Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 215
Chapter 8 Configuring Devices
If!a!virtual!machine!is!using!the!parallel!port,!the!host!and!any!users!accessing!the!host!
are!not!given!access!to!the!device.!VMware!Server!puts!a!lock!on!the!device,!and!this!
lock!restricts!access!so!only!the!virtual!machine!can!use!the!port.!
You!can!choose!VM!>
!Removable!Devices!to!disconnect!the!parallel!port!from!the!
virtual!machine!and!reconnect!it.
Parallel Ports and Linux 2.2.x Kernels
The!2.2.x!kernels!that!support!parallel!ports!use!the!parport,!parport_pc!and!vmppuser!
modules.!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.!The!vmppuser!
module!is!supplied!by!VMware!Server!to!give!virtual!machines!
userlevel!access!to!the!
parallel!port.!
To!verify!these!modules!are!installed!and!running!on!your!system,!run!the!lsmod!
command!as!the!root!user.!These!three!modules!should!be!included!in!the!listing!of!
running!modules.!You!can!also!look!at!the!/proc/modules!file!for!the!same!list.
To!
load!the!proper!modules,!run!this!command:
insmod –k <modulename>
If!none!of!the!listed!parallel!port!modules!is!running,!use!this!command:
insmod –k parport_pc
This!command!inserts!the!three!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!your!Linux!distribution.!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