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Date:      Sun, 25 Mar 2001 10:21:05 -0500
From:      The Babbler <bts@babbleon.org>
To:        Randy Bush <randy@psg.com>
Cc:        freebsd-emulation@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: vm
Message-ID:  <3ABE0CE0.4C00C668@babbleon.org>
References:  <E14gZx7-0005RV-00@roam.psg.com> <200103240357.f2O3v0c27492@ptavv.es.net> <E14gswf-000Pz7-00@rip.psg.com> <3ABD9782.21A8BED1@babbleon.org> <E14h4qb-000Cd2-00@rip.psg.com>

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Randy Bush wrote:
> 
> o from vmware's web page, it appears that one may be able to use the
>   original windoze install partition if one buys the workstation version

I don't have the express version, so I wouldn't be able to say.  If
true, this would render express pretty useless.  My *hope* would be that
it would run only a virtual drive as C: but you could install an
existing partition as D:.  This is the best way to go anyway in
general.  But of course I have no idea if that's true--I'd write vmware
tech support to clarify, or download a trial version if they've got it. 
One thing I can tell you is that FreeBSD has pre-existing ports for
vmware (meaning workstation) but not for vmware express, so you'd be a
little more on your own in terms of getting it working.

> o i kinda understand virtual machines in general, as they have not changed
>   much since i started using them in the late '60s when ibm invented them
>   </sarcasm> (the manchester atlas machines actually predated ibm's
>   braggadocio by a number of years, but i did not use them).

Ok . . . I wasn't 100% sure from your first post.  Sorry if I sounded
condesending.

>   but i have a suspicious nature, and we're talkin' windoze here.  so excuse
>   me if i am not confident that winfax pro is gonna get to a laptop winmodem
>   through vmware under freebsd.  if i does, i will be impressed as well as
>   thankful.

I guess I wasn't being clear.  This definately will *not* work.  The
vmware virtual machine has the "vmware" virtual hardware; it can only
get to a device if the host system can get to the device.  For instance,
when you are running vmware, your guest OS has a virtual "AMD PCNet"
ethernet card no matter what your physical hardware card actually is. 
It has a soundblaster card regardless of your physical sound card.  And
so forth.  It does seem to be the case that it gets your "real" IDE
devices, unless mine is coincidentally the same as the vmware one, but
the rest are specific vmware virtual devices.  Some, like the CDROM
controller, are entirely fictional (NECVMwar VMware IDE CD10).  And
VMware doesn't support unusual devices like CR-RWs, so I can't use mine
from VMware.

So if the host can't talk to it, the guest can't talk to it, either. 
The guest has no direct access to the physical hardware.  Thus, if you
have hardware which is supported only by Windows, then that would
definately militate in favor of using Windows as the host rather than
FreeBSD.  The better approach is generally to avoid such hardware, but
if you've got it and you want to use it, vmware isn't going to help any.

> o i would REALLY like to
>   - start with a brand new windoze laptop
>   - squeeze or move the windoze partition, without damaging it (i have pqm)
>   - install freebsd -stable
>   - install vmware
>   - run windoze as the secondary os under vmware

I'm not familiar with pqm, but that's the basic scenario that I empolyed
for my Dell laptop, albiet using FIPS rather than pqm.  More recently I
used Partition Magic to do the same thing when I moved from Linux to
FreeBSD.

> o the list name  seems to be freebsd-emulation, not freebsd-emulators.  but
>   thanks for the pointer.

Drat.  Sorry about that.


-- 
"Brian, the man from babble-on"              bts@babbleon.org
Brian T. Schellenberger                      http://www.babbleon.org
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