problem with VMWare Fusion- virtual machine doesnt run

[dizzysnake]

exported XP machine using the VMWare converter to a mac mini.

installed Fusion on the mac. double clicked on the .vmx file that was not grayed (there were the other grayed files from the conversion in the folder)

the XP logo came up but immediately went blue screen "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down..."

i did get an error regarding ide0:1 when i started up the VM but there wasnt any option to do anything about it except disable it.

all the web site i see said thing just works, and i havent found any information about how to fix this problem.

id rather not reimage the XP machine as it took 6 hours.

ideas?

james

[nathanp]

The error about ide0:1 was likely related to a CD-rom, nothing that would cause XP to BSOD.

Can you post the vmx file along with the vmware.log file? They may help in identifying some possible problems.

[dizzysnake]

hi,

ive attached the contents of the .vmx file below. the mac mini is brand new, and there isnt anything usual about the XP machine that i know of. its a dell box that came with XP installed i bought new about 4 years ago. thanks!

james

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "6"

memsize = "1152"

MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"

MemTrimRate = "-1"

displayName = "JamesXP"

guestOS = "winxppro"

numvcpus = "2"

floppy0.present = "TRUE"

floppy0.fileName = "A:"

floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.filename = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

usb.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

ethernet0.connectionType = "nat"

scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.fileName = "JamesXP-000001.vmdk"

pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"

tools.upgrade.policy = "useGlobal"

ehci.present = "TRUE"

ide0:0.present = "TRUE"

ide0:0.autodetect = "TRUE"

ide0:0.filename = "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/isoimages/windows.iso"

ide0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-image"

ide0:1.present = "TRUE"

ide0:1.autodetect = "TRUE"

ide0:1.filename = "auto detect"

ide0:1.deviceType = "atapi-cdrom"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0.virtualDev = "buslogic"

buslogic.noDriver = "FALSE"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:45:a0:73"

uuid.location = "56 4d 2d 8f 77 24 16 eb-8c 04 4c 73 9d 45 a0 73"

uuid.bios = "56 4d 2d 8f 77 24 16 eb-8c 04 4c 73 9d 45 a0 73"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

scsi0:0.redo = ""

checkpoint.vmState = ""

pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"

scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"

ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "32"

sound.pciSlotNumber = "33"

ehci.pciSlotNumber = "34"

ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

ide0:0.startConnected = "FALSE"

ide0:1.startConnected = "FALSE"

[dizzysnake]

and here is the vmware.log file

i do see two lines with error in them:

Jan 20 09:12:04.008: vmx| FILE: FileIO_SetExcludedFromTimeMachine Couldn't dlsym

: Unknown error: 0.

but i dont know if they are important or not.

james

[nathanp]

Are you using 10.5 (Leopard)?

I'm using Tiger, so I expect to see that error since I don't have TimeMachine.

Can you take a screenshot of the BSOD? (Command/Open apple + Shift + 4 and select the screen).

There wasn't anything really wrong in the vmx file and no errors were in the vmware.log.

[dizzysnake]

im new to macs so im not sure which the name is, but the about box says 'Mac OS X' version 10.4.10, which came preinstalled on my mac mini.

i reimaged the disk using different settings but still get the same blue screen. ill attach the blue screen image. it doesnt say much.

i had this idea from reading on the web that fusion was easy to use, but if the reality is it is a big project to get running or it doesnt work for many people please clue me in now.

thanks!

james

[dizzysnake]

update:

i was able to start XP in safe mode, but it ran very slowly and made the Mac OS almost unresponsive.

is that normal when the VM is running? i thought it would run (more or less) at normal speed, and i didnt expect it to cripple the mac as well.

next i will try different setting on the VM to see if it can get to boot in normal mode.

this makes me suspect i am running out of resources.

ive got the 2.0 GHz mac mini- shouldnt that be fast enough to run fusion? its got a 160gig hard drive with a 500gig fire wire external drive attached. i pared down my xp machine so the disk image only takes up about 70gig on the mac HD.

james

[WoodyZ]

i reimaged the disk using different settings but still get the same blue screen. ill attach the blue screen image. it doesnt say much.

i had this idea from reading on the web that fusion was easy to use, but if the reality is it is a big project to get running or it doesnt work for many people please clue me in now.

Actually VMware Fusion is very easy to use if you're creating a Fusion Virtual Machine from scratch compared to creating one in a P2V scenario using VMware Converter or other methods.

P2V is not perfect and does not work smoothly in all cases. Frankly it has been my experience when building out a system's OS and Application Software that a clean build vs any of the technologies I used to convert or replicate a build across systems of differing hardware creates a system in which the overall performance is unmatched and with less issues in the long run. Yes clean building is extremely time consuming and not always practical in all cases however sometimes there is not another choice.

Bottom line I'd rather spend 24 hours doing it from scratch then using a utility that takes 6 hours and in the end gives a BSOD that can be extremely difficult to diagnose and fix and it's usually very time consuming a process even if it's fixable. STOP 7B BSOD's error are time consuming to fix and are not always fixable in a reasonable length of time.

[dizzysnake]

thanks woody,

thats the impression i am getting. if i have one thing installed that isnt compatible with fusion, it will blue screen and there is no way of knowing what it might be.

i tried removing some apps in safe mode without effect. rebuilding my XP machine thats 4 years old from scratch doesnt sound like fun, and not worth the time when i have a dell box that already runs them. from how slow the machine runs in safe mode, im pretty sure it isnt going to cut it in virtual mode even if i do get it working.

frankly, i thought the idea of virtualizing a complex machine like XP sounded like science fiction to me. i am sure it works fine for people in test environments with small, clean installs. but for migrating people with actual legacy computers the technology isnt there yet.

im going to play around with it a little more and then ask for my money back from VMWare. thanks for all you help.

james

[nathanp]

Unfortunately that BSOD doesn't give any specifics about what failed. My guess is that there is some driver issue, but it would be very difficult to narrow down which (or even if that is the problem).

I have never tried P2V, so have had any difficulties making VMs. If my company let me move to a mac instead of a PC, then I'd go through it once for that.

Performance is slow because 1) safe mode is slow and 2) VMware Tools aren't installed. Without the tools running, you don't get any acceleration.

One thing you may be able to try is putting in your Win XP install CD and doing a repair on your VM to see if it can clear up any of the problems. Just make sure it boots from the CD or else you will keep hitting the BSOD (hit escape before the VMware BIOS screen flies by and you can choose CD).

[dizzysnake]

i did a search for a list of applications and drivers that are incompatible with fusion but didnt find anything useful. ill ask vmware if they have this list.

could i maybe shut down as many unrequired services and drivers as i can, then make a disk image using the converter? i cant remove them from the VM in safe mode. then i could turn them on one by one.

thats right- i wasnt able to install the vmware tools from fusion and they didnt install even thought i specified using them during the conversion.

james

[WoodyZ]

i did a search for a list of applications and drivers that are incompatible with fusion but didnt find anything useful. ill ask vmware if they have this list. could i maybe shut down as many unrequired services and drivers as i can, then make a disk image using the converter? i cant remove them from the VM in safe mode. then i could turn them on one by one. thats right- i wasnt able to install the vmware tools from fusion and they didnt install even thought i specified using them during the conversion.

The issue is a Hardware Driver Issue and it it was me in your position here is what I would try.

1. Make a copy of the existing VM while is shutdown not suspended and with Fusion closed as a backup.

2. Get a copy of the VMware SCSI Drivers on a floppy image from the VMware web site. Added Floppy Drive to VM if necessary.

3. Boot the VM with the Windows XP CD-ROM or ISO Image of the CD-ROM and press F6 when prompted to add SCSI Driver from Floppy Image and continue on to do a Repair Install. This normally leaves applications intact so you do not need to reinstall however there are caveats and it best to check out the process from the the following URL.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

The above is only one of many resources however there are links from that too and or a google search shows others.

By now though if you had just started building a new native Fusion Virtual Machine from scratch you would be well along the way and most likely without any problems.

Also if the system you're converting is a Dell with a Dell OEM Windows install than it is a violation of the EULA to transfer it to any other system as it is not only bound to the system it was installed on it is also tied to the motherboard which would mean if you changed the motherboard on the system it came on technically you could not use the originally installed copy of the Dell OEM Windows OS. Also some Dell OEM Windows CD are BIOS Locked and will nor install on motherboards that are not Dell Branded.

Good Luck.