Since most are probably wondering I’ll mention this now, once the VM is connected to the Internet you can download a very limited selection of Apps, but I had sporadic success with the various Apps I tried. For the few that I did get to install, I wasn’t able to get all of them running. So, use an Androidx86 VM as a way to get a feel for what an Android device is like. Maybe it will help you make a decision about buying a Tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Browsing the web worked great. I do not test email.

Download, Create New VM, and Install Androidx86 from .ISO

Download the latest revision of the Androidx86 .ISO here:

http://www.androidx86.org/downloads.html

Build a new “typical” VMware Workstation VM (this should work just the same with the free VMware Player), and when you point the install wizard at the Androidx86 .iso the OS type FreeBSD is auto detected. I chose to install the operating system later as I did not want to invoke the auto download of the VMware Tools.

This choice forces you to manually specify FreeBSD from the next screen of the wizard.

I kept the default disk size of 8GB and to chose to store the virtual disk as a single file.

I customized the virtual hardware and did the following

• bumped the RAM to 512 mb. The Workstation wizard suggested 256 mb.
• deleted the floppy
• pointed the vCD/DVD at the Androidx86 .iso and made sure it was connected at power on.
• changed the vNIC to Bridged. NAT should work just fine too. (Note that additional networking changes need to be made later)

Once your ready, boot your new VM and choose to install to harddisk when prompted by the Android Installer.

Keep all installation defaults. The only hands on part is creating the partition on the hard disk. The steps are:

• Create/Modify Partition when prompted
• create new partition from free space
• make it a primary partition and use all 8gb
• make it bootable
• write the changes
• choose the new sda1 partition to install
• format as ext3 when prompted
• install GRUB when prompted

I also want to point out I you do not have to install VMware Tools at all, and I never even tried.

Configure Networking

After my install was finished and the VM was running for the first time, I could not get an ip address from my DHCP server. When I went to troubleshoot I discovered that there wasn’t an ethernet interface the OS could use. Sloof ran into this problem with his vSphere VM too, and in his video he demonstrates changing the adapter type to “flexible”. Since VMware Workstation does not give you an option to change adapter types in it’s GUI, I had to shutdown the VM and follow these instructions:

LiveAndroid 0.2 network eth0 in VMware Workstation

1. Boot the LiveAndroid VM
2. Hit Alt-F1 to switch to the root console.
3. mkdir /data/misc/dhcp
4. Stop the VM, and "Close" the VM in VMware Workstation (or Exit VMware Workstation)
5. Edit your VM’s .vmx file so the "ethernet0.virtualDev" line reads: ethernet0.virtualDev = "vlance"
6. Open the .vmx file (launch the VM in VMware)
7. Set the VM to have at least 384MB RAM
8. Start the VM; you’re networked.

BTW, other than hard powering off the Android VM, you can do a “guest shutdown” (even though Tools are not installed) from the Workstation Menu. Androidx86 powers off quick, and I am not sure if it’s graceful or not.

Also, the /data/misc/dhcp directory already existed in my VM, so step 3 above was not necessary. That was all I need to get a working networking connection.

Here’s a quick video of the Android OS in action. Sorry, but I didn’t bother editing first.

VM /ETC Androidx86 Running in a VMware Workstation VM from Rich Brambley on Vimeo.

I found some Tips for getting around inside the VM at http://code.google.com/p/live-android/wiki/howtouse, but I’m adding to these with my own recommendations:

Androidx86 VM Navigation Tips

• use alt+F1 or alt+F7 to switch GUI and console.
• Use the HOME Key to return to the main desktop
• Use ESC key as the BACK button
• Use the right mouse key for the MENU key
• Use right and left arrow keys to simulate swiping to new desktops
• Left Click and hold the mouse to simulate a “long touch” and drag icons/widgets to other desktops or the trash icon, or to pull down the task bar.

Although I’ve received a similar notice when running beta VMware Workstation on my systems, I most recently have been exploring the Player 3.1 Beta. The following screen shot shows the debug mode pop up notification whenever a VM is powered on.

Disable Debug Mode In VMware Workstation on Windows

Here’s one of the latest VMware Communities threads explaining how to do it: Turn off Beta Debug mode. As described in the forum thread, the answer to disabling debug mode could be this simple:

Rename vmware-vmx-debug to vmware-vmx-debug.save.
Copy vmware-vmx to vmware-vmx-debug.
Enjoy.

In the past that’s all I had to do with Workstation on my Windows computers.

To expand the realm of possibilities you could encounter depending on your Windows OS flavor and VMware Workstation beta, the post Get Rid of Debug Mode in VMware Workstation Beta explains two other scenarios:

1. Paste “%PROGRAMFILES%\VMware\VMware Workstation\” (without the quotes) in your windows explorer bar and press Enter to open the local installation folder of VMware Workstation.

2. Now there are two cases depending upon your host’s environment and your VMware Workstation’s version,

• Either you’ll see two files with names, vmware-vmx-debug.exe and vmware-remotemks-debug.exe. In this case,
  1. First rename vmware-vmx-debug.exe file to vmware-vmx-debug.exe.old.
  2. Then rename vmware-remotemks-debug.exe file to vmware-vmx-debug.exe.old.
• Or, you’ll see two folders with names bin and bin-debug. In this case,
  1. First rename the bin-debug folder to bin-debug-old.
  2. Then make a copy of the bin folder and rename the copied folder to bin-debug.

That’s it. After making these changes you’ll get rid of the debug mode forever.

Eureka! Bye Bye debug mode for Windows.

Disable Debug Mode in VMware Workstation on Linux

For ending Workstation beta debugging on Linux the process is essentially the same. Search your own distribution to be sure, but the files to be renamed should be found at /usr/lib/vmware/bin.

Disable Debug Mode in VMware Player – Not Possible?

I have tried to disable debug mode in the Player 3.1 beta  without success. If I rename the files as suggested in the VMware Workstation workarounds above I end up with the following error message when starting a VM.

The error is looking for it, but there was not a file named vmware-vmx.exe anywhere on my 64 bit Windows 7 system.

I found a thread in the VMware Player 3.1 beta community forum that confirmed VMware Player does not allow debug mode to be disabled. Gather debugging information contains a response from VMware Developer jameslin that states:

“The beta version of Player doesn’t include a release version of the vmware-vmx.exe binary, so currently there is no way to disable running it with debugging enabled.”

Since VMware Workstation includes a copy of VMware Player, I guess I will have to install the full beta of Workstation 7.1 to explore VMs running in Player 3.1 without debugging getting in the way.

I am downloading my copy as I write this post, but several new features have caught my attention.

• Open GL 2.1 support for Windows 7 and Vista guests
• Improved graphics support enabling high resolution videos in VMs
• Autologin for Windows Guests
• Inclusion of the OVF 1.0 command line tool to convert VMs to .OVF files for exporting to other hypervisors
• 8 way vCPU support in VMs
• up to 2TB virtual disks
• Direct Launch – drag icon to host desktop and seamlessly start an application inside a VM – even after closing VMware Workstation or Player.
• Support for Fedora 12 as a guest OS
• VMware Ace upgraded to version 3.7

Also, I can’t help but notice Known Issues from the Release Notes such as the following:

“Display

• Exiting FIFA 08 game on Windows 7 guests and hosts with Aero enabled, might cause the desktop wallpaper to turn black.
• There are known issues with the ATI Linux driver 10.2. VMware recommends that you use ATI Linux driver 9.11 for the best 3D user experience.”

Looks like I’ve got some new testing to do! (and maybe a new 3D games video to make!)

Copying more information from the Release Notes:

With this release of VMware Workstation, VMware Player, and VMware ACE the following new features and operating systems have been added:

Operating System	Host and Guest Support
Ubuntu 8.04.4	Host and guest
Ubuntu 10.04	Host and guest
OpenSUSE 11.2	Host and guest
Fedora 12	Guest
Debian 5.0.4	Guest
Mandriva 2009.1	Guest

New Features in VMware Workstation and VMware Player

To provide feedback on the new features of the VMware Workstation 7.1 and VMware Player 3.1 Beta, go to the Beta Community site. For more information on how to provide feedback, see Product Feedback.

• OpenGL 2.1 support for Windows 7 and Vista guests — Improves the ability to run graphics-based applications in virtual machines.
• Improved Graphics Performance — Enhanced performance with better benchmarks, frame rates, and improved rendering on Windows 7 and Vista guests allows you to run various graphics-based applications. In addition, major improvements in video playback enable you to play high-resolution videos in virtual machines.
• Automatic Software Updates — Download and install VMware Tools, new, and maintenance releases updates when available.
• Autologon — Save your login credentials and bypass the login dialog box when you power on a Windows guest. Use this feature if you restart the guest frequently and want to avoid entering your login credentials. You can enable Autologon when you open guest applications from the host.
• OVF 1.0 Support — Import or export virtual machines and vApps to upload them to VMware vSphere or VMware Cloud. The VMware OVF tool is a command-line utility bundled in the VMware Workstation installer. Use this tool along with VMware Workstation to convert VMware .vmxfiles to .ovf format or vice versa. VMware recommends that you use the OVF command-line utility. For more information, see the OVF Tool User Guide.
• Eight-Way SMP Support — Create and run virtual machines with a total of up to eight-processor cores.
• 2TB Virtual Disk Support — Maximum virtual disks and raw disks size increased from 950MB to 2TB.
• Direct Launch — Drag guest applications from the Unity start menu directly onto the host desktop. Double-click the shortcut to open the guest application. The shortcut remains on the desktop after you exit Unity and close VMware Workstation or VMware Player.
• User Experience Improvement Program — Help VMware improve future versions of the product by participating in the User Experience Improvement Program. Participation in the program is voluntary and you can opt out at any time. When you participate in the User Experience Improvement Program, your computer sends anonymous information to VMware, which may include product configuration, virtual machine configuration, usage and performance data, and information about your host system specifications and configuration.The User Experience Improvement Program does not collect any personal data, such as your name, address, telephone number, or email address that can be used to identify or contact you. No user identifiable data such as the product license key or MAC address are sent to VMware. VMware does not store your IP address with the data that is collected.For more information about the User Experience Improvement Program, click the Learn More link during installation or from the WorkstationPreferences menu.

• VMware Workstation 7 is optimized for maximum performance when running on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 PCs and works seamlessly with Flip 3D and Aero Peek to show live virtual machine activity.
• Run even more 3D applications with support for Windows Aero, DirectX 9.0c Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.1 in Windows virtual machines.
• VMware Workstation 7 streamlines software development and testing with new IDE integrations for the SpringSource Tools Suite and Eclipse IDE for Java & C/C++ along with Record Replay Debugging improvements that make it faster to find non-deterministic bugs.
• Run 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems with up to four virtual CPUs and 32GB of RAM dedicated to each virtual machine.

As previously mentioned in my post about the Workstation 7 RC, another significant new feature is that ESX/ESXi 4 is now a supported guest operating system. ESX/ESXi can now be selected in the drop down list of OSes when building a new VM. This greatly simplifies using VMware Workstation as a platform for administrator training and VCP certification preparation.

For more information about VMware Workstation 7 go to www.vmware.com/workstation. VM /ETC readers can also take advantage of an additional 10% discount when ordering Workstation here.

The community site also lists several new Workstation 7 features:

As Vladan Seget points out in his post No more tweaks of VMX files. With VMware Workstation 7 you will be able to run ESX 4 with nested VMs without any tweaks, Workstation 7 lists ESX 4 as one of the supported guest operating systems making the process of configuring “ESX in a Box” an automated and much simpler procedure.

The version 7 release also coincides with new versions of VMware ACE and VMware Player as well.

Go to the communities page linked above for a serial number, download links, and documentation to get started with Workstation 7.

More information and a download link is available at VMware Communities: VMware Player Release Candidate.

The Feature Highlights listed on the VMware Player 3.0 RC Page:

• The ability to create Virtual Machines
• Aero support for Windows 7 and Windows Vista guests!!!
• OpenGL support for Windows guests (give Google Earth a try!)
• New User Interface including a Virtual Machine Library
• Windows 7 support (as a Host and Guest OS)
• Automatically download and install the latest VMware Tools package
• Multiple Monitor Support
• Print from your VM without installing printer drivers. Virtual Printing courtesy of our friends at ThinPrint.
• ALSA Sound support on Linux hosts enables multiple VMs to play “music” concurrently
• VIX API support will let our coding fans write applications that can interact with their VMs

I have not had the opportunity to try the new Player yet, but I plan on downloading it soon and will probably post some screen shots when I get it installed.

I’m not sure how long the VMware Workstation deal will last, so hurry and get your copy today. Use my Telepal referal link (in the right column or at the end of this post) and be sure to enter the promo code above. It is a case sensitive code.

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