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pwsteele
Contributor
Contributor

Boot from ISO is broken

I created a new VM to install Windows 7 on and I am unable to get the VM to boot from my ISO image. I even tried my Windows 7 DVD and the VM would not boot from it. I have the CD-ROM device listed first in the BIOS, I've tried hitting ESC and manually selecting the CD-ROM from there, but it always seems to ignore/skip the CD-ROM and instead ends up attemping a PXE boot (since there is no OS installed yet). In fact, just as a test I tried booting an existing VM (which already has an OS installed) from my CD-ROM and this VM also ignored the CD-ROM (and simply booted the existing OS).

I've used this feature many times to install my past VMs, both Linux and Windows. Now I cannot get VMWare Workstation to boot from an ISO. The only thing that has changed is that I upgraded to 7.1.4 just before this. Is this something that is broken in 7.1.4? I am running under Windows 7. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

FWIW I have no problems booting known good bootable media (or ISO Image from same) with VMware Workstation 7.1.4.

Assuming you're using know good bootable media (or ISO Image from same) and making the proper selections and it's not booting and all you did was upgrade to VMware Workstation 7.1.4 and it stopped working then I'd uninstall it and install VMware Workstation 7.1.3 (or whatever version you were previously using) and see if it will work.

If it does then you can either try reinstalling VMware Workstation 7.1.4 and see if it will now work or stick with what works.

Note: Also make sure you validate the MD5/SHA1 checksums of the downloaded installer before installing.

Message was edited by: WoodyZ - Added MD5/SHA1 note.

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pwsteele
Contributor
Contributor

I've tried booting from a Linux ISO I used to create a number of my other VMs and I get the same results with that. It's acting as if I don't have anything mapped to my CD drive in my VM but I definitely do. I checked vmware.log in fact and verified it recognized it:

Jul 14 08:39:07.806: vmx| DICT           ide1:0.fileName = R:\linux-distributions\SLES\SLES11-SP1-GMC\SLES-11-SP1-DVD-x86_64-GMC3-DVD1.iso

I don't see anything in the logs though that show that this ISO image is checked or anything during the BIOS boot phase but that may be normal.

I was using VMWare Workstation 7.1.2 previously, although it's been a while since I actually installed a new VM under that version. It worked fine though the last time I did it, but that was many Windows updates ago (including Win 7 SP1). Not that that is likely the culprit, but there isn't a lot to go on here.

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

Is the CD/DVD configured to Connect at power on and does it show as Connected once the VM is started?

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pwsteele
Contributor
Contributor

It shows as 'Connect at power on'. The 'Connected' option is grayed out...

Peter

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

The 'Connected' option is grayed out...

If the VM isn't running that's normal and expected however when the VM is running are both checked?

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pwsteele
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, both are checked...

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pwsteele
Contributor
Contributor

I uninstalled 7.1.4 and reinstalled 7.1.2 and not surprizingly this did not solve my problem. I created a new VM under 7.1.2, mapped its CD drive to my ISO, had it boot directly into the BIOS to make sure the CD-ROM was listed before teh network boot, but it still tries to boot from the network instead of my ISO. Something very odd is going on. Am I missing a boot from ISO step in there somewhere?

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

Archive (compress) the .vmx configuration file and the vmware*.log file(s) from the Virtual Machine and attach the .zip archive to a reply post.

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pwsteele
Contributor
Contributor

Here's the zip file. The PC I am working under is running Windows 7 Professional.

Peter

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

Well nothing jumped out to indicate why it's not booting the ISO Image. Smiley Sad

As a test could you download DSL Live Linux ISO Image and create an Other Linux 2.4.x kernel VM pointing to the dsl-4.4.10.iso (50 MB) file and delete the virtual hard disk and then try booting the VM from the ISO.

Does it boot from the dsl-4.4.10.iso image file?

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pwsteele
Contributor
Contributor

I can only assume something must be wrong with the ISO. I tried creating a new Linux VM and booted it from a Fedora Live ISO and it worked fine. If I boot the same VM from my Windows 7 ISO it ignores it. The ISO looks fine. I even burned a DVD from it and it appears to be a proper Windows 7 boot disk. I'm going to have to do some more digging I guess. I seem to have an explanation though.

Peter

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

I can only assume something must be wrong with the ISO. I tried creating a new Linux VM and booted it from a Fedora Live ISO and it worked fine.

Then I'd have to say that this is not a VMware issue.

If I boot the same VM from my Windows 7 ISO it ignores it. The ISO looks fine. I even burned a DVD from it and it appears to be a proper Windows 7 boot disk.

Are you saying that the DVD created from the ISO Image boots?

Also as a test if you boot the Windows Virtual Machine, that will not boot from the Windows ISO Image, with the Linux ISO Image that worked... does it boot from the Linux ISO Image?

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