Virtualbox?? VMWare??

[The Liquidator]

Re: Virtualbox?? VMWare??

Thanks but maybe I could have expressed my query a bit better.

Currently my c:\ drive is ntfs. From within Kubuntu I have copied all files on that partition to the USB Hard Drive in case of disaster. I would propose to format that (the former c:\ drive) as ext3 to enable me to copy the virtual file to it, as I don't want to be actually running anything from the USB drive. Because I have converted the c: drive with VMWare the virtual filesystem i.e that seen from within virtual windows is ntfs albeit it is actually running on FAT. However, I getting the feeling from you that I should go with FAT 32 instead of Ext3
Also, I suspect I'll get one shot at this so I want to make sure I get it right. During the conversion process because the single converted virtual file (11.6 gb) was being saved onto a FAT partition, whilst it is seen as a single file it was split by the converter into 2 gb chunks which I understand is the maximum single file size that FAT can handle. I assume that file will always remain that way, or is that likely to disappear with repeated saving would you think. Importantly, would you think that this "splitting" of the virtual file will have any significant bearing on the performance?

Sorry to mither but I think the finishing line might just be in sight and I don't want to fall at the final hurdle if I can avoid it!

[Fintan]

Re: Virtualbox?? VMWare??

You can make infinite copies of the vmware folder (which holds your vmware files).

So just copy the vmware folder from the USB to the partition of your choice and run that vm machine from player.

That is the beauty. You always have a backup OS

[Snowhog]

Re: Virtualbox?? VMWare??

VMware Player will recognize that the VM isn't were it thinks it was, and ask you a question. You answer that you copied the file.

[The Liquidator]

Re: Virtualbox?? VMWare??

Okay, the VM is now on the hard drive and looks great. Lots of things work great on it too, Dragon runs particularly well but I have 2 problems that I am struggling to overcome:

The former drive c: is now an ext3 partition and the VM is now on it. However, before I can run the VM I have to manually mount it from within dolphin and I am then asked for the password. In 8.04 I would have configured that through system settings/advanced/disks (or something like that) but that appears to have gone or at least has been well hidden away.

The second is a killer. I have been able to get on the net at work today (by accident I think) with the VM but at home tonight it's been a dismal failure. I can't connect the VM either by wireless or wired connection although Kubuntu connects fine It seems that the OS is expecting a connection via NAT whereas on attempting that I get the error "cannot open /dev/vmnet8. No such file or directory". The only connection type that does not produce an error is "bridged" but I'm lost at that point and the Windows ethernet icons are showing up as having no connectivity, which is right. Does anyone have any ideas to cure this? Hope so as this is otherwise great.

Also, I have noted some rather odd hardware in the windows control panel. Apparently my intel HDA card has changed into a creative soundblaster and even odder ethernet has now become AMD! Would it be reasonable to assume that these are emulated drivers imparted by VMWare?

Thanks

Ian

Just to add, I seem to be able to connect if I start VMWare player with the Guarddog firewall disabled.

[The Liquidator]

Re: Virtualbox?? VMWare??

Further to my earlier post I wonder whether anyone has any idea what protocol is governing the VM and my internet connection via 'buntu? Whilst disabling guarddog isn't a problem at home because of a firewall I have enabled at my ISP (as my daughters WinXp box shares my connection) I will from time to time make use of a wifi hotspot where you don't really know how secure things are.

Whilst on the topic, am I right is assuming that because the VM is connecting to the internet via 'buntu it won't need its own firewall? A "shields" up test from within virtual XP comes up with the same result.

Thanks

Ian

[The Liquidator]

Re: Virtualbox?? VMWare??

I have made some further investigations into this. Basically this is the problem. Currently, the only network connection option available in VMWare player is bridging. However, the bridging protocol has not been installed into the Win XP guest. As a result, the only connection type that works for the player has the effect of disabling the network adapters in the guest!

My investigations have thrown up a file called vmnet-nat.conf. The contents are shown below:

# Linux NAT configuration file
[host]
# NAT gateway address
ip = %nataddr%
netmask = %netmask%
# or ip = %nataddr%/24

# enable configuration; disabled by default for security reasons
#configport = 33445

# VMnet device if not specified on command line
device = %vmnet%

# Allow PORT/EPRT FTP commands (they need incoming TCP stream...)
activeFTP = 1

# Allows the source to have any OUI. Turn this one if you change the OUI
# in the MAC address of your virtual machines.
allowAnyOUI = 1

[udp]
# Timeout in seconds, 0 = no timeout, default = 60; real value might
# be up to 100% longer
timeout = 60

[incomingtcp]
# Use these with care - anyone can enter into your VM through these...

# FTP (both active and passive FTP is always enabled)
#   ftp localhost 8887
#8887 = %sample%:21

# WEB (make sure that if you are using named webhosting, names point to
#  your host, not to guest... And if you are forwarding port other
#  than 80 make sure that your server copes with mismatched port 
#  number in Host: header)
#   lynx [url]http://localhost:8888[/url]
#8888 = %sample%:80

# SSH
#   ssh -p 8889 root@localhost
#8889 = %sample%:22

[incomingudp]
# UDP port forwarding example
#6000 = %sample%:6001

It occurs to me that if uncomment something I might get this working?

To update: Now seems to be fixed so I post it in case it helps someone. From within the /usr/libVmware directory I ran the uninstall script, then deleted the vmware directory. Then I installed from scratch. I now find that there is a vmnet8 file now available, that I can select NAT without issue and that all 3 of the Windows NICs are showing as properly connected so at the risk of tempting fate it now all seems OK.