Hi there,

Yesterday i installed vmware 4 (build 3360 or so) under slackware 9.0.
It all went smoothly. I installed win2k server within vmware, and it all worked fine. I even installed the vmware tools to improve screen resolution.

So.. you think, why is he bothering us? heh, well, after a reboot of my linux system, i could start vmware, but when i tried to run a host system i got an error message:

begin error message-----------
VMware Workstation Error:
Could not open /dev/vmmon: No such device.
Please make sure that the kernel module `vmmon' is loaded.
End error message ------------

Even when i don't install the vmware tools, i get the same message. I cannot install a new host OS, because i get the same error.

According to the error message a kernel module isn't loaded? I think it should be something with the startup script or so.

Is there anyone who can supply me some info?

Thanks in advance, cheers,

Is the vmmon kernel module listed by lsmod? You might need the vmnet module loaded too. You can load the module yourself from the command line just by using modprobe vmnet. If this solves your problem then add the modprobe line to /etc/rc.d/rc.modules.

Welcome to LQ!

cheers

Jamie...

Thanks Jamie,

Yes i started the module myself, and it work. though, i got some error messages.. but it worked.

Nevertheless, i would like to install it better, so i unstalled vmware, and tried to install it again. I found that the install script was not working.. , during the installation it asks me where the init directories are (rc... etc) Thes directories didn't excist on my slackware, and the settings are ofcourse in a diferent files: /etc/rc.d/rc.0 and rc.4 etc.. etc..

So, the modules are not loaded because at the installation the directories did not excist and i created them myself. And those directories are empty and will not be used during load, and i have to start and stop all the modules mannually. Unforturnately i don't have the knowledge to modify the vmware install script myself. So if anyone knows a site or document with more info on the vmware install under slackware... please send it to me

cheers,

duister

You should just be able to add the lines to /etc/rc.d/rc.modules if you wish to load the correct modules. Although, once those directories exist the vmware installer should put the necessary files in them. At boot time the Slackware rc.sysinitv script should noctice they are there and execute them.

cheers

Jamie...

Thanks for the reply, but i found a nice solution. i used a small textfile i found on the net with installation instructions for vmware and slackware

I hope a large message like this is allowed in here but i'll put the installation guide in here to help other ppl with the same prob, i made a small resume:

manual installation vmware on slackware:
before installation:
You might want to do the following:

cd /etc
mkdir init.d
for i in {0,1,2,3,4,5,6}; do mkdir rc$i.d; done
run the installation by untarring the filen and go to the directory where you untarred it:
and run the following:
./vmware-install.pl

during installation:
When it asks you for the location of your startup scripts... and mentions rc0.d to rc6.d... you want to tell it /etc is the directory - since that's where we just created the temporary directories.

So... run through the prompts, answer the questions according to your preferences, etc... until you get to the part where it asks you if you want to run vmware-config.pl. DO NOT choose to run this now - you need to start the script manually with arguments. The setup should quit after you decline to run vmware-config.pl

after installation:
run
cd /usr/local/bin
./vmware-config.pl --compile

The extra --compile switch above forces vmware-config.pl to compile fresh modules for your system.

okay. Run through the remainder of the prompts, etc... until the script eventually finishes.

Once you are done running the install/config scripts - you probably want to make some minor changes to fit the Slackware/BSD scenario.

Copy the vmware script in /etc/init.d to /etc/rc.d/rc.vmware and make it executable.

cp /etc/init.d/vmware /etc/rc.d/rc.vmware
chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.vmware

Add a few lines to /etc/rc.d/rc.local to set up VMware when you boot the computer

(In /etc/rc.d/rc.local)

if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.vmware ]; then
/etc/rc.d/rc.vmware start
fi

Now... you can go back and get rid of the temporary /etc/init.d, /etc/rc[0-6].d fixes.

rm -rf /etc/init.d
for i in {0,1,2,3,4,5,6}; do rm -rf /etc/rc$i.d; done