V2V - Windows 2003 - Boot Issues

[LanNET]

Hi to all,

I have a little prob with a V2V (Hyper-V) Windows 2003 Standard Server after converting to ESXi 4. The VM powers on, but no boot process starts - only a cursor is blinking.

Environment:

Origin Machine IBM 3650 (1.Generation) with Win 2008 x64 Standard as Hyper-V Host

Target Machine IBM 3650 M2 with ESXi 4.0 (actual from Website)

Conversion took place on Origin Machine (Hot Cloning) to Target Server with Converter Standalone 4.0.1 (actual from Website)

The conversion completed succesfully (100%) and reported no errors.

The next steps I tried, were the steps reported in KB1006269. Unfortunately without any success.

After the points mentioned above, I tried an other conversion of a Hyper-V Machine (Windows 2008 32-bit Standard), that works absolutely fine on the new hardware.

Now my question: What could it be, that the Win 2003 Server does not boot at all? The volume is accessible (as described in KB1006269 - CHKDSK reports no errors) but no chance of seeing anything more than a blinking cursor. Please give me a helping hand - I got no more ideas....

Thx a lot for your support

Jens.

[microkid]

Did you try to start the VM in safe mode? Maybe some Hyper-v drivers need to be uninstalled first?

[Muzzzz]

I was p2v'ing & had a similar problem, & this fixed it.

I converted to vmware server 1 then booted on that, then converted to ESXi4 hardware 7

A bit of a pain but it worked...

VMWare Converter seems to have special features, ie. its a good idea to recreate swap files after the windows vm boots.

[LanNET]

I spent the past 2 days at the IBM partner camp in Stuttgart, so I could not test your proposals. But both of your advices are very good ideas - thank you for that. I will report the results after having testet both of them.

Up to then, best regards

Jens.

EDIT:

I tried out the first advice - booting the VM in safe mode. A conversion is not possible since the safe mode is not supported and I receive an 1084 error from the vCenter Converter Server Service that the service is unavailable in safe mode. Any other suggestions?

2.EDIT:

I was succesful in converting the machine as a VM Type 4 (ESX up to Version 3.5). The machine bootet and I could apply VMWare Tools, network adresses etc. That was a very good idea. Problem solved!!! :smileyhappy:

[saden]

I had the same problem. Converted ok, but would not boot. I found that

the problem was likely an incorrect version of the sysprep file used.

Mine was Windows 2003 SP2 which has a sysprep update: .

I was able to grab the sysprep.exe from the update and copy it to the

convertion server, ran the conversion again and everything worked great.