Connecting a DVD-Rom to XP VM?

[mmartin0926]

Hello All,

I'm having a bit of trouble connecting/accessing my DVD-Rom within my Windows XP VM...

  Host: OpenSuSE 11.4

Guest: Windows XP Professional

My DVD-Rom is located at "/dev/sr0" on my host, so when I looked at the Settings for my DVD-Rom I saw that is has it as "auto detect", which doesn't seem to be working.

So I opened the vmx file and this is the settings I can see for my DVD-Rom:

     ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
     ide1:0.fileName = "auto detect"
     ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

I used this discussion here http://communities.vmware.com/thread/109842, and changed my config for my DVD-Rom to the following:

     scsi1:0.present = "FALSE"
     scsi1:0.autodetect = "TRUE"
     scsi1:0.filename = "auto detect"
     scsi1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

Which did NOT work either. So I then tried changing it to this:

     scsi1:0.present = "TRUE"
     scsi1:0.autodetect = "FALSE"
     scsi1:0.filename = "/dev/sr0"
     scsi1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

Which as you can guess did not work either.

I can see a "DVD/CD-ROM drives" in the Device Manager as "VMware, Virtual CD-ROM SCSI CdRom Device".

If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to reply.

Thanks in Advance,

Matt

[WoodyZ]

Try the following and the last option is like selecting "Legacy emulation" under "Troubleshooting" under "Advanced..." in the CD/DVD Settings.

scsi1:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi1:0.autodetect = "FALSE"
scsi1:0.filename = "/dev/sr0"
scsi1:0.deviceType = "atapi-cdrom"

If that doesn't work the only other suggestions are check the Device status to make sure it's connected and if all else fails then try using an ISO Image vs. physical optical media.

[mmartin0926]

Hey Woodyz, thanks for your reply!

Ok, I'll give that a try.

FYI... Before your reply to my post I had reverted back to the original vmx file that had it as an ide and then started up the VM and this time it says that it is connected but it's saying that the physical drive is located at "/dev/sr1" when I know the DVD Drive is located at "/dev/sr0"...

But anyway, I'll give your suggestion a try and post back with my results.

Thanks Again,

Matt

[WoodyZ]

If it was originally "ide1" then just change "scsi1" to it but use the options and make sure you use the correct /dev/sr*.

[mmartin0926]

Ok, so I removed the original settings for the CD/DVD-ROM in the vmx file and replaced them with yours.

Now I can't see the section for the CD/DVD-ROM Settings in the Menu anymore:... At this menu (below):

     "Virtual Machine" > "Virtual Machine Settings" > "Hardware"

Also, just so I'm positive about this. The CD/DVD-ROM must be UNMOUNTED before it can connect to the Virtual Machine, right...?

Or should it be mounted on the host first so the VM can see it,  then the VM would ask to unmount it and take over control of it when I  boot up the VM?

Thanks Again,

Matt

[mmartin0926]

Hey Woodyz, sorry just saw your reply after I already posted...

I'll try that now. Thanks...

Thanks Again,

Matt

[mmartin0926]

Hey WoodyZ... VICTORY!!  haha

That did it (*changing WoodyZ's cd-rom settings from scsi1 to ide1)... Looks like its working now!

Here's what the final DVD/CD-ROM Settings look like:

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.autodetect = "FALSE"
ide1:0.filename = "/dev/sr0"
ide1:0.deviceType = "atapi-cdrom"

Also, there was a stray setting below the "scsi1" one when I was editing that, that said something like "ide1:0.autodetect = "FALSE". So there was 2 of the same settings at one point. Not sure if that had anything to do with it...

Anyway, thanks again for your help! Very much appreciated!!

Thanks Again,

Matt