Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

andyxl987 · 2009-08-02 14:50:21

I installed Arch Linux 2009.02 i686 as a guest in VMware Workstation 6.5.1, my host is Vista x64. The installation of Arch itself and Xorg wasn't a problem although from this point I've had several issues.

I was unable to 'startx' or 'xinit' without getting crashes, however adding hal to the daemons fixed that problem - some wiki entries state to add dbus, but dbus is already started. A lot of content on the wiki is outdated, telling users to use hwd; I did install hwd separately (from sourceforge) although it gave me hundreds? of errors related to PCI and eventually failure to parse some x configuration binary in /usr/bin.

Multimedia Issues
I then installed xfce4 and gstreamer-plugins. All video and audio play back too quickly, i.e. it seems to play the streams as fast as they can decode. This also happens with flash content such as youtube after I'd installed the appropriate programs. Thinking this may be a timing issue, I editted the vmware config file on my Windows host although it did not help; the timing in the VM seemed to be correct anyway.

Display Issues
When I run 'startxfce4' from a terminal, Xfce will start as 800x600 - if I go to change this resolution all options show 0Hz as the refresh rate and many options my monitor cannot display are shown even though I have VMware set to allow a maximum size of 1680x1050. I was unable to generate a 'good' xorg.conf file using 'X -configure' and as mentioned earlier, hwd would not work for me. I installed xf86-video-vmware and xf86-video-vesa as well as both open-vm-tools and normal vmware-tools (not at the same time or together) but can't seem to sort this issue. vmware-tools was able to generate a valid xorg.conf file but it only included a handful of 4:3 resolutions and some of these still showed 0hz. For some strange reason 'startx' and 'xinit' now do not work having failed to find /dev/fb0.

VMware Tools
When I did try to install vmware-tools, it had many difficulties trying to build the modules - mostly regarding to not recognising __FREEBSD__, I cannot remember the complete error. I also tried to build open-vm-tools but that gave an error about not being able to find libproc even though I had procps installed. Stopping open-vm-tools on shutdown also always fails and occurs twice.

I'm going to try reinstalling now that I know a little more about what I did to get things working but if anyone could give me a hand it'd be much appreciated.

Last edited by andyxl987 (2009-08-04 00:17:29)

andyxl987 · 2009-08-03 07:00:44

I did a reinstall and was following the Beginners Guide more precisely, however, I'm still experiencing the same issues. Running 'aplay' and 'speaker-test' produced several errors which made searching for a resolution easier, I came across the following (but do not really understand it):

http://www.spinics.net/linux/fedora/als … 07703.html

miau · 2009-08-03 08:02:53

Have you tried the tips in the wiki abou installin Arch in VmWare? http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ins … _in_VMWare
You also could have installed hwd using AUR.

andyxl987 · 2009-08-03 08:18:19

Hi, thanks for your response. I've tried those instructions but they didn't help with the display issues. I've managed to fix the audio problem by downgrading to kernel kernel26-2.6.29.4-1 (kernel26-firmware-2.6.30-1 didn't require a downgrade). I'm installing Xorg now to see if any of the other problems have disappeared.

andyxl987 · 2009-08-04 00:16:53

After a lot of experimentation I've got a satisfactory installation although a few minor problems remain:

Adjustments required to correctly run Alsa+Xorg in Arch Linux 2009.02 using VMware Workstation

The current kernel does not play nicely with alsa, downgrade to kernel26-2.6.29.4-1:

wget http://www.schlunix.org/archlinux/core/ … pkg.tar.gz
pacman -U kernel26-2.6.29.4-1-i686.pkg.tar.gz

Install/Upgrade dbus:

pacman -Sy dbus

Add hal (if it's not installed then make sure to do so) to your daemons located in /etc/rc.conf, e.g.

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network netfs crond hal)

The current open-vm-tools-modules is not compatible with the older kernel, instead use open-vm-tools-modules-2009.04.23-1:

wget http://www.schlunix.org/archlinux/commu … pkg.tar.gz
pacman -U open-vm-tools-modules-2009.04.23-1

The installation will prompt you with an error that /etc/modprobe.conf could not be found (as does the current version), add the following to /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf:

install pcnet32 /sbin/modprobe -q --ignore-install vmxnet; /sbin/modprobe -q --ignore-install pcnet 32 ; /bin/true;

You can now install open-vm-tools:

pacman -S open-vm-tools

To autoload open-vm-tools on start up you need to add it to your daemons located in /etc/rc.conf, e.g.

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network netfs crond hal open-vm-tools)

Add vmware-user to your /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc file if you desire (for seamless mouse and display switching), e.g. my xinitrc with xfce4 ends with:

vmware-user &
exec startxfce4

Install the following components: xf86-video-vmware xf86-video-vesa xf86-input-vmmouse xf86-input-mouse:
(You will not be able to start x if you have installed xf86-video-fbdev and do not have a valid xorg.conf file, this is addressed later)

pacman -S xf86-video-vmware xf86-video-vesa xf86-input-vmmouse xf86-input-mouse

Lastly we need to edit/create the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to use our vmware drivers, this will enable automatic resolution switching and seamless mouse functionality:
(All of the following is necessary otherwise X will ignore our vmware drivers)

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AllowEmptyInput" "false"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "VMware Mouse"
Driver "vmmouse"
Option "Protocol" "ps/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "VMware SVGA"
Driver "vmware"
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "VMware Config"
InputDevice "VMware Mouse" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Issues
* open-vm-tools fails to stop during a shutdown or /etc/rc.d/open-vm-tools stop/restart
* most screen resolutions show 0Hz (although everything works correctly) and adding VertRefresh to xorg.conf produces a major error
* playback of flash video produces a sound artefact when starting - although I think this may be to do with the decoder rather than system

I've marked this as solved although I welcome any suggestions regarding these minor issues. The open-vm-tools one I can probably sort out but it's too late now to look into tonight

Last edited by andyxl987 (2009-08-04 00:21:03)

darkbeanies · 2009-08-04 12:09:08

Dude, keep going with this! I am right now encountering the exact same troubles as you have been. Thank you SO much for actually posting a sample Xorg that looks like it might do the job. I have not been able to get the tools working properly no matter what. The guide to this on the wiki is not adequate, this needs to be added to it!

By the way, do you have any special stuff in xorg.conf for the keyboard? When I set "AllowEmptyInput" as false, the key repeat is extremely fast (the smallest number of keypresses I can manage is three. Like, kkkiiillllllaaallllll ooopppeeennnbbboooxxx)

Also, I can't get drag 'n' drop to work, though setting "allowemptyinput" to false does make the mouse integration work properly now, seamless from host to guest.

Last edited by darkbeanies (2009-08-04 14:28:40)

andyxl987 · 2009-08-05 09:33:11

I had the same keyboard problem when I reinstalled Arch under a new VM. The problem occurs if you have xf86-input-keyboard installed, it appears that the default kbd driver competes with evdev (loaded via hal I think - I don't know if this is correct, it seems like a bad decision to let you have two drivers handling the same device). This occurs because of the AllowEmptyInput allows the kbd driver to be loaded. You can either remove the kbd driver:

pacman -R xf86-input-keyboard

or manually add the keyboard to your xorg.conf file, here's my revised version:
(I don't know if your keyboard will be at /dev/input/event1

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AllowEmptyInput" "false"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "evdev"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/event1"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "evdev"
Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "VMware Mouse"
Driver "vmmouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "VMware Display Adapter"
Driver "vmware"
EndSection

Unfortunately this xorg file produces two errors although they do not appear to cause any problems:

(EE) PreInit returned NULL for "AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"
(EE) config/hal: NewInputDeviceRequest failed (8)

I never new you could drag and drop from a host to the guest, I've always right-clicked and then copy and pasted, this method works for me.

---------------

For anyone who wants to have an Arch+Alsa+Xorg+Xfce4 VMware guest, here's all the commands I used from a brand new installation containing of only the base packages:

wget http://www.schlunix.org/archlinux/core/ … pkg.tar.gz
pacman -U kernel26-2.6.29.4-1-i686.pkg.tar.gz
pacman -Sy alsa-utils dbus xorg xf86-video-vmware xf86-input-mouse xf86-input-vmmouse xfce4 gnome-icon-theme fortune-mod gstreamer0.10-plugins gamin sudo gtkmm
amixer set Master 88% unmute
amixer set PCM 88% unmute
alsactl store
wget http://pastebin.com/pastebin.php?dl=f55b7c0b7 && mv pastebin.php?dl=f55b7c0b7 /etc/X11/xorg.conf
nano /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
wget http://www.schlunix.org/archlinux/commu … pkg.tar.gz
pacman -U open-vm-tools-modules-2009.04.23-1.pkg.tar.gz
pacman -S open-vm-tools
nano /etc/rc.conf # to add 'hal alsa open-vm-tools' to DAEMONS
nano /etc/fstab # to add 'host:/ /mnt/hgfs vmhgfs defaults 0 0' which allows auto shared folder mounting
adduser # to add my main user, here's some useful groups: 'audio,video,floppy,lp,optical,network,power,storage,wheel,dbus,hal'
visudo # to add my user to the sudoers file, e.g. 'username ALL=(ALL) ALL'
reboot

Last edited by andyxl987 (2009-08-05 10:23:44)

darkbeanies · 2009-08-05 10:27:48

Removing the kbd driver worked perfectly! Kernel downgrading fixes the crazy flash video. Copy and paste work fine, the drag and drop is just a gimmick really. You've obviously spent a lot of time on this, you need to add your research to the wiki article if you haven't already.

Good work!

Oh, except the left cursor key (and only this key) won't repeat at all now.

Last edited by darkbeanies (2009-08-05 10:35:27)

andyxl987 · 2009-08-05 11:13:45

That's a problem with evdev, I noticed it too and a google search produced lots of results with people having the same issue in different distros. The fix they suggested was to use the commands 'xset r 113' and 'xset r 116' to make the keys repeating.

Alternatively, you can go back to the kbd driver, I've worked out how to sort out the problems with it (a keyboard device must not be specified and AutoAddDevices must be false):
(The disadvantage of this method is that only these specified devices will work; I'm not sure if other plugged in devices (e.g. via usb will work))

pacman -S xf86-input-keyboard

And the new xorg.conf file:

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AllowEmptyInput" "false"
Option "AutoAddDevice" "false"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "VMware Mouse"
Driver "vmmouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "VMware Display Adapter"
Driver "vmware"
EndSection

Arch Linux

#1 2009-08-02 14:50:21

Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

#2 2009-08-03 07:00:44

Re: Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

#3 2009-08-03 08:02:53

Re: Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

#4 2009-08-03 08:18:19

Re: Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

#5 2009-08-04 00:16:53

Re: Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

#6 2009-08-04 12:09:08

Re: Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

#7 2009-08-05 09:33:11

Re: Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

#8 2009-08-05 10:27:48

Re: Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

#9 2009-08-05 11:13:45

Re: Issues with Arch 2009.02 in VMware Workstation [SOLVED]

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