VirtioTools setup problem with Windows 2012R2 migrated from ESXI 8.0.2

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GromPit

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May 2, 2025
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Hello,

I am setting up new VE on Proxmox 8.4.0 and I have encountered serious problems with installing Virtio drivers on VMs with Windows 2012R2 migrated from ESXI 8.0.2. Every single VM fails on package virtio_win_gt_x64.msi with error code 0x80070643. I have tried installing drivers manually, one-by-one, and Virtio baloon driver installation leads to BSOD. I have tried different VirtioTools versions and neither was successful. On the other hand, I have setup the clean Windows 2012R2 VM from the very same ISO I used on ESXI directly on Proxmox - this VM has no difficulties at all with installation of Virtio Drivers.

Had any of you encountered similar problem? Of course, prior to migrating VM from ESXI I have uninstalled VMWare Tools.
 
l.leahu-vladucu said:
Hello GromPit! Which versions of the VirtIO drivers did you try to install? Does it work with version 0.1.215 or older?
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I have tried few versions. I have started with 0.1.189 as I have read somewhere on forum here it works well with 2012R2, but also 0.1.215, 0.1.208 and 0.1.248 - all of them fail with the error I have described. 0.1.189 on fresh installation works well.

It seems to me, that there is some kind of "leftovers" by ESXI. The problem seems to occur only with 2012R2 VMs, I have migrated two 2016 VMs from this ESXI and installed VirtioTools without any problems.
 
Thanks for the update. Could you please check whether the suggestions from this GitHub issue improve the situation? Other users were able to fix some of their issues by using the repair tool recommended there. I was just wondering whether the Windows VMs have some general/unrelated installation issues.

Otherwise, it would be interesting to know which BSOD the VirtIO drivers cause - that is, an error message/code or some further information.

Also, please provide us with the output of qm config <VMID> for the VMs that have issues.
 
l.leahu-vladucu said:
Thanks for the update. Could you please check whether the suggestions from this GitHub issue improve the situation? Other users were able to fix some of their issues by using the repair tool recommended there. I was just wondering whether the Windows VMs have some general/unrelated installation issues.

Otherwise, it would be interesting to know which BSOD the VirtIO drivers cause - that is, an error message/code or some further information.

Also, please provide us with the output of qm config <VMID> for the VMs that have issues.
Click to expand...
Thank you Laurențiu for suggestion - I will investigate suggestions from GitHub link you have attached.

According to the bluescreen - it happens only if I try manually install Virtio Balloon driver. If I try to install whole guest tools, installation rolls back at the moment, where normally this driver would be installed. Here is screenshot:

bsod.jpg

The result of qm config of this machine is:

Code: 
boot: order=sata0
cores: 1
cpu: x86-64-v2-AES
ide2: GONDOR:iso/virtio-win-0.1.189.iso,media=cdrom,size=488766K
machine: pc-i440fx-9.2+pve1
memory: 2048
meta: creation-qemu=9.2.0,ctime=1746601271
name: TEST
net0: e1000=BC:24:11:A2:FE:6C,bridge=vmbr1,firewall=1
numa: 0
ostype: win8
sata0: VMStore-02-01:645/vm-645-disk-1.qcow2,size=128G
scsi0: VMStore-02-01:645/vm-645-disk-0.qcow2,iothread=1,size=1G
scsihw: virtio-scsi-single
smbios1: uuid=4183cc14-5d3f-4842-8484-755d6c82e615
sockets: 1
vmgenid: 00d76127-abfb-4cc6-b0e7-657257c45ab8

The other machine has UEFI - no difference. I have also experimented with changing machine type to q35 - no success.
 
_gabriel said:
try with version 0.1.173 which has the last drivers with SHA1 signature.
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Hello _gabriel - drivers from 0.1.173 seems to install, however I am not sure whether the memory ballooning driver works properly. Both balloon & serial driver are installed, and in Proxmox console memory usage by this VM indicated ca.90%... while machine uses much less amount of memory. Anyways - 0.1.173 seems to be possible to install in my case
 
_gabriel said:
Balloon require a service too , check if installed and running from services.msc
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Oh yes, you are absolutetly right. In services.msc I couldn't find "Baloon Service", I have digged through the net and installed service manually by running blnsvr.exe -i from VirtioCD/Baloon/amd64. After this, there is running "Ballon Service" and in Proxmox summary memory usage show correct values.

It seems that my problem is solved - for problematic Windows 2012R2 VirtioTools in version 0.1.173 must be used and Ballon Service must be installed manually.
 
Last edited:
_gabriel said:
Be careful, "Baloon" folder need to be copied on hard drive, as service is installed as current folder only.
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Yes.. I have already figured it out - good advice for the future, now I am only testing this migration without connecting machines to productive network.

However, there is still one 2012R2 which makes problem - I was able only to install networking driver, but any other fails from any version - however - the error is different : "A problem was encountered while attempting to add the driver to the store.". It happens both for Balloon and SCSI drivers...
 
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