ESX / ESXi Bios Tools

Discussion in 'Virtualization' started by pix, Nov 22, 2009.

  1. pix

    pix MDL Member

    Nov 3, 2008
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    v1.0.0.3

    [bug] Error finding non default vmfs volume for temp files. Now uses vmfs volume with most free space.

    Link in first post
     
  2. pix

    pix MDL Member

    Nov 3, 2008
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    Give v1.0.0.3 a go, it doesn't care what the vmfs datastore is called now.
     
  3. deMarchi

    deMarchi MDL Junior Member

    Nov 7, 2009
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    as i already wrote, esxi somehow restore inetd.conf to its original state after reboot with f12,, ie with #(dashed) SSH strings, so ssh is not running after reboot. using my expalanation which I colleted on web is specially for this case and for those who dont want ot reboot after applying changes to inetd.
     
  4. mcw

    mcw MDL Novice

    Jun 22, 2009
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    Keep getting: "Operation failed and took X secs" when trying to inject bios440.rom in remote mode...

    I can extract it just fine.

    The output is attached as a screenshot...

    Vista x64 - run as Admin and non-Admin
    On XP, the Bios Tools EXE crashes when I click the Inject button...
     
  5. deMarchi

    deMarchi MDL Junior Member

    Nov 7, 2009
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    try to run the tool under administrative rights. seems lack of permission of your current profile
     
  6. mcw

    mcw MDL Novice

    Jun 22, 2009
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    Did - stated in my original post. But thanks for the reply.
     
  7. deMarchi

    deMarchi MDL Junior Member

    Nov 7, 2009
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    then, there is no such section (bios440) in the file and it can't be removed. may be somehow during the attempts you restored vmx file with bios440 removed.

    manualy check if this section present in the file, if not then try to restore your esxi (esx)
     
  8. mcw

    mcw MDL Novice

    Jun 22, 2009
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    It's definitely an issue with the ESX BIOS Tool software - it's able to extract the section out just fine, but any attempt to reintegrate it will fail, whether it's a crash, or error. It's not an issue with the vmware-vmx file.
     
  9. deMarchi

    deMarchi MDL Junior Member

    Nov 7, 2009
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    but according your attached screen, the error happend on extracting the section from vmx file before insert the new bios file.
    so, what we can suppose:
    1. no such section
    2. something wrong with permission on copyobject or vmx file
    3. worng path or interpret the way it shouldn't (try to remove dot in the directory name for example)
     
  10. pix

    pix MDL Member

    Nov 3, 2008
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    deMarchi is correct - there seems to be a problem removing the old .bios440 section from the file and I'd agree with his probable reasons.

    If you open up a command shell in the install folder and do the following:

    Note down the file size of vmware-vmx and post it up here.

    objdump -h [path to your vmware-vmx file]

    if there's no .bios440 section there then you have a bad vmware-vmx and need to start again with your earliest backup

    If the bios440 is there, manually run the objcopy command that's failing. Do you get any messages?

    Note down the file size of vmware-vmx again and post it up here.

    Another thing that's worth trying is to copy your first backup of vmware-vmx to the install folder and try to inject the bios locally using the tool.

    Your problems with XP are probably down to you not having .NET3.5 installed - let me know if that's the case.
     
  11. mcw

    mcw MDL Novice

    Jun 22, 2009
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    I wiped out that ESX server right after I had made the original post (the 6TB RAID volumes needed to be split into 2TB sections), so once it's back up and running, will rerun and see if the same issue is encountered.

    I might still have the vmware-vmx file from the original one, and will test... Doesn't objcopy first pull the .bios440 section from the file (which is I why I said there shouldn't be a problem with the section) when the extract command is run (I did run it both remotely and locally, with success)?
     
  12. mcw

    mcw MDL Novice

    Jun 22, 2009
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    Using a fresh ESX Server - copied over the vmware-vmx to attempt to inject locally (for reference - it's ESX 4, Update 1):

    (see screenshots)

    EDIT (for reference):
    vmware-vmx = 8,720,084
    Renamed folder without .v1003 in name (as per DeMarchi)
    Verified .bios440 section exists via objdump
    Vista x64 SP2 - all updates done
     
  13. shenjengjie

    shenjengjie MDL Novice

    Dec 15, 2009
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    with v1.0.0.3:
    Execute "Inject" and select "vmware-vmx" on local harddrive,
    the full path to "vmware-vmx" is wrong.
    For example, "d:\esxbiostools\bin\vmware-vmx" will become
    "d:\esxbiostools\binvmware-vmx"

    I have to put vmware-vmx under root folder d:\ to make it work.
     
  14. mmouse69

    mmouse69 MDL Novice

    Jun 15, 2009
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    Thank you!!!

    Like it?!? :eek: I LOVE IT!!! :D

    This tool totally extracted the bios440.rom from the ESXi 4.0 Server and layed it the local hard disk. ...then you can take any OEM SLIC and fused it into the bios440.rom file with the Phoenix BIOS Mod tools found on this Site. Then just injected the bios440.rom back into the ESXi 4.0 Server and rebooted it. Now all that ever needs to be done is install the corresponding OEM Certs into Windows along with any OEM Code and everything is golden!!! :cool:

    PIX, Dude, YOU ROCK MAN!!! THANK YOU!!! ;)
     
  15. yngdiego

    yngdiego MDL Member

    Feb 14, 2008
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    So I tried using 1.0.0.3 with ESXi 4.0 update 1, and it fails. I used remote mode, put in the IP and password, then it says it detected ESXi. A couple of seconds after it says it detected ESXi the whole BIOS tool window disappears as if it crashed. I also downloaded the vmx file posted in this thread, did the BIOS mod, and tried to inject it. Exact same crash. So I'm SOL right now.

    I tried it from Windows Server 2003 x64, Windows 7 x64, and Windows XP SP3 x86. All crash with the same error.

    Event Type:Error
    Event Source:.NET Runtime 2.0 Error Reporting
    Event Category:None
    Event ID:5000
    Date:12/29/2009
    Time:6:51:17 PM
    User:N/A
    Computer:N020SQL01
    Description:
    EventType clr20r3, P1 esxbiostools.exe, P2 1.0.0.3, P3 4b1d70b2, P4 mscorlib, P5 2.0.0.0, P6 4a7cd8f7, P7 41b3, P8 a3, P9 system.invalidoperationexception, P10 NIL.

    I also tried it from a Windows 7 x64 box, and got:

    Description:
    Stopped working

    Problem signature:
    Problem Event Name:CLR20r3
    Problem Signature 01:esxbiostools.exe
    Problem Signature 02:1.0.0.3
    Problem Signature 03:4b1d70b2
    Problem Signature 04:mscorlib
    Problem Signature 05:2.0.0.0
    Problem Signature 06:4a275af7
    Problem Signature 07:41bf
    Problem Signature 08:a3
    Problem Signature 09:System.InvalidOperationException
    OS Version:6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
    Locale ID:1033
     
  16. yngdiego

    yngdiego MDL Member

    Feb 14, 2008
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    Yes I had the same thing happen. Put the vmware-vmx into c:\temp2\esx and it became d:\temp2\esxvmware-vmx and died. Placing it in the root of C cured the problem and it extracted the BIOS.
     
  17. pix

    pix MDL Member

    Nov 3, 2008
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    Sorry about that - It's fixed now in v1.0.0.4
     
  18. pix

    pix MDL Member

    Nov 3, 2008
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    Thanks for the praise mmouse69, always nice to hear!
     
  19. pix

    pix MDL Member

    Nov 3, 2008
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    v1.0.0.4

    [fix] Fixed bug where backslash wasn't being appended to vmx path
     
  20. yngdiego

    yngdiego MDL Member

    Feb 14, 2008
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    Pix, thanks for fixing the backslash. But I still can't use the program due to the crashes I mentioned in previous posts. I'd love to use your tool, but I'm at a dead stop right now and can't re-inject the BIOS. Any ETA on getting the crashing issues resolved?