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senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Module 'Disk' power on failed / VM and no snapshot will start

After an System-Restart of my Hostengine maybe caused by an Kaspersky update my VM Workstation on W2019 server won´t start. 

First i get the message :"File not found: G:\WMWARE_Snapshots\Windows Server 2019-000004.vmdk" But the file is still there. When i manually choose the File it try to start, but then i get the message :"Cannot open the disk 'G:\WMWARE_Snapshots\Windows Server 2019-000013.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.Module 'Disk' power on failed."

I renamed the *".ICK - File . But that doesn´t help. 

And no one of the other Snapshots work as well 😞

I checked the Quarantäne-Folder of my Kaspersky, but without any result.  I also deaktivated Kaspersky without result.

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

By default, virtual disks, and snapshots in VMware Workstation consist of multiple .vmdk files, a small descriptor file (e.g. <diskname>.vmdk), and several data .vmdk files (e.g. <diskname>-s0xx.vmdk).

According to the vmware.log file, at least one of these files (Windows Server 2019-000004-s002.vmdk) is missing.

If you cannot find that file (or restore it from a recent backup), it may be possible to recreate a stub file, to at least technically fix the virtual disk. Remember, that this may of course cause some data loss, or corruption.

If you're interested in replacing the file, please run dir *.* > filelist.txt in the VM's folder for  a complete listing of the VM's files, then compress/zip the filelist.txt, as well as all the small .vmdk descriptor files, and attach the .zip archive to your next reply.

André

senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I hope these files are the correct ones. 

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

That's a little bit confusing. The log file contains:

2023-01-10T20:02:15.366Z In(05) vmx DICT fileSearchPath = "G:\WMWARE_Snapshots;C:\Users\Denzer01\Documents\Virtual Machines\Windows Server 2019;I:;."
2023-01-10T20:02:15.366Z In(05) vmx DICT workingDir = "G:\WMWARE_Snapshots"

which means that the VM uses files from "G:\WMWARE_Snapshots"!? Can you please provide a file listing from that folder too?

The .vmdk files I've been asking for are all the small .vmdk files without -s0xx.vmdk in their names. In this case from both folders.

André

senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

in the snapshot folder i could only find the file i attached.  😞

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

The files with -s00x.vmdk in their names are data files, which you don't really want to disclose.
The ones I've asked for are the mall ones without s00x in their names. If you run dir *.vmdk /os they will be listed on top.

Anyway, what you may try is to replace the missing "Windows Server 2019-000004-s002.vmdk" with a copy of "Windows Server 2019-000004-s012.vmdk". Then - prior to powering on the VM - take another snapshot.
If the data is corrupted, and you don't care much about the modifications made during the last few days, but rather care about a healthy system, it may be an option set the VM back to a previous snapshot.

André

senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi, to all. The sollution works till today without any problems. Today i get the same error message with different files. But i made a Clone last week of the working Virtual Machine. When i try to start that one vmware couldn´t find the Clone?  Even if i search manually i couldn´t find the vmx file; only vdmk files are there 😞 Im confused. Hopefully you could help me to get it working again.

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Not sure what exactly causes his, but as mentioned earlier, there's that "fileSearchPath" and "workingDir" setting which may be the reason for the confusion.

I don't see where you created that clone, can you please explain this?

Also please check your A/V an consider excluding *.vm* files from being scanned to see whether this helps.

To make the VM work again, you may - albeit with data loss - replace the missing "Windows Server 2019-000015-s002.vmdk" with a copy of e.g. "Windows Server 2019-000015-s025.vmdk".

André

senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

After sucessfully restarting the System i cloned the VM on another Harddisk.  The cloned machine worked fine few day ago on a test. Right now   there is only an VDMK File with the name. May be Defender delete the file? But i found the lost "Windows Server 2019-000015-s002.vmdk" in the Quarantine folder of Defender.Now i exclude "*.vdmk & *.vmx" files in Defender. After replacing the missing files it get another error "

  • Cannot open the disk 'G:\WMWARE_Snapshots\Windows Server 2019-000016.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.
  • Module 'Disk' power on failed.
  • The parent of this virtual disk could not be opened
  • Cannot open the disk 'G:\WMWARE_Snapshots\Windows Server 2019-1-000009.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.
  • Failed to start the virtual machine."
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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

According to the latest .log file, .vmdk files on the I: drive are missing.

With the distributed file locations, Autoprotect enabled, and tons of snapshots, it's tricky to keep that going smoothly.
Maybe this should be cleaned up, after fixing the current issues!?

Anyway, to see which files exist in the different locations, please run the following commands and attach VMDKFiles.txt to your next reply.

md "C:\temp"
echo "Windows Server 2019 - File Listing" > "C:\temp\VMDKFiles.txt"
dir "C:\Users\Denzer01\Documents\Virtual Machines\Windows Server 2019\*.vm*" /oen >> "C:\temp\VMDKFiles.txt"
dir "G:\WMWARE_Snapshots\*.vm*" /oen >> "C:\temp\VMDKFiles.txt"
dir "I:\*.vm*" /oen >> "C:\temp\VMDKFiles.txt"

André

senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

That is realy strange i never had a drive wich was maped I:\

So the command couldn´t found i:\

I:\ was an  UsB-Stick. But i never used it for the Virtuell machine. The home directory was stored on c:\ and the snapshots on g:\  on h:\ i put the cloned machine. 

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

In this case please search for "Windows Server 2019-1.vmdk". It's got to be stored somewhere.

André

senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi, could restore with acronis the Vmware Folder on c:\  The Problem with drive i:\ is gone. The other problems stay the same. I searched also for "Windows Server 2019-1.vmdk" and could it find only on "H:\" But on "H:\" i only stored the cloned copy of the Server. Everything is realy confusing for me. Hopefully the attached files help you.

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

>>> Everything is realy confusing for me.
You're not alone.

I'm confused about what you actually have (including the clone), why you decided to store snapshots in other locations, and also why you rename files, and replace them with wrong files, e.g.

20.01.2023 07:26 3.735.552 Windows Server 2019-1-000009.vmdk <-- replaced descriptor file with a data file ???
20.01.2023 07:26 2.147 Windows Server 2019-1-000009_alt.vmdk <-- the correct file has been renamed ???

To be able to help it's necessary to have a complete overview, not just a partial one, and it's also necessary to know what exactly you tried to do so far.

André

senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I thank you so much  for your time you spend so far. 

With the error message  "Windows Server 2019-1-000009.vmdk" failed to open, i tried to replace the file by another to take a look if  the erros message change. There for i kept the orininal file als Windows Server 2019-1-000009_alt.vmdk. to rename it later(Maybe a bad idea )  😞 

Then i tried to recover the machnine with acronis to a state 2 Days ago where i knew the machine was working correctly.  After the Problem last week i deactivated Kaspersky (after that Defender was activated atomaticly but i didn´t realize that last week) Yesterday i excluded the *.vmx and vmdk-files. Right now i fully deactivated Defender.  Right now i´m searching with "easus data recovery" for the Lost "Clone of Windows Server 2019.vmx"  That i have created on H:\  after the problems last Week.  

 

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senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I tried to recover all the lost files. And hopefully the are all there. But now i get an other  message "File not found: Windows Server 2019-Snapshot467.vmsn" I can finde the "Snapshot463,468&469" but not Snapshot467. I hope someone can help me. Even if i lost dato and have to restore the system to a time ago. I will be happy even if i can start the VM with data loss. But right now i have done everything what i can do 😞 

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Ok, let's see what is possible.

Please provide a complete file listings (using the dir command as earlier) for all folders that contain files for this VM.

André

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senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi, here is the filelist of the zwo folders.

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

To get rid of the error message, edit the .vmx file, and delete all lines which contain RollingTier. This will disable AutoProtect snapshots for now.
However, this may not help much, as you're still missing "Windows Server 2019-1.vmdk" along with its "Windows Server 2019-1-s0xx.vmdk" data files. Don't you have them in a backup?

André

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senf2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi, I found the missing "Windows Server 2019-1.vmdk" + "Windows Server 2019-1-s0xx.vmdk files  in one of the Backups. Right now im restoring them. Do i have to move the files to the "Snapshot folder"? And do you have an idea how i can do for the missing "File not found: Windows Server 2019-Snapshot467.vmsn" I couldn´t find this file in any Backup and even not with Recuva 😞

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