How to replace BusLogic with LSI Logic SCSI controller on Virtual Machine
We have upgraded our servers from Windows 2000 to Windows 2003 and decided to upgrade the virtual SCSI controller from BusLogic to LSI Logic since it guarantees the significant performance boost. So, this is the way I’ve replaced the BusLogic SCSI controller with LSI Logic.
So, here’s how my virtual machine did look like before an upgrade:
Here are the steps I’ve followed:
1) Shutdown virtual machine, open properties window and click Add… to open “Add Hardware Wizard†that will help you to add a new disk. Why do we need a new disk? Because you can’t add a new SCSI controller without adding a new disk or assigning any other available disk to a new controller.
2) Click Next and select “Create a new virtual diskâ€.
3) Click Next again. Select the size of the disk. In my case I made it 1 Gb because I will delete it later after I replace a SCSI controller.
4) Again click Next button to go to advanced options. What I did here, I selected a second SCSI controller, which is SCSI (1:0). This is the way I actually mount it on another SCSI controller which VMWare will add for me as soon as I will complete this wizard.
5) Click Next. Review what is to be done and then click Finish.
6) At this point you will see that the new BusLogic SCSI controller is added to virtual machine hardware list. Click OK.
7) Right click on a virtual machine and click Edit Settings… Click on SCSI Controller 1 and then Change Type button under SCSI controller type.
Select LSI Logic in the Change SCSI Controller Type dialog box and click OK.
9) You will see the following window where the controller type is LSI Logic:
10) Click OK button and start your virtual machine. When Windows boots open Device manager ( Start –> Run –> devmgmt.msc ) and click “+†in front of SCSI and RAID controllers node. You will see both controllers that you’ve added:
11) Now you need yet to replace the first BusLogic SCSI Controller with the LSI Logic controller. To do that shutdown virtual machine and open Properties window.
12) Now it’s time to change the type of SCSI Controller 0 from BusLogic to LSI Logic. You can also delete the Hard Disk 2, which you added in the beginning for temporary purposes. This is what you should see after changing the controller type to LSI Logic. Click OK.
13) Again open the properties of the Virtual Machine to see that all changes where successfully committed. Click OK to close this window and start the VM.
14) Notice, that when you will start it there will be a small yellow balloon on a VM icon.
15) Right click on a VM and select Answer Question…
16) Virtual Machine Question dialog window appears asking you whether you want to allow ESX Server to change the adapter disk’s type for you.
Virtual Machine Message
msg.disk.adapterMismatch:The disk connected to the scsi0:0 node has been created for a BusLogic SCSI adapter, but the virtual machine’s scsi0 device is a LSI Logic SCSI adapter. VMWare ESX Server can change the disk’s adapter type to LSI Logic. use caution; if a guest operating system is installed on this disk, it may not be able to boot.
Do you want VMWare ESX Server to change the adapter type for scsi0:0 disk?
17) Click Yes, then OK.
18) At this point, when you will start your VM and boot into Windows, open the device manager you will see only 1 SCSI controller:
19) However, we have not finished yet. By default, Windows doesn’t show devices which are currently disconnected and driver’s of such devices are still installed. If we know that we’ll never again need these devices we can uninstall them. First, you will have to turn on visualization of disconnected devices. Check here to learn how to do that.
20) Then open device manager, click View and select ‘Show hidden devices’.
21) Open SCSI and RAID Controllers node and check for dimmed (phantom) devices.
22) Right-click each dimmed device and uninstall it.
23) Reboot Windows.
Some useful links:
Great solution!!! I had one server that it was not possible to replace the the scsi to LSI (the same kind of your W2K to W2K3), I don’t know the real cause because a few other server (also W2k3 upgraded) I changed in the past without any trouble just changing the controller to LSI. However your solution was applied successfully on my trouble ‘server guest’. Awesome! I posted my question on vmware a few months ago and I never got an answer.
Thanks!!!
Brilliant, Just what I needed – thanks
Very very nice!!
LSI did not work in my case (maybe cos of XP OS) but paravirtual did the trick!
Thanks a lot
Great article — I’ve done this before so when I saw your link in addition to the VMware article I referred to, I like the approach to add the temporary hard drive at the very start and not risk any boot problems.
I had slightly different experience — it was easier in vSphere 4.1 than both VMware and your article described and I got away with one less power down / Windows restart (only 2 needed).
Here’s some input from vSphere 4.1, two areas were no longer needed:
– didn’t need steps 14-17 – no warning, question, etc presented itself for acknowledgement
– didn’t need steps 19-23 – by default Windows Server 2003 SP3 was all set — no hidden devices or controller present. I guess the VM Tools / vSphere 4.1 cleans it all up — or Windows SP3 did it.
Also, the options on “CHange Type” have changed, there is a LSI Logics Parallel and LSI Logics SAS controller choices instead of LSI Logics as shown above. I tried the LSI Logics Parallel and it worked like a charge
Larry T AKA VMSysProg since 1981
Correction to my post. It was Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server Service Pack 2 ( I mentioned Windows Server 2003 SP3 by mistake).
@LarryT [AKA VMSysProg)
many many thank you Zaur Bahramov,
i was totally fed up by the error i got on vmware.
acctually u have explained on w2k3, i am on win-xp, and i have vmware server1 version installed, so one step i couldn’t get on that, which u say to right click n edit setteng & Click on SCSI Controller 1 and then Change Type button under SCSI controller type..
but it was not able to rt click, so there were no option to change those thing,
i then recreating v machine, with manual configuration, and then i got an option for buslogic or lsi. now my problem get solved. thanks to give me an idea. well this will help in future if anyone face like me.