VMTN

I realize this is an old thread -

So, I got this working once before but inadvertently deleted the VM.  I wasn't concerned because (a) I bookmarked this thread & (b) I had the rom and instructions in a separate document.

I created a new VM specifying Windows 2008 as the guest OS, copied the rom into the VM directory, updated the vmdk and booted but I'm getting HAL_INITIALIZATION_FAILED BSOD.

Here's what's in the directory and what the vmdk looks like

What have I done wrong?

# uname -a

VMkernel corpdevesxi. 4.1.0 #1 SMP Release build-1050704 Mar 12 2013 10:57:29 x86_64 unknown

# vmware -v

VMware ESXi 4.1.0 build-1050704

You want to modify the .vmx file, not the .vmdk file.

Stupid me.  Thanks for the kind correction - in my haste I clearly misread.  Documentation updated.

Cheers

I just want to say thanks to everyone here.

I have ESXi 4.1 and I wanted to install a 2012 server and yes, stuck in the reboot loop.

I have used the Bios and edited the vmx file now, and the installer is running.

Thanks again, everyone, I know this cant be a production solution, but my systems are just for testing mostly

Hello everyone,

I know this is an old post, thanks a lot! the bios trick worked great :-)

moonshine560 I've also tried your suggestion, at first glance worked, installed the missing system driver and mouse integration worked, but after the first reboot the system begun to crash.

Do you or someone else experienced the same problem after installing vmtools 4.1 on a windows 2012 r2?

Thank again!

That works for the Windows 10 Eval too.  Thanks Much!!!

I just wanted to drop a line and mention that jmattson's instructions worked perfectly for me.

I installed a Windows 8.1 VM on ESXi 4.1.

VMware Tools were installed easily as well. I just did a custom install, deselected the SVGA driver, and everything installed correctly.

Thank you so much for posting jmattson!

Hi

Just wanted to chip in and say that the BIOS file also works great with Windows Server 2016 on vSphere 4.1

However i would like to know if there is a way to make the added BIOS rom "sticky" and available host side when deploying from Golden Image 2012R2/2016 templates? We are using vCenter LabManager 4.1 which is still an awesome product but when deploying clones they fail too boot due to the missing rom, which when added manually to the clone works fine. However i prefer my development colleagues to stick with coding and leave managing the environment to me... ;-)

Ohh and i have installed vmware tools v 10.1.0 works very nice in both 2012R2 and 2016 on vSphere 4.1.