virtualbox.org

Hi all

Short story:
Could a note be added to http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Migrate_Windows:
"If you're getting disk related blue screens crashes, try attaching the vmdk using the IDE controller."

Longer version:
Running VirtualBox 4.2.1 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I had a VMWare vmdk with Windows 2008 on it that had been running in VMWare on Linux. I created a new VM in VirtualBox and added the vmdk file as an existing disk. I then followed the instructions on http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Migrate_Windows.

What followed next was blue screen after blue screen. I tried booting with the OS install disk and repairing the installation but no luck. From booting in safe mode console, I could see Windows hanging after loading crcdisk.sys. Got me thinking about what disk controller the VirtualBox vm using. Turned out it had defaulted to SATA. I tried SCSI (which is what the original VMWare vm had used) but same problem. But then (just trying to eliminate options) I tried IDE and the boot succeeded! I'm currently making sure everything is cool but all seems good.

Maybe this could save someone else some time?

Cheers
Carlos

You say you tried the SCSI controller because VMWare uses that too, but did you bother to check which controller you used on VMWare exactly? You can choose several controllers and if you, for example, installed it on LSI Logic, but define BUS Logic in VB, then it's normal the VM crashes with a BSOD.

Hi sasquatch

Well... this section in the vmx file led me to assume the VMWare instance was using SCSI:

scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.sharedBus = "none"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsisas1068"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.fileName = "Win2008.vmdk"
scsi0:0.writeThrough = "TRUE"

Was this an incorrect assumption? What do you mean by "define BUS Logic in VB"?

To be clear, it was my mistake not to check what VB assumed. (Default to a SATA controller.) After all, how could VB know what the correct controller was without looking into the vmx file? I just didn't think to check until much later when I thought about what might cause the system to start booting and then throw a disk error. It's that additional note I thought might be useful on the Migrating Windows page. I'm sure it's obvious to many, I just assumed some others might be like me and not think to check.

Cheers
Carlos

Check out chapter 5.1 of the User Manual, then you will see what I'm talking about. Here's a small piece of it:

Primarily for compatibility with other virtualization software, VirtualBox optionally supports LSI Logic and BusLogic SCSI controllers

Here you see the LSI Logic and BusLogic controller option.

Check your controller option in the VMX file another time, and you will see it's defined as LSI SAS. This isn't a SATA or SCSI controller, but a SAS, or Serial Attached SCSI. In the VM settings, this is shown as LsiLogic SAS.

Ah, I see what you mean!

Quite right, I changed the controller to SAS (LsiLogic SAS) and it booted fine. Thanks!

RTFM right?

Yup, most important thing to do before asking questions .

Hi Guys, somehow LsiLogic SAS does not work for me..
I am using IBM server with LSILogic EFI SAS RAID controller on Windows 2008 Server.
I did a P2V on vmware which worked perfectly, but I used the same vmdk on vbox it just refused to work.
Some help?

Cheers,
JK