Windows Virtual Machine Boot Failure with INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE Error:

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• The Windows virtual machine fails to boot, and the guest OS encounters a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) with the error code INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE.
• Additionally, attempting to boot the VM in Safe Mode also results in failure.

Environment

VMware vSphere 7.0.x

VMware vSphere 8.0.x

Cause

The guest OS fails to detect the PVSCSI drivers during boot, resulting in a BSOD with the INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE error. This issue occurs when the OS is initially using PVSCSI drivers that are not detected correctly during the boot process.

Resolution

(Note: Before performing these steps, ensure that there are no snapshots in the virtual machine.)

• Step 1: Power off the VM

• Step 2: Change the SCSI Controller

  • Go to the VM's hardware settings and change the SCSI controller type from VMware Paravirtual to LSI Logic SAS.

                         

• Step 3: Power on the VM in Safe Mode

  • Power on the virtual machine and select the Safe Boot option during boot to load the system in a safe mode.

• Step 4: Gracefully Restart the VM

  • Once the VM boots in safe mode and the guest OS detects the boot device correctly, perform a graceful restart of the VM.

• Step 5: Revert SCSI Controller Change

  • After confirming that the VM successfully boots in the guest OS, power off the VM again.

  • Change the SCSI controller type back to VMware Paravirtual.

• Step 6: Power on the VM

  • Power the VM back on. The system should now successfully boot with the OS loaded without any issues.

Additional Information

Changing the virtual SCSI controller of a virtual machine

Configuring disks to use VMware Paravirtual SCSI (PVSCSI) controllers