VMWare Tools On MacOSx x86

[MrFrankus]

I've got a 10.5.2 guest/vm running on a Vista Ultimate 64-bit host, using VMWare Server 2 for Windows...

 

Resolution was awfully tiny, so I found this thread (right here) and added the 'Graphics Mode' bit to com.apple.Boot.plist; only gives me one resolution though, so I'll try and find the time to check on one of my (real) Macs for the proper syntax to offer a list of choices to pick from in the Display preferences instead of just the one.

 

There were the usual pre-vmware tools sluggishness as well, so I started digging for them, and now I've got those mostly installed (hint: think Fusion 2); finally the mouse is very responsive, but there's still a pause for about 3-5 seconds every 20-30 seconds or so. (Now I say 'mostly installed' only because launchd tries to load a vmware-related boot.sh that doesn't actually exist, otherwise everything else looked fine once I fixed the permissions, root:wheel, on the kernel extensions.)

 

The real catch is that I'm doing this on an AMD64 box, so I'll never know if that has anything to do with it, but for now let's assume that it doesn't; while wondering if it had anything to do with power management, I sought to play with the Enery Saver preferences yet couldn't find anything in there. My gut feeling is that there is some disk-related plist to correct somewhere.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

[~Penguin.Osx86~]

I've got a 10.5.2 guest/vm running on a Vista Ultimate 64-bit host, using VMWare Server 2 for Windows...

 

Resolution was awfully tiny, so I found this thread (right here) and added the 'Graphics Mode' bit to com.apple.Boot.plist; only gives me one resolution though, so I'll try and find the time to check on one of my (real) Macs for the proper syntax to offer a list of choices to pick from in the Display preferences instead of just the one.

 

There were the usual pre-vmware tools sluggishness as well, so I started digging for them, and now I've got those mostly installed (hint: think Fusion 2); finally the mouse is very responsive, but there's still a pause for about 3-5 seconds every 20-30 seconds or so. (Now I say 'mostly installed' only because launchd tries to load a vmware-related boot.sh that doesn't actually exist, otherwise everything else looked fine once I fixed the permissions, root:wheel, on the kernel extensions.)

 

The real catch is that I'm doing this on an AMD64 box, so I'll never know if that has anything to do with it, but for now let's assume that it doesn't; while wondering if it had anything to do with power management, I sought to play with the Enery Saver preferences yet couldn't find anything in there. My gut feeling is that there is some disk-related plist to correct somewhere.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

i don't know about server, but vmware workstation 6.5 allows me to have pretty good resolutions!

when it gives the 10 sec timeout press any key then type the following

if your resloution is 1280x800 at 32 colors with refresh rate if 75, it would be

"Graphics Mode"="1280x800x32@75" (with quotes)

and it should start at that reslolution, but i'm not sure about vmware server

[MrFrankus]

i don't know about server, but vmware workstation 6.5 allows me to have pretty good resolutions! when it gives the 10 sec timeout press any key then type the following if your resloution is 1280x800 at 32 colors with refresh rate if 75, it would be "Graphics Mode"="1280x800x32@75" (with quotes) and it should start at that reslolution, but i'm not sure about vmware server

 

Sorry for not being entirely clear; I get any resolution I want. The thing is I only got 'one' choice at a time, whichever one I would set in the plist file. What I wanted to figure out was the right syntax so I could actually have a list to choose from in the Display preferences (the GUI). --I just went and checked the plist on a (real) iMac and there's no entry for 'Graphics Mode'!

 

here's what my file looks like now (on my VM):

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Kernel</key>

<string>mach_kernel</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string></string>

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>5</string>

<key>Graphics Mode</key>

<string>1680x1050x32</string>

</dict>

</plist>

 

I'm just guessing there must be some sort of separator character, à la "1024x768x32,1680x1050x32", or some such trick that would let me list a few resolutions, however since it's not even present on a real machine, perhaps that sort of configuration is hiding elsewhere. It looks (to me) like the Boot.plist should only be used to pass parameters to the kernel, which is what we have to do here since I'm guessing that the OS can't find a perfect match for our (virtual) graphics card.

 

Thanks for the bit about the refresh rate, btw.