How to enter the BIOS of a VM?

[okeedokee]

I am powering on a VM, clicking in the console and then repeatedly trying F2 or Esc, but no luck getting to the BIOS. The OS loads each time.

Are there any other keystrokes for this?

Regards

[jdaunt]

F2 is definitely the correct keystroke. Try rebooting the OS and repeatedly pressing F2. I have run into an issue where the console does not appear until the VM has been "Powered On", but the delay between Virtual Center confirming the power on and the actual power operation is to large..

[Chris_S_UK]

I have found that there can be a very small window for pressing the function key and that consequently it can be difficult to get into the bios.

I suppose you could restrict your VM's cpu to a few Mhz only so that it boots really slowly and gives you more time to press f2!

I don't think there's any other 'magic' way...

Chris

[admin]

I find that if you power on, then quickly hit reset, it gives you a couple more seconds to hit F2 or ESC. Definitely a better approach than power off - power on as that seems to make the console take a few moments to become active, longer than the BIOS screen is shown for!

They're definitely the right key-presses, it's just really really fast at booting past the BIOS screen.

[RDPetruska]

Or, click in the VM's window to give it focus, and hit Ctrl-R to reset the guest while still keeping the guest in focus - should let you hit F2 or Esc then.

[grasshopper]

What version of esx? Worst case you may be able to delete the VM's nvram file. Upon power up it will create a new one, with the default first boot order (CD first).

[vmjoe]

This is a f***ing bug! On our HP DL585 ESX3 hosts with 4 dualcore Opterons the VMs are booting sooo fast that it is virtual impossible to hit ESC in the right fraction of a second...

[RDPetruska]

vmjoe - please see my reply above and see if that workaround works for you.

It's a bit harsh to call extreme performance enhancements a "bug" - I certainly would expect a circa 1996 BIOS running on an Intel 440BX chipset to absolutely scream on a quad-core hardware. Just think about running your DOS apps on a Pentium chip - it's at least that much performance improvements.

[esiebert7625]

I had posted a question a while back and never received any replies. I was hoping there was a way to change the amount of time that the BIOS screen displays. It would be nice if they put a parameter in the vmx file to let you control it. Perhaps in a future release...

[okeedokee]

This is ESX 3.0 and VI Client 2.0.

Regards

[chrisbuzby]

connect directly to the ESX server opposed via VC, also ensure no one else is "connected" to the remote console.

[Jae_Ellers]

I've also had better luck connecting directly to the ESX server it's on. Unfortunately with DRS it also results in disconnection since when you start the vm up it loads the host. But it is easier to get the keystrokes thru to the VM.

[VTorque]

Takes skills hey!

Personally I find the reset option helps when needed.

[grasshopper]

if one gets desperate, you could temporarily remove the disks from the guest, which will let it hang at the pxe boot for a while.

[okeedokee]

I've tried deleting the VM's nvram file and reducing the CPU Mhz but it still tries to network boot. Esc, F2, F8 and F12 get me nowhere.

When resetting the VM, there does seem to be a delay on the VMware boot screen that shows a moving progress bar, but pressing any keys still does nothing.

Regards

[admin]

Hmm, and you've definitely clicked the console to capture the input?

[okeedokee]

Yes, I've tried using the Ctrl keystrokes to reset the VM while focus is in the VM console.

[esiebert7625 · Accepted solution]

It's definitely a small window of opportunity. I find I have to click in the window and hit ESC real quick to get it to work. Sometimes it takes a few tries, I wish they would make this configurable.

[okeedokee]

I finally got it by using Esc in VC. I guess what was happening was that I was clicking in the console immediately after powering on thinking that was setting focus, but the pointer remained visible.

Focus can't get set until after the VMware boot screen. At that point, an Esc gets to the boot menu.

Regards

[ber05]

Or, click in the VM's window to give it focus, and hit Ctrl-Alt-Insert to reboot the guest...

Message was edited by:

ber05