6.0
Table Of Contents
- Getting Started with VMware Player
- Contents
- Getting Started with VMware Player
- Introduction and System Requirements
- Installing and Using Player
- Creating Virtual Machines
- Understanding Virtual Machines
- Preparing to Create a Virtual Machine
- Create a Virtual Machine
- Use Easy Install to Install a Guest Operating System
- Install a Guest Operating System Manually
- Importing Virtual Machines
- Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools
- Installing VMware Tools
- Upgrading VMware Tools
- Configure Software Update Preferences
- Configure VMware Tools Updates for a Specific Virtual Machine
- Manually Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Linux Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a NetWare Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Solaris Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a FreeBSD Virtual Machine
- Start the VMware User Process Manually If You Do Not Use a Session Manager
- Uninstall VMware Tools
- Virtual Machine Files
- Using Virtual Machines
- Starting Virtual Machines in Player
- Stopping Virtual Machines in Player
- Transferring Files and Text
- Using the Drag-and-Drop Feature
- Using the Copy and Paste Feature
- Using Shared Folders
- Mapping a Virtual Disk to the Host System
- Add a Host Printer to a Virtual Machine
- Using Removable Devices in Virtual Machines
- Install New Software in a Virtual Machine
- Changing the Virtual Machine Display
- Download a Virtual Appliance in Player
- Remove a Virtual Machine from the Library in Player
- Configuring and Managing Virtual Machines
- Change the Name of a Virtual Machine
- Change the Guest Operating System for a Virtual Machine
- Change the Working Directory for a Virtual Machine
- Change the Virtual Machine Directory for a Virtual Machine
- Change the Memory Allocation for a Virtual Machine
- Configuring Video and Sound
- Moving Virtual Machines
- Delete a Virtual Machine
- View the Message Log for a Virtual Machine
- Using the VIX API
- Configuring and Managing Devices
- Configuring DVD, CD-ROM, and Floppy Drives
- Configuring a USB Controller
- Configuring and Maintaining Virtual Hard Disks
- Configuring Virtual Ports
- Add a Virtual Parallel Port to a Virtual Machine
- Configure a Virtual Parallel Port on a Linux 2.6.x Kernel Host
- Configure Permissions for a Parallel Port Device on a Linux Host
- Troubleshoot ECR Errors for Parallel Ports
- Add a Virtual Serial Port to a Virtual Machine
- Change the Input Speed of a Serial Connection
- Configuring Generic SCSI Devices
- Configuring Eight-Way Virtual Symmetric Multiprocessing
- Configuring Keyboard Features
- Modify Hardware Settings for a Virtual Machine
- Configuring Network Connections
- Index
Cause
On Linux host systems, guest operating systems can use devices that are not claimed by a host operating
system driver. A related issue sometimes affects devices that rely on automatic connection, such as PDAs.
Occasionally, even if you successfully use autoconnection to connect the device to the virtual machine, you
might experience problems with the connection to the device.
Solution
1 If you have problems with autoconnection, perform these steps.
a Select the virtual machine and select Player > Removable Devices to disconnect and reconnect the
device.
b If the problem persists, unplug the device and plug it in again.
c If a warning message indicates that the device is in use, disable the device in the hotplug
configuration files in the /etc/hotplug directory.
The documentation for the Linux distribution contains information on editing these configuration
files.
2 If disconnection fails, either disable the driver or unload the driver manually.
Option Description
Disable the driver
If the driver was automatically loaded by hotplug, disable it in the hotplug
configuration files in the /etc/hotplug directory. See the documentation
for your Linux distribution for information on editing these configuration
files.
Unload the driver manually
Become root (su -) and use the rmmod command.
Using Smart Cards in Virtual Machines
Virtual machines can connect to smart card readers that interface to serial ports, parallel ports, USB ports,
PCMCIA slots, and PCI slots. A virtual machine considers a smart card reader to be a type of USB device.
A smart card is a plastic card that has an embedded computer chip. Many government agencies and large
enterprises use smart cards to send secure communication, digitally sign documents, and authenticate users
who access their computer networks. Users plug a smart card reader into their computer and insert their
smart card in the reader. They are then prompted for their PIN to log in.
You can select a smart card reader from the Removable Devices menu in a virtual machine. A smart card
can be shared between virtual machines, or between the host system and one or more virtual machines.
Sharing is enabled by default.
When you plug a smart card reader into the host system, the reader appears as two separate USB devices in
Player. This is because you can use smart cards in one of two mutually exclusive modes.
Shared mode
(Recommended) The smart card reader device is available as Shared
smart_card_reader_model in the Removable Devices menu. In Windows XP
guest operating systems, the shared reader appears as USB Smart Card
Reader after it is connected to the virtual machine. In Windows Vista and
Chapter 4 Using Virtual Machines
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