Copyright (C) 1998-99, VMware, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Thank you for downloading VMware 1.1 for Linux.
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1. INSTALLING VMWARE FOR LINUX 

 Please visit http://www.vmware.com/support/easysteps.html for help on
 getting started installing VMware.

 At the time of this release the Linux host operating systems officially
 supported by VMware are --

      Caldera 1.3
      Red Hat 5.0, 5.1, 5.2 or 6.0
      SuSE 6.0, 6.1 or 6.2

 VMware should run on later versions of Caldera, Red Hat and SuSE, see 
 http://www.vmware.com/support for the latest information.
 
 VMware will run on some other Linux distributions and versions; however,
 it may require some expertise to correctly install and configure
 VMware on these systems.
 
 If you are running on an Symmetric Multi-Processor (SMP) host system,
 VMware will fail to run unless you are using a Linux 2.2.x kernel.

 VMware absolutely requires glibc support on the host operating
 system. Errors such as "no such file or directory" when trying to run
 vmware, even though the 'vmware' executable is installed, is a symptom
 of not having glibc support or of having incorrectly installed or damaged
 dynamic libraries.  Some Linux operating systems (including Caldera 1.3)
 do not install glibc support as standard, check the documentation for
 your distribution.

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2. GETTING HELP

 For help trouble shooting, first refer to the list of
 known issues below and the latest version of this list at
 http://www.vmware.com/support/issues_linux.html.

 There is a list of troubleshooting suggestions at
 http://www.vmware.com/support/troubleshooting_linux.html.

 VMware hosts a series of newsgroups, including discussions of
 problems, for VMware users from a news server at news.vmware.com. See
 http://www.vmware.com/support/newsgroups.html.

 Support for VMware 1.1 for Linux is available
 free of charge to registered users. Please visit
 http://www.vmware.com/support/support.html for information on VMware
 support and how to report problems with VMware 1.1 for Linux.

 VMware especially wants to know about fatal errors with messages
 like "NOT IMPLEMENTED" or "ASSERT".  These failures will typically
 be associated with a file coding like F(123):456, or else with an
 offset like "Assert failed at 0x987654".  If you get a message like
 "Bug F(123):456 BugNr=789" then this failure is associated with a bug
 that VMware is already aware of. In either case, please open a problem
 incident report at http://www5.vmware.com/forms/Incident_Login.cfm
 and include the log file and vmware-core core file if a core file was
 generated. The log file will either be named vmware-log or 
 <config file>.log where <config file> is the name you gave to your 
 VMware configuration.

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3. KNOWN ISSUES WITH VMWARE 1.1 FOR LINUX

 Please visit http://www.vmware.com/support/issues_linux.html for
 the latest list of known problems.

 These are the current major known issues and limitations with VMware. You
 also want to check the list of most commonly reported incidents.

  1. Unsupported guest operating systems
  2. Virtual machines within virtual machines
  3. Booting from raw disks - IDE drives only
  4. Multiprocessor system support
  5. Windows NT 4.0 multiprocessor (MPS) HAL incompatibility
  6. PCMCIA/PCCard support
  7. Linux host laptop suspend problem
  8. Supported mouse types
  9. International Keyboard Support
 10. Some keys on Japanese keyboards may not work inside virtual machines
 11. Screen Saver Issues
 12. Pseudocolor (8 bit, 256 color) display issues
 13. Non-Ethernet network adapters
 14. Poor MS-DOS performance with EMM386 extended memory
 15. Direct3D/DirectX graphics support
 16. DirectDraw/DirectX graphics support
 17. DirectSound/DirectX not support
 18. Sound support
 19. Sound is choppy
 20. No sound from virtual machine when host runs Enlightment Sound Daemon
 21. Guest operating system serial (COM) and parallel port (LPT) devices
 22. Parallel (LPT) ports device support
 23. EIDE ATAPI Iomega Zip drive support
 24. Windows 95 problems with AMD K6 based systems
 25. Intermittent unexpected exit during Windows 95 install
 26. Intermittent hanging related to CD-ROM drives
 27. CD-ROM drive drawer automatic closing
 28. CD-RW and CD-R drives not supported within a virtual machine
 29. Multisession CD-Rs or "enhanced" audio CDs do not function correctly
 30. DVD-ROM drives not supported within a virtual machine
 31. Imation SuperDisk LS120 floppy disk drives not supported
 32. VMware Incompatible with Linux Frame-Buffer Console
 33. Installing VMware on a Slackware based distribution
 34. VMware install process generates gcc errors on Slackware 4.0/SMP host
     installations
 35. Serial port performance on the host machine may suffer when a virtual
     machine is running
 36. Accessing Winmodems and Winprinters from inside a virtual machine
 37. Latest AMD PCnet Family Ethernet Driver does not work in virtual
     machines running Windows NT
 38. Host machine crashes when a virtual machine configured for Bridged
     mode networking is powered up; no problems if Host-only mode is used.
 39. The VMware Tools for Linux installation script does not recognize
     Linux Mandrake installations.
 40. Nonpersistent disk changes not preserved across reset of the virtual
     machine.


  1. Unsupported guest operating systems
     The following guest operating systems do not work with the VMware
     1.1 for Linux . These guest operating systems may be supported in a 
     future release:
     - IBM OS/2 and OS/2 Warp

     The following guest operating systems do not work with the VMware
     1.1 for Linux. There are currently no plans to support these guest
     operating systems in the near future:
     - BeOS
     - Minix
     - QNX
     - SCO Unix
     - SCO UnixWare
     - Novel Netware Server

  2. Virtual machines within virtual machines
     A virtual machine cannot be run within a virtual machine.  VMware
     recommends that you do not attempt this procedure.  Attempts to run a
     virtual machine within a virtual machine may hang your system.

  3. Booting from raw disks - IDE drives only
     Booting a virtual disk from raw devices works only on  IDE disks.
     Booting a virtual machine from a raw SCSI disk is not supported. This
     limitation will be present in VMware Linux release 1.1. For more
     information on booting a virtual machine from a raw disk partition, as
     you would do on a system already configured to dual or multi-boot see
     http://www.vmware.com/support/rawdisklinux.html.  Booting a virtual
     machine from raw devices is only recommended for advanced users.

  4. Multiprocessor system support
     VMware will run on Symmetric Multi-Processor (SMP) systems, also
     technically referred to as Multi-Processor Specification (MPS)
     systems. However, the environment provided within each VMware virtual
     machine is a Uni-Processor (UP) system. Multiple concurrent VMware
     virtual machines will make use of the multiple processors in a system.

     VMware requires a Linux 2.2.x kernel to run on an SMP system and will
     fail with an error message on SMP systems running 2.0.x or 2.1.x
     kernels.

  5. Windows NT 4.0 multiprocessor (MPS) HAL incompatibility
     Windows NT installed natively on a Multi-Processor Specification (MPS)
     system will not boot and run within the UP (Uni-Processor) environment
     of a VMware virtual machine. This is because during installation
     Windows NT installs a separate UP or MPS HAL (Hardware Abstraction
     Layer), depending on the hardware present. A Windows NT MPS HAL will
     not run on a UP system.

     It is possible to change a Windows NT 4.0 MPS HAL to a UP HAL,
     although this should only be attempted by very experienced Windows NT
     users. To switch Windows NT 4.0 between the UNI and MPS HAL, refer to
     article Q156358 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. However, it may be
     easier to install a new separate copy of Windows NT within a virtual
     machine. If you do this, Windows NT will automatically install a UP
     HAL.

  6. PCMCIA/PCCard support
     VMware does not provide direct support within a virtual machine for
     PCMCIA or PCCard devices, such as those found on notebook (laptop,
     mobile and portable) computers. Special PCMCIA or PCCard drivers or
     software cannot be used within a VMware virtual machine. However,
     standard Ethernet and Modem PCMCIA or PCCard adapters should be usable
     within a virtual machine, and special PCMCIA or PCCard devices or
     features should continue to be accessible from the host operating
     system while VMware is running.

     It should be possible to install an Ethernet PCMCIA/PCCard supported
     by the Linux host operating system. The guest operating system will
     see a virtual AMD PCnet-II PCI Ethernet adapter regardless of what
     PCMCIA/PCCard is installed in the actual computer.

     It should be possible to install a modem card that emulates a standard
     UART and is supported by the Linux host operating system. The guest
     operating system should be able to see the modem mapped as a generic
     COM serial port.

     Ejecting or installing a PCMCIA/PCCard used by a running virtual
     machine may cause problems.

  7. Linux host laptop suspend problem
     Linux host operating systems, even those that support Advanced Power
     Management (APM), may have problems if a laptop computer suspends
     while virtual machines are running. The virtual machines may hang and
     not restart.

  8. Supported mouse types
     VMware supports the following mouse types.
     - PS/2
     - Microsoft serial
     - Mouse Systems
     - Logitech MouseMan serial
     - Microsoft Intellimouse PS/2 (acts like a 3-button mouse with no
     wheel within a virtual machine )

     Some mice can be made to work by selecting the closest compatible
     mouse in the VMware Configuration Editor.  Some mice not on this list,
     including the Microsoft Inbus mouse, will not work with VMware.

  9. International Keyboard Support
     VMware for Linux should map all keys to the appropriate keyboard type
     when the host is using an X server from XFree86 and you are running
     locally on the host. However, if VMware is running remotely
     (regardless of the X server used) or locally with a non-XFree86 X
     server, then only a limited number of non-US keyboards are supported.
     Depending on the X server version and user-defined key mappings,
     certain keyboard types may work. See
     http://www.vmware.com/support/keyboard.html if you are experiencing
     problems when using an international keyboard.

 10. Some keys on Japanese keyboards may not work within virtual machines
     If some keys on your Japanese keyboard do not work within a virtual
     machine, adding the following to your '~/.vmware/config' file may fix
     the problem:
         xkeymap.keycode.120 = 0x070
         xkeymap.keycode.123 = 0x073
         xkeymap.keycode.129 = 0x079
         xkeymap.keycode.131 = 0x07b
         xkeymap.keycode.133 = 0x07d

 11. Screen Saver Issues
     If mouse/keyboard is grabbed by a virtual machine and it sits idle
     long enough to activate the host screen saver, control will NOT be
     returned to the user by moving the mouse or typing on the keyboard.
     Certain screen saver programs (like xscreensaver) will not see the
     keyboard/mouse activity occuring within the virtual machine and will
     not give control back to the user. If you experience this problem, you
     can get control back by pressing CTRL-ALT-ESC (to release the mouse
     from the virtual machine) and then either moving the mouse or typing
     on the keyboard as normal.

 12. Pseudocolor (8 bit, 256 color) display issues
     VMware does not recommend using a host X display that uses pseudocolor
     (8 bit, 256 color). A host X display which  uses pseudocolor will
     typically have problems displaying VMware in windowed mode. The
     displayed colors will be dramatically affected, with the particular
     results dependent on whether the cursor focus is in a VMware window or
     not. This is a standard limitation of pseudocolor X servers.

 13. Non-Ethernet network adapters
     VMware does not support non-Ethernet network adapter cards (including
     token ring, FDDI, CDDI or ATM ) in "bridged mode". VMware installed on
     hosts with non-Ethernet network adapter cards can use the virtual
     network in host-only mode, or can use the host as a proxy to connect
     to non-Ethernet networks. See
     http://www.vmware.com/support/networking.html for more details.

 14. Poor MS-DOS performance with EMM386 extended memory
     Running MS-DOS with EMM386.EXE and other extended memory managers may
     cause significant performance degradation. This will only occur when
     you are running MS-DOS or MS-DOS floppy disk-based installs (such as
     when you are installing Windows 95). If you are initially booting a
     virtual machine with an MS-DOS or Windows 95 boot diskette with CD-ROM
     drivers make sure that EMM386.EXE (or other memory managers) are not
     being loaded. HIMEM.SYS and RAMDRIVE.SYS can be loaded and used
     without problems.

 15. Direct3D/DirectX graphics support
     Direct3D is not supported at this time. Products requiring this
     feature may or may not install, and may or may not run after
     installation.

 16. DirectDraw/DirectX graphics support
     DirectDraw is not supported at this time. However, the VMware SVGA
     drivers for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT offer partial
     DirectDraw functionality. Products requiring this feature may or may
     not install, and may or may not run after installation. In some cases,
     some products may work if the host X server is switched to 8-bit (256)
     color depth before the VMware virtual machine is started. We plan to
     provide full DirectDraw support in a future release of VMware.

 17. DirectSound/DirectX not supported
     DirectSound is not supported at this time. Products requiring this
     feature may or may not install, and may or may not run after
     installation.

 18. Sound support
     VMware provides basic play support for Soundblaster-compatible PCM
     (Pulse Code Modulation) audio and can support formats such as .wav and
     .au files. VMware virtual machines do not support MIDI devices, game
     ports or audio input devices.

     Sound may play erratically under heavy system loads.  If you
     experience this problem, try closing some running applications.

 19. Sound is choppy
     There is a bug in VMware for Linux that causes sound to play roughly
     and with frequent interruptions even under light CPU load.  This bug
     appears intermittently.  It will be fixed in a future release.

 20. No sound from virtual machine when host runs Enlightment Sound Daemon
     If Enlightment Sound Daemon is enabled on the Linux host, the software
     opens the real PC's sound device by the time X starts. When a virtual
     machine with sound configured is started on a host with ESD running,
     VMware will not be able to access the sound device since it is in use.
     As a workaround, you can start the VMware session using the 'esddsp'
     wrapper (start the session by typing 'esddsp vmware' or 'esddsp
     <config_filename>.cfg'). The wrapper will pass the sound output
     generated by the virtual machine as an audio stream to the ESD audio
     server.

 21. Guest operating system serial (COM) and parallel port (LPT) devices
     Guest operating systems will detect and install device drivers for
     four serial (COM) ports and two parallel (LPT) ports even if those
     devices are not enabled in VMware. These virtual devices consume guest
     operating system IRQ and I/O address resources and appear to be
     present from within the guest operating system. Leaving these devices
     "as is" and unconfigured in VMware will not cause any problems. To
     enable a device, shut down the guest operating system, power off
     VMware, and use the Configuration Editor to enable the serial or
     parallel port device.

 22. Parallel (LPT) ports device support
     This release contains support for bi-directional parallel ports.
     For information on configuring these ports, refer to
     http://www.vmware.com/support/parportlinux.html.

 23. EIDE ATAPI Iomega Zip drive support
     Iomega Zip drives that use an EIDE ATAPI interface cannot be used
     within a VMware virtual machine. IDE disk drives within a virtual
     machine do not support ATAPI (although the virtual machine IDE CD-ROM
     drives do). Iomega EIDE ATAPI Zip drives can continue to be used on
     the host operating system and may contain VMware virtual disks.

 24. Windows 95 problems with AMD K6 processor-based systems
     Windows 95 may not run reliably as a guest operating system on
     machines using the AMD K6 processor. This problem does not occur with
     other guest operating systems including Windows 98 and Windows NT;
     upgrading to either of these operating systems is recommended.
     Although this situation is related to a known Windows 95 problem on K6
     processors, the available patch may prevent Windows 95 from booting
     within a VMware virtual machine. If you continue to experience
     problems after installing the patch, try installing only a small
     portion of it using the following steps:

     a) From the virtual machine or another machine, use gzip, winzip or
     similar programs to view the contents of the patch. Do not run the AMD
     K6 patch program.
     b) Extract the 'IOS.VXD' file from the patch and copy it to the
     'c:\windows\system\vmm32' directory of the virtual machine running
     Windows 95.
     c) Rename the RMM.PDR file in the virtual machine's
     'c:\windows\system\iosubsys' directory to RMM-OLD.PDR.
     d) Shutdown and restart the virtual machine (the problem should go
     away or fail less often).

     There are additional known problems in Microsoft Windows 95 that cause
     it to fail at startup. Please see
     http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/k623d/win95_update_k6.html for more
     information.

 25. Intermittent unexpected exit during Windows 95 install
     An intermittent problem can occur during Windows 95 installations in a
     virtual machine. Shortly after the Windows 95 Setup program is
     started, scandisk runs to completion. But when the Windows 95 Setup
     program is supposed to start its graphical user interface, the virtual
     machine reverts back to an MS-DOS prompt. We recommend that you run
     the Windows 95 Setup using the "/is" switch: "setup /is"
     This will prevent scandisk from running and should solve this problem.

 26. Intermittent hanging related to CD-ROM drives
      If you experience frequent "pausing" or slowdown, in virtual machines
     running Windows operating systems, which corresponds to the VMware
     CD-ROM activity LEDs when no CD-ROM media is in the drive, and/or if
     you get hints upon startup that your kernel does not support the Linux
     Uniform CDROM Driver, you should upgrade your kernel to at least Linux
     2.2.4. With this upgrade, the pauses should go away, the CD-ROM drive
     will spin down when idle, and a lot of other quirky CD-ROM behavior
     will be fixed.

     If you are unable to upgrade your Linux kernel, it may be possible to
     work around the "pausing" or slowdown by disabling the CD-ROM in the
     VMware Settings > Removable Devices menu.  Another work around is to
     disable CD-ROM autoplay.  For Windows 95 and Windows 98, go to Control
     Panel > System > Device Manager > CDROM and double-click on the CD-ROM
     device; under Settings, uncheck the "Auto insert notification" check
     box.

 27. CD-ROM drive drawer automatic closing
     On systems with Linux kernels prior to 2.2.4, VMware can cause the
     CD-ROM drawer to close rapidly and automatically. This behavior can be
     annoying, and if it occurs when you are loading a CD-ROM into the
     drive, it may cause the media or users fingers to become trapped in
     the drawer. Please exercise caution when placing media in the CD-ROM
     drive.

     We recommend upgrading your Linux kernel to version 2.2.4 or later.
     Alternately, you can disable CD-ROM autoplay.  For Windows 95 and
     Windows 98, go to Control Panel > System > Device Manager > CDROM and
     double-click on the CD-ROM device; under Settings, uncheck the "Auto
     insert notification" check box.

 28. CD-RW and CD-R drives not supported within a virtual machine
     VMware currently supports CD-RW (Read Write) and  CD-R (Recordable)
     drives within a virtual machine as standard CD-ROM drives. Writing to
     these drives is not supported within a virtual machine. However, these
     drives can continue to be used on the host system.

     VMware plans to provide support for CD-RW and CD-R drives within a
     virtual machine in a future release.

 29. Multisession CD-Rs or "enhanced" audio CDs do not function correctly
     Multisession CD-ROMs may not wok correctly with VMware.  VMware relies
     on the host operating system for device access and Linux does not
     provide necessary information about multisession CD-ROMs.  VMware may
     correctly read data from the CD-R, but will likely incorrectly read
     from all CD-ROM sessions, especially later ones which update earlier
     ones.  VMware will issue "ATAPI_CDROM: Multisession disc present, but
     only reporting one session" warnings on the console and in the log
     file.

 30. DVD-ROM drives not supported within a virtual machine
     VMware currently supports DVD-ROM drives within a virtual machine as
     standard CD-ROM drives. These drives can continue to be used on the
     host system.

     VMware plans to provide support for DVD-ROM drives within a virtual
     machine in a future release.

 31. Imation SuperDisk LS120 floppy disk drives not supported
     VMware does not currently support Imation SuperDisk LS120 120MB floppy
     disk drives within a virtual machine, either as standard floppy drives
     or LS120 drives. These drives can continue to be used on the host
     system but cannot be used within a virtual machine. Systems that have
     only SuperDisk floppy drives will not be able to install guest
     operating systems that require booting from a floppy disk. One work a
     round for this is to install guest operating systems from bootable
     CD-ROMs. Another workaround is to add an additional conventional
     floppy disk drive to the computer. These drive are available from
     retailers at relatively low cost and are typically easy to install. If
     you are unsure of what you are doing please consult an experienced PC
     repair specialist.

 32. VMware Incompatible with Linux Frame-Buffer Console
     VMware is not compatible with the Linux Frame-Buffer Console (fbcon)
     driver. Running VMware on a kernel compiled with fbcon support may
     result in the entire system hanging. VMware will improve this problem
     and will in future fail with a meaningful message if fbcon is
     detected. Reports from the field indicate that running 'fbset -depth 0
     -a' before launching VMware fixes the problem by switching the virtual
     terminal to VGA compatible mode.

 33. Installing VMware on a Slackware based distribution
     There have been reports of successful VMware installations by users
     running a Slackware based distribution. The two important points when
     starting with a Slackware system are glibc and the boot scripts.
     1) Insure you are either using a glibc version of Slackware (as some
     of the most recent or Beta versions are) or you have the optional
     glibc packages installed.
     2) Slackware does not use SysV boot (rc) scripts. The easiest thing is
     to let the install script install /etc/rc.d/init.d/vmware (or where
     ever you tell it to put the boot script) and then add the following
     lines to rc.local

         if [ -x /etc/rc.d/init.d/vmware ]
               then
          /etc/rc.d/init.d/vmware start
               fi

     This should cause the modules to be properly loaded at boot time.
     Otherwise, you may get errors about opening /dev/vmmon and may have to
     handrun the scripts. Keep in mind that Slackware is not an explicitly
     supported distribution, mostly because of its unusual file layout.

 34. VMware install process generates gcc errors on Slackware 4.0/SMP host
     installations
     If SMP support is disabled when VMware is installed on a host running
     Slackware 4.0, then the modules should compile with no problems.
     However, when SMP is enabled in the Makefile for the VMware modules,
     the installation will fail with gcc errors. To fix the problem: run a
     'make config' and a 'make dep' in the kernel source directory, then
     re-run './install.pl'.

 35. Serial port performance on the host machine may suffer when a virtual
     machine is running
     VMware for Linux may disable interrupts on the host for a long period
     of time which can result in host UARTs dropping characters
     intermittently. No corruption will occur, but retries in the software
     controlling the UART(s) will reduce the transfer rate of the host.
     This problem should be fixed in the near future.

 36. Accessing Winmodems and Winprinters from within a virtual machine
     Virtual machines can not access winmodem or winprinters; futhermore,
     the Linux host may not support these devices. Winmodems and
     winprinters ship with special software/drivers for machines running
     Windows. In general, Linux cannot use these peripherals since a
     special Linux software/driver is not provided. However, if such
     special software is made available for Linux (by the original vendor
     or 3rd-party), the virtual machine should be able to talk to the
     device as long as the software exports the modem/printer interfaces in
     a standard way (i.e. virtual machines could access these devices via
     their serial/parallel ports).

 37. Latest AMD PCnet Family Ethernet Driver does not work in virtual
     machines running Windows NT
     The driver included with the 'PCnet Family Software for Windows NT
     4.0/2000' at AMD's website may work slowly or not at all when run
     within a virtual machine. For now, if the virtual machine is enabled
     for networking, make sure to install the 'AMD PCNET Family Ethernet
     Adapter' driver included on the Windows NT 4.0 CD.

 38. Host machine crashes when a virtual machine configured for Bridged
     mode networking is powered up; no problems if Host-only mode is used.
     Most likely the NIC in the real machine is having problems when VMware
     software tries to set it in Promiscuous mode. Try running 'tcpdump'
     (as root) on the host operating system, if the real machine crashes
     then the problem is most likely due to the NIC not being able handle
     Promiscuous mode. Try an updated driver (for the NIC on the host) or
     use a different NIC that does support Promiscuous mode. Once you can
     get 'tcpdump' to work on the host, then the virtual machine should
     work in Bridged mode as well.

 39. The VMware Tools for Linux installation script does not recognize
     Linux Mandrake installations.
     The ./install.pl installation script included with the VMware Tools
     for Linux package will not recognize Linux Mandrake installations. To
     install VMware Tools for Linux on top of Linux Mandrake installations
     add "redhat" as a command line parameter when you run the installation
     script. For example, run './install.pl redhat'.

 40. Nonpersistent disk changes not preserved across reset of the virtual
     machine.
     The behavior of a reset triggered by the RESET button or the RESET
     menu entry when the virtual machine uses nonpersistent disks is not
     consistent with the other disk modes. On RESET, all changes to
     nonpersistent disks between a power on and a reset are lost. This will
     be changed in future releases.

     If there is a possibility you need to preserve changes across a RESET,
     you should use the undoable disk mode.  To change the mode of your
     disk, go to Settings > Configuration Editor > IDE Drives > IDE x:y on
     the virtual machine menu panel, and select "undoable".

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