[Solved] Unable to launch the live Boot DVD on VMware Player

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Jon.Gray

[Solved] Unable to launch the live Boot DVD on VMware Player

Post by Jon.Gray »

Edit: Anyone with the same issue
Don't use Version F19e of the Bios for your board.
Once I rolled back to Version F18 the problem was fixed.
You can find the driver page here: http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product ... &dl=1#bios
I guess it was listed as a Beta BIOS for a reason :oops:

Cheers,
Jon


Hello there and thanks in advance for taking a look at my post.
Please, before you provide any help, I am greener than this board so please provide as detailed instructions as you can :oops:
Also, I hope this is the correct place for this post, I wasn't sure if I should have put under Newbie Questions rather than here.

I will try to provide as much detail as possible, while at the same time keeping it succinct enough that you are not faced with a wall of text.
To make for easier reading, I have put the Host information and the guest settings at the bottom of the post if they are of use.

Basically, this is my issue. I am unable to launch the live Boot DVD. :oops:
If I allow it to auto boot, it stops on a black screen with just
ISOLINUX 4.04 20110711 ETCD Copyright (C) 1994-2011 H. Peter Anvin et al
_
When I start in compatibility mode
Image
Specifically this
/casper/vmlinuz file=cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper xforcevesa nomodeset b43.blacklist=yes initrd=/casper/initrd.lz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ran rw noapic noapci nosplash irqpoll --
It gets so far through and just freezes at this point
Image

So far I have tried the following images:
linuxmint 14.1 mate 64bit & 32Bit
linuxmint-14.1-cinnamon-64Bit
linuxmint-14.1-KDE-64Bit

As it is a VM, I just point it directly at the ISO file, but to rule that out I have burnt it to a DVD and also made a bootable USB stick.
They both stick at the same point (yet not on a different machine) so I feel the issue must be with my set up of the VMware Player or my hardware.

Just as further info, I have tried the set up umpteen times with various permutations, from bare bones (no USB, no sound card, no network controller, 1 processor and only 1GB memory) to everything I can throw at it.

I have managed to get Back Track 5r3 installed with out an issue :?


Further info if useful
Host:
OS: Windows 8 Pro
Version 6.2.9200, build 9200
processor: Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz Socket 1155 8MB
Memory: 32.0 GB
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H Socket 1155 VGA DVI HDMI DisplayPort 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
Graphics: Using onboard

VM Guest Setup (Screenshots):
Image
Image

If there is further details I can provide to make the waters less muddy, let me know and I'll get back to you as soon as I can with the information.
Remember, I am green, you might also have to tell me *how* to get back to you with the details you need.

Thanks for you time and reading this post.

Cheers,
Jon
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
meteorrock

Re: Unable to launch the live Boot DVD on VMware Player

Post by meteorrock »

There is a setup wizard in the VMware workstation 9.0 that will mount that .ISO for linux mint or any other linux distro you are looking over. Should be the same for the "free version" of VMware 'player.' Its the same platform from what others tell me, the only difference is some server tools are not included in the free version.

Your working directory should be labeled as an .iso in that last screen-shot you gave if you want to do it that way. I know you said you tried that, but why is the directory in your last screenshot NOT the .ISO of linux mint itself, is it an screen-shot example from the internet? The .iSO image will show up in that working directory the same as on a DVD or in a folder for that .ISO on your 'host' computer to set it up.

It looks like you are using a Windows OS as your "host" OS right? Just point that working directory to the .ISO of linux mint on your Windows OS, and do NOT extract it from the .ISO. Example: "Linux MInt 64bit.ISO." If you need to boot from the DVD for linux mint, for example you have no internet access or a slow internet access, use the .ISO image of Linux mint itself on a DVD burn instead of a "live image" to finish "mounting" or installing your linux mint build you want to look over onto your 'virtual drive.' I used "IMGburn" as a dvd burning tool to burn the WHOLE .ISO image onto a disk on the Windows OS. You do not need a live distro of linux mint in a "hypervisor" or in a virtual machine, that is for preview options on a Windows OS without using virtualization like VMware.


You will also need the VMware tools to get up your linux mint build through the apt get after installing that image on your Windows OS host. Here is the code if you got internet access. I had the problem of my WMware workstation 9.0 installing these tools during setup. The free version of the VMware "player' should be the same. So use the code below in your terminal of VMware as soon as you get Linux mint installed.

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools
And these other tools will build the modules on the VM side for the vmware tools.

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install open-vm-dkms

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install open-vm-toolbox
Hope that helps you. That VMware player and workstation 9.0 have all of the wizards to set you up easily without other tools or any other knowledge of linux straight out of the box, it is a well thought out program with tons of onboard wizards, and other features to get even the most novice users of computers set up and going along. I will check back on this thread in a day or two to help you along if you are still stuck. :)
Jon.Gray

Re: Unable to launch the live Boot DVD on VMware Player

Post by Jon.Gray »

Hi Meteorrock,

Thanks for stopping by and giving up your time to help a total stranger! :)
Just to answer you questions first and then, as I feel pictures speak far better than I can describe, I have created the VM from scratch with photo's so you can see where I am at.

Yes, Windows 8 Pro is the host the Mint guest will be running on. The screen shot was from my set up, and the working directory is only the folder where the .vmdk, .vmk and configurations files are stored on my local disk, rather than the path to the .iso file. As for an install guide I was just following the instructions from here http://www.linuxmint.com/documentation/ ... h_13.0.pdf. I don't believe the issue I have is with the creation of the VM as I am comfortable with the software and have had Linux distros running on it before in the past (possibly, I am not ruling anything out, hence the wall of pictures to follow) but that the live boot fails to get to the desktop to allow me to install Mint to the VM itself.
The issue I am having is the boot sicks around the point of
sr 1:0:0:0: >Attached scsi generic sg0 type 5
Unfortunately, I lack the knowledge of how Linux boots to begin to Google a solution as "sr 1:0:0:0: >Attached scsi generic sg0 type 5" is not a common failure point for any distro to stick at (as far as I have managed to Google so far - I still expect this fully to be a PLBKAC error on my side somewhere obvious) and is rather common in the posts I have Googled, but not linked to the error I am experiencing.
I am probably using the wrong searches in Goolge, but http://goo.gl/jd2dI and http://goo.gl/wHZiN didn't get me very far.

If I missed anything you needed, let me know and I will answer as soon as I can. Apologies if I am not very clear, I really don't know what is useful and what is chaff at the moment so am probably bombarding the post with too much information :|


The VM Guest setup (This is more of a bare bones version to try and remove any red herrings from the de-bug process)

Launch screen of VMware Player
Image
All I am doing here is clicking on the 'Create a New Virtual Machine' link to the top right of the screen shot

First screen of the Wizard
Image
I have already pointed this to the .iso I downloaded earlier (I have already confirmed the MD5 signature and it was a match to 25277a6e655b638ae20e54249a6edf14)

Second screen of the wizard
Image
I have chosen Linux and am using the Ubuntu 64-bit version (I have tried the other options previously in case this was where I made my first boneheaded mistake and am not ruling out this could be wrong)

Third Screen of the wizard
Image
As my C:\ is limited in space I am using a larger disk to hold the virtual drive and configuration files.
The path I am using is D:\VM\Mint 64Bit (MATE)

Fourth Screen of the wizard
Image
I chose the disk to be a single file for simple backups

Fifth screen of the wizard
Image
Just a summary of the previous choices.
I then click on 'Customize Hardware...' as I wish to change a few of the options

Hardware
Image
This is what it defaults too, however I made a few changes to this first

After editing the hardware
Image
All I have done is to increase the memory to 8Gb, provided it with 4 processors and removed the following:
No floppy
No USB controller (I will want this functionality, however I removed it for the purpose of this demo)
No printer

New VM ready to power on
Image

VM after powering on and me clicking to stop it auto starting
Image

I chose start in compatibility mode as it sticks on a black screen otherwise
Image

Finally, the issue. It will not get past this point :-(
Image

Just a word on the configurations on the VM. I have tried it with just one processor and 1Gb of memory, an untouched version of the config (i.e. what the wizard results in from the option above) and every permutation I can think of in-between :|
(Edit: I have also tried hosting the VM on the C:\ and E:\ and F:\ on the off chance it is not mounting the Virtual Disk or some such nonsense)

Once again, Sorry for the wall of text and images and thanks for spending your time trying to help out.

Thanks,
Jon
meteorrock

Re: Unable to launch the live Boot DVD on VMware Player

Post by meteorrock »

I see what you are getting at. You are trying to mount the .vmk virtual drive itself. Did you do a BIOS update for your VM on the host side? That might help. Also if you can get into the terminal on the "guest" OS side, try to update Grub, which is the linux mint BIOS. You can get into the BIOS in the options of VMware before bootup.

I am not sure on this, but pointing that directory to your .vmk , which is your virtual drive will not work on getting into the OS itself. Its just a file with data with no other means to install itself. If I remember correctly, after the OS itself is installed it will bring up yet another wizard to point to the directory you will want to use as your .vmk (virtual hard drive) AFTER bootup INSIDE of the running virtual machine.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge in syntax errors could help you further, I have not seen many coders in here. <Zerozero> might be able to help you if you can find him here in the forums. There is only 2 or 3 skilled coders I have seen through the linux mint forums here in the last couple of months. They are probably around but busy hopefully doing some coding. If you are still stuck on this issue and do not get a reply here in a day or two, try over in Ubuntu forums under virtualization, they could help you, lot more activity in there. Same linux branches so they help each other.

I noticed the level of tech problems and solutions are up a notch over there. (No offense to anyone here :) ) Hopefully that helps.
Jon.Gray

Re: [Solved] Unable to launch the live Boot DVD on VMware Pl

Post by Jon.Gray »

Hello Again Meteorrock,

Thanks for you post, when you mentioned the BIOS of the Guest, you reminded me I was using a Beta driver on my main board.
To rule it out, I rolled back to the F18 driver. Low and behold, problems soved :oops:

I knew it would have to be a PLBKAC problem along the line somewhere.

Thanks for your help :wink:

Cheers,
Jon
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