Installing VMware Workstation 6.5 Beta on Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) + FAQs

Few things beat being able to use a top-class commercial product for free, and that’s exactly what we can do while VMWare Workstation 6.5 is in beta. Some will argue in favour of Virtualbox and others, but I’ll stick with the only desktop virtualisation product that manages to recognise and sync my Windows Mobile 6 HTC TyTN (and is rock stable and fast too).

In any case, to each his own, and if you’re reading this post, I’ll presume you have all intention of getting VMW 6.5 to work on the just-released Hardy (same procedure with the betas actually).

  1. As per the Ubuntu documentation, you will first want to install the necessary dependencies via:
    sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential gcc-3.4
  2. Download a free copy of the software at the VMWare Community website. Take note of the serial key.
  3. Download the any-any-update as well.
  4. Untar your downloaded copy via:
    tar zxf VMware-workstation-e.x.p-84113.i386.tar.gz
  5. Also untar the any-any-update the same way as above. Change into the any-any-update directory and enter
    sudo ./runme.pl.
  6. Here’s a crucial bit to tackle a networking bug that many Hardy (beta only? I got it when I was using the beta, so I’m not sure if you’ll get it with the final release) users get with the current VMware 6.5 Beta release (build 84113).
    • Change directory via
      cd vmware-distrib/lib/modules/source/.
    • Untar the vsock.tar file via
      tar zxf vsock.tar
    • Enter the vsock-only directory via: cd vsock-only
    • You’ll want to edit the Makefile.kernel file, so: sudo gedit Makefile.kernel
    • Comment out a few lines by adding a # in front of them. Here are the lines after being commented out:
      #vm_check_build = $(shell if $(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $(CFLAGS_KERNEL) \

      #$(EXTRA_CFLAGS) -Iinclude2/asm/mach-default \

      #-DKBUILD_BASENAME=\”$(DRIVER)\” \

      #-Werror -S -o /dev/null -xc $(1) \

      #> /dev/null 2>&1; then echo “$(2)”; else echo “$(3)”; fi)
    • Exit gedit, go back to the previous directory via cd .. and tar the folder back into vsock.tar via tar -cf vsock.tar vsock-only.
  7. Then, run the VMware install script:
    export CC=/usr/bin/gcc-3.4 && cd vmware-distrib && sudo ./vmware-install.pl
    Note that this is actually 3 commands, with only the last one being relevant if you’ve already changed into the vmware-distrib directory (and maybe the first one, though I didn’t need it).
  8. You will be prompted on whether you want to run vmware-config.pl, which you should do. All the defaults should be fine (i.e. just keep pressing enter). Note that if you accidentally type no, you can always run the configuration script by entering /usr/bin/vmware-config.pl.
  9. To complete the networking hack above, run vmware-networks --postinstall ws,0,1 as per this forum thread.
  10. Run VMWare Workstation via your Main Menu, or by entering vmware or /usr/bin/vmware in the console.
  11. You will be prompted to compile some modules, which is okay. After that’s complete, enjoy your copy of VMWare Workstation 6.5 Beta!

Some FAQs:

  • Debug mode slows VMWare 6.5 Beta down. Can we turn it off?
    Well, we’re not supposed to, but a post here describes how to do it if you want to. There is a noticeable speed increase for me (i.e less laggy when using a couple of apps), even though I’ve allocated the full 2 cores + 1.5GB RAM to my Win XP guest OS.
  • VMWare is just slow in general in any guest OS. Make sure you’ve installed VMWare Tools via the VM menu.
  • Unity doesn’t work. You might have to disable 3D acceleration in your virtual machine’s settings.
  • I can’t get VMWare to recognise my Windows Mobile 5/6 device. There are a few solutions to this and since I’ve pretty much applied all of them, I’m not sure which will work for you. I suggest just trying them out one by one till your phone syncs. Solution 1 (check post #3); Solution 2 (see post #11); Solution 3 (check post #4, then post #1)
  • Other Issues, e.g. VMWare Tools installation problems? Refer to the Ubuntu documentation on VMWare, check the official VMWare 6.5 Beta User Manual, and/or participate in the VMWare Beta Forum. Here’s another Ubuntu thread that might help if all fails (read the Possible Fixes section).

About this entry

Title:
Installing VMware Workstation 6.5 Beta on Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) + FAQs
Published:
4.27.08 / 12am
Categories:
Software, Techy