Unable to boot from ISO using EFI mode in ESXi 6.5

[VMwarrior2020]

Hi there,

I am a beginner ESXi user and really need help with this. I did quite a lot of searching regarding this issue but unfortunately could not find a solution.

Here's my situation:

1. I am using ESXi 6.5.

2. I need to create a Windows 7 x64 VM with more than 2TB disk space --> So I need to use GPT partition --> So I need to use EFI boot method. MBR(BIOS) is not an option for me.

3. I customized the VM to boot with EFI and when I booted from the Windows installer ISO, this is what comes up:

–> EFI VMware virtual SCSI Hard Drive (0.0)… unsuccessful.

–>EFI VMware Virtual SATA CDROM Drive (1.0)… unsuccessful.

–> EFI Network…

>>Start PXE over IPv4.

4. My datastore type is VMFS6

Please tell me how to solve this problem.

Thanks in advance.

[Sands90]

I have exactly the same problem.  Anyone got a suggestion?

pleased to see your issue as I think I have the same problem

Did you ever find a solution for this? I'm in the same situation. Still getting same error message.

Can you please share us an image depicting the issue?

did you get any proper solution?, TellPopeyes I am also facing the same issue.

I have the same problem. It is still not resolved. Same issue here. Any progress?

[Lalegre]

Hey VMwarrior2020​,

Have you tried to force the BIOS entry in the next boot and select the boot device manually? Also please confirm that the ISO you are using is 64 bits because the 32 bits is not supported with EFI.

I've seen around the communities with this issue and it was regarding about installing Windows 7 without the SP1 included on it. Which one are you installing?

Also, sometimes this issue could be related of a corrupt ISO being used.

[VMwarrior2020 · Accepted solution]

I was mistakenly using an ISO created with MBR+BIOS boot method. I have created a new ISO with GPT+EFI and it works.

[VMwarrior2020]

Hi Lalegre​,

Answers to your questions:

Have you tried to force the BIOS entry in the next boot and select the boot device manually <-- haven't tried it.

Also please confirm that the ISO you are using is 64 bits because the 32 bits is not supported with EFI. <-- 64-bit confirmed.

I've seen around the communities with this issue and it was regarding about installing Windows 7 without the SP1 included on it. Which one are you installing? <-- Windows 7 x64 SP1

As i mentioned earlier, the failure was happening because i was using an ISO created using BIOS method. The issue was resolved when I used an ISO created using EFI method.

Thanks and regards.