Adjusting the virtual SCSI adapter type in a VMDK file

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to modify the virtual disk adapter type to match the guest operating system.

After converting a physical or virtual machine using VMware Converter, you experience these symptoms:

• You are unable to boot the virtual machine
• Windows boots to a blue screen error
• You see one or more entries similar to:
  • STOP 0x7B INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
  • STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
  • Mount: error No such device or address mounting /dev/root on /sysroot as ext3
    Setuproot: moving /dev failed: No such file or directory
    Setuproot: error mounting /proc: No such file or directory
    Setuproot: error mounting /sys: No such file or directory
    Switchroot: mount failed: No such file or directory
    Kernel panic – not syncing: Attempted to kill init!
  • A disk read error occurred

Cause

This issue occurs if the SCSI controller is misidentified or if you do not choose an appropriate driver while creating the virtual machine.

Resolution

To correct the adapter type after the conversion or creation of a virtual machine, use the GUI or the command line.

GUI

To correct the adapter type after the conversion or creation of a virtual machine using the GUI, see Changing the virtual SCSI controller of a virtual machine (1002149).

Command line

To correct the adapter type after the conversion or creation of a virtual machine using the command line:

1. Power off the virtual machine that is using the virtual hard disk file (VMDK).
2. If the virtual machine is located on an ESXi host, use the service console to access the file. For more information on accessing the service console, see:
   

   • For ESXi – Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi.
      
3. Locate the smallest VMDK file (about 340 bytes), which will typically be in a folder labeled /vmfs/volumes/volume id/virtual machine name on an ESXi host. If not accessing a host, locate the file on your local drive.
4. After the virtual machine is located, open the .vmdk file using a text editor or vi (nameofvm).vmdk command.
   
   The file appears similar to:
   
   # Disk DescriptorFile
   version=1
   CID=cid
   parentCID=ffffffff
   createType="create_type"
   
   # Extent description
   RW num_sectors TYPE "filename"
   
   # The Disk Data Base
   #DDB
   
   ddb.virtualHWVersion = "version"
   ddb.geometry.cylinders = "cylinders"
   ddb.geometry.heads = "heads"
   ddb.geometry.sectors = "sectors"
   ddb.adapterType = "adapter_type"
    
5. Locate the line ddb.adapterType.
6. Specify one of these parameters: lsilogic or buslogic.
   
   This table shows the adapter type for the guest operating system:
    

   Guest Operating System	Adapter Type
   Windows 2003, 2008, Vista, Windows 7	lsilogic
   Windows NT, 2000, XP	buslogic
   Linux	lsilogic

   
   Note: If the desired setup is for the virtual machine to use the PVSCSI controller, the ddb.adapterType should be set to lsilogic. If the ddb.adapterType is set to PVSCSI, storage vMotion fails.
    
7. Save the changes to the .vmdk file.
8. Power on the virtual machine. If you are prompted to change the adapter type assigned to the virtual machine, allow the changes.

For information on changing the SCSI controller using the GUI option, see Change the virtual SCSI controller of a virtual machine (1002149).

 

Additional Information

For more information related to troubleshooting, see:

• Troubleshooting a virtual machine converted with VMware Converter that fails to boot with the error: STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE (1006295)
• Cannot power on a virtual machine because the virtual disk cannot be opened (1004232)
• Guest Operating System Installation Guide