Found

Check your Startup Disk in the virtual machine settings. If you have not installed an operating system yet, you can choose an installation disc or disc image in the CD/DVD settings and restart the virtual machine.

[joberman71]

My guess, but just a guess, is that you are having the same problem I had.

I had mistakenly encrypted my Win 10 machine prior to adding the "...EFI" line in the .vmx file.  Once I restarted my VM, I also got the "No OS/unable to boot" message followed by the attempt to boot from a boot server via the network card. Obviously that failed too.  My only solution was to start over from a previous copy (you may have a Snapshot) of my Win 10 VM and do things in the correct order.  Then, everything worked fine.  Hope this helps.

[joberman71]

Also, before you add the "firmware=efi" line in the .vmx file, you need to convert your boot record from MBR to the GPT format.  Otherwise, your computer will be set to look for the GPT (because you told it to in the "firmware=efi" line) and it will fail as it won't match up.  There are detailed examples of how to convert from MBR to GUI Partition Table online.

[camner]

Thanks both for your replies.

I DID convert from MBR to GPT first before adding the firmware=“Efi” line, and my disk is NOT encrypted.