Physical disk linux guest/windows host: no longer working

[rektide]

The reason I bought VMware long long ago and the only reason I use vmware is to run linux partitions in windows. However I'm trying to set this up after a long spell of not using VMware Workstation, and its not working what so ever.

I've added the two entire physical disks I would like to use to the vm. When I boot up, it enumerates the partitions properly. It lists the cd rom device. Then it sits for a while before dumping loads of errors:

hda: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0x66

hda: DMA interrupt recovery

hda: lost interrupt

hda: dma_intr: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }

hda: dma_intr: error=0xc0 { BadSector UncorrectableError }, LBAsect=2930276992, high=174, low=11041408, sector=2930276992

ide: failed opcode was: unknown

end_request: I/O error, dev hda, sector 2930276992

Buffer I/O error on device hda, logical block 366284624

And similarly for hdb.

I've tried rebuilding numerous times, tried switching to accessing only some partitions, and regardless of what I do, I get this godforsaken error, and all I can think is, VMware Workstation, you have utterly failed at helping me access as disk that really exists. I've done this dozens of times on dozens of systems, and never has this been an issue. What in the heavens is going wrong?

Good grief, what is going wrong, and how do I make it work?

[cdc1]

Try booting the guest using the "noapic" kernel option (without the quotes) from the boot

menu, then change your boot manager menu entries to load the kernel using that same

option so you don't have to keep doing it at every boot.

[rektide]

Thank you for the suggestion, however I am still receiving the same failures.

[continuum]

post a vmware.log from a start with this issues - do you use Vista ?

___________________________________

description of vmx-parameters:

VMware-liveCD:

[rektide]

Hello. Yes I am using Vista, 32bit at the moment. I've attached a recent vmware.log. Thank you for your consideration; I'm still hoping to get this working eventually.

[rektide]

The last log was run with the "noapic" kernel option. This log is from an attempt to load Linux without specifying noapc.

[rektide]

My current config is that I have one drive for Vista, and I just purchased two new drives just for Linux. There are a bunch of partitions on the two new drives, but they're all Linux partitions, and its only the Linux guest OS (or the same OS running standalone via dualboot) that'll need access to the latter two disks.

I keep finding mysterious references to physical disk access working either very poorly, or not at all in Vista, but I have yet to see a single thread detailing someones problem, or a solution. Its just cryptic references cited here and there, as if people know its a no no.

[wila]

Hi,

Vista doesn't allow raw disk access when you access it as a normal user. So it sort of makes sense.

Does it help if you start workstation as an administrator (right click icon, properties and then there's an option to start as administrator)

I haven't tested this here myself, but that's what i would try.

Good luck!

--

Wil

_____________________________________________________

Visit the VMware developers wiki at http://www.vi-toolkit.com

[anttir]

I had similar trouble with using physical partition. Sometimes I used this partition to boot from bios, sometimes I ran it under vmware. I had these same errors when booting vmware but usually managed to boot up the OS after initramfs. Adding libata.dma=0 to kernel parameters helped reduce these errors.

If someone else tries using same partition both natively with /dev/mapper and under vmware using /dev/sda please remember not to update kernel while under vmware. There's a hold line in apt-get for that.