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The setup in question is as follows: Windows 7 64bit host running VirtualBox. The guest machine is running Windows XP 32bit.

After a power failure on the host box, the guest machine cannot boot and complains that

inconsistency between grain table and backup grain table

Any help to boot the guest machine without reinstalling it appreciated.

PS: What is a grain table anyway?

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2 Answers

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Can't really help, but I found what the grain tables are here: http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/VirtualDiskAPIprogramming.pdf (page 16)

Like the user mailq says, looks like your virtual drive is broken. Maybe check the vmdkck tool (on this page http://datto.org/projects/vmdk-tools ) to double check it's broken?

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Thank you too. I accepted your answer because it provided links to locate what a grain table actually is. One can request the virtual disk format specification here vmware.com/technical-resources/interfaces/vmdk.html – adamo Oct 24 '11 at 14:47
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up vote 2 down vote

Your virtual hard drive is broken. Grain tables are some internal stuff of virtualization environments.

Googling for the exact term reveals that there are not many possibilities to recover: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=40049

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Thank you for the prompt reply. I had googled prior to asking at SF. I asked hoping for a long-shot answer not already covered by the VirtualBox fora. – adamo Oct 24 '11 at 14:21
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