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1 2 Previous Next 23 Replies Last post: Jan 18, 2009 11:45 AM by nextech  

VMware tools on Ubuntu 8.10 release not working posted: Oct 30, 2008 10:25 AM

Click to view brianld's profile Novice 6 posts since
Jun 6, 2008
I downloaded Ubuntu 8.10 release and installed in a new VM using mostly standard options (single CPU, 1gb RAM, 10gb disk, etc.). VMware Tools installs OK with exception of vmsock. Issue I am having is that the display does not resize automatically either within a VM window or when switching to full-screen mode. I've tried removing & re-installing the tools, running the config again, etc. Nothing seems to help. I do have both autofit guest and autofit window turned on.

Additionally, the visual effects can't be enabled in Ubuntu under VMware. Obviously all of this points to the video driver, but hoping for help in getting the tools to work under Ubuntu 8.10. This is on VMware workstation 6.5.0 build-118166.

Thanks,


Brian

Re: VMware tools on Ubuntu 8.10 release not working

1. Oct 30, 2008 11:07 AM in response to: brianld
Click to view Tanker Bob's profile Novice 17 posts since
Dec 30, 2006

Same problem here. Haven't received an answer yet. Everything I found here and on the web concerned problems in Hardy, not Intrepid. WS 6.5.0 installs perfectly on Hardy, but Tools doesn't install vsock under Intrepid. That really makes the VM a pain to use.

I also could not get the visual affects to work under VM 6.5.0. I'm disappointed because that's what I thought that 6.5.0 was supposed to do. The video driver that matters is the virtual one in the guest, not necessarily the host driver. My understanding is that if the host supports 3D effects, so should the guest once Tools is installed. I'm not finding that to be the case here.

Given that the 3D effects don't work and that vsock won't install, I have declined to update Tools on all but one of my Ubuntu VMs. I hope that we get a fix or workaround soon.

Re: VMware tools on Ubuntu 8.10 release not working

3. Oct 31, 2008 9:20 AM in response to: brianld
Click to view Tanker Bob's profile Novice 17 posts since
Dec 30, 2006

Hi,

I received the same X.org error message. It could be that the new version of X.org in Intrepid isn't supported well, although the basic display works fine. That wouldn't surprise me given what we've already seen with vsock.

It is up to VMWare to update their Tools for new operating systems and kernels. However, there is an open source group that updates Tools much quicker than VMWare. You can find their package at http://open-vm-tools.sourceforge.net/ . Unfortunately, they have not addressed this issue yet. My guess is that this is a core upgrade script issue rather than a specific vsock driver issue.

I'd like to get it fixed ASAP as well, but I'm not holding my breath. About 90% of the fixes to VMWare products come from workarounds developed in the community.

Re: VMware tools on Ubuntu 8.10 release not working

5. Nov 2, 2008 2:46 AM in response to: brianld
Click to view vincenzobono's profile Lurker 1 posts since
Nov 2, 2008
I've the same problem with vsocks and x.org 7.4.2 (the installation script say no drivers detected for this version).

This means:

  • no resolution change on windows rescaling,
  • no mouse sharing (have to activate the vmware windows with one click),
  • no drag'n'drop file copying between guest and host...

All these features worked with 8.04...

About the hardware acceleration, anybody has be successful in enabling it on Linux? From what I've understood it is only available for Windows (in my vmware fusion interface I see only reference for DirectX acceleration).

Bye,

Vincenzo
Click to view IamTHEvilONE's profile Virtuoso 1,399 posts since
Apr 1, 2008
not to be a party pooper, but 8.10 hasn't been officially approved. Hence you may see some problems with installing or using the 8.10 final.

8.04 LTS just got official support in 6.5.x.

http://pubs.vmware.com/guestnotes/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm

I'll see if anyone in my office has used 8.10 as of yet, but can't promise anything.

Also, FYI hardware acceleration is only for Windows XP guests. You can enable it in Linux hosts now, but an xp guest will only take advantage of it.

Regards,

EvilOne

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Click to view Tanker Bob's profile Novice 17 posts since
Dec 30, 2006

IamTHEvilOne,

Thank you for your comment. Any words from around the office? I would guess that not many people are standing in line to test 8.04 LTS, but a lot of us are desperately trying to test 8.10 configurations in virtual machines. The VMWare Tools installation simply seems like a script fix for header file locations, but I could be wrong. There's already a proposed fix to vmmouse in the intrepid-proposed repository that VMWare could use.

Thanks again for your time here.

Click to view IamTHEvilONE's profile Virtuoso 1,399 posts since
Apr 1, 2008
Unfortunately, no word around here.

I was elated when Ubuntu 8.04 and CentOS 5 got official support for WS 6.5, but the cutting edge usually isn't supported until well after the release. I don't know anyone in my office with 8.10 since it was just recently finalized. I am part of that group. I will probably wait until 8.10 has an LTS build before even downloading it.

Best thing I can suggest is to spam the feature request system: http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/feature.html

It's one of the reasons that CentOS got in.

Regards,

EvilOne

1 - Check the documents
2 - Search the forums
3 - Post Question

And remember to award points to those who assist you.
Click to view Tanker Bob's profile Novice 17 posts since
Dec 30, 2006

EvilOne,

Thank you for your response and suggestion. I did make the feature request. I hope that others do as well. I added the suggestion to my blog as well.

FWIW, 8.10 will never have an LTS, because LTS goes with versions, not builds. LTS versions are only published about every 2 years, I believe. The last LTS before 8.04 was 6.06. The next LTS after 8.04 LTS should be 10.04 if the release schedules don't change. I hope that you don't wait that long to upgrade your setup. :-)

Thanks again for your insight.

Bob

Click to view etung's profile Guru 11,094 posts since
Oct 15, 2006
there is an open source group that updates Tools much quicker than VMWare

Sort of misleading, since AFAIK that group is us :)

There are two main problems Fusion (and therefore probably also Workstation) users face with Ubuntu 8.10. One is the mouse not soft ungrabbing or registering in an incorrect position. This is an Intrepid vmmouse bug and they will push out a fix at some point (hopefully soon). In fact, Re: VMware Tools don't work on Ubuntu 8.10 has a link to a prerelease version.

The second issue is that vmware-user doesn't automatically start - this is because we accidentally left out a line in the autostart config. vmware-user is responsible for lots of stuff, including screen resizing. A workaround is to specify /usr/bin/vmware-user to autostart in System > Preferences > Sessions.

Info from VMware Tools don't work on Ubuntu 8.10.

I would not expect visual effects (i.e. Compiz Fusion) to work since it relies on OpenGL and we don't currently accelerate that.

Re: VMware tools on Ubuntu 8.10 release not working

11. Nov 4, 2008 9:54 PM in response to: etung
Click to view Tanker Bob's profile Novice 17 posts since
Dec 30, 2006

etung,

Beside the vmmouse issue, vsock will not compile in an Ubuntu 8.10 guest. That's the major issue. I already have the vmmouse fix loaded and it works fine. But, without vsock, there's apparently no cut-and-paste between the host and guest, nor drag-and-drop. There is also the incompatibility with X.org 7.4.2, which also causes VMTools install to fail. Those are major shortfalls in capability, and they are noted in the thread which you link in your message. If you are, as you assert, the open source tools group, then the vsock and X.org 7.4.2 issues must be addressed ASAP. They are not fixed in the open source package, either.

Thanks,

Bob

Re: VMware tools on Ubuntu 8.10 release not working

12. Nov 13, 2008 1:50 PM in response to: brianld
Click to view sefsinc's profile Enthusiast 56 posts since
Jul 28, 2006

Any workaround for this as yet?

Thanks.

Re: VMware tools on Ubuntu 8.10 release not working

13. Nov 17, 2008 12:55 PM in response to: sefsinc
Click to view 007vm999's profile Lurker 1 posts since
Nov 17, 2008

Still not working... You know, I have VMWare as the top vm software company,

but I am really really disapointed. Seeing that vmware-tools still hang on a major release of one the most popular linux distro, and knowing that

that it was disponible in release candidate way before the final release, kind of blow.

You might think that they are working on it, but I tough they were allready working on it before the final release of Ubuntu. Does anyone have any official statement on vmware-tool / ubuntu 8.10 issue ?

Click to view andersvinther's profile Lurker 3 posts since
Nov 26, 2008

Hi Tanker Bob,

Copy/Paste and Drag/Drop is supplied by wmware-user - not vsock.

If you autostart vmware-user as etung mention both of those features will work - they do for me.

Anders

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