Powering on the virtual machine fails with error: "HPET cannot work without extended configuration device" or "The device "hpet0" is not supported by the current hardware version"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to power on a virtual machine, these symptoms are experienced:

• Cannot power on the virtual machine
• Powering on a virtual machine fails with the error:

Failed to start the virtual machine

• In /var/log/vmware/hostd.log, there may be messages similar to:

<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> [27480B70 info 'Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/server/server.vmx'] Upgrade is required for virtual machine, version: 4
<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> [261D2B70 verbose 'Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/server/server.vmx'] Vigor client state callback 0 error Lost a connection to the running VMX instance.
--> Transport (VMDB) error -32: Pipe: Read failed.
<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> [261D2B70 verbose 'Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/server/server.vmx'] Power On translated error to vim.fault.GenericVmConfigFault
<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> [261D2B70 info 'Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/server/server.vmx'] Power On failed: vim.fault.GenericVmConfigFault
<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> [261D2B70 verbose 'Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/server/server.vmx'] Power On message: Failed to start the virtual machine.</time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time>

• In the vmware.log, there may be messages similar to:

<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> | vmx| I120: ExtCfgDevice: HPET cannot work without extended configuration device.</time>

• There may be a message in the vSphere client similar to:

    "The device "hpet0" is not supported by the current hardware version"

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs when high precision event timer (HPET) is enabled in VM hardware versions 7 and below.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, perform one of the below options.

Option 1: Disable HPET in the virtual machine.

Disable HPET by editing the guest VM's vmx file:

1. From the client machine, open the .vmx file for the virtual machine using a text editor.
2. Change hpet0.present to FALSE.

Disable HPET by using the vSphere Client:

1. Click the Configuration tab
2. Click Advanced Settings
3. Deselect the VMkernel.Boot.timerEnableHPET option in Advanced Settings

Option 2: Upgrade the virtual machine hardware to version 8 and above.

1. See Upgrading a virtual machine to the latest hardware version (multiple versions)

Note: Virtual HPET is introduced with Virtual Hardware version 8.

Additional Information

Tips for editing a .vmx file
Reloading a vmx file without removing the virtual machine from inventory

Upgrading a virtual machine to the latest hardware version (multiple versions)