VMWare introduced me to the concept of running machines virtually, instead of physically.
"Interesting concept" I thought in 2005, when I first learned about it. "But I'm not sure how it would benefit me."
Well, let's just say that my life has changed a lot since then, and so have my views of virtualization. I run a Linux desktop, with Windows in the virtual world for those times when I MUST use it. Example: my employer's VPN will run in Windows only. My obscure Epson all-in-one is unsupported by sane.
Thus, I became an ardent VMWare fan. However, with the release of Ubuntu 9.04, I lost the ability to hook up USB devices.
I posted this fix for 8.10, but no amount of coaxing could persuade it to work with Jaunty.
Enter Sun's VirtualBox.
I had to rebuild my 2K and XP machines from scratch, but it was a wise investment of time. I am now successfully running USB devices in virtual Windows environments which are putting less load on my processor. The machines are basically operating at hardware speed.
VirtualBox allows for multiple snapshots, a very nice feature only available with enterprise versions of VMWare.
I had to jump through some hoops to get my USB stuff working, but it was pretty simple. A Google search for VirtualBox USB problem will reveal a host of sites offering assistance.
Best of all, attempting to use my Epson scanner in XP would invariably result in a BSOD on VMWare. It works flawlessly with VirtualBox.
So once again, thanks for the memories, VMWare. But I must move on to VirtualBox.
Comments (3)
Sounds like I'm too late to offer anything useful, but I'm running 9.04 and vmware server 2 and was able to get usb working.
I had to edit /etc/fstab
You add the following lines
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto 0 0
none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=46,devmode=664 0 0
In addition to that, I had to:
chmod -R 777 /proc/bus/usb/*
which you helped with in a previous post! Thanks!
Posted by Danny | July 22, 2009 11:05 AM
Posted on July 22, 2009 11:05
Thanks, Danny, but I gotta tell ya, Virtualbox makes for a better experience, IMHO!
Posted by Ron | December 8, 2009 2:34 PM
Posted on December 8, 2009 14:34
Wow this post is one gigantic WindowsPowersMyLinux™. Complete with Ubuntu breaking compatibility with VMWare’s virtual hardware.
But fret not, it is just as bad the other way around!
“VirtualBox allows for multiple snapshots, a very nice feature only available with enterprise versions of VMWare.”
VMWare workstation is not enterprise level software, hence you are lying.
“The machines are basically operating at hardware speed.”
[citation needed]
“I had to jump through some hoops to get my USB stuff working, but it was pretty simple. A Google search for VirtualBox USB problem will reveal a host of sites offering assistance.”
I never understood such sentiment. Why is it that to use such software constantly requires a user to “jump through hoops” in order to use basic and expected functionality? To further configure I would understand, but to constantly fix things? That just reflects poorly upon Linux.
Posted by The WHAM Burglar | March 15, 2010 6:50 PM
Posted on March 15, 2010 18:50