VMware

This Question is Not Answered

1 "correct" answer available (10 pts) 2 "helpful" answers available (6 pts)
5 Replies Last post: Mar 10, 2009 2:02 PM by drval  

Upgrading to latest version from v2 posted: Mar 10, 2009 12:27 PM

Click to view drval's profile Enthusiast 69 posts since
Oct 21, 2007
I was quite concerned to read the following under known issues re: the pending upgrade:

"DVD players fail or display an alert when you attempt to play a DVD
Because of certain driver issues, DVD players like Windows Media Player 11 do not work with VMware Fusion 2.
Workaround: Use VLC Player."

Is this true? If it then this is a complete deal breaker for me and I will not -- can not -- do the upgrade. In my work it is absolutely essential that I can use WMP and play DVDs via WMP.

Re: Upgrading to latest version from v2

1. Mar 10, 2009 12:43 PM in response to: drval
Click to view AlexCorscadden's profile Hot Shot VMware Employees 140 posts since
Dec 6, 2007
This isn't a new issue for Fusion 2.0.2, it's a DRM thing that basically boils down to - we don't support Macrovision so some DVD players won't let us play most copy protected DVDs. We've not changed anything that I know of that would break video functionality that was present in 2.0.0 on newer releases.

If you want to see if it'll give you problems: snapshot a VM, upgrade fusion to 2.0.2, test. If you can't play your DVD in 2.0.2 but could in 2.0 we'd certainly be interested in hearing about it and then you can just revert your VM to the snapshot and reinstall fusion 2.0.

Re: Upgrading to latest version from v2

3. Mar 10, 2009 1:07 PM in response to: drval
Click to view AlexCorscadden's profile Hot Shot VMware Employees 140 posts since
Dec 6, 2007
In regards to point 1. It's not a new issue, but it didn't make it to release notes until 2.0.2 for some reason.

Are the DVDs your playing unprotected DVDs? If they are, I wouldn't expect any problems.

I only recommended snapshotting as a quick way to revert the VM to the pre-upgrade state, but since it's a bootcamp VM, you can't do that. Normal "new driver" precautions would be advised, shut down apps cleanly, etc. I mostly treat my VMs as disposable so I'm probably not the best person to ask ;). Removing and reinstalling tools (after reverting to fusion 2.0) will almost certainly be sufficient to recover any old behaviour if things don't go well. Reverting fusion should just be a matter of re-running the install from the older .DMG file.

Re: Upgrading to latest version from v2

4. Mar 10, 2009 1:27 PM in response to: drval
Click to view etung's profile Guru VMware Employees 11,255 posts since
Oct 15, 2006
We did some video changes in 2.0 to hardware accelerate more things. I believe the problem is that our virtual hardware doesn't support Macrovision, causing some DVD players such as WMP to refuse to work (whereas VLC ignores it and keeps going). I believe we've tried contacting Macrovision to get specs to implement this properly, but they either don't understand where we're coming from or don't wish to help.

I don't think this hasn't changed from 2.0->2.0.2, so if things are working for you, they should continue to work.

VMware Beta Programs

Want to be Considered for Future Beta Programs?

Learn More

VMware Developer

Download SDKs, APIs, videos,
training, and more in the Developer community.

Learn More

Developer
Sample Code

Increase your developer productivity with VMware API sample code.

Learn More

VMworld
Sessions & Labs

Online access to the latest VMworld Sessions & Labs and online services.

Learn more

Purchase PSO Credits Online

Purchase credits to redeem training and consulting services online.

Buy Now

Community Hardware Software

View reported configurations or report your own.

Learn More

Only VMware ... Delivers Nexus 1000V

Ensure consistent, policy-based network capabilities to virtual machines across your data center.

Learn More

Communities