Installing VMware Player 2.5.5 Configuring...

[dunkel0]

My computer runs "CentOS release 6.5 (Final)" (2.6.32-431.el6.i686).

   # /home/dunkel/VMware-Player-2.5.5-328052.i386.bundle

   Extracting VMware Installer...done.

shows a popup with the words given in the subject line.  Its  [Cancel], "Close Window", Alt+F4  buttons fail.

To suppress "Package VMware-Player-2.5.5-328052.i386.rpm is not signed", I set in the /etc/yum.conf

[main] section "gpgcheck=0":

   # yum install VMware-Player-2.5.5-328052.i386.rpm

  Installing : VMware-Player-2.5.5-328052.i386                              1/1

doesn't complete either. I initially used a commercial VMware Workstation - since it failed due to OS

upgrades. Then I used the free Player. But how can I install and run it now?

[WoodyZ]

You say you're having issues because of kernel updates, right?...  So how do you possible expect VMware Player 2.5.5, which was released over three years ago, to work in CentOS 6.5!?  The only version of VMware Player/Workstation officially supported under CentOS 6.5 is 6/10 and that's with the stock kernel.  As kernels update, typically Users have to resort to third-party patches until VMware updates it releases.  Which BTW usually takes a while as the kernel updates come faster then the developers at VMware put out updates!

[dunkel0]

To keep my computer current, I use as root "yum update" daily. The VMware Player software described above is the latest version downloadable yesterday from vmware.com for a 32-bit Linux computer. So from where can I download a newer VMware Player that works for which version of CentOS?

[WoodyZ]

D'oh!...  http://www.vmware.com > Downloads > Player

[dunkel0]

The VMware-Player-6.0.1-1379776.i386.bundle installation works! Then

Start > System Tools > VMware Player displays a window with title "Win7 - VMware Player". After a few seconds (before getting user control) comes the black screen of death with white text:

BUG: unable to handle kernel paging request at ffffffff

IP: [<ffffffff>] 0xffffffff

[...]

I haven't found a way to print these debugging messages. Only a reboot of the Linux computer gets me out of it. Yes, I did it twice to confirm this crash is reproducible.

[WoodyZ]

FWIW I just downloaded both CentOS 6.5 and VMware Player 6.0.1 and installed them (both are 32-bit).  Next, I created a Linux VM and ran it without any issues.  Next, I temporarily copied a Windows 7 VM from another system and it ran fine using VMware Player 6.0.1 under CentOS 6.5.  This was using the stock default kernel!   Which kernel are you using?

[dunkel0]

/home/dunkel> cat /proc/version
Linux version 2.6.32-431.el6.i686 (mockbuild@c6b8.bsys.dev.centos.org) (gcc version 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-4) (GCC) ) #1 SMP Fri Nov 22 00:26:36 UTC 2013

Please let me know what command you prefer to describe the running kernel version. I checked /usr/bin/vmplayer which was installed by the version 6 VMware Player installation. Its text output on the black screen-of-death is different from my previous description. But it reliably crashes the system. If you describe your working Linux kernal/VMplayer combination, I might be able to reproduce it.

[WoodyZ]

The output you've shown is identical to mine.  Also while this was a clean install of CentOS 6.5 on my system I did not perform any updates and only installed VMware Player 6.0.1 and then created the Linux VM and ran an existing Windows 7 VM, all without any issues.

If you open VMware Player without running an existing VM is it okay, in other words the app itself does not crash?  If yes can you create a new empty VM and then just start the VM without actually installing the Guest OS does the VM and or app crash?

Have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling VMware Player?

What CPU do you have?

[dunkel0]

My CPU is an Intel Core2 Duo E8600 @ 3.33GHz. My problem seems to be:

[root@carbon ~]# yum-complete-transaction
Loaded plugins: auto-update-debuginfo, fastestmirror, fs-snapshot, kabi, local,
              : post-transaction-actions, presto, priorities, protectbase,
              : refresh-packagekit, remove-with-leaves, rpm-warm-cache, upgrade-
              : helper, versionlock
Loading support for CentOS kernel ABI
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: yum.singlehop.com
* extras: centos.aol.com
* updates: centos.aol.com
_local                                                   | 2.9 kB     00:00 ...
0 packages excluded due to repository protections
Checking for new repos for mirrors
There are 4 outstanding transactions to complete. Finishing the most recent one
The remaining transaction had 1 elements left to run
--> Running transaction check
---> Package VMware-Player.i386 0:2.5.5-328052 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================
Package               Arch         Version                Repository      Size
================================================================================
Installing:
VMware-Player         i386         2.5.5-328052           _local          95 M

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install       1 Package(s)

Total download size: 95 M
Installed size: 96 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
Setting up and reading Presto delta metadata
Processing delta metadata
Package(s) data still to download: 95 M

Package VMware-Player-2.5.5-328052.i386.rpm is not signed
Not removing old transaction files

[dunkel0]

WoodyZ was right: I removed the outdated VMplayer (# vmware-installer -u vmware-player), installed VMware-Player-6.0.1-1379776.i386.bundle, and REINSTALLED Windows 7. My old Win7 virtual machine was created by a former VMplayer and ran fine on it. But it core dumps on the recent vmplayer.

yum-complete-transaction still reports challenges. But vmplayer starts, Win7 (MS Windows 7 Pro) starts, and Internet Explorer 8 runs fine in it. This is all I need: display MS-format webcasts Firefox cannot display.