On Tue, 30 May 2000, Nolan Darilek wrote:
> I seem to recall someone (was it here?)
> commenting that windows couldn't be booted off of a slave drive).
You can, by specifying in lilo.conf to map 0x81h to 0x80h. I don't
remember the specifics, though. If you stay with a multi-boot setup, I'd
swap the drives, install Windows, boot from CD or rescue floppy into
Linux, edit /etc/fstab accordingly, and install LILO on the new
MBR. That's easier than it sounds, and Windows IS easier to manage on the
first partition.
> with the raw option requiring much more experience
> to set up (according to the documentation). Has anyone used the raw
> partition option?
The tricky part of using raw partitions comes in only if you also boot
to the same Windows install. Then, since VMWare uses "virtual" video,
ethernet, and storage adapters, "VMware Windows" and "Native Windows" have
different hardware configurations. If you only boot Windows through
VMware, that's not an issue.
> Does the raw partition
> option create a filesystem, or does it already expect one to be
> present? And, if I should (for some reason) decide to switch back to a
> multiboot setup, will the windows installation on the raw partition
> transition neatly, or will I need to reinstall?
Since you install Windows in VMware, you can use the Windows install to
format the filesystem. Whether you need to reinstall to go back to
dual-boot depends on which Windows. Win98, no problem. Windows will just
perceive new hardware and ask for drivers. Win95, a little more trouble,
but basically the same. NT would be a bitch, unless you're comfortable
changing hardware around in NT.
> How does VMWare handle
> running windows off of slave drives? Can it conceal the drive's slave
> status from windows?
My VMware runs Windows from a logical partition on the 3rd drive. The
Virtual Machine sees whatever filesystem you point it at as the primary
master.
> How does VMWare compare, performance-wise, to multibooting? Ideally I'll be
> using it for games, though I'd also like to run Cygnus' windows
> development tools and such.
Dog-slow, especially in games. Mostly due to graphics
limitations. "Business" apps do OK. I'm running NT4 WS on an Athlon 600
with 256M and a 16M Voodoo3, and getting performance I'd expect from a
P233 with a 2-4mb video adapter. Also note that NT actually performs
better than Win9x in VMware.
For playing games, you might be better off with WINE. A lot of newer
games do pretty well in WINE.
> I'm currently on a PIII 500 with 192 megs
> of RAM; will VMWare drag my box to a halt if I try to work in windows
> and Linux simultaneously, or can I probably get away with running
> VMWare in one window while still heavily using my Linux box?
I customarily do several things while VM's running. Linux doesn't slow
down any more than with any large app running.
You can download a thirty-day trial from VM. It's exactly the same as the
licensed version, except it dies in a month.
--
Doc Shipley
Network Support
TARL Labs, UT
Austin, Texas
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