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timothyhunter
Contributor
Contributor

Shared folders R/O only with Kubuntu 8.04 and Fusion 2.0

Previously I shared my /Users/tim folder with my Kubuntu Gutsy VM using Fusion 1.1.3. This worked fine. Now I have upgraded to Fusion 2.0 and Kubuntu 8.04. My /Users/tim folder is still shared but it is read-only. I notice that no matter what folder I try to share, the Sharing dialog warns me that "Some shared or mirrored folders cannot be enabled because they are subfolders or parent folders that are already shared or mirrored. (See the attached screen capture.) I get this message even though I only have 1 folder selected.

I have re-installed VMWare Tools and everything was successful.

What should I do to get r/w access to my shared folder? I can provide additional information if needed. Thanks in advance for your advice!

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Post the .vmx, or examine it and remove redundant shared folder entries?

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timothyhunter
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your quick response! Here's my .vmx file.

.encoding = "UTF-8"

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "7"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

memsize = "512"

MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"

scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.fileName = "Kubuntu Fiesty Fawn-000002.vmdk"

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"

ide1:0.fileName = "cdrom0"

ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.connectionType = "bridged"

ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"

usb.present = "TRUE"

ehci.present = "TRUE"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"

isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "FALSE"

displayName = "Kubuntu Gutsy Gibbon"

guestOS = "other26xlinux"

nvram = "Kubuntu Fiesty Fawn.nvram"

deploymentPlatform = "windows"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

RemoteDisplay.vnc.port = "0"

tools.upgrade.policy = "upgradeAtPowerCycle"

powerType.powerOff = "soft"

powerType.powerOn = "soft"

powerType.suspend = "soft"

powerType.reset = "soft"

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

uuid.location = "56 4d 71 97 07 e7 d8 22-e9 4d b8 3a 33 e9 69 6d"

uuid.bios = "56 4d 71 97 07 e7 d8 22-e9 4d b8 3a 33 e9 69 6d"

mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

scsi0:0.redo = ""

pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"

scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"

ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "32"

sound.pciSlotNumber = "33"

ehci.pciSlotNumber = "34"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:e9:69:6d"

ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"

ide1:0.autodetect = "FALSE"

extendedConfigFile = "Kubuntu Fiesty Fawn.vmxf"

sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "/Users/tim"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "MacHome"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"

ide1:0.startConnected = "FALSE"

tools.syncTime = "FALSE"

checkpoint.vmState = ""

sharedFolder.option = "onetimeEnabled"

usb.autoConnect.device0 = ""

sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"

checkpoint.vmState.readOnly = "FALSE"

ethernet0.startConnected = "TRUE"

vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "65536000"

checkpointFBSize = "16777216"

pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"

pciBridge4.functions = "8"

pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"

pciBridge5.functions = "8"

pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"

pciBridge6.functions = "8"

pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"

pciBridge7.functions = "8"

vmci0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"

unity.wasCapable = "FALSE"

usb.pciSlotNumber = "35"

vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "36"

vmci0.id = "870934893"

gui.fullScreenAtPowerOn = "TRUE"

gui.viewModeAtPowerOn = "fullscreen"

unity.showTaskbar = "FALSE"

hgfs.mapRootShare = "TRUE"

hgfs.linkRootShare = "TRUE"

gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "TRUE"

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

That looks correct, was this after editing? Do you still see the error in the Setting window?

Also, remember that on Linux, you probably have to edit /etc/fstab to get write access to HGFS shared folders, e.g. .

timothyhunter
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, it does look right, and yes I'm still getting the error. I understand about /etc/fstab but would a problem there cause the error message in the Sharing dialog?

I've been trying various things. I've entirely shut down the VM. In the Sharing dialog I removed the shared folder and unchecked the "Share folders on your Mac" box, then closed and Quit VMWare Fusion. The .vmx file has these entries that start with sharedFolder:

sharedFolder0.present = "FALSE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "/Users/tim"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "tim"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

sharedFolder.maxNum = "0"

Then I started VMWare Fusion again, selected my Kubuntu VM, and clicked Settings. I see that Sharing is marked Disabled. I clicked Sharing to open the Sharing dialog. The "Share folders on your Mac" box is unchecked and the shared folder list is empty as expected. I checked the "Share folders on your Mac" box and then clicked the + sign. From the Open Files dialog I selected /Users/tim and click Open. Now tim appears in the shared folders list. Then I checked the On box in the left column of the list. The dialog box expands to show the "Some shared or mirrored folders cannot be enabled..." message at the top. I close the Sharing dialog and Quit VMWare Fusion.

Now the .vmx file has these entries:

sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "/Users/tim"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "tim"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"

I've pasted the complete .vmx file below. Am I missing something in the .vmx file? Is there a procedure I should follow to ensure that the .vmx file settings are respected when I restart the VM?

Here's more information. I have 3 other Linux VMs, 2 other Kubuntu and Fedora. All three have the same problem. I also have a WinXP VM in which I have shared /Users/tim. I do not get the warning in the Sharing dialog. Here are the entries in the .vmx file that start with "sharedFolder":

sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "FALSE"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "/Users/tim"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "tim On My Mac"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"

sharedFolder.option = "onetimeEnabled"

I am more than happy to provide whatever information I can to help resolve this issue. This is not a particularly pressing problem for me but I am very interested in having my shared folders back. Thanks for your continued effort.

Here's the entire Kubuntu .vmx file:

.encoding = "UTF-8"

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "7"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

memsize = "512"

MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"

scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.fileName = "Kubuntu Fiesty Fawn-000002.vmdk"

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"

ide1:0.fileName = "cdrom0"

ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.connectionType = "bridged"

ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"

usb.present = "TRUE"

ehci.present = "TRUE"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"

isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "FALSE"

displayName = "Kubuntu Gutsy Gibbon"

guestOS = "other26xlinux"

nvram = "Kubuntu Fiesty Fawn.nvram"

deploymentPlatform = "windows"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

RemoteDisplay.vnc.port = "0"

tools.upgrade.policy = "upgradeAtPowerCycle"

powerType.powerOff = "soft"

powerType.powerOn = "soft"

powerType.suspend = "soft"

powerType.reset = "soft"

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

uuid.location = "56 4d 67 c9 19 66 9e 5d-ac 48 e0 e0 7e 02 60 2a"

uuid.bios = "56 4d 67 c9 19 66 9e 5d-ac 48 e0 e0 7e 02 60 2a"

mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

scsi0:0.redo = ""

pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"

scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"

ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "32"

sound.pciSlotNumber = "33"

ehci.pciSlotNumber = "34"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:02:60:2a"

ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"

ide1:0.autodetect = "FALSE"

extendedConfigFile = "Kubuntu Fiesty Fawn (copy).vmxf"

ide1:0.startConnected = "FALSE"

tools.syncTime = "FALSE"

checkpoint.vmState = ""

usb.autoConnect.device0 = ""

sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"

checkpoint.vmState.readOnly = "FALSE"

ethernet0.startConnected = "TRUE"

vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "65536000"

checkpointFBSize = "16777216"

pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"

pciBridge4.functions = "8"

pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"

pciBridge5.functions = "8"

pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"

pciBridge6.functions = "8"

pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"

pciBridge7.functions = "8"

vmci0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"

unity.wasCapable = "FALSE"

usb.pciSlotNumber = "35"

vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "36"

vmci0.id = "870934893"

gui.fullScreenAtPowerOn = "TRUE"

gui.viewModeAtPowerOn = "fullscreen"

unity.showTaskbar = "FALSE"

hgfs.mapRootShare = "TRUE"

hgfs.linkRootShare = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "TRUE"

sharedFolder0.hostPath = "/Users/tim"

sharedFolder0.guestName = "tim"

sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"

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timothyhunter
Contributor
Contributor

After some more playing around with this I am now able to read and write to my shared folder, although I still see the warning message in the Sharing dialog.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

After some more playing around with this I am now able to read and write to my shared folder

Any idea what you changed to get it to work?

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timothyhunter
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your continued interest.

I tried disabling Sharing entirely using the GUI. I started by clicking Virtual Machine->Shared Folders->Turn Shared Folders Off. Then I deleted the single entry in the shared folders list and closed the Sharing dialog. Then I started over, enabling Shared Folders and adding /Users/tim back to the list. I tried this several times. I finally noticed that the "Some shared or mirrored folders cannot be enabled..." warning would sometimes appear and sometimes not even though I hadn't done anything except close the Sharing dialog and then reopen it. This made me think that the message may not be entirely accurate, so I tried writing to the shared folder and voila! it worked. I still get the message but I'm able to write to the folder anyway.

In retrospect I'm not sure I ever actually tried writing to the shared folder after seeing the message before last night, so it's entirely possible that it was always writable and I was just taking the warning at face value.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Ah, I see. The warning message doesn't mean you can't write to enabled shared folders, it means you can't enable new ones, which you weren't trying to do. I suspect they were writable all along. We're going to try to stop the warning from inappropriately appearing in the next release of Fusion.

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timothyhunter
Contributor
Contributor

Good deal!

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Boondoggle
Contributor
Contributor

I'm having a similar problem with Ubuntu 8.10 on Fusion 2.0.2. I have created shared folders with read/write access, but I cannot write to them at all. Read access is fine. I have not gotten any of the warning messages in the settings pane, just an access denied error from Ubuntu.

I do have write access working from my windows VM.

Any help would be appreciated.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

That's an entirely different question. See

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Boondoggle
Contributor
Contributor

thanks that fixed my problem

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