[9fans] VMware Ethernet

[9fans] VMware Ethernet

[northern snowfall]

Hey all,
    We've had four of five people join #plan9,
on EFnet, in the last month or so, with problems
relating to their VMware image. The problem is
always that, after an:
    ip/ipconfig -g GATE ether /net/ether0 ip mask ...
said user is unable to make contact with the
network in any form. At first, I simply assumed it
was a user failure in {dns,cs}, but, writing raw data
to '#l0/data' also fails to manifest on the local
network, yet, does not generate any errors on the
local system. All I can surmise is that there is some
kind of disconnection between the VMware and
the underlying system. Not having used VMware,
I don't exactly know how to debug this situation.
Since noone has brought the issue up to 9Fans (I've
been waiting...) I thought I would. I'd like to know
the solution.
Don

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[ron minnich]

On Tue, 6 May 2003, northern snowfall wrote:

>     We've had four of five people join #plan9,
> on EFnet, in the last month or so, with problems
> relating to their VMware image. The problem is
> always that, after an:
>     ip/ipconfig -g GATE ether /net/ether0 ip mask ...

I've had lots of weird problems with vmware, esp. after a resume. The
problems range from vmware can send, but not receive, or it can receive,
but not send, or it thinks there is another host out there with the same
ip, or ...

Sometimes you can fix the problem by just running snoopy. Honest.

So, vmware is a truly wonderful thing and i would be dead without it, but
at the same time, I am setting up a T21 for continued work. The network is
just too crazy sometimes.

ron

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[Russ Cox]

> I've had lots of weird problems with vmware, esp. after a resume. The
> problems range from vmware can send, but not receive, or it can receive,
> but not send, or it thinks there is another host out there with the same
> ip, or ...

In contrast, I suspend and resume all the time and never have problems
like this.  On the other hand, I do have problems with TCP connections
not hanging up properly (VMware's NAT keeps sending acks even though
the connection is long gone) and have to manually hang things up
sometimes.  This is almost always my upas/fs pop connection.

Russ

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[Russ Cox]

>     ip/ipconfig -g GATE ether /net/ether0 ip mask ...
> said user is unable to make contact with the
> network in any form. At first, I simply assumed it
> was a user failure in {dns,cs}, but, writing raw data
> to '#l0/data' also fails to manifest on the local
> network, yet, does not generate any errors on the
> local system. All I can surmise is that there is some
> kind of disconnection between the VMware and
> the underlying system. Not having used VMware,

I always configure VMware by running

	ip/ipconfig

to use DHCP.  Is this with the network in NAT
or bridged mode.  Feel free to tell people with
those problems to email 9fans, of course.

Russ

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[northern snowfall]

>
>
>Feel free to tell people with
>those problems to email 9fans, of course.
>
Right on. If I don't know the answer to someone's
question that is the first thing I do. Unfortunately, in
situations like these VMware problems, I think the
reason these people havent mailed is because they
are literally just stepping inside the world of Plan9
and are afraid of asking questions that would seem
stupid to avid users. Like I said, I've been watching,
but, noone has posted. Thats why I did. I wish this
was a gap that could be bridged more eloquently,
because, alot of potential users are turning away
due to a VMware issue, not a Plan9 issue.
Don

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[Russ Cox]

If they're worried about posting to 9fans
perhaps they wouldn't mind mailing 9trouble,
which is explicitly for installation problems,
among other things.

Russ

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[northern snowfall]

>
>
>If they're worried about posting to 9fans
>perhaps they wouldn't mind mailing 9trouble,
>which is explicitly for installation problems,
>among other things.
>
I actually mention 9trouble, too. I just can't monitor
it to see who actually posts (obviously). I guess it
just boils down to a choice of fear versus determination
to learn/get involved.
Don

>

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[paurea]

> I always configure VMware by running
>
> 	ip/ipconfig
>
> to use DHCP.

I use it without DHCP on linux without problems. The only thing I have
found is that it takes a long time to boot.

						    	Gorka
ゴルカ

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[paurea]

> I use it without DHCP on linux without problems. The only thing I have
> found is that it takes a long time to boot.
>

Well this is not entirely true.  When the net is collapsed of traffic,
my connections hang, because the eth card isn't able to cope with it,
probably because it has to work in promiscuous mode in order to have
two ethernet addresses (not sure about this) and gets too many
interrupts.  Anyway, with normal traffic, I run without problems.

								Gorka

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[ron minnich]

On Wed, 7 May 2003 paurea@plan9.escet.urjc.es wrote:

> > I always configure VMware by running
> >
> > 	ip/ipconfig
> >
> > to use DHCP.

Just last night I had a "locked up" vmware network interface, cured by
rebooting the vmware image. Sends worked, some receives worked (ARP), but
point-to-point receive traffic was getting dropped on the floor.

Russ, is your vmware on laptop or desktop? My problems occur when I
suspend vmware and close the lid, putting the laptop into sleep mode.
There could be something Redhat-ish going on at that point.

ron

Re: [9fans] VMware Ethernet

[Russ Cox]

I use VMware on both my desktop and my laptop,
though of course I don't suspend the desktop.
I do suspend VMware and then put the laptop into sleep mode,
but I'm using Windows XP, so it could be that you're
running into a Linux-specific suspend/resume problem.
You might try VMware 4 and see if it fixes your problem.

Russ

[9fans] VMware ethernet

[Russ Cox]

I just posted an update that contains a 
new ether79c970.c that works under VMware.
Let me know of any problems.

Russ