Installing Fedora Core 5 on top of VMWare

[nexer]

I was wondering whether anyone has encountered the following installation problem. My current setup is:
WindowsXP (please don't hate me), running VMWare Server (e.x.p build-22874)
I would like to install Fedora 5 as a virtual machine in VMWare.

I downloaded dvd.iso image and the installation didn't seem to give any errors. However, after the installation completed, and virtual machine restarts, fedora goes through loading and starting all the processes and just when I am supposed to see login screen, the screen turns black with no mouse, no cursor, no nothing.

Has anybody encountered this issue?

Any help is appreciated. Thanx in advance.

[nox771]

fedora goes through loading and starting all the processes and just when I am supposed to see login screen, the screen turns black with no mouse, no cursor, no nothing.
It sounds like the video driver configuration is wrong. I can't help with your video driver setup, but I can tell you how to at least get to a login prompt so you can diagnose it. A default install will try to startup in an init level of 5 (graphical), you will want to boot to runlevel 3 instead (text only).

Refer to here for instructions:
http://www.fedorafaq.org/basics/#runlevel
Follow the bit under "While You Are Booting the Computer".

Once logged in you will want to modify the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Use the "startx" command to test the config after you modify it (use something like "startx >& xlog.txt" to dump diagnostic results to a text file). If you get stuck in the graphical mode, use ctrl-alt-backspace to kill X and get back to text mode.

[Nighthawk4]

I also tried this.

WindowsXP Pro with VMware5. I tried to install FC5 from the DVD and it would not install, as it could not find any hard disks. VMware treats the disk as a SCSI, even though it is really IDE. This works fine with VMware installations of XP, W2K, Netware6.5, and has worked in the past with previous versions of FC, plus other Linux versions.

Is there any way to persuade FC5 to see the hard disk please, so I can try out FC5 before I do a full install on my other PC (which is currently FC4) ?

[ruxbo]

hi nighthawk4
i'm using fedora core 5 under vmware 5 workstation
and everything is a OK
same setup as you are vmware running under an xp box
what i did to set up fedora core 5 was use the dvd iso it self
instead of putting the physical dvd disk i've redirected my cd/dvd rom to my fc5-dvd.iso
mind you after the setup is done de select the Use ISO Image and put it back to use physical drive
i've installed it like 5 times and tried everything i need to see and know
after like 5 or so i like this installation :)

[Nighthawk4]

Thanks Ruxbo.

I am installing FC5 now on VMware5. I tried using the virtual disk as an IDE, instead of the default SCSI. For some reason, the FC5 installed does not seem to detect the virtual disk if I use the SCSI option. I have never had that problem before - with several other Linuxes, including FC4, plus Win2k, XP, Netware server, etc.

Maybe it is a 'feature' of the new installer. ;)

[pparks1]

When you set up VMWare, don't go for typical, instead go through the long vmware setup. On the SCSI disk selection, change from the default SCSI controller to the other option (I think it's LSI Logic). That should take care of that if you want to continue to use the SCSI option.

[gavinw6662]

When you set up VMWare, don't go for typical, instead go through the long vmware setup. On the SCSI disk selection, change from the default SCSI controller to the other option (I think it's LSI Logic). That should take care of that if you want to continue to use the SCSI option.


I would agree with this. That SCSI thing gave me problems one time too. But I did the same setup, without any problems. Like mentioned previously, it might be your gfx card configuration too.

[Nighthawk4]

It seems to have worked fine with the IDE option. I did consider trying the other SCSI one, but I decided to go for IDE instead. I assumed that both SCSI choices would give the same result.

So much for assumptions. :)

The only thing I couldn't test in VMware was the nVidia drivers - as in VMware it doesn't count as an nVidia card. VMware uses some sort of proprietary 'virtual' driver, I think.

[sorcerer78]

hi nighthawk4
i'm using fedora core 5 under vmware 5 workstation
and everything is a OK
same setup as you are vmware running under an xp box
what i did to set up fedora core 5 was use the dvd iso it self
instead of putting the physical dvd disk i've redirected my cd/dvd rom to my fc5-dvd.iso
mind you after the setup is done de select the Use ISO Image and put it back to use physical drive
i've installed it like 5 times and tried everything i need to see and know
after like 5 or so i like this installation :)


did you manage to get the vmware tools working? hw you do it.

[ruxbo]

did you manage to get the vmware tools working? hw you do it.


i didn't bother to install them, i tried following all the how to's i can find on every forums i can google
anyways, i'm running on full screen always on my virtual fc5 so i don't need it

[ediamond]

Always install VMware tools. They include the propriatary drivers to make your VM run properly (and quickly) under VMware. They are how VMware communicates your VM's, so if you run more than one on a given box, VMware tools are a must.

I started looking at this thread because I ran into the SCSI problem with VMware Server RC1. I'll try the alternate SCSI adapter. But since the default emulates a fairly standard BusLogic SCSi adapter, one that has been recognized correctly by FC1 - FC4, one has to wonder what has changed in the driver set for FC5?

BTW, the LSILogic SCSI virtual adapter works just fine.

[mule52]

I have been trying to use Ubuntu 6 within my VMWare workstation 5.5 for a week now. I can install it, but not VMWare Tools. So, I installed Fedora Core 5 tonight. I followed an article on how to install my VMWare Tools, and I think it was successful, but how do I know? I still cannot increase the resolution of my Fedora Core vm.

My host OS is XP Pro. I installed a Guest OS of Fedora Core 5. When I install VMWare tools with an XP Pro guest OS, it is simple. With Linux, there are steps involved. I followed this site's explanation, but I don't think it worked right, Installing VMWare Tools with Fedora Core 5 (http://www.thoughtpolice.co.uk/vmware/howto/fedora-core-5-vmware-tools-install.html).

Can you please help me understand if my VMWare Tools are properly installed, and allow me to increase my screen resolution to any size I want.

Thanks for the help!

[ruxbo]

hi!
you'll know when it's working you can see your mice pointer move from your desktop to the window of vmware, just like how you do it in vnc or remote access in xp
and the notification at the bottom is gone (see attachment)
as to installing the tools, it's a bit tricky i've followed al the how to's, i still can't get it
i'm only new to compiling and that involves compiling the kernel i think (or i'm wrong)
thanks

>ruxbo

[ediamond]

Hey there,

OK, You can tell if the VMware tools are installed correctly if you have the VMware guest service running using ps -ef | grep vmware.

[root@mintaka ~]# ps -ef | grep vmware
root 1683 1 0 Jul20 ? 00:10:12 /usr/sbin/vmware-guestd --background /var/run/vmware-guestd.pid
root 11404 11366 0 15:12 pts/0 00:00:00 grep vmware

This is the guest OS interface to VMware workstation and server. Without it you can't control the guest OS via the VMware GUI nor any of the host API's. It also assists VMware's scheduling and context switching. With this running, VM's that need more time will more it and those that need less will get less. Otherwise, scheduling is just simple round-robin.

Additionally, lsmod | grep vm will list something like the following:

[root@mintaka ~]# lsmod | grep vm
vmhgfs 43432 0
vmxnet 12416 0

If you have X running, you will probably see the video driver modules too.

As far as the video resolution, donot try to use the normal linux tools to set this. It should only be set when you run the vmware-config-toos.pl script. The VMware docs state that you should not try to specify either the resolution nor the color depth. Especially with VMware Server as you can run the console on any network attached pc. They recommend letting VMware Tools decide what to set the resolution and color depth based on what the target pc is configured for.

If you are running X, you can run vmware-toolbox to check/set your vm settings from the guest.

VMware has excellent documentation. While I actually have a long standing reputation for helping folks, and never fail to do so, I am also a gigantic fan of RTFM. So...

[ediamond]

Woops,
I should proofread better before I press submit...

That first line should read...

OK, You can tell if the VMware tools are installed correctly if you hve the VMware guest service running. You can check for it using ps-ef | grep vmware.

...

[ediamond]

Dang, guess I just can't type today....

[ruxbo]

Woops,
I should proofread better before I press submit...

That first line should read...

OK, You can tell if the VMware tools are installed correctly if you hve the VMware guest service running. You can check for it using ps-ef | grep vmware.

...
and you can always edit your post :P

[ediamond]

Really? Cool. Nice feature. Next time I'll do that.

[ediamond]

One other thing...

I ended up mentioning this on another thread. For some reason, if you install the kernel-devel package with the OS install, anaconda installs the i586 version instead of the i686 one. This will definately throw a monkey wrench into the works when trying to compile the vmware tools modules.

If you get errors about the header files not matching, kill the vmware tools install and fix your kernel-devel package. Once you have the i686 version installed, all should go well.