I've just set up my Windows VM on my Zorin laptop and want to install some old Windows programs from discs. However, the disk drive is showing up with the Windows iso instead of the dvd. I've searched online and it says I have to configure Virtual Machine Manager but I haven't a clue how to do this - I can't find anything suitable in the menus, and all I can see in the online answers is what looks like gobbledegook to me! I'd love some kindergarten-style plain English help, please!!
Generally speaking, when you create the virtual machine of whatever OS you're running (in your case, windows) you have to mount the iso in order to boot and install the OS. Once everything's installed, if you don't unmount the iso from the VM, it will continue to show up in your OS. What VM product (Boxes, VirtualBox, virt-manager etc) are you using?
@Shoshiplatypus is using virt-manager
OK, thank you. That's interesting. Just to be clear, the mounting of the iso is only necessary for installing the virtual OS? Once it's done, it has to be unmounted? How do I do that? Forpli is correct in saying I am using virt-manager (which I assume is the same as Virtual Machine Manager).
I'm not sure if that guide can help you. I haven't used virt-manager yet.
Chapter 13.9 in the link
Correct, you mount it to do the install, then once install is complete you need to removed the ISO from being mounted after it's done. You'll have to shutdown the VM and then find the ISO mount location to remove it. Unforunately I also have not really dabbled in virt-manager, but I think @Forpli 's link should be able to get you through getting it removed.
Ok. This is what you do. Depending on how large your games are, you should allocate enough storage space to install Windows to. What version of Windows are you trying to install?
Windows 7 only needs 2 Processors and 4 Gb RAM allocated from your physical RAM. If you have say 8 Gb RAM in your host machine you cannot allocate more than half or your Zorin will crash, or the image won't run at all. What you have to do is boot the Windows install disc and install to 'vda', a virtual drive that you allocate to the folder you create in /home. I would give 40 Gb of space.
In the details section of the VM you have to check mark that you want your physical optical drive to be accessed by the VM at boot time of the VM.
Please be aware that games will not run smoothly in VM's due to the fact you are sharing video memory from your Graphics card. The only way to circumvent this would be to install a secondary graphics card and dedicate it to virt-manager use, but I have not had success in doing this.
Take a look at my video on Windows 8.1 Pro running as a VM on Devuan 3.0.
I go through each element of the VM details:
Note that any changes you make need to have 'Apply' button pressed, and if the VM is running, changes won't take place until you reboot the VM.
Thank you. I've got everything set up pretty well now with a few tweaks to go. I've got the DVD player running correctly, having removed the iso, and the next step is to install some programs that are on DVDs. I don't play games so that's not an issue. I have allocated 8 GB RAM and 300 GB storage - there is plenty to spare on this HP ZBook so I'm not anticipating any problems. I shall only be using the Windows VM for things that I simply can't do on Linux. I do have a problem with the resolution, though - everything looks too big and I can't seem to make it as small as things are on Linux. I can't seem to change it from the settings within the VM so there's obviously something I'm missing in the setup somewhere.
You guys have all been so helpful and although it's made my brain hurt to get this up and running I'm most grateful! Here's hoping things will be plain sailing from now on. Thank you!
1 Like
Well, sometimes (it varies from OS to OS) you will notice that the default Display Driver setting is set to 'Virtio' - try either 'VGA' or 'QXL' - If they don't work you will get a 'screen connection error' or similar message - can't remember the words off hand. Have you looked at the Display settings within the VM of Windows? It should still be possible to get the same native resolution as your Zorin bare-metal install. That is one of the things that I was impressed with when compared to Virtual Box.
I don't know how to find the default Display Driver. There are various references to Virtio in the "Show Virtual Hardware Details" section but I'm not sure what applies, and I don't want to mess about with anything unless I am sure. I have tried altering the display settings within the Windows VM and they are set at 1280 x 800 and greyed out, so not alterable. My Linux setup is set to 1920 x 1080 (16:9).
Hi it's not the first item where it says 'Spice' it is the one further down. When you go to the right pane, next to Virtio is a drop-down arrow, click on that and try 'VGA'. It is not going to harm the VM, the worst that can happen is the VM might not run. It does not prevent you from changing back again. Are you running Zorin in Wayland? If so change to xorg.
Thanks, Swarfendor. I'm running Zorin in xorg. I will follow your instructions when I can, but in the meantime I've encountered a major problem. Since removing the iso from the CD/DVD ROM drive (which started working as it should, playing DVDs etc.), today when I started the computer, I can't get onto the VM at all but get an error message as follows:
Error starting domain: Cannot access storage file '/dev/cdrom': No such file or directory
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/asyncjob.py", line 72, in cb_wrapper
callback(asyncjob, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/asyncjob.py", line 108, in tmpcb
callback(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/object/libvirtobject.py", line 57, in newfn
ret = fn(self, *args, **kwargs)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/object/domain.py", line 1402, in startup
self._backend.create()
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/libvirt.py", line 1379, in create
raise libvirtError('virDomainCreate() failed')
libvirt.libvirtError: Cannot access storage file '/dev/cdrom': No such file or directory
I don't know what I've done to cause this... It seems like just as we begin to get one problem sorted, another comes up.
Hi, If I am honest I have never used CD-ROM drive in virt-manager as I don't need to.
Searching Brave A.I. came back with the following possible issues:
" The "No such file or directory" error in virt-manager when accessing a CD-ROM drive typically stems from special characters in the file name , file location permissions , or deleted temporary ISOs.
-
Special Characters : virt-manager may fail if the ISO file name contains characters like the ampersand (
&), which can be incorrectly escaped in the XML configuration. Rename the file to remove special characters to resolve this issue. -
Permission Issues : If the ISO is located in a home directory (
/home/user/...), theqemusystem user often lacks read access. Move the ISO to a shared directory such as/var/lib/libvirt/images/or/tmp/and ensure it is readable by the libvirt user. -
Missing Temporary Files : For VMs created with
virt-install --cloud-init, the cloud-init ISO is deleted after the first boot but the CD-ROM reference remains.
Clear the CD-ROM source path in the virtual hardware settings or ensure the ISO is not deleted if it needs to persist.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts."
I really don't understand any of this. It's a foreign language to me. It is totally doing my head in. I eventually found the folder /var/lib/libvirt/images but along with most of the other stuff nearby it has a red cross beside it and says I don't have permission. All this is gobbledegook to me and I don't feel competent to deal with any of it. What I need is a 1, 2, 3 etc. step by step "Do this..." approach. This is beyond me, I am afraid.
I can't find the iso file, apart from the original download which is in my "downloads" folder. It doesn't have any & in it or any peculiar characters apart from perhaps _ .
What is the .iso of?
The windows 10 download from Microsoft, to make the VM.
Whilst this guide is for Mint, hopefully it can work for you.
1 Like
Thank you, and especially for doing the research to find this. It looks like the sort of step by step instructions I have been hoping for. While I don't understand much of the jargon in the article, I hope it will become self-explanatory as I work through the steps.
Also, I assume this means I need to completely uninstall everything I have done so far, in order to start with a clean slate. Could you please tell me how to do that? I hope that it won't lead to the same problems with the CD/DVD ROM drive I had before as I really do need to be able to install software on the VM from a DVD.
Applecheeks said I would need to "unmount the iso from the VM" after installing everything or it would continue to show up in the OS. How would I do this? (i.e. what keys to press, what to type to achieve it. No assumed knowledge please, because I haven't got any!!)
On the other thread, you said: "Just a tip about using virt-manager. Don't use the default location the virt-manager uses, which is /var. This can soon fill up if creating multiple images and lead to a non-bootable system.
Instead create a folder in /home. You can call it whatever you like. You should also create a backup of your VM's in a different folder should the current VM you are using become crippled." Again, I would like specific step by step instructions how to do this because I don't know what to do or how to make it recognise where it should go, if that makes sense.
I am sorry if this is causing you a lot of work but without this kind of specific detailed help I am completely at sea and could easily get things wrong and make things worse.
In virt-manager, when you launch it you will see a list of VM's. If you right-click your Win10 VM it you should see an option to delete it which also asks if you want to delete the image and all other files. If you are happy to start over I would do this.
If you want to copy an existing image to another place then you need to look for a file with the extension of .qcow2.
The reason you could not access the folder/files with the red cross on it is because it is part of the 'root' system. To temporarily access you go to the terminal and cd to the path and then temporarily take ownership with:
sudo chown [your username] [name of folder/file]
Then (keeping the terminal open) use Files (Nautilus) to navigate visually to where you have taken ownership and move/delete files.
After any changes:
sudo chown root [name of folder/file]
whilst still at the place in the terminal where you temporarily took ownership.
As in all things I would take a Timeshift snapshot before you start messing with critical system folders/files.
1 Like
A more comfortable way to edit files in root directory is to install the package "nautilus-admin" with
sudo apt install nautilus-admin
It is an extension for nautilus. After installation quit nautilus and log out and in again. Then you can right-click on folders in root directory and select "open as administrator". It is not always shown.
When it is not shown in the context menu when you right-click on a file, go back to the parent folder of the file and open that as administrator and then go to the file.
1 Like