Initially, I thought that this update might have the patch for kernel 3.2.0 integrated but sadly that is not the case.

'Hacking' the kernel patch

My first intuitive try to run the existing patch against the sources of VMware Player 4.0.3 failed, as the patch by Stefano Angeleri (weltall) is originally written explicitely against Workstation 8.0.2 and Player 4.0.2.

But this is nothing to worry about seriously. Just fire up your favourite editor of choice and modify the version signature for VMware Player, like so:

nano patch-modules_3.2.0.sh

And update line 8 for the new version:

plreqver=4.0.3

Save the shell script and run it as super-user (root):

sudo ./patch-modules_3.2.0.sh

In case that you previously patched your VMware sources you have to remove some artifacts beforehand. Otherwise, the patch script will inform you like so:

/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/.patched found. You have already patched your sources. Exiting

In that case, simply remove the 'hidden' file and run the shell script again:

sudo rm /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/.patched
sudo ./patch-modules_3.2.0.sh

To finalise your installation either restart the vmware service or reboot your machine. On first start VMware will present you their EULA which you have to accept, and everything gets back to normal operation mode. Currently, I would assume that in case of VMware Workstation 8.0.3 you can follow the same steps as just described.

Mais comment utiliser des template avec VI ?
... Rien de plus facile !
En Trois actes:

• Créer un répertoire Template
• Mapper les noms de fichiers avec les Templates
• Rulez !

Un répertoire de Templates

Choisissez votre répertoire ~/Documents/Templates par exemple.
Puis déposer vos fichiers templates HEAD.tpl MonTruc.txt.
Bref, ce que vous voulez.

Mapper les noms de fichiers

Il faut éditer le fichier de configuration de vi (~/.vimrc) et ajouter la ligne magique

au BufNewFile */new/HEAD 0r ~/Documents/Template/HEAD.tpl
au BufNewFile /etc/*/HEAD 0r ~/Documents/Template/etc-HEAD.tpl

• La première partie pour indiquer sur quel fichier vous voulez appliquer le template . (cela permet non seulement d'avoir un nom, mais aussi un répertoire particulier)
• 0r (on replace depuis 0)
• avec le fichier indiqué

il suffit d'éditer /etc/test/HEAD (et hop le template se charge).

Rulez

Et oui c'est simple non ? Bon template ... Vim power

Finally, it was time to upgrade to a new LTS version of Ubuntu - 12.04 aka Precise Pangolin. I scheduled the weekend for this task and despite the nickname of Mauritius (Cyber Island) it took roughly 6 hours to download nearly 2.400 packages. No problem in general, as I have spare machines to work on, and it was weekend anyway. All went very smooth and only a few packages required manual attention due to local modifications in the configuration. With the new kernel 3.2.0-24 it was necessary to reboot the system and compared to the last upgrade, I got my graphical login as expected.

Compilation of VMware Player 4.x fails

A quick test on the installed applications, Firefox, Thunderbird, Chromium, Skype, CrossOver, etc. reveils that everything is fine in general. Firing up VMware Player displays the known kernel mod dialog that requires to compile the modules for the newly booted kernel. Usually, this isn't a big issue but this time I was confronted with the situation that vmnet didn't compile as expected ("Failed to compile module vmnet"). Luckily, this issue is already well-known, even though with "Failed to compile module vmmon" as general reason but nevertheless it was very easy and quick to find the solution to this problem. In VMware Communities there are several forum threads related to this topic and VMware provides the necessary patch file for Workstation 8.0.2 and Player 4.0.2. In case that you are still on Workstation 7.x or Player 3.x there is another patch file available.

After download extract the file like so:

tar -xzvf vmware802fixlinux320.tar.gz 

and run the patch script as super-user:

sudo ./patch-modules_3.2.0.sh

This will alter the existing installation and source files of VMware Player on your machine.

As last step, which isn't described in many other resources, you have to restart the vmware service, or for the heart-fainted, just reboot your system:

sudo service vmware restart

This will load the newly created kernel modules into your userspace, and after that VMware Player will start as usual.

Summary

Upgrading any derivate of Ubuntu, in my case Xubuntu, is quick and easy done but it might hold some surprises from time to time. Nonetheless, it is absolutely worthy to go for it. Currently, this patch for VMware is the only obstacle I had to face so far and my system feels and looks better than before. Happy upgrade!

Resources

I used the following links based on Google search results:

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1902218#1902218
http://weltall.heliohost.org/wordpress/2012/01/26/vmware-workstation-8-0-2-player-4-0-2-fix-for-linux-kernel-3-2-and-3-3/

Update on VMware Player 4.0.3

Please continue to read on my follow-up article in case that you upgraded either VMware Workstation 8.0.3 or VMware Player 4.0.3.

I also got superuser running

Here is some android pron:

http://thegodof.net/images/maplugm.png

this meeting shall be postponed if there is less than 5 confirmations.

+selven
Secretary of the lug

If you really care about Open Source, contact the company & ask for hardware documentation/datasheets. We don't want source code: we want freely available specs.

(Signing an NDA is not an option, we also want to share what we know to other groups out there: *BSD, Linux, Haiku, Minix3 and many other groups in pure open source spirit)

Intel:

ICH7
ICH8 mobile
ICH9

ICH10
CMD/Silicon Image
CMD 648
CMD 649
SiI 680
Promise:
PDC20579

PDC40775

ATI:
IXP700/800 SATA
Ethernet:

Realtek

Intel (complex and buggy)

Wifi:

Ralink

Realtek (older chipsets like 8187)
Video Adapters:

Intel

ATI
Soundcards:

Realtek
(Still a work-in-progress)

This is to inform you that the Linux user Group Meta (LUGM) shall be holding its annual general meeting on Saturday the 10th of December 2011

A brief post to tell you that I stumbled upon two great open source software yesterday:

Terminator can be used to open multiple Gnome terminals in a grid as shown above. As it also works in full-screen mode, Terminator is great when you have to, say, administer multiple servers at the same time using SSH.

Xournal is, according to its author, a note taking application. But, and this is a wonderful side-effect, it is also a quite formidable PDF annotation tool!

Both can be installed on Fedora using yum and I suppose they are also available in the Ubuntu repositories (even though I’ve not checked) and can be installed with apt-get or aptitude.

Dennis Ritchie died this morning.

Forty years ago, he invented two things: the C programming language (together with Brian Kernighan) and the UNIX operating system (together with Ken Thompson).

C

I first came across the C programming language when I was 16 in Lower VI. At that time, I had an Amiga and I wanted to do some game and AI programming. I read in magazine articles that this required a powerful programming language such as C and, by sheer luck, I managed to get a copy of the seminal book, The C Programming Language, from Editions de l’Océan Indien in Curepipe. I distinctly remember that the book cost Rs 120.00 and that I had to borrow the money from a good friend of mine, Ritesh, to buy it.

I started reading the book when I got home and couldn’t leave it until the end. After 20 years, I still have the book and I still like to open it at random and marvel at its conciseness and precision.

I still think that all computer scientists should know C.

UNIX

What can I say? UNIX is a marvelous operating system: powerful yet easy to understand. The historical UNIX has given way to modern variants like Mac OS X and Linux but the philosophy has remained the same and even has a name: it’s called the UNIX-way. In UNIX, each tool does one thing and only one thing. The trick is to combine the tools (using pipes or logical operators for example) to build more complex workflows…

Funnily, laymen do not realise that they depend on UNIX all day long as all Mac computers, the Orange Livebox, Sony and Samsung LCD televisions, Android smartphones, the iPhone and the iPad as well as all the computers at Google, Yahoo! and Amazon (among others) run some variant of UNIX.

Interestingly, the most powerful computers on the planet are powered by Linux.

So, thank you again to you Dennis Ritchie. You changed the world.

RIP.

Agenda: Membership fees, treasurer and secretary's book, Tech presentation

Time ~ 10.00 am

Venue: LinkbyNet Indian Ocean, DCDM building, Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius.. [ if you can't find your way wait around vins/20 and gimme a call (49 24 9 1 8 )]

Date: 29/10/2011

this meeting shall be postponed if there is less than 5 confirmations.