Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 213
Chapter 8 Configuring Devices
Under!Device!status,!the!default!setting!is!Connect!at!power!on.!Deselect!the!
check!box!if!you!do!not!want!the!parallel!port!device!to!be!connected!when!the!
virtual!machine!powers!on.
6Click!Finish!to!install!the!virtual!parallel!port,!and!click!OK!to!save!the!
configuration!and!close!
the!virtual!machine!settings!editor.
Configuring a Parallel Port on a Linux Host
For!the!parallel!port!to!work!properly!in!a!guest,!it!must!first!be!configured!properly!on!
the!host.!Most!issues!involving!parallel!port!functionality!are!a!result!of!the!host!
configuration.!Check!these!areas:!the!version!of!your!Linux!kernel,!your!device!access!
permissions,!and!the!required!modules.
Parallel Ports and Linux 2.6.x Kernels
Be!sure!that!PC!Style!Hardware!(CONFIG_PARPORT_PC)!is!loaded!as!a!module!as!
mentioned!at!the!beginning!of!“Using!Parallel!Ports!on!page 211.!If!you!are!using!a!
2.6.x!kernel,!the!modules!that!provide!parallel!port!functionality!are!parport_pc!and!
ppdev.
To!verify!these!modules!are!installed!and!running!on!your
!system,!run!the!lsmod!
command!as!the!root!user.!You!can!also!look!at!the!/proc/modules!file!for!the!same!list.!
With!a!2.6.x!kernel,!loading!parport_pc!does!not!load!both!modules.!If!neither!of!the!
listed!parallel!port!modules!is!running,!use!this!command:
modprobe parport_pc && modprobe ppdev
This!command!inserts!both!modules!needed
!for!a!parallel!port.!
If!you!continue!to!experience!problems,!it!is!possible!that!the!lp!module!is!running.!If!
it!is,!the!virtual!machine!cannot!use!the!parallel!port!correctly.!To!remove!the!lp!
module,!run!this!command!as!the!root!user:
rmmod lp
You!should!also!ensure!that!the!line!referring
!to!the!lp!module!in!the!
/etc/modules.conf!or!/etc/conf.modules!file!is!removed!or!commented!out!by!
inserting!a!hash!character!(#)!at!the!beginning!of!the!line.!The!name!of!the!configuration!
file!depends!on!the!Linux!distribution!you!are!using.!When!you!reboot!the!host!after!
removing!this!
line,!the! configuration!file!no!longer!starts!the!lp!module.
To!ensure!that!the!proper!modules!for!the!parallel!port!are!loaded!at!boot!time,!add!this!
line!to!the!/etc/modules.conf!or!/etc/conf.modules!file:
alias parport_lowlevel parport_pc