VMWare WinXP host Linux guest
 

Hello,everyone.:)

I have my WinXP installed on my LAPTOP (Dell inspiron 300m).To make it better for my studies,I also installed VMWare and RedHat Linux Fedora Core 1 as my guest.The installation went through successfully.However,after first boot,it can't boot up again.It said that I can either enter root password or press Ctrl+D to restart.After restart,the problem persists...

It's frustrated to install the linux over and over again.I have spent a couple of days doing that.So,do you guys have any suggestions or solutions to my problem?

Any suggestions are appreciated.:)


P.S My VMWare's version is 3.1.1

Maybe you could try the latest version, 4.5. I have an Inspiron 8600 with XP Pro and just did it yesterday. BTW, I made the mistake of not installing GRUB the first time around... I thought that since it would be the only OS on the VM it would boot up but it didn't, so if you didn't install it do so, otherwise I'm not much help.

It sounds like you are booting into system maintenance (init1). When you have logged in with your root password try to write:
telinit 5
and see whats happening. This should start your xserver (and several other things). If it doesn´t it seems you haven´t installed all the software you need

Yeah,maybe.
 

Thanks for all the responses.aliensub,the problem doesn't lie on that one.Because I haven't change the boot level.

LuisR,maybe I should try out version 4.5.But I have to test it over trial version before buying a new copy. :)

P.S. I have the same experience as you.The linux can't boot up because I didn't install boot loader.... :(

Have you installed VMware tools? From what I have read in your posts, I assume that you are not getting into X.

I haven't tried Fedora in 4.0.5 yet, and I no longer run any machines with VMware 3.x, but I wouldn't think there is a problem unless you are trying to run a 2.6 kernel.

If you provide a little more info. concerning your problem, i may still be able to help.

HTH

minrich,thanks for your reply. :)

Indeed,I didn't install VM tools.I don't know how to install it.Would you mind telling me?By the way,Fedora Core cannot identify my Monitor type (I'm using Dell inspiron 300m notebook).It identified as "Unprobed monitor".

After I knew how to install VM tools,will I have a chance to run Fedora on Windows host? :confused:

I don't have the instructions to hand, and I am sure that the installation script has changed form VMware 3.x to Vmware 4.x.

What i would do if I were you would be to read the help in VMware before you start your Fedora guest. I am pretty sure that the Redhat instructions should work for Fedora. If your search of help topics is not successful, I will type out the instructions from my User's Manual for version 3.1.

don't forget to click on File->Install Vmware tools once you have started Fedora in text mode. Also because Vmware uses its own version of XFree86 the monitor you have is immaterial, however even in later versions VMware cannot handle more than 16-bit color, and you probably won't get better than 1024x768 resolution - note well: VMware takes its guesstimate of your desired guest color and resolution from the WinXP settings at the time of the first boot when you install VMware Tools. So beware and adjust your screen settings before you start VMware - you can easily change them back to your preferences later.

Let me know how it goes.

I have the Linux version of VMWare on my computer and have installed several different Linux distros as guests on my computer. Some distros could easily be installed as guests and worked perfectly. Other distros did not work. VMWare only officially works with a few versions of a few distros. Fedora Core 1 is not officially supported yet so it may or may not work. Some distros work perfectly even though they are not supported by VMWare and other distros do not work at all. VMWare is very fussy about which distro you use as either a guest or as a host.

If a distro works under VMWare it usually is very stable and works perfectly. If not usually the problems are obvious just after installing it or just after the VMWare tools have been installed in the guest. I tried the install Fedora Core 1 as a guest and had problems so I deleted it. I do not remember what the problem was and did not make any effort to solve the problem. I see that LuisR was able to use Fedora Core 1 so apparently it is possible to make Fedora Core 1 work. He is probably using the Windows version of VMWare 4.5, I use the Linux version of VMWare 4.0.5. I have not yet upgraded to the Linux Version of VMWare 4.5.

When Red Hat 9 came out about a year ago I waited impatiently for many months before they came out with a version of VMWare that supported Red Hat 9. When they finally did that I installed VMWare and used Red Hat 9 as my host operating system. It worked great. I recently switched to using Slackware 9.1 as my host operating system. To install Slackware 9.1 as my host OS I had to follow some special instructions before it would work. I found a webpage all about how to use Slackware as either a host or as a guest. On a VMWare newgroup I have seen interesting discussions about using various distros and various Linux kernels. VMWare 4.5 has now added support for SuSE 9.0. SuSE is now about to release SuSE 9.1 so I do not know if that is supported.

If Fedora Core 1 is not working for you perhaps you shoud either try a different Linux distro or try a newer version of VMWare. If you have not yet paid for VMWare (and if you plan to) you might want to see if you are eligible for any discount. There is a discount for members of a local LUG and also a discount for the Microsoft certified people (whatever you call them). I am a part-time student and used my student ID card to get the student version of the Linux version of VMWare. It might be easiest to start with a Linux distro that is officially supported by VMWare. Below is a list of which versions of VMWare support which distros. Only the second link mentions SuSE 9.0, neither mention Fedora Core 1.

http://www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/index.html
http://www.vmware.com/support/ws45/d...otes_ws45.html

I am not sure if I understand what you said. With Fedora Core 1 you are probably using Grub as your bootloader. Did you install Grub as you bootloader and does it seem to run normally? Does Grub run without error messages and then ask you for a password? Does it give you an error message and stop and ask you for a password or does Grub complete without any problems and then ask you for a password? When you give it your password what happens?

The installation programs for most Linux distros ask if you prefer to log-in in the graphical mode or in the text mode? Most people choose the graphical log-in which gives them a Windows like GUI interface. If they choose the text mode log-in they are given a command line interface much like DOS or Unix. If they start up in the text mode they can then start up Gnome or KDE by typing startx. If there is a problem booting up Linux you are less likely to have a problem booting up in the text mode. If I am unsure that a Linux distro will work I choose the text mode during installation. If I can get it to work in text mode I can then later try to figure out why XWindows is not working. To use Linux in the text mode you would need to know a few Unix or Linux commands that you can use from the command line.

VMWare tools is something that can be installed after you get Fedora Core 1 running, not before then. The VMWare tools will allow Gnome or KDE to be displayed at a higher resolution. It will also also you to share a folder with both Linux and Windows XP. I have never used VMWare 3.1.1 and do not know much about it, I use VMWare 4.0.5.

If you have an unprobed monitor you will probably need to tell it the correct horizontal and vertical refresh rates while running the Fedora Core 1 installation program. The information can probably found in your instruction manual or on the manufacturer's web page. VMWare uses emulation for the video card and for some of the other computer hardware, so the Linux installation program may detect something different than what your real hardware is. If it detects something different that is probably what you should use. You can see what the VMWare manual says about that. VMWare is great once you get it working.

Rick485

It appears to me from your posts that you have been running VMware Workstation for Linux Hosts, whereas S&S and I are using Workstation for Windows Hosts ... hence I think I can categorically say that when installing a Linux Guest the user usually MUST start in text mode and bypass the Monitor test, and MUST install VMware Tools before starting X.

I would mention that my only experience to the contrary of the foregoing was when I installed SuSE 8.2 Pro and it somehow knew that I was installing it as a VMware Guest - it loaded Vmware Tools automatically - The ISO image CD was on the DVD.

Also I don't think I have ever used Grub bootloaded with VMware, all my installations seem to default to lilo.

It's fine now! :)
 

Thanks for every responses from you guys. :)

I got my VMWare 4.5 & Linux guest worked today after I successfully installed VM tools.All goes well after I rebooted many times.

However,back to 3.1,I can't make my linux guest's resolution to 1024X768.The monitor,display card type could not be identified.Maybe 3.1 doesn't support Fedora Core 1. (I have installed vm tools,too!)

Anyway,I've got to consider whether I should buy a new copy of 4.5 with my student id card for discount! :D