Boot Camp partition not visible when creating new VM

T

Tom Parker

Bit poster
I can't create a Boot Camp VM in Parallels 6.0.11828. The Boot Camp option doesn't appear in the create VM dialog.

My configuration:

iMac 27"
27" LED Cinema Display
2.93 GHz i7
8 GB RAM
1 TB internal drive with a 52 GB Boot Camp partition
Three daisy-chained FW800 drives

The Boot Camp partition has Windows Vista installed.
 
Are you able to boot into Boot Camp?

Is the Boot Camp partition visible in the Finder?

Are the MBR and GPT synced?

Have you tried "Continue without disc", remove Hard Disk 1, then add a new Hard Disk 1 pointing at the Boot Camp partition?
 
Continuing without disc and configuring Hard Disk 1 to point at the Boot Camp partition fixed it. Parallels is currently configuring the virtual machine, so it looks like all may be well. I will report back if any more problems surface.

For the benefit of others who encounter this in the future, my response to your other questions:

I can boot into Boot Camp. Windows works properly when booted into the Windows partition.

The Boot Camp partition is visible to OS X.

I don't actually know how to check whether the MBR and GPT are in sync, but I didn't notice any differences in the available volumes when I went through the Windows format and install.
 
It's pretty straightforward. Select "Continue without disk." Choose your OS. Choose your integration option. Select where your Parallels VM will reside and what it will be called, AND check the box that says "Customize settings before installation." Choose the hard drive configuration and select your Boot Camp partition from the drop down menu.
 
Parallels may have created the virtual hard disk file when you get to the Configure dialog. That's why I select Hard Disk 1 and click [-] to move the Hard Disk file to the trash. Then I click [+] to create a new Hard Disk 1 from Boot Camp. The old virtual hard disk is not deleted from the trash unless you manually empty the trash (look in the trash for an .hdd file).

Generally, switching an existing Hard Disk between image type and Boot Camp does not remove the original hard disk file. You can right click your virtual machine file (.pvm) in the Finder and select "Show Package Contents" to show the virtual hard disks (.hdd) that were created for your virtual machine.

- There should be one .hdd per Hard Disk.
- A Boot Camp virtual hard disk .hdd file is usually named after the manufacturer of the real disk that contains the Boot Camp partition(s) used by the virtual hard disk.
- An image type virtual hard disk .hdd file is usually named after the virtual machine file (.pvm)

To check if the MBR and GPT are in sync, use the following commands:
Code: 
diskutil list
sudo fdisk /dev/rdisk0
sudo gpt -r show -l /dev/disk0

The start and size of partitions in the MBR (listed by the fdisk command) should match partitions in the GPT (listed by the gpt command) except for the EE partition. The EE partition in the MBR should start at block 1 (the location of the primary GPT header) and end before the next partition listed in the MBR (usually after the EFI partition).
 
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