VM fails to boot into guest OS after converting storage control type from IDE to SCSI

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• The vendor-provided OVA configured with an IDE storage controller when changed the adapter type from IDE to SCSI, the virtual machine failed to boot into the guest operating system and reported a boot error.
• Error: Warning: dracut-initqueue timeout - starting timeout scripts

Environment

ESXi Version 8.x

Cause

• The issue is likely related to guest OS incompatibility with the SCSI storage controller. The issue may occur if the system partition ID does not match the value defined in the GRUB loader configuration.
• Adding or changing storage controller types on virtual machines using BIOS firmware can result in operating system boot failures.

Resolution

• Since the OVA is provided by vendor, it is recommended to engage the vendor to confirm whether the guest OS supports the SCSI adapter type and whether any guest OS–level changes are required.

• While SCSI controllers offer performance enhancements over legacy IDE adapter type, no significant performance impact may be observed for this workload.

Additional Information

SCSI, SATA, and NVMe Storage Controller Conditions, Limitations, and Compatibility