matthew.kurowski.org

I had been without my MacBook Pro while it was in repair for a power-related issue. Prior to my handing over my system to Apple, I secure wiped the entire disk but some Vaulted users for demonstrating the system malfunctions.

Upon my first system restore, I was unable to run any of my machines as the reported “File locked” in the Virtual Machine list as their state.

The machine packages themselves were not locked at a file system level; however, upon exposing the package contents of each Virtual Machine, there existed a series of .lck files. So, knowing I had a good backup still of course, I proceeded to delete the least innocuous and most likely candidate file first: .vmx.lck.

Presto! Once that file was removed, I reloaded Fusion and confirmed the status had changed to “Powered off” which was its true status. I had a hunch that the machine still would not work though as there were several lock files remaining. Where had they come from? Hadn’t I powered the machines off prior to the last cloning? Then it hit me… I test all my clones by booting directly to them though I don’t use the disks once I confirm they are operational – except once when I launched my XP virtual machine to get access to files I left within it. While this could be the reason for one series of lock files, how could that explain that my Vista, 2008, Ubuntu, RedHat, CentOS, Celerra, and so on were all in “File Locked” state when I know those systems hadn ‘t been accessed subsequent to the clone operation and, therefore, were in a clean state?

For now, I decided to delete all the lock files and confirm each machine’s health. Though I chose to relaunch Fusion for good measure, simply double-clicking the package, using “File | Open…” or “File | Open Recent” would all have worked.

What I need to schedule for a lab now is to test if recovering from a clone is related to the creation of the lock files. Until then, case closed… happy VMing again.

The Klitschko brothers are certainly two of my favourite boxers, heavyweight or not. Wladimir is the current IBF, WBO and IBO world champion while his older brother, Vitali, holds the WBC title. They are the only two brothers in history to hold all the titles in a division in professional boxing.

I always appreciate watching the Klitschkos perform their art which they have honed so well over the years. Each is physically impressive, of course, but their technique, control and accuracy makes for deadly composition.

Recently, Vitali came back from years of retirement to dominate Samuel Peter, the Nigerian Nightmare. I respect Peter’s ability and need to comment that his destruction was not because he shouldn’t have been in the same ring: Vitali just controlled the fight from start to finish in every aspect.

Now I’ve heard that a rematch with Lewis may be on the horizon. While I would watch that fight with interest, I think it would be a mistake by both fighters. Klitschko, disputedly, was rising in that loss and would’ve won had the fight not been called due a gash above Vitali’s eye. Lewis has nothing to gain either. Lewis was a great and no one can take that away from him. I know in my heart what the result of their first bout would’ve been but the TKO was fair and that’s part of boxing.

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