Can the Hyper-V BIOS be modded?

Discussion in 'Virtualization' started by reginakampher, Aug 17, 2008.

  1. Omnislash

    Omnislash MDL Novice

    Feb 9, 2011
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    I said from my experiance not this is a fact.... But it did seem to work if I ran the SLIC loader and selected uninstall. That in turn deactivated windows and I simply ran it again once it had booted with the new vmwp.exe.
    I cant explain why this worked but I know it certainly worked for me.
     
  2. troels

    troels MDL Member

    May 20, 2007
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    Sorry, it's to long ago. I think I had Win7 activated under SP1 beta - and after installing SP1 RTM and vmwp.exe it would not start. I just reinstalled Win7.
     
  3. ZaForD

    ZaForD MDL Expert

    Jan 26, 2008
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    This was a problem on the SRV2008 Betas.
    e.g. Any VM that was installed/activated in Beta1 wouldn't work in Beta2 or RC.
    And it happened again with RTM and again when the Hyper-V role RTM'd. :(

    The solution was to do a clean install of the 'Host' OS and update it.
    Then add the Hyper-V role and swap the 'vmwp.exe' files.
    Then install or add the VM's.

    I haven't see it happen since SVR2008 and Hyper-V were completed.
    I've got a Vista VM that was orignailly installed/activated in SVR2008 SP1 and its still activated with SVR2008 R2 SP1 (three versions latter SVR2008 SP2, SVR2008 R2 and now SVR2008 R2 SP1).
    I only had to change the Cert. when switching from Slic 2.0 to Slic 2.1

    @LSDave,
    I've used the same modied 'vmwp.exe' in both SVR2008 and Hyper-V Server, without any problems.
    Maybe it the old beta bug caused the your upgrade to SP1. o_O
     
  4. zephxiii

    zephxiii MDL Novice

    Aug 5, 2009
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    Another success story:

    I used this file:
    vmwp_DellSlic21_ASUS_FLASH_Hewlett-Packard_DellComputer_DellSystem.rar

    And this cert:
    DELL-DELL-2.0.XRM-MS

    Host OS is 2008 R2 Standard w/ SP1.

    Successfully activated Windows 7 x86

    and

    Official Eval version of 2008 R2 Standard x64

    Man I wasn't sure if I was going to get it to work, all the digging it took kinda makes ya pessimistic about it. This will be great for Hyper-V evaluation and testing.
     
  5. diegolinos

    diegolinos MDL Novice

    Apr 14, 2011
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    Is Windows failing to boot after you installed the activation tool? Just do the following.

    * Boot up the PC from your Windows installation disk
    * Select the "Repair your computer" option
    * Select "Command Prompt"
    * Input "bootsect.exe /nt60 SYS /force" (without quotes)
    * Restart the PC

    Note: If the above doesn't fix your boot issue then use the command "bootsect.exe /nt60 ALL /force" instead. Just make sure you remove all USB flash drives before you use the command.

    It works for me.
     
  6. troels

    troels MDL Member

    May 20, 2007
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    Thanks - but I'm not sure I'm getting it. My problems were with the VMs under Hyper-V after modding. No problems with WS2008 R2.
     
  7. Killaspeed

    Killaspeed MDL Novice

    Aug 7, 2010
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    My issue was that the 'SYSTEM' user was not granted the rights to run the exe (vmwp.exe).
    I added the 'SYSTEM' user by right clicking the exe, properties and adding via the security tab.
     
  8. Chang

    Chang MDL Novice

    Feb 3, 2010
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    I`m reading here a long time but write not much.

    I want to use the occasion to say thank you to all the folks who make this forum possible, also to sebus, who`s patced vmwp works fine for me!


    Thank you!


    Regards

    Chang
     
  9. p3ric0

    p3ric0 MDL Novice

    Sep 15, 2010
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    Hello this worked fine for me:

    I have used the file: vmwp_DellSlic21_ASUS_FLASH_Hewlett-Packard_DellComputer_DellSystem.rar on a Hyper-V role for a windows 2008 R2 sp1 enterprise server.

    When this is done the VM didn't start, so i did what diegolinos said in the #333 post, > bootsect.exe /nt60 SYS /force and worked.

    Thaks everybody.
     
  10. BT

    BT MDL Novice

    May 30, 2011
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    Thank you to all those involved in the last 337 posts!

    It took some time to understand what was going on, but I now have a W2K8 Ent R2 SP1 host (activated with Daz Loader 2.0.3 with "Preserve current boot code" ticked), with W2K8 Ent R2 SP1 guests activated in the same way. :biggrin:

    I used the modded vmwp.exe file from this forum. However, I think I've learned enough to edit the vmwp.exe myself using the 1B module available here too. I think modding the 1B module itself is beyond my skills :(, so thanks to all you clever guys :worthy:

    I found that not ticking the "Preserve current boot code" option on the Daz Loader prevented the guest from starting. (Thanks for the "bootsect.exe /nt60 SYS /force" info to get it going again.) I'd be grateful if anybody thinks I may have caused myself any future issues by using the "Preserve current boot code" option.

    Thanks again,

    BT
     
  11. sebus

    sebus MDL Guru

    Jul 23, 2008
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    ???

    If you use Daz then you do NOT need modded vmwp.exe

    It is one OR the other

    sebus
     
  12. BT

    BT MDL Novice

    May 30, 2011
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    Oh dear. o_O

    I found that the VM hung on startup when using Daz alone (with its standard options). I found that it wasn't activated when using vmwp.exe alone (I replaced vmwp.exe and did nothing else).

    I don't really understand the SLIC, Certificate and Serial bit, so I presume Daz is doing this bit for me. However, after a couple of hours of reading these amazing forums...

    I've just created another VM (with the same modified vmwp.exe), and I've managed to activate it without using Daz. :biggrin: This is what I did:
    slmgr -ilc c:\DELL-DELL-2.0.XRM-MS (this file was from "SLIC 2.1 BINS 1.31.2011.7z" which I found in a post by Suicide Solution)
    slmgr -ipk BKCJJ..... (this key was from a post by reginakampher)

    Windows now says activated, and the product ID matches what was on reginakampher's post. It is also identical to that on my other Dazd VMs. reginakampher's key matches Daz's too.

    Even though both methods seem to work, I'm now pondering whether one is better than the other.

    Thanks for all of your help. My head feels like it is about to explode! :aglerks:

    BT
     
  13. troels

    troels MDL Member

    May 20, 2007
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    The loader does not work on Hyper-V as it is. However, with the modded vmwp.exe the loader should recognize the "SLIC" in vmwp.exe and install just the key and the certificate - as you did manually. And that means activation.
     
  14. BT

    BT MDL Novice

    May 30, 2011
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    So if my brain's still working correctly, that means that with the modded vmwp.exe, Daz with "Preserve current boot code" selected is doing exactly the same as the manual "slmgr -ilc <SLIC>" and "slmgr -ipk <KEY>" procedure.

    Having already downloaded Daz to activate the host, it was really convenient to use it to set the SLIC and Key. However, if I forgot to select "Preserve current boot code" the VM would hang on boot.
     
  15. BT

    BT MDL Novice

    May 30, 2011
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    I've had a read, and it seems to make sense: the modded vmwp.exe contains the Dell SLIC, which Daz's Windows Loader correctly detects, and then installs the matching Dell certificate and key. Without "Preserve current boot code" selected, Windows Loader will also attempt to write a new boot sector with the Dell SLIC which: a) I don't need because the modded vmwp.exe contains one already; and b) messes up the VM and stops it from starting.

    I'm still curious to know whether there are any problems or disadvantages with using the 'modded vmwp.exe then Windows Loader with "Preserve current boot code" selected' method. I have two VMs configured that way running apps that I don't want to have to set up again unless I need to.

    The Windows Loader feature: "•Offers certificate and serial installation only for users with an existing SLIC 2.1" looks promising though.

    Thanks again for your help. The link to the other forum was very useful. I haven't had time to trawl the huge Windows Loader subforum yet. I'm sure my answer will be in there somewhere!
     
  16. willko

    willko MDL Member

    May 14, 2008
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    I had same issue after clean Win2008R2EE with HV role & vmwp.exe swap - added system user & rights & all is working. Thanks for the tip!
     
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  17. nexus76

    nexus76 MDL Addicted

    Jan 25, 2009
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  18. homdai

    homdai MDL Novice

    Aug 26, 2011
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    Hi LSDave (POST 320 / 20 Mar 2011 05:44 AM)

    I have exactly th same problem with the vmwp.exe... even when restoring the vmwp.exe with the original one (then rebooting) the vm's will not start. New created VM's do also not start...
    Was your Problem solved? - Is it an access/right problem ?...
    :(
    Thank for help about this issue...

    Homdai



     
  19. liliactr

    liliactr MDL Addicted

    Sep 3, 2009
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    can anybody suppy a working link for sum32.exe and ChecksumApp.jar?