VMware bridged networking vs. plasma-desktop vs. ???

[dibl]

I'm not sure exactly what isn't working or how it isn't working, but I have figured out enough about the problem to post how to deal with it.

In prior versions of Kubuntu and in other KDE desktop distros, the vmware networking daemons will be started automatically during the boot sequence, so that when the user runs VMware, networking is available in the guest OS. Kubuntu 9.04 has never done this correctly. But that's not what makes this issue tricky today. If (with no VM running) you open a Konsole window, and issue this command:

sudo /etc/init.d/vmware restart

then two things will happen:

1. VMware's networking daemons will be restarted and run correctly, and
2. Plasma will crash, and you'll lose the desktop and the panel, leaving only your Konsole window on screen.

So, you must control the rising panic that you will feel, and issue this in your Konsole window:

plasma-desktop

On my rig, the desktop and panel come back and everything is good to go.

I'm not sure whether the proprietary nVidia driver, or Compiz have any role in this little drama -- which I why I can't really file a bug report at this point. I wouldn't know where to point my finger, and if it's VMware or nVidia, then *buntu isn't going to take any responsibility.

That's the report.

[integr8e]

Re: VMware bridged networking vs. plasma-desktop vs.

I've noticed if the KNetworkManager plasmoid is enabled, stopping the NetworkManager daemon will crash plasma; if restarting the VMWare daemon restarts NetworkManager as well, that may be the issue.