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ramasan
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-26-2008 07:38 PM
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VM will not boot/recognize OS install CD - Windows 2003 - Dell PowerEdge 2950

New to VMware.

Installed ESX 3.5 on a Dell 2950.

Connected to host with VI Client.

Created VM based on Win 2003 wizard (strangely I was limited to 256G ?? I don't think this has anything to do with my problem)

When I power on the VM, the only thing I see is the Network boot from Intel E1000. I can hit escape and go into Phoenix Bios. Poked around there, checked boot order, etc. Tried moving CDRom up. No luck.

I connect cd/dvd button - have tried the cd as well as creating an ISO from the CD and pointed to it on my laptop running VI Client.

I have verified the CD - it starts the install if I reboot the Dell server with it in the CD drive - so the CD and the drive are ok.

I HAVE to be missing something really basic here. One thing I saw in some documentation referred to hitting the connect CD before powering on - I can't seem to do that.

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Dave_Mishchenko
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‎01-26-2008 07:47 PM
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Created VM based on Win 2003 wizard (strangely I was limited to 256G ?? I don't think this has anything to do with my problem)

This will be unrelated. When you format a VMFS partition you have the option of specifying the block size which dictates how large of a VMDK file you can create (1 MB block size = 256 GB, 2MB = 512, 4 MB = 1024 GB and 8 MB = 2048 GB).

If you select to use a datastore ISO image for the CDRom are you then checking the "connect at power on" option?

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
‎01-26-2008 07:47 PM
Jump to solution

Created VM based on Win 2003 wizard (strangely I was limited to 256G ?? I don't think this has anything to do with my problem)

This will be unrelated. When you format a VMFS partition you have the option of specifying the block size which dictates how large of a VMDK file you can create (1 MB block size = 256 GB, 2MB = 512, 4 MB = 1024 GB and 8 MB = 2048 GB).

If you select to use a datastore ISO image for the CDRom are you then checking the "connect at power on" option?

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RParker
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Immortal
‎01-27-2008 06:43 AM
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Are you mounting / attaching the CD ISO from a NFS place on the network, or did you copy the ISO image to a VMFS volume? The NFS mount must be read/write access to the ISO file, and that doesn't make any sense, but that's how it works. If you physically copy the ISO to the VMFS volume, it should work fine.

Also you can try putting the CD in your drive, and use the client device option, and connect to it via the VI Client, once the VM is powered on.

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ramasan
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-30-2008 06:50 PM
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embarrassing but the problem was that i hadnt set it to connect at power on. right clicking and going to properties is highly underrated! Smiley Happy

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