Vmware

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Host SMBus controller not enabled

OS: Ubuntu 12.04-18.04 LTS, Vmware Workstation 10.0.x

Not working in U18.04 VmWorkstation 10

Ubuntu guest instances in VMware sometimes come up with the boot error message:

piix4_smbus 0000:00:007.3: Host SMBus controller not enabled!

Check logs

$ journalctl --dmesg --priority=err  #short options -k kernel, -p
-- Logs begin at Mon 2018-08-27 07:57:57 BST, end at Sun 2018-09-09 00:04:20 BST. --
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: piix4_smbus 0000:00:07.3: SMBus Host Controller not enabled!
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: sd 32:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Sep 08 23:54:15 u18 kernel: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0

This error is being caused because VMware doesn’t actually provide that level interface for CPU access, but Ubuntu try to load the kernel module anyway. Follow steps below to fix it.

sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
#add line
blacklist i2c-piix4
#for older versions use blacklist i2c_piix4 (underscore) instead
sudo reboot

Installing vmware tools

Open VM Tools

This project open-vm-tools replaces vmtools distributed with older products. Follow steps below to install

Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04 on Workstation 10.x

sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools*
sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop open-vm-tools-dkms open-vm-tools-dev

Notes:

• Ubuntu 18.04 - package open-vm-tools-dkms cannot be located, most likely got merged into another one

Other distros

#pre requisites
sudo apt-get install autoreconf  gcc build-essentials

#install
git clone https://github.com/vmware/open-vm-tools.git
cd open-vm-tools/open-vm-tools
sudo autoreconf -i
./configure --without-kernel-modules #requires apt-get install gcc ... and more
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

Check current version

/usr/bin/vmtoolsd --version 
# eg.VMware Tools daemon, version 10.2.0.1608 (build-7253323)

Obsolete - vmtools

It's not recommend to install vmware-tools' that come with any Vmware hypervisor installation on newer eg. 2016+ operating systems, instead choose open source Open vm tools".

You can initialise an install vmware-tools from ESXi, Vmware Player or Workstation menu. Then copy mounted CD, extract and install the tools.

mkdir ~/vmtools && cp /media/$USER/VMware\ Tools/* ~/vmtools/ && cd ~/vmtools/
sudo tar -xzvf ./VMwareTools-*.tar.gz
sudo vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl #run installation script with all default options
vmware-toolbox-cmd timesync enable          #enable time sync with hypervisor

Restart X sessions before any mouse or graphic changes take effect. Invoking vm-tools:

/usr/bin/vmware-toolbox-cmd

To enable the advanced features like a guest resolution fit, drag and drop, copy/paste, do one of the followings:

• Manually start /usr/bin/vmware-user
• Log out and log back into your desktop session
• Restart your X session

$ ps -e | grep X
20929 tty7     00:00:20 Xorg
sudo kill PID_here_20929
startx &