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Computer reboots when installing Vmware Workstation on a PC with sptd.sys installed

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  • Computer reboots when installing Vmware Workstation on a PC with sptd.sys installed

    Greetings.

    I have encountered a problem with the SCSI pass-through driver (sptd.sys) that comes with Daemon Tools v4.00/4.01 (SPTD v1.21).

    After having installed Daemon Tools v4 on a computer, I am unable to successfully install Vmware Workstation v5.0 and above (I actually haven't tried v4.5.x, but v4.0 works). At the end of the installation, a STOP error occurs (blue-screen / "BSOD"), and the computer reboots. The installation can therefore not be completed properly.

    When I disable (e.g. rename) the sptd.sys driver file, Vmware Workstation installs successfully. When Vmware has been properly installed, I can safely enable the sptd.sys driver again, and use Daemon Tools v4 with no sign of problems or conflicts. In other words; the problem seems to be related to installation only. I have not yet experienced any issues when both products have been successfully installed.

    I have tested and confirmed this problem on both Windows XP Professional SP2 (32-bit), and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. I haven't been able to determine the exact cause of the problem, however, and evidently, it does not apply to all computer configurations.

    Conclusion:
    It is fully possible to successfully run Vmware Workstation 5.x and Daemon Tools v4.0x together. It may however require that you install Vmware prior to installing Daemon Tools, or alternatively, you can just make sure the sptd.sys driver is disabled while installing Vmware.

    I hope that this information may be useful to others.

    Looking forward to future versions of Daemon Tools! Hopefully, all known, major problems with sptd.sys will be fixed by then (?). Keep up the good work! I don't know what I would have done without DT. It was a real nightmare running Windows XP x64 without it..


    Best regards,
    mastermind

    Fixed in Daemon Tools v4.03 (which includes SPTD v1.24)!
    Last edited by mastermind; 20.12.2005, 20:48. Reason: Problem is fixed in 4.03!
    Imagination is more important than knowledge. --Albert Einstein

  • #2
    Thanks for posting this - you just saved me the hassle (I'm about to install VMWare 5.5).

    Comment


    • #3
      Could not reproduce it on 32 bit XP - VMware 5.5 installed without any problems.
      Do you have minidumps available (from both 32 and 64 bit Windows) related to those crashes? If so send them to support@daemon-tools.cc with reference to this thread.
      Everybody be cool! You, be cool!
      They'll keep fighting! And they'll win!

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks, Copytrooper. I have edited the post, so that it doesn't give a false impression that the problem applies to all computer configurations.

        I have done a little more thorough testing today, and have found a couple of computers on which I cannot reproduce the problem. Both running 32-bit Windows XP.

        Sadly, I do not currently have a minidump available from Windows XP 32-bit. I do have a minidump for x64, though, and will e-mail it to the address you specified.

        I do not have enough information to confirm this yet, but I have a theory that the problem applies only to computers with RAID configurations (which usually means that you have some kind of "SCSI-like" device driver installed). On my own home computer, where I originally encountered the problem, I'm using a Silicon 3114 SATA RAID controller.

        The only similarity between the computers on which I could NOT reproduce the problem, is that they are NOT set up with RAID. They were both highly "regular" computers with one IDE HDD.


        I will post an update here when I know more. I would by the way appreciate it if others experiencing the same problem would let me know.
        Imagination is more important than knowledge. --Albert Einstein

        Comment


        • #5
          Same problem here...

          Hello,

          I have exactly the same problem with spdt.sys and VMWare.
          The installation of VMWare crashes near the end and I am only able to boot up if I disable the spdt.sys in safe mode.
          I can't even enable spdt.sys after an successful installation of VMWare because it crashes again :-(

          An guess what: I have a raid-setup with two disks on a fasttrak 378 onboard controller.
          (ASUS A8V-Deluxe with Athlon X2 3800+ / Win XP 32)

          I will try to get some minidumps and send them to the mentioned address...
          (Must first enable error reporting because I used antispy xp *g*)

          Comment


          • #6
            Wait for next version, it should fix this issue.
            Everybody be cool! You, be cool!
            They'll keep fighting! And they'll win!

            Comment


            • #7
              Same problem here, VMware 5.5 could not complete the installation if Daemon-Tools 4.0 64bit ver is already there. A BSoD reads "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" shows up before i could enter windows.

              no raid setup but w/ many HDDs:
              Asus A8N-SLi Premium / X2 4200+ / Win2K3 X64

              hope next ver would fix this issue

              Comment


              • #8
                Same problem here. Tried with both 5.0 and 5.5. I'm on 32bit windows with a nvidia nforce 4 raid setup (DFI Lanparty Ultra-D mobo/AMD X2 3800+).

                I get insta-reboot during install and BSOD on the following windows startup.

                I will try to remove Daemon tools and install VMWare again and see if it works then.

                Great tip, hope it solves my problem, and hopes that this issue will be resolved in next version.

                Comment


                • #9
                  On my p4 machine (intel i925 chipset) running windows XP Pro SP2 32-bit, vmware 5.5 installed fine with d-tools v4.00....
                  SpeedLabs Inc. - Welcome to the real world...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    nForce or RAID

                    It's not easy to clarify the root of this issue. So far, I have witnessed the problem on PCs meeting one or more of the following criteria:

                    * the computer has an nForce4-based motherboard and nVidia IDE drivers installed (tested with chipset drivers v6.65 and above)
                    * the HDDs are set up in RAID, using either on-board or PCI RAID controllers
                    * OS is Windows XP (32-bit), Windows XP x64, Windows Server 2003 (32-bit) or Windows Server 2003 x64 (Windows 2000 not tested)
                    * Daemon Tools v4.00 or v4.01 is installed (obviously)

                    A blue-screen is not always shown (even though automatic restart is disabled), but the minidump says "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" (interpreted with kd.exe).

                    Apparently, not only the installation of Vmware triggers this BSOD. I have heard talk of the same problem (same BSOD, same computers) occuring when reading intensively over a certain time period from a Daemon Tools mounted image, e.g. when watching DVD movies from a mounted DVD image. I can however not confirm this, therefore this can only be considered as "gossip".

                    Copytrooper: You said that the next version should fix this issue. Does that mean that you know the specific cause/solution of the problem?

                    AmphetaMarinE: Are you using RAID?


                    /mastermind
                    Imagination is more important than knowledge. --Albert Einstein

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally Posted by mastermind
                      Apparently, not only the installation of Vmware triggers this BSOD. I have heard talk of the same problem (same BSOD, same computers) occuring when reading intensively over a certain time period from a Daemon Tools mounted image, e.g. when watching DVD movies from a mounted DVD image. I can however not confirm this, therefore this can only be considered as "gossip".
                      You call that gossip because you can't confirm it? Well, than everyone without your setup has to call your report gossip.
                      Don't get me wrong, I don't want to say that it's gossip, but I think you should think about that opinion of yours...
                      There's a neat quote from "Goethe", I only know it in german, so I'll try to translate it:
                      That's how I know the educated man!
                      What you don't touch, for you is far way;
                      What you don't have, for you is what you need;
                      What you don't calculate, for you just isn't right;
                      What you don't weigh, for you just has no weight;
                      What you don't coin, for you just doesn't count.

                      Well, excuse me, I love that stuff, now let's stick back to the point:

                      I can confirm that "gossip" you are talking about, since any installation I try from a mounted image fails with a random reboot at any random position. I even got to 99% once, so I think it is possible to luckily get it installed. Well, I don't like to wait for my luck, so I found out - got the idea by looking into the forums - that there is this problem with nvidia-raid-setups (may affect others to, but I can only speak of what I've got here). Apparently, you don't need to run a raid (as I don't), you just need to have the raid-controller. However, there is a workaround for the problem with mounted images, you may just copy the image to any drive (not necessarily a harddrive) not connected to your raid-controller.

                      I think it may also be possible, that the root of those problems are the nvidia-drivers, since they also have problems with there firewall-stuff. I don't know if running other drivers would solve my problems, but I definitely won't buy nvidia again.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally Posted by COeXe
                        You call that gossip because you can't confirm it? Well, than everyone without your setup has to call your report gossip.
                        Don't get me wrong, I don't want to say that it's gossip, but I think you should think about that opinion of yours...
                        Perhaps I failed to word that sentence the way I intended. I certainly don't regard others' reports as less reliable than my own, and I don't consider them gossip just because I can't confirm them.

                        What I meant was that I, personally, know too little about those issues to claim that they are related to the same problem/error as I have described. I had heard of such reboot problems, but with little information or details. Personally, I haven't experienced reboots while installing anything from a mounted image (it is however worth mentioning that I haven't used DT4 much on my nforce4-based computer).

                        I simply don't like to present my assumptions as truths. So, I think you misunderstood my "opinion".

                        Anyway, thanks for confirming this. And by the way.. I also have that quote from Goethe in Norwegian.
                        Imagination is more important than knowledge. --Albert Einstein

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Problem is gone in DT v4.03

                          After having installed Daemon Tools v4.03 yesterday evening, I can no longer reproduce this issue!

                          Vmware Workstation 5.5.0 and Vmware Player 1.0 installed without problems, while SPTD was enabled. Furthermore, I have done some "stress-testing", copying large amounts of data from the virtual drive, watching a DVD movie from a mounted image and more. I couldn't get the computer to crash (which is good, of course ).

                          Thank you, DT Soft, for making a fix that quickly!

                          It's probably just a matter of days before v4.03 will be publicy available to all (non-paying) users. You have something to look forward to Among other things, DT v4.03 includes a new version of SPTD (v1.24) with several bugfixes.


                          /mastermind
                          Imagination is more important than knowledge. --Albert Einstein

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hello. I've been using Daemon tools 4.01 under x64 now, and i've noticed just these issues.

                            I tried to install NFS:MW, Vmware Workstation 5.5 and Vmware GSX server. All these tries proved unsuccesful. Instantaneous reboots, without a STOP error or BSOD.

                            All was good, until i restarted. If i restarted after installing the final phase of Daemon Tools, i got the errors. If i didn't. No problems, everything installed fine.

                            I'm going to try the new version now, and see what happens.
                            Thanks d-t crew. You rock!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              for what it's worth...

                              I'm seeing the reboot problem in the other direction: vmware 5.5 is already installed, and when I install Daemontools, it gets to the point during the system restart just after I log on and bang - right back to the POST. No minidumps at all. Disabling the sptd.sys means everything is normal again.

                              More details on forum post here

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