If you have the flat.vmdk but lost or damaged the small .vmdk :

The most reliable way to repair a corrupt flat file is to clone it. The cloning process ( vmkfstools -i ) skips over bad blocks and attempts to read valid data, constructing a new, clean VMDK in the process.

Repair Corrupt Flat Vmdk: Files

If you have the flat.vmdk but lost or damaged the small .vmdk :

The most reliable way to repair a corrupt flat file is to clone it. The cloning process ( vmkfstools -i ) skips over bad blocks and attempts to read valid data, constructing a new, clean VMDK in the process. repair corrupt flat vmdk files