P2V conversion using VMware Converter fails with the error: Unable to find the system volume, reconfiguration is not possible
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P2V conversion using VMware Converter fails with the error: Unable to find the system volume, reconfiguration is not possible

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Article ID: 328826

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

  • Cannot perform a P2V conversion using VMware Converter.
  • During a P2V conversion, Converter fails at 96%.
  • The following error is seen:

    Unable to find the system volume, reconfiguration is not possible.
     
  • In the vmware-converter-worker-#.log file, entries appear similar to:

    [#8] [2011-04-03 info 'App'] [,0] Error 13 reading Element value from key mntApi#######\Objects\{9d######-####-####-####-##########95}\Elements\24000001

    [#8] [2011-04-03 info 'App'] [,0] Error 13 reading Element value from key mntApi#######\Objects\{9d######-####-####-####-##########95}\Elements\24000001
    [#8] [2011-04-03 info 'App'] [,0] Unloaded hive mntApi#######
    [#8] [2011-04-03 error 'task-8'] [GetMntapiOsInfo] Got an error getting MNTAPI OS information

Environment

VMware vCenter Converter 4.0.x VMware vCenter Converter 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.1.x VMware vCenter Converter 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.2.x VMware vCenter Converter 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.3.x VMware vCenter Converter 6.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs when converting a physical machine that uses Boot Configuration Data or BCD ( Example Windows Vista, 7, Windows Server 2008, or 2008 R2 or any Windows OS). In this case, the physical machine may have some type of system, hidden, or recovery partition that results in inaccurate BCD configuration data after the conversion and causes the virtual machine reconfiguration process to fail. BCD issues can be addressed by rebuilding automatically using the bootrec command or by editing the BCD stores using the bcdedit command.

Resolution

To resolve this issue:
  1. Register the VM into inventory ( ESXi or vCenter Server )
  2. Boot the virtual machine from the correct Microsoft Windows installation media (Correct architecture and version of the operating system)
  3. Select the appropriate keyboard layout and language options and click Next
  4. Click Repair your computer
  5. Select the operating system to be repaired and click Next
  6. Click Start > Run, type cmd and click OK
  7. Type bcdedit and press Enter
  8. Under the Windows Boot Manager title with the identifier set to {bootmgr}, you may see that the device is set to boot. Similarly, under the Windows Boot Loader with the identifier set to {default}, you may see that the device and osdevice are set to boot. These items should be set properly for your environment. Usually these appear as partition=C:. In some cases the {default} identifier may have them set to partition=D:

    Run these commands to correct the configuration:

    Note: bcdedit is located in this path: c:\windows\system32.

    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:
    bcdedit /set {default} device partition=C:
    bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=C:
     
  9. Type exit at the command prompt and select Shutdown.
  10. Try to reconfigure using VMware Converter. The reconfigure should now complete successfully. If it fails again, repeat Steps 1 to 7 and then run these commands to set the default device to partition=D::

    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:
    bcdedit /set {default} device partition=D:
    bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=D:

    Note: The D: partition is used as an example. You can use any available drive letter.

Note: If, after running the preceding bcdedit commands, the virtual machine boots and then fails with a blue screen, perform these steps to resolve the issue:

  1. Boot the virtual machine from the Windows 2008 ISO.
  2. Load the Recovery Console.
  3. Click Start > Run, type regedit, and click OK. The Registry Editor window opens.
  4. Click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM) and then click Menu > File > Load Hive.
  5. Browse to C:\Windows\system32\config and select the file SYSTEM.
  6. When prompted for a name enter p2v.
  7. Locate the key HKLM\p2v\ControlSet001\services\LSI_SAS.
  8. Set the value of the start type to REG_DWORD 0.
  9. Select HKLM\p2v and click Menu > File > Unload Hive.
  10. Close Registry Editor and restart the virtual machine.

For more information, see Virtual machine fails to boot with a blue diagnostic screen stating: 7B Stop Code after using VMware Converter (316391).

If bcdedit is not working then, navigate to advanced options and select the automatic repair address the problem. 

 

Additional Information

 

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