Using physical disk causes a "Dictionary Error" while powering on.

Using physical disk causes a "Dictionary Error" while powering on.

The VM had a single virtual disk, fresh Debian on it, no vmware tools. I backed the VM up and also copied to a different location. So far it was and is working fine.

When I try to add a physical disk to the machine and try to power it on I get a Dictionary Error. How to resolve this?

I tried removing .vmxf, .vmsd and .nvram files. And it doesn't make a difference whether I use a single partition or the whole physical disk.

Debian.vmx:

.encoding = "windows-1252"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "10"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"
memsize = "512"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.fileName = "Debian.vmdk"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.fileName = "auto detect"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
usb.present = "TRUE"
ehci.present = "TRUE"
ehci.pciSlotNumber = "35"
sound.present = "TRUE"
sound.fileName = "-1"
sound.autodetect = "TRUE"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge7.functions = "8"
vmci0.present = "TRUE"
hpet0.present = "TRUE"
usb.vbluetooth.startConnected = "TRUE"
monitor.virtual_mmu = "hardware"
monitor.virtual_exec = "hardware"
displayName = "Debian"
guestOS = "debian7"
nvram = "Debian.nvram"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "FALSE"
powerType.powerOff = "soft"
powerType.powerOn = "soft"
powerType.suspend = "soft"
powerType.reset = "soft"
extendedConfigFile = "Debian.vmxf"
uuid.bios = "56 4d 8f 81 84 62 58 02-75 c3 1a 6a dc 0a da 8f"
uuid.location = "56 4d 8f 81 84 62 58 02-75 c3 1a 6a dc 0a da 8f"
replay.supported = "FALSE"
replay.filename = ""
scsi0:0.redo = ""
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"
pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"
pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"
pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"
usb.pciSlotNumber = "32"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "33"
sound.pciSlotNumber = "34"
vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "36"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:0a:da:8f"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
vmci0.id = "752559111"
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "134217728"
cleanShutdown = "TRUE"
softPowerOff = "TRUE"
usb:1.speed = "2"
usb:1.present = "TRUE"
usb:1.deviceType = "hub"
usb:1.port = "1"
usb:1.parent = "-1"
ide1:0.autodetect = "TRUE"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
ide1:0.startConnected = "TRUE"
tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"
toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "1"
mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
usb:0.present = "TRUE"
usb:0.deviceType = "hid"
usb:0.port = "0"
usb:0.parent = "-1"
scsi0:1.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:1.fileName = "Debian-0.vmdk"
scsi0:1.deviceType = "rawDisk"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"

The error doesn't generate anything in the logs.

Update. If I create a new fresh VM using the existing virtual disk with Debian and a physical disk, then I also get this error. If I create a new VM with new virtual disk and a physical disk, then it seems to be working ok. Using only a physical disk doesn't work on the existing Debian VM.