[SOLVED] VMware player installation failed on proteus 3.0

[apost]

Hello all,

new user (just a couple of hours) of porteus here!

I am trying to install vmware player 6.0.2 on a porteus kiosk* 3.0 usb flash but the installation fails after entering the configuration part and rolls back. The bundle I use is "VMware-Player-6.0.2-1744117.x86_64.bundle" and it was downloaded from vmware site.
Could it be due to size limitations? (I have a 8GB flash and configured about 6G for the savefile). Is there any log I can look that keeps the output of the installation process? Is there anything else I have to install first?

P.S. I tried to use virtualbox to run a virtual machine but it can not run it due to incompatibility of the vmhd file (at least that is what the virtualbox reported).

*EDIT: I think it is the desktop edition of porteus after all, not the kiosk one.

**EDIT 2: topic's subject title changed

[apost]

In addition to the above, when I tied to install an older version, I got the following messages on the terminal:

The product is ready to be installed. Press Enter to begin
installation or Ctrl-C to cancel.

Installing VMware VMX 4.0.6
Configuring...Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/tmp/vmis.6U3GZg/install/vmware-installer/python/lib/logging/handlers.py", line 73, in emit
if self.shouldRollover(record):
File "/tmp/vmis.6U3GZg/install/vmware-installer/python/lib/logging/handlers.py", line 146, in shouldRollover
msg = "%s\n" % self.format(record)
File "/tmp/vmis.6U3GZg/install/vmware-installer/python/lib/logging/__init__.py", line 630, in format
return fmt.format(record)
File "/tmp/vmis.6U3GZg/install/vmware-installer/python/lib/logging/__init__.py", line 421, in format
s = self._fmt % record.__dict__
UnicodeDecodeError: 'ascii' codec can't decode byte 0xe2 in position 584: ordinal not in range(128)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/tmp/vmis.6U3GZg/install/vmware-installer/python/lib/logging/handlers.py", line 73, in emit
if self.shouldRollover(record):
File "/tmp/vmis.6U3GZg/install/vmware-installer/python/lib/logging/handlers.py", line 146, in shouldRollover
msg = "%s\n" % self.format(record)
File "/tmp/vmis.6U3GZg/install/vmware-installer/python/lib/logging/__init__.py", line 630, in format
return fmt.format(record)
File "/tmp/vmis.6U3GZg/install/vmware-installer/python/lib/logging/__init__.py", line 421, in format
s = self._fmt % record.__dict__
UnicodeDecodeError: 'ascii' codec can't decode byte 0xe2 in position 592: ordinaRolling back VMware USB Arbitrator 8.4.18
Deconfiguring...
[########################################## ] 61%All configuration information is about to be removed. Do you wish to
keep your configuration files? [yes]: n

Answer must be yes or no
All configuration information is about to be removed. Do you wish to
keep your configuration files? [yes]: no

Uninstalling VMware Installer 2.0
Deconfiguring...
[######################################################################] 100%
Installation was unsuccessful.
root@porteus:/home/guest/Downloads# echo $LANG
en_US.UTF-8
root@porteus:/home/guest/Downloads#

So it seems to be something with the utf-8 and ascii but I am not sure what or how I can interfere with the installation process.

[freestyler]

I haven't used kiosk yet but from what I understand it is designed to only run firefox.
Maybe try on a desktop version

[apost]

firefox? did you mean virtualbox?

[freestyler]

Porteus kiosk edition is not designed to run virtualbox.
If you would like to install virtualbox on Porteus, please use desktop edition

[apost]

thank you freestyler for the prompt answer.

Since I am interested only in using a linux OS on a usb (and having vmware running from it), is there any other suitable solution from porteus? (version or edition other than kiosk)
Tried ubuntu (13.10) and it worked but too slow compared to porteus.

[freestyler]

The desktop edition is a light weight live system made for running of usb and cd.
I recommend building an iso from http://build.porteus.org/ with limited options, choose a lightweight desktop environment like lxde. It will make things easier if your USB or the partition it is installed on is formatted as ext4, ext3 or ext2.
Once installed there is a virtualbox builder available from the menu that will compile virtual box on your usb.

[apost]

ehm, sorry for any inconvenience but I have actually installed the desktop edition (not the kiosk as I thought) in the flash drive and I was succesfully installed virtualbox, however I could not start a vmhd file that was started with vmware. Virtualbox reported something about compatibility. Anyway, the edition is the desktop one with xfce. Sorry again for this.

[freestyler]

hehe no worries, are you 32bit or 64?

[freestyler]

I just read your first post again and since you are using VMware-Player-6.0.2-1744117.x86_64.bundle I take it you have 64 bit.
What errors are you getting when you install it?
I think you might need the devel.xzm module.
It is available at http://ponce.cc/porteus

[apost]

well the problem seems to be solved. I run the installation script with the flag "--ignore-errors" and it worked! It ignored the errors and it installed the vmware player!

So I was able to start the virtual machine for the first time. But when I tried again, the second time (after shutdown the system and started again) I got an error that it can not find a vmmon module ("could not open /dev/vmmon"). So after a little search I gave

sudo mv /usr/lib/vmware/modules/binary /usr/lib/vmware/modules/binary.old
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all --appname="VMware Player" --icon="vmware-player"

and vmware player run for the second time (hope it is working properly now).

Now the problem I have is related to the speed since all these are configured on a poor usb 2.0 stick. So performance is somewhat of an issue here. Is there by any chance a suggestion as far as the usb flash is concerned? I use a dtse9 kingston 8G.

Anyway thanks for the help!

Regards, Apostolos.

[apost]

UPDATE

It seems that every time I restart my laptop I have to enter the following command to start vmware:

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all --appname="VMware Player" --icon="vmware-player"

is there a way to have this vmmon module loaded as system is starting up?

[freestyler]

Sure is, if you are using xfce the easiest way is from the menu
settings>session and startup>application autostart
right click the list and add
then just type that command in and your done.

As for the speed, if you add copy2ram cheat code your entire system will be copied onto your ram when you start up and will increase the speed.

Glad you got it working

[apost]

thanx freestyler, I 'll try that and update this thread. Will I lose persistence though (by using copy2ram)? Porteus was installed from a linux on a ext4 formatted usb.

By the way, the title of the post should be changed since I do not think I have kiosk edition but the desktop one. Moreover, vmware player installation was successfull after all.

[freestyler]

You will loose persistence if you use the copy to ram boot menu option but not if you add copy2ram cheat code to your first boot option in porteus.cfg or by pressing tab at the boot menu.

You can change the title of this thread by clicking the edit button on your first post