Using Ubuntu on VMware player?

Question

Hi, I have a win-8 pre-installed laptop. There are many softwares which are uncompatible with win8, hence I tried installing ubuntu, yet showed an error of wubildr.mbr missing or corrupt. Not knowing how to resolve that, I finally installed VMware and installed ubuntu as a guest OS.

Now the problem is I don't know much about Ubuntu and this one on VMware is all command operated. When VMware launches ubuntu, it asks for login credentials and then shows the black command screen.
I tried creating a directory using mkdir command. But don' know how to proceed after that. How to add files into that directory from win-8? How should I access win-8 installed softwares or install softwares in to UBUNTU guest OS? I'm not a geek.. understanding ubuntu is kinda hard for me.
Please help!

-Thanks in advance!:)

Answer 1

You're original wubildr.mbr error has to do with hdd/partition formatting. Formatting can be done, as I'm guessing you tried, upon install of ubuntu, but it is much easier if you create an empty partition (or multiple if you want a swap or shared storage partition) using windows before the install. (I suggest minitools partition editor).



Windows is unable to recognize linux filesystems and even if you could access them it would not be able to compile most linux files, so you are going to have to work inside ubuntu. Ubuntu can access files from windows and you can use the 'cp' command to copy from the windows directory in th /media/ filesystem, but this is too much to get into on yahoo.



It is strange that you would be booted into a command line, unless this is a quark of VMware (for which i have very little experience; windows is slow enough without using a virtual machine) or you are using an unconventional or broken ubuntu image (you may want to try re-downloading and ensuring that the checksums are accurate before attempting a reinstall). If you have an image with a desktop environment installed you can attempt tho run it simply by typing in the run command at the prompt (I use xfce, which is run with 'startxfce4').



Alternatively, if you have downloaded a minimal image of ubuntu it probably doesn't have a desktop environment install and you will have to get one. The default package manager for all debian systems (for which ubuntu is based) is apt-get. You will need to be signed as root or otherwise prepend 'sudo' and type 'apt-get install [desired desktop environment]' and the package manager will do the rest. the next time you start ubuntu, you should be brought straight to the desktop.



The easiest thing is to use the latest LTS release and install on a preconfigured partition. For more help I strongly suggest moving your inquiries to askubuntu.com, that is where the real know-how is.

Answer 2

It sounds like Ubuntu isn't running correctly. Or wasn't installed correctly. You're not getting the desktop environment. Ubuntu is super easy to use once it's installed correctly.. But I've only installed alongside Window 8 (Never used VMware).



If it were my laptop, I would do a dual boot. (with the Live DVD install not a USB install. And not the WUBI installer) It's a guided and easy installation. If you do this, just make sure to allocate enough space for the partition to install Ubuntu. The Live DVD will let you play around with Ubuntu before installing, the just install it.



When it's installed correctly, you'll see your Windows 8 partition that will show up as a drive and you will be able access you files. (not programs)



(I have a triple-boot on my home laptop. I like playing with different Linux distros and have Windows 8, Linux Mint and Ubuntu installed on 3 partitions)

Answer 3

If you don't understand how to use Ubuntu Linux, then why are you using it? What is your purpose for using Ubuntu Linux? What is it that Windows 8 can't run for you? Every piece of software that I own for Windows XP is mostly compatible with Windows 7, and since Windows 8 is pretty much 7, that software is also compatible with Windows 8. As far as your question goes, the Ubuntu guest in VMWare has zero access to your Windows file system since VMWare, by default, sandboxes the guest OS; you also will not be able to run Windows software in Ubuntu without installing Wine, which is a steaming pile of crap still and usually doesn't work as expected.