unsupportedDiskType error when booting 8.1.1 for ESX

[richardtjohnson]

I'm attempting to load vsim-DOT811-7m-esx on my ESXi 4.1 Host but it goes into a reboot loop on power up and the log shows the following message:

[msg.scsi.esx.unsupportedDiskType] Failed to open disk ide1:1: Unsupported or invalid disk type  7. Make sure that the disk has been imported.

Usually you get this type of error message when the vmdk files were made for VMware Desktop environments instead of ESX - has anyone encountered this or resolved this issue?

I've attached the vmware log file in case anyone was interested in the full boot sequence.

thanks.

[richardtjohnson]

A colleague provided the answer so I'm passing it along.

With any Ontap system, each disk (represented by files in the simulator) are owned by one storage controller. This is needed for storage clusters to distinguish which cluster partner own which disks.

When you boot up the simulator for the first time it finds the simulated disks but the simulator instance does not own them. They are unassigned.

Simply reboot the simulator VM, press Ctrl-C to get in the advanced boot menu. There you have the option to initialize the system, clear all disks and assign them to the controller (it is option 4 or 5, if I remember correctly.)

All data will be erased because the files are all zeroed.