Developer's Quarterdeck Log

There is an easy work around to get the VMware tools on workstation to work with the latest releases of OpenSolaris. I just did this with build 69:

1. Install VMware tools as you normally would but say no to run vmware-config-tools.pl at the end of the install.
2. As root cd into /usr/lib/vmware-tools/configurator/XOrg
3. Create this sym link: ln -s 7.0 7.1
4. Now run vmware-config-tools.pl
5. At some point it will asks where to put the modules, enter this: /usr/X11/lib/modules
6. Do not let it create a xorg.conf file, the one created by the script has errors and will leave you with no X.

There are two issues with recent builds of OpenSolaris on VMware. The worst is that OpenSolaris is no longer working on VMware ESX 3. You can't even get into the install on OpenSolaris from the boot CD. I have a post at OpenSolaris help on this issue but no responses yet.

The second issue with the latest builds is with the VMware tools install in VMware workstation. Xorg has been updated and the install script doesn't like it. There might be a work around which I am looking into. You can run it with out the tools installed just fine but the mouse gets weird on you sometimes and the clock may go haywire too.

So if you want to run OpenSolaris in VMware I suggest you stick with the developer edition for right now.

The Vaio TR1A is now running with a maxed hard drive and maxed out memory. Taking apart the case was not a real big deal really, thanks to some instructions posted at Silicon Pop Culture. It is like a whole new computer. I now have VM workstation 6 running so now I can get back to some OpenSolaris work. Even though it's a slow cpu it and not exactly a fast hard drive, it doesn't do too bad. Still faster than the Sun Blade 100!

Google maps is a great tool but has always had a big limitation, you couldn't add way points. This is a problem because sometimes you want to avoid construction or known traffic spots. Where I live Google maps just doesn't come with the best route all the time, some local wisdom always helps. But now you can just drag the route anywhere you want and it is a much more useful tool for me. It is the best implementation of way points I have seen in map software.

One thing I really love about UNIX is that I learn something just about every day which makes my life easier. One is what to do if ls is not available or in my case broken. You can use 'echo *' instead.

Another thing I never realized was instead of typing 'exit' just hit ctrl-d. That one I felt a little dumb for not figuring out! Think of all the time I am saving now!