LinLog

Speaking of VMware, while researching some VMX file settings, I came across a very handy page on manually creating VM images. It even includes VMX file templates and pre-made empty VMDK disk image files. Very useful stuff.

Project: Burn a CD in VMware using a Windows guest to a Linux host.
Status: Near total success.

Research on the web led me to believe that it was possible for VMware to let a guest system burn CDs. Perviously, I had attempted this with a Linux guest on a Windows host and met with complete failure. This time, things were different.

On a Linux host, there was really nothing to it. The only configuration required was to set the CD-RW drive's deviceType in the virtual machine's VMX file to "cdrom-raw".

There was one catch, however. It seems that the CD burning wizard built into Windows XP doesn't like working in a VM. When I tried to burn a disc, the wizard was unable to detect any CD in the drive and refused to let me proceed.

The good news is that the other two applications I tested worked without a hitch. I tried burning a data disc with an OEM copy of Nero Express and an audio disc with iTunes. Both worked perfectly. And really, iTunes was the only one I even cared about, so I'd say things worked out pretty well.