Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 guest operating systems are unable to access storage on a virtual machine configured with the LSI Logic SCSI adapter

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to deploy or use Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 on a virtual machine configured to use one or more LSI Logic SCSI adapter, you experience these symptoms:

• During the installation, you are prompted for additional SCSI adapter drivers to install to disks connected to the LSI Logic SCSI adapter.
• During run time, you are unable to access a non-system disk connected to the LSI Logic SCSI adapter.

Environment

VMware Fusion Pro 8.x
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion 6.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7
VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Linux)
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.0
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)

Cause

• This issue occurs because, starting with Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1, Microsoft does not ship the inbox LSI Logic Parallel driver.

Resolution

To prevent this issue, configure the Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 virtual machines to use an alternative storage adapter, such as LSI Logic SAS controller or the PVSCSI HBA controller.

Note :If Switching to LSI Logic SAS controller or the PVSCSI HBA controller did not work we need to mount the vmscsi-1.2.0.4.flp attachment from KB1005208  to install the driver when prompted in the Windows installer.

Workaround:

To resolve it we needed to mount the vmscsi-1.2.0.4.flp attachment from KB1005208 to install the driver when prompted in the Windows installer.

Additional Information