- Full-featured graphical desktop interface
- Hardware Support Customizer tool
- Improved hardware support with new Linux 2.6 kernel
For a list of hardware currently supported by P2V 2.1, see: Hardware Compatibility Guide for
P2V 2.x
Known Issues
Check the VMware Knowledge Base for updates to the issues
described in this document. To review all Knowledge Base articles
related to P2V, search for the keyword "P2V".
For any known issue that has a Knowledge Base article link, please use this path to access the article.
Change the Knowledge Base number in the URL.
www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=xxxx
Security Alerts for This Release
As of this writing, no security alerts have been identified specifically
for P2V 2.1.
Please refer to KB 1107 for VMware product security alerts.
Installing on Windows 2000 with Terminal Services
Description:
The P2V Assistant cannot be installed on Windows 2000 systems
with Terminal Services.
Action:
- Run a virtual machine on the Windows 2000 system with
Terminal Services.
- Install the P2V Assistant in the virtual machine.
The virtual machine you use should not be running Windows 2000
guest operating system with Terminal Services.
Cloning Multiboot Systems
Description:
P2V Assistant does not support dual-boot or multiboot systems.
Although P2V Imaging will clone the image of your source disk into a
virtual machine, System Reconfiguration reconfigures only the active Windows system.
Multiboot systems are those systems with multiple versions of Windows
installed, either under Windows itself or through third party tools
such as Linux LILO or V Communications System Commander.
Action:
Not supported. There is no workaround.
P2V Assistant Multi-Tasking
Description:
While the P2V Assistant is processing and showing a progress message
do not start another P2V Assistant action.
Action:
Allow the P2V Assistant to complete its task before attempting another task.
Non-Standard Hardware Drivers
Description:
When a source machine uses non-standard hardware components,
conversion to a virtual machine might cause
the virtual machine to hang.
This includes non-standard keyboards and mice.
Action:
- Uninstall the non-standard hardware.
- Install standard hardware.
- Re-run the cloning process.
Physical Additional Extensions in NT 4 Systems
Description:
P2V Assistant cannot perform a system reconfiguration on NT systems
with greater than 4 GB of RAM.
Action:
Reduce the RAM prior to performing the cloning process.
Cannot Find the SWAP File
Description:
If a swap file cannot be found, it may have been on a partition that is not
recognized or was not cloned.
Action:
- Verify the drive letter mapping.
- Verify all partitions in the disk were imported.
Check through Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Disk Management.
Maximum Registry Size is Too Small
Description:
During system reconfiguration, Windows displays a message Your maximum registry size is too small.
Action:
- Increase the maximum registry size of the helper virtual machine.
- Re-run the P2V Assistant process.
Partition Size Extended During Cloning
Description:
P2V Assistant extends the size of cloned partitions. For example,
your source partition might have been 1000 MB. After cloning the partition
on the target disk might be created as 1300 MB.
Action:
This can occur during normal operation. No action is required.
De-referenced Files to Prevent System Freeze
Description:
Some Compaq product files (not used in a virtual machine)
are disabled to prevent the system from hanging. These include:
- cpqalert.exe - for Compaq's Insight Manager Agent
- cpqdmi.exe - for Compaq's version of the Desktop Management Interface
- cpqagent.dll - for Compaq application agent
Action:
No action required. Information only.
Source Volume Access Error
Description:
When P2V Assistant is directed to a partition, the user logged onto the
P2V Assistant must have permission to access the designated partition.
The error message is displayed:
The boot.ini file in the active partition refers to an
unformatted or inaccessible system volume.
This may happen is the currently logged on user does not have the
permissions to access the system volume.
Action:
Log on to the P2V Assistant as a user with access to the designated volumes
(partitions).
Too Many Small Partitions Error
Description:
When adjusting the sizes of partitions to clone, if the last partition listed
is less than 8 MB, an error is displayed:
Could not use new partition layout:
Too many small partitions at end of disk
Action:
Set the last partition to at least 8 MB.
Migration Appears Successful During Network Failure
Description:
If a network failure occurs during the migration phase of the cloning process,
the P2V Assistant does not stop the processes.
In the event of a clone and system reconfiguration together, error messages
are displayed during the system reconfiguration phase:
System Reconfiguration Failed: Unable to locate system hive.
Exception in ShutdownVstorDisk from VieLib.Vielocator:
error reading drive layout: Data error (Cyclic redundancy check).
Action:
Rerun the P2V Assistant process if a network error occurs during the
cloning phase.
High Encryption Service Pack on NT 4
Description:
File version mismatch errors are displayed during reconfiguration
of an NT 4 system with High Encryption Service Pack 4.
This is error is specific to the filename of the service pack only.
The error does not occur with Service Pack 5 or Service Pack 6.
Action:
Change the name of the high encryption service pack filename, Nt4sp4i.128.exe,
to the name expected by the P2V Assistant, that is, sp4i386.exe.
Note: This does not change the encryption level of the Service Pack,
only the name the P2V Assistant uses to apply it.
NT 4 Systems with Connectix Virtual PC Additions Errors
Description:
Connectix Virtual PC Additions may cause the cloned virtual machine to hang.
Action:
Uninstall the Additions and rerun the cloning and system reconfiguration
processes.
Boot Error When Target Disk Accessed Through a
Network Share
Description:
When the target disk for a clone or system reconfiguration process is a .vmdk formatted file and is stored on a network mounted (shared) drive, the virtual machine
generates boot errors upon startup.
Action:
Cancel the error message(s) and reboot the virtual machine.
NTDETECT Error with NT 4 Systems
Description:
This error
is displayed during startup. There are two possible situations that would cause
this error to be displayed:
- The first partition on the system is smaller than 32MB and was cloned using a tool
such as PowerQuest DiskImagePro.
- An NT 4 system has a machine specific system partition in the first partition,
for example, Compaq Smart Start partitions or HP/Dell utilities partitions.
Action:
If the error is due to a small first partition combined with cloning using a third
party tool such as PowerQuest, then resize the first partition to greater than 32MB
using a tool like PowerQuest Partition Magic.
If the error is due to a machine specific system partition, perform the following:
- Delete the machine specific system partition and edit the boot.ini file
on the cloned machine
- Reduce all the 'partition' numbers for all entries by 1.
One way to delete the partition is to use the P2V Assistant Boot CD itself to
delete the partition from the cloned image.
To delete a partition using the P2V Assistant Boot CD:
- Attach the cloned disk in a virtual machine.
- Boot the virtual machine with the P2V Assistant Boot CD.
- When the Welcome screen is displayed, press ALT+F2 to switch terminals
on the boot CD.
- Login as root. No password is required.
- Type fdisk /dev/sda.
This example assumes the cloned disk is the first
SCSI disk on the virtual machine being used. If it is the second disk then
change the entry accordingly, for example to /dev/sdb and so on.
- Type p.
This displays all the partitions of the selected disk to confirm you
are working on the right disk.
- Type d to delete a partition.
- Select 1 to delete the first partition.
- Type w to save the changes and quit fdisk.
- Shut down the virtual machine.
Then make the changes to the boot.ini file on the cloned disk:
- Attach the cloned disk as a second disk in a helper virtual machine,
running another working operating system (Windows NT 4 or 2000) on the first disk.
- Boot using the operating system on the first disk.
- Open the boot.ini file on the second cloned disk.
- Find all entries of the form partition(
).
Reduce the number
by 1 for all the entries in
the boot.ini file.
- Close and save the file.
- Shut down the virtual machine.
The cloned NT 4 disk should no longer give the NTDETECT failure error and
can be booted in its own virtual machine.
Currently Unsupported Hardware
The devices listed in this section were recognized by the P2V 2.0 boot CD but are currently
not supported by P2V 2.1.
If you want to use P2V to archive machines containing these devices, you must
use the most recent P2V 2.0 boot CD.
Devices Not Supported by Linux 2.6 megaraid_mbox Driver
The following MegaRAID devices no longer have support from Dell
and LSI Logic in the Linux 2.6 megaraid_mbox driver. See the
file /etc/bootcdlog.txt to see if your MegaRAID device ID is listed in the table below:
All Emulex Fibre Channel devices are currently unsupported in the P2V Boot CD release 2.1.
We hope to restore
support for these devices in a subsequent release.
If you need to use
Emulex Fibre Channel devices, continue to use P2V 2.0.3.
Alternatively, you can move your data to your virtual machine by connecting your target
virtual machine server directly to your Fibre Channel network.
There is no upgrade path from P2V Assistant 1.0 to version 2.1.x. Both versions
can be installed on your system simultaneously. P2V Assistant 2.1.x is installed
through the P2V Assistant setup.exe utility. You do not need to uninstall P2V Assistant 1.0.
You do not upgrade P2V Assistant from version 1.0 to version 2.0.