VMware Player 3.0 beta: 4 CPU support & can create VMs

Voidn · Oct 8, 2009

4 CPU support, can create VMs and includes better win 7 support.

http://communities.vmware.com/community/beta/player

Release Notes:
http://communities.vmware.com/servl...-102-4-9616/releasenotes_ws7_communities.html

Not sure how long it will work though....

augie1111 · Oct 8, 2009

Ooh, this is sweet! It went in sooo fast off an ISO on HDD with W7 X64. It finally seems to be stable on this host with Ubuntu 9.04. It's hurting my GPU numbers but I'll figure that out.

PPD went from 2800 to 3400 using all 4 cores. At least after 3 frames.

if you have server 1,08 on, uninstalling it is a royal pain

Voidn · Oct 8, 2009

Cool!

I'm finalizing my gentoo install on it now. I had server 2.01 installed and the player install auto uninstalled it for me. Hoping this alleviates my core 2.10 woes until I get native linux gpu folding working on my i7.

I haven't used player before but there were some tricks on the other vmware version to specify priority/affinity so the GPU's wouldn't loose ppd. I'll need to use it before I can be much help.

//if you are only doing cpu folding, not installing a gui (gnome kde ect) probably improves TPF. It does require a little more familiarity with the cli though.

ozzlo · Oct 8, 2009

yay, now I can run 2 instances instead of 4

that saves me 2 gigs of ram woot

augie1111 · Oct 9, 2009

Voidn said:
Cool!

I'm finalizing my gentoo install on it now. I had server 2.01 installed and the player install auto uninstalled it for me. Hoping this alleviates my core 2.10 woes until I get native linux gpu folding working on my i7.

I haven't used player before but there were some tricks on the other vmware version to specify priority/affinity so the GPU's wouldn't loose ppd. I'll need to use it before I can be much help.

//if you are only doing cpu folding, not installing a gui (gnome kde ect) probably improves TPF. It does require a little more familiarity with the cli though.

Ya, there's no .vmx file except when Ubuntu is running and then it becomes a xxx.vmx.lck file which I can't and won't touch so entering priority.ungrabbed = "idle" is not possible, not that I can see. It's late so I'll stop fooling around with it.

Voidn · Oct 9, 2009

augie1111 said:
Ya, there's no .vmx file except when Ubuntu is running and then it becomes a xxx.vmx.lck file which I can't and won't touch. It's late so I'll stop fooling around with it.

You should double check where your vm files were installed. I have a vmx.lck directory, right next to my normal vmx file. I just edited it to change my cpu affinities and added "priority.ungrabbed = "idle" ". Which got me from 6700ppd, default install, back to 8k+ WOO! :beer:

Stupid core 2.10 dropped my ppd down to 5k :bang head

running 2 2cpu vms. Now with 1 vm I'm getting the similar 8k ppd, I got with 2.08, and i'll turn in 1 wu every 6 hours instead of 2 every 12 hours. And like Ozzlo said, you save ram too.

This should hold me over till I get a stable linux install going.

ChasR · Oct 9, 2009

I'm currently running nothing but 4 core VMs, using Workstation and Player 2.5.3. It works great, but I can't reboot because the Workstation license has expired. 3.0 will now let me reboot, which is a good thing, and I'll start upgrading every time a machine is rebooted.

With core a2 v2.10, either SMP or GPU production is going to suffer depending on which has highest priority. You're going to be much better off production wise with the GPUs at higher priority than the VM, but you can expect up to a 1000 ppd hit on the 4 core VM if you have a pair or more GT200 based cards in the rig. G92 cards have less effect.

augie1111 · Oct 9, 2009

Voidn said:
You should double check where your vm files were installed. I have a vmx.lck directory, right next to my normal vmx file. I just edited it to change my cpu affinities and added "priority.ungrabbed = "idle" ". Which got me from 6700ppd, default install, back to 8k+ WOO!

Stupid core 2.10 dropped my ppd down to 5k running 2 2cpu vms. Now with 1 vm I'm getting the similar 8k ppd, I got with 2.08, and i'll turn in 1 wu every 6 hours instead of 2 every 12 hours. And like Ozzlo said, you save ram too.

This should hold me over till I get a stable linux install going.

Well, I triple checked at each stage: nothing running, only Player running and Player running the client, none of which showed me a vmx folder.

This was using W7's search function.

Anyways, I put both GPUs on core 3 and everything seems to be going fine but tough to check as I can't get HFM to see it. I have the IP adress from ifconfig but the old instructions don't seem to work for this versh of VM. Any hints appreciated.

Voidn · Oct 9, 2009

@Chaser: yeah, I could see a quad w/o HT loosing gpu ppd because core 2.10 uses close to 100% cpu. I have HT enabled on my i7 and it seems to be giving my 275s plenty cpu time.

@Augie: You should be looking for a .vmx file. Something like vmname.vmx . I always save to a custom folder so I don't remember the default location, you could also do a search for *.vmx and make sure you aren't editing your old vmware server vm's .vmx.

To monitor your client you need to share the FAH folder with something like samba. Then you can monitor \\ip\sharename. I did a little howto a while back http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=6141156&postcount=13

Audioaficionado · Oct 9, 2009

Thanx

Can I use one of my existing Debian VMs now in dual cpu mode with WMServer 1.9?

The guest OS should scale. I just have to edit a VMP config file?

ChasR · Oct 9, 2009

I really should have specified "on a C2Q". I haven't sprung for an i7 just yet. The Q6600 is definitely more affected than the q9450s or q9550s.

augie, there has to be a vmware configuration file (the .vmx file). On my current vm it's named ubuntu 64-bit.vmx

In my computer, tools, folder options, view, uncheck the box "hide extensions for known file types" and you will see the extensions.

ChasR · Oct 9, 2009

Audio,
You'll need to close the existing vm, don't suspended it. Edit the .vmx file to increase the number of cpus to 4 (numvcpus = "4") and, if you've added affinity settings set all processors to true (processorX.use="TRUE"). 3.0 will auto uninstall any other vmware product and find your vm an add it to inventory. When you run the vm, it'll use 4 cores.

Audioaficionado · Oct 9, 2009

Thanx ChasR,

I've got both my 2x VMs on -oneunit and when they are done I'll shut 'em down and do the deed.

Finally a VM that is speced to work with Windows 7 as the host OS and supports 4 processors. :beer:

augie1111 · Oct 9, 2009

Audioaficionado said:
Thanx ChasR,

I've got both my 2x VMs on -oneunit and when they are done I'll shut 'em down and do the deed.

Finally a VM that is speced to work with Windows 7 as the host OS and supports 4 processors.

I breathlessly await to see if you have a vmx file that is not locked and able to be modified.

W7 X64 here.

ChasR · Oct 9, 2009

Audio,
You don't need to finish the WU. Just close FAH, the guest and then the VM. FAH will take off running on 4 cores, right where it left off, in the VMplayer (after you edit the .vmx file).

Audioaficionado · Oct 9, 2009

Maybe not but I'm going to close one of 'em out so I might as well start with a clean slate. I'm also going to clear out all the old junk in the FAH folder.

Voidn · Oct 10, 2009

augie1111 said:
I breathlessly await to see if you have a vmx file that is not locked and able to be modified. W7 X64 here.

Make sure you shut down the vm before you edit the vmx file.

Player with 4 cpu vm is working great for me. It seems to have less services running and has less overhead than vmware server.

Audioaficionado · Oct 10, 2009

OK I'm installing VMware-player-3.0.0-197124.exe

What the heck is: VMware-vix-1.8.0-197124.exe ?

augie1111 · Oct 10, 2009

Voidn said:
Make sure you shut down the vm before you edit the vmx file.

OK, just to make sure we're all on the same page, I've made some screenies to put all questions aside of PEBKAC.

Anything else you need as I'm totally stumped ATM and very jealous. :bang head

The second screen is what I see after a "vmx" search before starting the VM and the next one is of course after starting the client. What am I doing wrong?

augie1111 · Oct 10, 2009

OK, I think I'm getting somewhere now. I opened up the VM and I saw "Ubuntuxxx.vxm and instead of opening it with VM I right-clicked and loaded it into notepad. Then I added the "priority.ungrabbed = "idle"" at the bottom. Seems to be going well but it's only been a few minutes. Strange how that file never showed up in search.

VMware Player 3.0 beta: 4 CPU support & can create VMs

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