VMWare Workstation 8.0.3/Player 4.0.3 on 7.0.2
Maybe I shouldn't be any longer, but I'm still astounded at how VMware keeps on intimidating its customers. Don't think I'll even file a bug/support issue on this one, as my last were "closed" with no response at all.
The problem is, that some VMware kernel modules have to be compiled and installed before Workstation/Player will run on Knoppix, and this has often been non-trivial. When the compilation aborts on one module, you can't run VMware. With Workstation 8.0.3 on 7.0.2 (kernel 3.3.7) it aborted on vmnet, the other modules compiled fine this time.
The problems, and their solutions, are well known in the user community.
Weltall's (Stefano Angeleri) blog has come to the rescue for many http://weltall.heliohost.org/wordpre...l-3-2-and-3-3/
A small tarball may be downloaded, and with a minimal patch, it will work well. Change the
patch-modules_3.2-0.sh script so the vmreqver and plreqver variables are set correctly, and run as super user. Worked fine for me on first try with the first lines as follows.
Code:
#! /bin/bash
# VMWare Workstation/Player _host kernel modules_ patcher v0.6.2 by ©2010 Artem S. Tashkinov
# Tailored and fixed vmblock patching for the 2.6.39 patch by Stefano Angeleri (weltall)
# Use at your own risk.
fpatch=vmware3.2.0.patch
vmreqver=8.0.3 # Change as needed
plreqver=4.0.3 #
Note that this has so far only been tried out with 32-bits Workstation, but seems to work just fine. I'm quite annoyed that VMware seemingly can't apply a well-known patch themselves..
Update for Workstation 8.0.6 and kernel 3.9.X - Knoppix 7.2.0
Business as usual from vmware, Workstation 8.0.4+ (I think). Issues are well known, related to kernel 3.8+ (I think) - no patch from them, not even hints, and module compilation aborts with no real clue as to why. Seems like kind of mixture of planned and forced obsolescense to me.
I almost gave up this time
1. Fix "missing version.h" kernel header issue - a really old one. For example, by issuing
Code:
sudo ln -s /usr/include/linux/version.h /usr/src/kernels/$(uname -r)/include/linux/version.h
The $(uname -r) phrase will ensure to update the header tree for your currently running kernel.
2. Run module configuration from the command line
Code:
sudo /usr/bin/vmware-modconfig --icon=vmware-workstation --appname=VMware
The built-in configuration tool doesn't work - and running CLI is safer and more informative anyway. With any luck, most modules will compile just fine, except for vmci. Here is a diff of defunct original and working patched version of the culprit, driver.c:
Code:
diff driver.c ~/Downloads/driver.c
127c127
< .remove = __devexit_p(vmci_remove_device),
---
> .remove = vmci_remove_device,
1744c1744
< static int __devinit
---
> static int
1972c1972
< static void __devexit
---
> static void
I found a patch on the vmware forum: http://communities.vmware.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0
using the patched driver.c provided by user HaoZhuyi there. Placed it in ~/Downloads.
3. Fix the vmci tarball: Untar, patch driver.c and tar again
Code:
cd /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source
sudo cp -a vmci.tar vmci.tar.806
sudo tar xf vmci.tar
cd vmci-only/linux
diff driver.c ~/Downloads/driver.c
sudo cp -a ~/Downloads/driver.c .
cd ../..
sudo tar cf vmci.tar vmci-only
4. Run module configuration from the command line again
Code:
sudo /usr/bin/vmware-modconfig --icon=vmware-workstation --appname=VMware
Thus, I got Workstation 8.0.6 up and running on Knoppix 7.2.
BUT: I wasn't allowed to enter my Vs 8 license key - button didn't work...