When you encounter a problem and need help, it's important that you give as much information as you can so others can diagnose what's wrong.
Remember that what may be obvious to you, sitting in front of your computer, may not be obvious to someone far across the internet.
However, before you report a problem, please be sure that you've read the release notes, the FAQ, the documentation, searched the forums, and searched the internet.
You might find the answer is readily available - searching first gets you the answer faster and keeps the forums less cluttered, making it easier to find things in the future.
Once you've done some preliminary searching and determined that it's not an easily-available solution, please include the following information with a request for help:
* What exact version of VMware Player
* What is your host OS and include if it is 32-bit or 64-bit OS. If Linux include the exact Linux distribution and kernel version.
* What is the guest OS and include if it is 32-bit or 64-bit OS. If Linux include the exact Linux distribution and kernel version.
* Are VMware Tools installed in the guest OS.
* How often you see the problem (e.g. all the time, sometimes, rarely, etc.), and if it had previously worked in the same setup (e.g. same virtual machine, same computer)
* What seems to trigger the problematic behavior
* If there are any conditions where it does work
If troubleshooting a network issue, please include the following additional information.
* Post the output from "ipconfig /all" (Windows) or " ifconfig -a" (Linux) from both the host and the guest OS
* Post the .vmx file from the virtual machine.
* Details of how your host is connected to the network / Internet (Cable Modem, DSL, Router, Switch, Wired, Wireless,...).
* Details on how networking is configured for the guest (NAT, bridged, host-only).
* Firewall settings (Windows: Firewall turned on/off, Linux: "iptables -L", FreeBSD IP Firewall: "ipfw list", OpenBSD Packet Filter: "pfctl -s rules")
If troubleshooting a disk issue , please include the following additional information.
* Post the .vmx file from the virtual machine.
* Post the vmware.log file located in the VM folder.
* Post a complete directory listing of the VM folder, including file sizes (preferably in bytes).
This is not an exhaustive list of useful information - if you have more details that you think are relevant, be sure to include them.
Etiquette
Sometimes there are multiple causes with the same symptoms, so unless you have the exact same setup as someone else, it's not usually useful to just chime in with "Same for me!" - at the very least, specify any differences (for example, Player 2.0 vs. 2.0.2, XP SP1 vs. XP SP2, etc.).
Don't use terminology or abbreviations you're not completely sure of; even then, be aware that context matters. For example, BT might mean "BlueTooth" to you, but to someone else it might mean VMware's "Binary Translation" technique. "VRAM" might make sense to you as "Virtual RAM", but most people would think "Video RAM". Being explicit helps people understand what you're talking about, which is necessary for them to help you.
Don't use ALL CAPS or lots of punctuation!!!!! - this is annoying and makes posts harder to read. Also, since most posts are questions, it's redundant to say "Need Help!" or similar in the subject.
After someone answers your question, it's nice to recognize their contribution with "correct" or "helpful" points. These points affect user rankings, which can be seen as a very rough guide to people who post a lot of answers to questions. Note this is not a perfect guide - some people with low rankings are very useful/knowledgeable and may contribute in ways that don't generate points, or just don't post as often.
