VMWare-Kubuntu

VMWare-Kubuntu Setup

• VmWare Player can be downloaded from http://www.vmware.com/download/player/. Run the setup program Vmware-player-2.0.0-45731.exe and follow the instructions. After VMWare installation you should restart your Windows machine.
• Get the java-eim-empty.zip (see attachment). Unzip the empty configuration, e.g. under d:/tools/ and rename the directory to something meaningful (e.g. "vmware-image01"). This directory should contain two files - Ubuntu.vmx and Ubuntu.vmdk.

#ide1:0.fileName = "auto detect"
#ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
ide1:0.fileName = "/home/inst/OS_images/kubuntu-7.10-desktop-i386.iso"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-image"

Comment out the first two lines and ensure that the 3rd and 4th lines are present - 3rd line should point to the actual location of the Kubuntu ISO file.
(e.g. ~ like #ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw" ide1:0.fileName = "C:/install/Kubuntu/kubuntu-7.10-desktop-i386.iso".)
Make sure to use normal slashes (/) rather than backslashes (\) when writing paths. After that, open the Ubuntu.vmx file - it will start VmWare Player program, which will activate the virtual machine configured in the file Ubuntu.vmx

If the virtual machine does not start up (after it has been properly shut down), it could happen that it tries to restore an erroneous state. You can delete all files from its directory, except the *.vmx configuration file and one or more *.vmdk disk image files. See more about VMWare file structure - http://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/ws_learning_files_in_a_vm.html.

More convenient VMWare

1. To open virtual machine on your whole screen, press Ctrl+Alt+Enter
2. To display the virtual machine as one of many windows on thedesktop (or to "release" the cursor for use in other places on the desktop, press Ctrl+Alt.
3. To send the combination Ctrl+Alt+Del to the virtual machine, press Ctrl+Alt+Insert.

Changing Screen Resolution

For the Virtual Machine:

Virtual machine normally sets up with 3/4 screen aspect ration, which is not convenient for most laptop computers. To define wide screen resolution, indicate the maximum resolution appropriate at the end of the *.vml file.

svga.maxWidth = "1680"
svga.maxHeight = "1050"

After that perform the startup of the virtual machine and define the resolution from the Kubuntu side. Pick K-System Settings-Monitor & Display-Size, Orientation & Positioning and place the sliding control to the needed resolution (e.g. 1680x1050). After that press buttons [Apply] and [Keep] to save the settings. These settings are saved for the concrete user.

Physical Computer

For a physical computer it is more convenient to change the default resolution. To change it for the whole system, it can be defined in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. For more security, save the copy of xorg.conf

cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak

Open xorg.conf and find the group of settings:

Section "Screen"
...
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth      ...
        Modes      "1680x1050" "1440x900" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
...
EndSection

You can change the resolutions listed in Modes to the desired ones (e.g. list the ones given in the above sample).

Whenever you use the graphic tools, additional parameters (besides the resolution numbers) may suddently appear in the Modes line, which is not needed. For more security we advise that you copy the original Modes line, comment it out with # and make a new, simpler line with just the resolution parameters.

If your computer has various color gradations, the "SubSection" may appear several times. Then the default color depth is indicated by the DefaultDepth and you need to change the respective group, its Modes settings.

If by any chance you break the X-Windows configuration, log in to the computer in symbol mode (e.g. via Putty (or activate it by Ctrl+Alt+F1), see the X-Windows log-file /var/log/Xorg.0.log and make the necessary changes to xorg.conf (or just revert it to its original state).