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mmartin0926
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Windows XP VirtualMachine NOT Powering On?

Hello,

Version:

VMWare Player 3.1.4 build-385536

Host OS:

OpenSuSE 11.4 i586

uname -a

Linux 2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT 2011-07-21 02:17:24 +0200 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

So I just recently upgraded my kernel to 2.6.37.6-0.7 from *-0.5...

Today was the first time since that upgrade that I'm trying to use my VM.

So VMWare Player loaded up and I clicked on Play Virtual Machine for my Windows XP VM, then the window turns black for a moment like it is about to start booting up and then it just goes back to the main VMWare Player page where it lists all the VMs on the left and on the right it shows the info about the VM that your currently highlighting in the left pane.

Also, forgot to mention that when I opened Player for the first time since the kernel upgrade it said something like, VMWare Player needs to recompile something into the kernel so I clicked OK and it seemed as if everything was ok??

So I then tried booting my Ubuntu VM just to make sure Player still worked, and that worked just fine. Anyone know what could the prolem be?

Thanks in Advance,

Matt

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continuum
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do you try to use that external disk twice ?
once to store the first vmdk and then a second time attached as physical disk ?
that obviously is a bad idea

try to remove the ophysical disk from the VM settings and re-add it
maybe the device name (/dev/sdc) no longer fits ?


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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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mmartin0926
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Anyone have a clue???

I attached my VMWare Player log generated from "vm-support"...

Thanks,

Matt

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continuum
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/mnt/SSD/XP/Windows XP Professional/Windows XP Professional-0.vmdk seems to be missing


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

mmartin0926
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Thanks for the reply.

Right that is what I saw in the log too. But the file is there, and I even went and deleted the VM from the "Library" listing on the left when you open VMWare Player. Then I re-added the VM by browsing to it on my External SSD Drive.

Then when I click "Play Virtual Machine" the Player's window jumps from wherever it is on the screen, to the top left of the screen, and then the whole window flashes black for a split second, then nothing happens. Since it hasn't been working for over a week I went ahead and re-created the XP VM and that works fine. But there are a bunch of files on the old one that I would like to get back.

Any thoughts?

Edit: I attached a screenshot of the directoy where my XP VM is.

Thanks,

Matt

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continuum
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the file may be there but it may be invalid - please post it.

Please read http://sanbarrow.com/vmdk-howtos.html#editvmdk


________________________________________________
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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mmartin0926
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Continuum,

Ok so maybe I found a workaround....

So I was on my Ubuntu VM and I was tryingattach a external HDD for use in the VM and when I tried to add it I got a permission denied. So I closed VMWare Player and re-opened it as root through the command line, booted to Ubuntu VM, and then added the HDD.

After I was finished I shutdown Ubuntu, and then thought, why not try XP again. And suddenly it seems to be working now!!! So I am assuming it was a permissions thing. Do you think that is right?

**So I did a chown and chgrp on all the files in the XP's VM directory to my user and group, it was root before I did that. So we will see if it works when not starting as root now. The weird part is that all the other VMs are owned by root and they all work fine.

Thanks,

Matt

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continuum
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that aint no workaround - that is the solution


________________________________________________
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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mmartin0926
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continuum,

Haha yea, your right, I didn't mean workaround (wrong choice of words)...

Thanks for the help,

Matt

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mmartin0926
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Hey hopefully someone is still watching this thread.

I can't seem to start my XP VM again... It worked maybe once or twice since the last post in this thread but now I can't get it to work AT ALL. Anyone know what could be the problem?

When I click "Play Virtual Machine" the vmplayer window turns black for a second and then jumps to the top left of the screen. Then it just does nothing at all. I can boot to ALL of my other VMs with no problem what so ever but this one does not seem to want to play again......

Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,

Matt

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continuum
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do you run the VM as root ?

post latest vmware.log please


________________________________________________
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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mmartin0926
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Yes I did run it as root.

I wasn't sure which log so I included each one that was in that VM's folder.

Thanks,

Matt

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mmartin0926
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I remember seeing something in the log saying "Can't find the file ..." or something along those lines. But I went and removed the VM from the library and then re-added it back and still nothing.

It's just weird because it's the only one of the VMs I use that doesn't work.

Thanks,

Matt

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continuum
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I believe the VM does not power on because you use a physical disk and do not have the permissions to do so

did you add the user to the disk group ?


________________________________________________
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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mmartin0926
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It's saved on a external HDD along with about 4 or 5 other VMs that all work fine through VMPlayer...

-Matt

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continuum
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the vmdk in question is type "fullDevice" that means it specifies a physical disk

to use that you must add the user to the disk group and you must be root AFAIK

it maybe completely impossible with newer kernels if I understand it right - you are not alone - other users mentioned similar problems


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

mmartin0926
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Ok wait I think I know what you mean:

---> Go to /etc/group and add user "root" to the "user list" of group disk? I that right?

-Matt

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mmartin0926
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Hahaha..... Well I think I found the problem. And hopefully you can help me fix it.

So a while ago I was trying to setup my Windows XP VM (the one we're messing with now) to use another external HDD so I can store files and what not. And I went to my Virtual Machine's settings and added a new "Hard Disk 2 (SCISI)" device... (Probably not the right thing to do? Dunno?). So I added the device and then I was able to use it...

A few minutes ago I went to the:

"Virtual Machine Settings" for the XP VM and clicked through each device just to see what was there.

Then I clicked "Hard Disk 2 (SCSI) | Using device /dev/sdc" --> and it said "Unable to retrieve disk information: The system cannot find the file specified."

PLEASE SEE THE SCREENSHOTS ATTACHED... (One is with the HDD attached and the other without. Also, screenshot of the ext HDD files).


I then realized that the HDD wasn't attached so I thought lets attach it and see what happens. And Voila, it works!!

So now how do I allow it to boot w/o having that HDD attached? Should I just "Remove" that device from the VM's Settings window? Or maybe move the files or something?

EDIT: Also, I went to "Open a Virtual Machine" and navigated to the "other" HDD and was able to boot the VM from that HDD... Why do you think something like this may have happened? Do you thinks it's possible that I could have accidently moved/copied it to that other HDD or something like that?

Thanks,

Matt

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continuum
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do you try to use that external disk twice ?
once to store the first vmdk and then a second time attached as physical disk ?
that obviously is a bad idea

try to remove the ophysical disk from the VM settings and re-add it
maybe the device name (/dev/sdc) no longer fits ?


________________________________________________
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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mmartin0926
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Hey,

Yea so removing the SCSI device from the VM's settings seemed to do the trick.

Thanks for you help again.

Quick question though. If I want to re-add that HDD so I can use it to store files, what should I add it as? It's a regular 2.5" HDD that I put in a "Multi-Rom Bay" which replaces where the CD/DVD-ROM goes. Should I add a new "Generic SCSI Device"?

These are my choices:

1815298.png

Thanks,

Matt

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continuum
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the by far easiest going option is to create a fileshare on the host and map that share inside the guest.
On a Linux host you would do that with Samba

all other options have their problems

for the generic scsi device road you must unmount that disk on the hosts filesystem ALWAYS !
same applies to using it as a physical disk


________________________________________________
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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