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GLettina
Contributor
Contributor

VMware Tools don't work on Ubuntu 8.10

Today I've updated Ubuntu 8.04 to Ubuntu 8.10 in a virtual machine. In the new Ubuntu 8.10 VMware Tools don't work!! No screen resolution, no Unity, nothing... and the mouse doesn't work fine!! If I click in the right side of the screen, it clicks in the left!! I've tried to do something with terminal, but I think the new Ubuntu is unsupported... when an update of VMware Tools for Ubuntu 8.10? Thanks Smiley Happy






I'm using VMware Fusion on my iMac. It's fantastic, thanks VMware!! Smiley Happy

I'm using VMware Fusion on my iMac. It's fantastic, thanks VMware!! 🙂
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59 Replies
kelargo
Contributor
Contributor

I get the vsock error ... I'm on AMD64. its not a fresh install. I upgraded from Hardy.

I think I'll go back to vmware-player for now until this gets sorted out... Smiley Sad

$ uname -a

Linux htpc 2.6.27-8-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 6 17:38:14 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux

and some of the other info requested:

$ sudo /etc/init.d/vmware start password for kelargo: Starting VMware services: Virtual machine monitor failed Virtual machine communication interface done Virtual ethernet failed Bridged networking on /dev/vmnet0 done Host-only networking on /dev/vmnet1 (background) done DHCP server on /dev/vmnet1 done Host-only networking on /dev/vmnet8 (background) done DHCP server on /dev/vmnet8 done NAT service on /dev/vmnet8 failed kelargo@htpc:~$ Xorg -version X.Org X Server 1.5.2 Release Date: 10 October 2008 X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0 Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.24-16-server x86_64 Ubuntu Current Operating System: Linux htpc 2.6.27-8-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 6 17:38:14 UTC 2008 x86_64 Build Date: 24 October 2008 09:06:49AM xorg-server 2:1.5.2-2ubuntu3 (buildd@crested.buildd) Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org to make sure that you have the latest version. Module Loader present

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

The oddity is that if I restart within the VM, it shuts down but won't restart.

How long did you wait? For some reason shutting down or restarting Ubuntu 8.10 takes about 3-5 minutes (and I filed a bug about this), but it does eventually work.

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VirtualMachinea
Contributor
Contributor

You're right, etung, it did eventually restart. But not when I logged out - I waited over 10 minutes and got nothing but a blank screen. One other interesting thing I discovered. I added the Kubuntu-KDE4-desktop to my VM and found that drop and drop between Mac and VM didn't work. When I rebooted into gnome, it worked again.

Mac user with Linux tendencies
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CuriosCat
Contributor
Contributor

I tried it again with 2.0.1. Pretty much the same errors:

  • Claims X.org 7.4.2 is not compatible

  • vsock does not compile cleanly

I am running Ubuntu 8.10 64-bit. I've noticed some people have claimed successes, but these are all with the 32-bit versions. Has anyone had success on 64-bit, or should I just go install a 32-bit version?

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CuriosCat
Contributor
Contributor

Hi etung,

In light of this, I'm trying a clean install of Ubuntu 8.10 under 2.0.1. Will let everyone know the results.

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CuriosCat
Contributor
Contributor

I tried it again with a fresh install of Ubuntu 8.10 under VMware Fusion 2.0.1. It still presents the same errors.

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VirtualMachinea
Contributor
Contributor

I tried it again with 2.0.1. Pretty much the same errors:

  • Claims X.org 7.4.2 is not compatible

  • vsock does not compile cleanly

I am running Ubuntu 8.10 64-bit. I've noticed some people have claimed successes, but these are all with the 32-bit versions. Has anyone had success on 64-bit, or should I just go install a 32-bit version?

I had success with the 64 bit version. But there are clearly things affecting success on the newer kernels that haven't been figured out yet. Others claim success with Mandriva 2009; I couldn't get that to work correctly with the tools and I was using a 32 bit version that time.

Mac user with Linux tendencies
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SvenGus
Expert
Expert

Ehm, Ubuntu 8.10... Smiley Wink Smiley Happy

BTW, I had success - by applying the vmware-user login items trick - with the 32-bit versions of Ubuntu 8.10 and Mandriva Free 2009.

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CuriosCat
Contributor
Contributor

I think I'll have to try the 32-bit version next. 64-bit is not working out for me.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

I had success - by applying the vmware-user login items trick

You shouldn't need this anymore with 2.0.1

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SvenGus
Expert
Expert

No, without the login items trick it didn't work, for me; tried simply to disable the login item, and even reinstalling the tools without adding anything: same result, i.e., no window autoscaling and no Unity; re-adding the vmware-user login item solved everything, again.

So, sadly, it looks like this is still an issue (at least in my configuration, not only in Ubuntu 8.10, but also with Mandriva 2009)...

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VirtualMachinea
Contributor
Contributor

I had success - by applying the vmware-user login items trick

You shouldn't need this anymore with 2.0.1

My experience with 2.0.1 was the same as Sven's in Mandriva and also in Kubuntu (actually, Ubuntu with KDE 4 added). In the case of Mandriva I had limited VM window expandability and no drag and drop capability until I applied the vmware-user login items solution. With (K)Ubuntu, adding the vmware-user autolog item fixed the missing drag and drop - everything else was working without the fix. The connection appears to be KDE 4, because Ubuntu running Gnome was OK without the fix, as were Debian Lenny and gOS 3 VMs running Gnome.

Mac user with Linux tendencies
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SvenGus
Expert
Expert

BTW, I had to apply the login item fix also for Ubuntu/GNOME.

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marcpem
Contributor
Contributor

I have Ubuntu 8.10 Server JeOS 64-bit on ESXi 3.5.0, 110271. I installed VMware Tools with success, here is my how-to guide:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=987631

But the last thing that I haven’t figured out is that when I turn on Paravirtualization in ESXi for this VM I get the message “This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU.” I did turn on VT on the bios of the host machine. Can anybody help ?

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nahanniWhiskey
Contributor
Contributor

Ubuntu 8.10 - 64 bit

VMware Fusion 2.0.1

MBP OS X 10.5.5

I just purchased my Fusion Key. Works great for windows, but I can't install VMware tools in this version of Ubuntu. I dragged a copy to the desktop, changed the permissions to Read/Write, and double clicked the vmware_install.pl script. I'm new to Linux, so a detailed description of how to install would be greatly appreciated.

Alternatively, should I just delete this partition and install a 32-bit version? Thanks.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

I'm new to Linux, so a detailed description of how to install would be greatly appreciated.

That's what the Help is for Smiley Happy Help > VMware Fusion Help > Creating Virtual Machines > Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools > To install or upgrade VMware Tools in a Linux virtual machine from the command line with the tar installer or RPM Installer

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trxman
Contributor
Contributor

ESXi 3.5 update 3 & Ubuntu 8.10 server:

-


Stopping VMware Tools services in the virtual machine:

Guest operating system daemon: done

Trying to find a suitable vmmemctl module for your running kernel.

None of the pre-built vmmemctl modules for VMware Tools is suitable for your

running kernel. Do you want this program to try to build the vmmemctl module

for your system (you need to have a C compiler installed on your system)?

Using compiler "/usr/bin/gcc". Use environment variable CC to override.

What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running

kernel?

Extracting the sources of the vmmemctl module.

Building the vmmemctl module.

Using 2.6.x kernel build system.

make: Entering directory `/tmp/vmware-config4/vmmemctl-only'

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.27-9-server/build/include/.. SUBDIRS=$PWD SRCROOT=$PWD/. modules

make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.27-9-server'

CC /tmp/vmware-config4/vmmemctl-only/backdoorGcc64.o

CC /tmp/vmware-config4/vmmemctl-only/os.o

/tmp/vmware-config4/vmmemctl-only/os.c: In function ‘os_init’:

/tmp/vmware-config4/vmmemctl-only/os.c:590: error: ‘struct proc_dir_entry’ has no member named ‘get_info’

*make[2]: *** Error 1*

*make[1]: *** Error 2*

make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.27-9-server'

*make: *** http://vmmemctl.ko Error 2*

make: Leaving directory `/tmp/vmware-config4/vmmemctl-only'

Unable to build the vmmemctl module.

The memory manager driver (vmmemctl module) is used by VMware host software to

efficiently reclaim memory from a virtual machine.

If the driver is not available, VMware host software may instead need to swap

guest memory to disk, which may reduce performance.

The rest of the software provided by VMware Tools is designed to work

independently of this feature.

If you want the memory management feature, you can install the driver by

running vmware-config-tools.pl again after making sure that gcc, binutils, make

and the kernel sources for your running kernel are installed on your machine.

These packages are available on your distribution's installation CD.

-


any clues?

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timothyhunter
Contributor
Contributor

Can you expand on the "vmware-user login items trick"?

I don't have /usr/bin/vmware-user and apt-cache search doesn't show such a file. If I were to get this file, I don't see a graphical way to add to to /etc/init.d, which I suppose is what's meant by "login items". Maybe KDE4 doesn't have such a thing. More likely I just can't find it.

I'm running 32-bit Kubuntu 8.10 in Fusion 2.0.1 and I'm suffering from all the problems listed in this thread, no X.org 7.4.2 driver, vsock doesn't compile, etc. This is Linux kernel version 2.6.27-9. I think I'm 100% up-to-date on Kubuntu maintenance.

Although I have a current KDE session that works pretty much normally, if I shut down, restart, and re-login to that session many things are hosed. Single-clicking a window top border maximizes the window as if I had double-clicked it. Menus expand and disappear in a flash. The K menu (in the lower left corner) expands and immediately disappears, but if I click the little file manager widget immediately to the right of the K menu, then click the K menu, the K menu works normally.

Fortunately I took a snapshot of my last working session so I can try things and then rollback, but if I ever have to restart I'm hosed. Needless to say I'm feeling a bit panicky and I'm starting to think about how to export all the GBs of files I need to the Mac.

Later: I found the fix for double-clicks in another thread. That helped immensely. I confirmed that vmware-user is getting started automatically as well. Logout does not work, though. I can wait forever but my session will never logout. The screen goes black and that's it.

Message was edited by: timothyhunter

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Pete248
Contributor
Contributor

Hmmm, I'm a bit disappointed, that it takes so long for VMware to fix the incompatibility with VMware Tools and Ubuntu 8.10.

Switched from Parallels to Fusion because of the better support of Linux in Fusion.

IMHO the big advantage of using a virtual machine is the ability to test new OS releases without compromising my stable installation. But if I have to wait for months until fusion can be fully used with the new OS, this advantage is pointless.

Peter

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elazar
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Whats interesting is that get_info was removed from the kernel source tree back in April, see .

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