a view from afar

I thought this would be straightforward, but actually there are a couple of minor issues. (Updated with a tip on fixing the problem where moving focus back to the host machine would cancel dialog boxes.)

First is the fact that FreeBSD interprets the Command/Windows key as an escape sequence. This makes installing FreeBSD a nightmare (you end up cancelling the screen you are on). I don't remember it being such an issue with PC-BSD, but here is a fix anyway. I asked on the VMware discussions and got pointed to a simple solution.

Basically add this line to ~/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/config:

    mks.keyboard.swapAlt = TRUE

Now pressing Ctrl-Cmd won't send escapes to the installer.

Next up is getting the VMware tools installed. After installing the OS, do this:

• Reboot into single-user mode (press 4 on the bootloader)
• Disconnect the PC-BSD disc 1 ISO from the VMware settings first, if that's how you installed it
• Choose Virtual Machine > Install VMware Tools

• Run the following script (same as in the docs, except for the virtual CD mounting):

  mkdir /cdrom
  mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0 /cdrom
  cd /tmp
  tar zxpf /cdrom/vmware-freebsd-tools.tar.gz
  umount /cdrom
  cd vmware-tools-distrib
  ./vmware-install.pl
  

• Say yes when asked if you want to run the configuration

• Choose the biggest display size - it will be the limiting factor later on

• Quit the shell

  exit
  

• The system will boot into multi-user mode

• When you are in a KDE session, open the Display prefs from KDE menu > Settings > Peripherals > Display, and change to a more realistic screen resolution (unless you have a 30" monitor?)
• Don't forget to tick the box to have it set this resolution on startup

If you want to run the vmware-toolbox command as root to get at all the settings, and _su_ is not working for you, I found the easiest way was this:

• Edit the file /usr/local/etc/sudoers and uncomment either of the %wheel lines, depending on whether you want password protection or not (probably not, on a VM)

• Run the following command

  sudo vmware-toolbox
  

The VMware tools don't configure all common screen resolutions - including 1920x1200, which is the key one for me as I've just bought a new Intel iMac, and wanted the VM full-screen. You can enable some extra resolutions by adding this to /etc/X11/xorg.conf (I put it above the Screen section, I don't know if it has to be defined before it is used):

    Section "Monitor"
        Identifier "vmware"
        VendorName "VMware, Inc"
        HorizSync 1-10000
        VertRefresh 1-10000

        ModeLine "640x480" 100 640 700 800 900 480 500 600 700
        ModeLine "800x600" 100 800 900 1000 1100 600 700 800 900
        ModeLine "1024x768" 100 1024 1100 1200 1300 768 800 900 1000
        ModeLine "1152x864" 100 1152 1200 1300 1400 864 900 1000 1100
        ModeLine "1280x1024" 100 1280 1300 1400 1500 1024 1100 1200 1300
        ModeLine "1600x1200" 100 1600 1700 1800 1900 1200 1300 1400 1500
        ModeLine "1920x1400" 100 1920 2000 2100 2200 1200 1300 1400 1500
        ModeLine "1152x900" 100 1152 1200 1300 1400 900 1000 1100 1200
        ModeLine "1280x800" 100 1280 1300 1400 1500 800 900 1000 1100
        ModeLine "1376x1032" 100 1376 1400 1500 1600 1032 1100 1200 1300
        ModeLine "1400x1050" 100 1400 1500 1600 1700 1050 1100 1200 1300
        ModeLine "1680x1050" 100 1680 1700 1800 1900 1050 1100 1200 1300
        ModeLine "1920x1200" 100 1920 2000 2100 2200 1200 1300 1400 1500
        ModeLine "2364x1773" 100 2364 2400 2500 2600 1773 1800 1900 2000
        ModeLine "1200x900" 100 1200 1300 1400 1500 900 1000 1100 1200
        ModeLine "1600x1000" 100 1600 1700 1800 1900 1000 1100 1200 1300
    EndSection

When running in 1920x1200, it only offers the unusually low refresh rate of 30Hz, not that it makes much difference in a VM. The above set of ModeLines was nicked from this discussion, with some of the more esoteric ones removed (100x2000? anyone use KDE for designing lamp-posts?).

The FreeBSD VMware tools do not appear to offer transparent input switching, but at least you will be able to get a useable screen resolution this way.