Wolvix Newsletter - Issue 2
Contents:
Note from the Editor
Guide: Installing VMware Server
Tilda - Quake style console in Linux
I finally did it. I ordered a replacement graphics card for my computer. The Nvidia Riva TNT2, while completely fine for normal use, really struggles with most games. I’ve been meaning to upgrade it for quite some time, but just kept putting it off. My computer has a very small power supply, so it was hard to find anything that had a chance of working, but I finally found something, an ATi card (9600XT). Yes, I know what you are saying, “But ATi drivers suck on Linux!” Even if it works at half speed, though, it’ll be much better than my current card. This might be changing soon with the immanent release of the new AMD 8.41 display drivers. After looking at some tests on phoronix.com, it seems that performance has really increased. Go over there and have a look for yourself, because I’m sure you’ll be surprised. This is only a limited preview build, though, so it isn’t certain that it will be actually released. I’m sure it will change the way most Linux’ers think of AMD/ATi cards in the future if it is released.
Warren Watts submitted his desktop for this edition. Here’s a small picture of it:
For more information about it, click here.
Guide: Installing VMware Server
by DarkVision
This Guide will describe the steps needed to install VMWare Server on Wolvix GNU/Linux.
VMWare Server is a free software to create virtual computers on your real computer. Depending on your hardware you can have multiple virtual machines installed at the same time, helpful when you want to test a new Slackware release or testing new packages before you install those on your desktop.
Learn more about VMWare Server from here:
http://vmware.com/products/server
Install VMWare Server
1. You need the following files:
Vmware-server-1.0.3-44356.tar.gz
http://www.vmware.com/download/server
vmware-any-any-update113.tar.gz (or a later release)
http://platan.vc.cvut.cz/ftp/pub/vmware/
* Make sure to register the free VMWare Server to get your free serial number. This is required since you have to enter the serial number at the end of the install process:
http://register.vmware.com/content/registration.html
2. Since VMWare Server will be installed from the command line we have to get one now:
* Open a terminal window and get root using the su command or
* Hit [CTRL]+[ALT]+[F1] and login as user root.
3. Get the development files.
slapt-get --update
slapt-get --install glibc glibc-i18n
slapt-get --install kernel-headers kernel-source
slapt-get --install meta-development
4. Create the following directories:
mkdir /etc/init.d
mkdir /etc/init.d/rc0.d
mkdir /etc/init.d/rc1.d
mkdir /etc/init.d/rc2.d
mkdir /etc/init.d/rc3.d
mkdir /etc/init.d/rc4.d
mkdir /etc/init.d/rc5.d
mkdir /etc/init.d/rc6.d
mkdir /etc/pam.d
The ‘/etc/pam.d’ might not be necessary on Wolvix GNU/Linux but while trying to install VMWare Server on Slackware I was asked for a path to this directory so we better create a dummy directory right now. Maybe this got fixed in newer VMWare Server releases/patches since there is no need for a directory if pam is not installed.
5. Unpack the Vmware Server archive:
tar -xzf Vmware-server-1.0.3-44356.tar.gz
6. Start the install using the following commands:
cd vmware-server-distrib
perl vmware-install.pl
7. You will get asked a few questions, for example where to install files to.
Simply hit [ENTER] on all of the following questions:
* In which directory do you want to install the binary files?
* What is the directory that contains the init directories?
* What is the directory that contains the init scripts?
* In which directory do you want to install the daemon files?
* In which directory do you want to install the library files?
* The path „/usr/lib/vmware“ does not exist currently. This program is going to create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want?
* In which directory do you want to install the manual files?
* In which directory do you want to install the documentation files?
* The path „/usr/share/doc/vmware“ does not exist currently. This program is going to create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want?
8. The installation is complete now.
You will now get asked if you want to run the vmware configuration script ‘vmware-config.pl’. Say ‘no’ here. We need to apply some patches to vmware first to get ‘vmware-config.pl’ to work well.
9. Go back to the previous directory and unpack the vmware patches:
cd ..
tar -xzf vmware-any-any-update113.tar.gz
10. Apply the patches:
cd vmware-any-any-update*
perl runme.pl
11. You will get asked if you want to run ‘vmware-config.pl’. Say ‘yes’ now.
12. You have to accept the license.
Hit [ENTER] to display it, use [SPACE] to scroll down. At the end say ‘yes’ to accept the license.
13. You will get asked where to install a few more files. Simply hit [ENTER].
* In which directory do you want to install the mime type icons?
* What directory contains your desktop menu entry files?
* In which directory do you want to install the application’s icon?
14. Now we have to build some kernel modules for vmmon.
Answer the following question with ‘yes’ (make sure you have installed the meta-development files, see top of this Guide).
* None of the pre-build vmmon modules for VMWare Server is suitable for your running kernel. Do you want this program to try to build the vmmon module for your system (you need to have a C compiler installed on your system)?
15. You will get asked where your kernel header files are installed. Simply hit [ENTER].
* What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running kernel?
16. The next steps will configure the network settings:
* Do you want networking for your virtual machines?
yes
* Your computer has multiple ethernet network interfaces available: ath0, eth0. Which one do you want to bridge to vmneth0?
This question will only appear if you have multiple network cards installed.
* Do you want to configure another bridged network?
no
* Do you want to be able to use NAT networking in your virtual machine?
no
(This is because i have never used NAT before…)
* Do you want to be able to use host-only networking in your virtual machine?
no
17. The setup will now build the vmmon modules.
18. Specify the port for remote console connections. Simply hit [ENTER].
* Please specify a port for remote console connections to use.
902 is the default port for remote connections. No need to change it here.
19. Specify the location of your virtual machines:
* In which directory do you want to keep your virtual machine files?
Default is: /var/lib/vmware/Virtual Machines
This can be changed to whatever you want. Make sure you have enough room on that disk drive since virtual machines can take up to several gigabytes.
* The path „/var/lib/vmware/Virtual Machines“ does not exist currently. This program is going to create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want?
yes
20. Enter the serial number.
You have to register at http://register.vmware.com/content/registration.html
to get a free serial number via email.
21. Setup is complete now.
To start the Vmware Server Daemon every time you reboot you should add this to /etc/rc.d/rc.local:
# Start vmware-daemon if installed
if [ -x /etc/init.d/vmware ]; then
sh /etc/init.d/vmware start
fi
If you don’t want to start the VMware Server Daemon every time you boot your system you can use the following command to start it (you must be root to do that):
sh /etc/init.d/vmware start
The background service is now running.
22. You can now start the VMWare Server GUI from the Wolvix System menu.
On each start you will get asked to which server you want to connect. Leave that on „Local host“ and select „Connect“. You can now create or start virtual machines.
Create a new virtual machine
1. Click „Create a new virtual machine“
Click the „Next“ button.
3. Select „Typical“ as Virtual Machine Configuration then click the „Next“ button.
4. Select your Guest Operating System.
Make sure to select the Version also from the drop down list below. If you want to install Linux as your Guest OS and the Linux version isn’t listed select „Other Linux 2.6.x kernel“ from the list.
Click the „Next“ button.
5. Select name and location for your virtual machine.
Click the „Next“ button.
6. Select the Network Connection.
‘Bridged Networking’ may be a good choice.
Click the „Next“ button.
7. Select the disk size.
If you check the option „Allocate all disk space now“ then the complete virtual disk will be created now. Make sure you have enough disk space. If not you can uncheck that option. Then only a minimal virtual disk will be created. The virtual disk will grow while you copy files into it until the selected disk size is reached. This will slow down the disk performance a bit.
If you want to test a LiveCD inside of your virtual machine then you can uncheck that option since the virtual disk will not be used.
Click the „Next“ button.
8. You can now power on your virtual machine.
Click into the window or hit [CTRL]+[G] to get control about the virtual machine. If you want to install from CD/DVD make sure to insert your boot/install/live cd into the cd/dvd drive. Select [ESC] from the boot screen to get the boot device menu. Select „CD-ROM drive“ to boot and install from CD.
9. Some hints:
* Hit [CTRL]+[ALT] to exit the window
* Hit [CTRL]+[ALT]+[RETURN] to enter FullScreenMode.
* Use [CTRL]+[ALT] to leave FullScreen.
Tilda - Quake style console in Linux.
by Wolven
If you ever played FPS (First Person Shooter) games by id Software, such as Doom, or Quake series, you are probably familiar with the practical ‘drop down console’ these games have. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s simply put a console/terminal that will drop down from the top of the screen at the press of a button. When you press the button again the console will roll back up and be invisible.
With a nice little program called Tilda , which it’s available in the Wolvix package repository, you can get a ‘drop down console’ like that on your Wolvix desktop. Very handy for quick access to the command line.
To install Tilda on Wolvix simply do: slapt-get –install tilda or install it through Gslapt. Once Tilda is installed you should find the launcher icon under Accessories in the menu. The behavior and look of Tilda can be tweaked in various ways depending on your preferences. You can change the size, placement, colors, toggle button and more. The default placement is top left with a size of 600×150 pixels and the toggle button is set to F1. When the Tilda console is visible on the screen you can right click it with the mouse to get a menu with various options, such as new/close tab, preferences and quit.
Tip: Booting Wolvix from DOS
by MasterGH
As I discovered after trying to help someone recently, Wolvix has the built-in capability of being able to be booted into from DOS (using a floppy or similar). This can be very useful if you need special drivers for your CD drive to boot the Windows installer. To boot Wolvix using a DOS boot disk, follow these directions.
1. If your drive is of the USB type, attach it with the Wolvix disc in the drive. If it isn’t, make sure you have the Wolvix disc in your internal drive.
2. Boot using your floppy.
3. Navigate in DOS (using the ‘cd’ command) to your CD drive, and then to the ‘boot/dos’ folder contained on the Wolvix CD.
4. Type in ‘wolvix.bat’ and press enter.
This should boot up Wolvix for you. I found this technique when trying to help someone boot Wolvix on his laptop that needed to use a floppy to boot CDs from his USB CD drive. It worked for him, and I hope it works for you!
A few days ago, Wolven added and updated quite a few games in the Wolvix repository.
These include:
Beneath a Steel Sky
Battle Tanks
Flobopuyo
Flight of the Amazon Queen
GNOME Sudoku
Luola
netPanzer
Pathological
ScummVM (Not a game, but an emulator for them)
Endgame: Singularity
Solarwolf
Starfighter
Wesnoth
xscorch
Happy gaming 
If you have any comments about this newsletter, please send an email to news{at}wolvix.org.