Go back to Virtualize Linux from Vista - Part 1
Welcome to Virtualization!
Now that you've got a virtualization environment, there's a few tricks. MicroSoft only officially supports using Redhat or SuSE in MSVPC. More than likely, you'll want a more feature rich desktop environment like Ubuntu or even CentOS5. For a quick LAMP that is approximately the same environment as most hosts (GoDaddy, for example), I suggest CentOS5. For new users, or users that "tried" Linux and are used to Windows, I would suggest Mandriva or Ubuntu.
The big trick to Linux environments lies in timing...
Without getting too gritty (feel free to use the Google bar to the right if you're the curious type), our goal here is to disable the clock correction in the Linux kernel (clock=pit). Another complaint has to do with the timing for the keyboard and mouse (i8042.noloop). Finally, you won't be needing ACPI (noacpi).
Whichever distribution you choose, you should be greeted by a splash screen. On each one, there is a way to specify additional options.
Using CentOS5 as an example:
- During boot, you will be greeted by a blue screen instructing you to
press any key for options. - After pressing any key, you'll see at least two listings of CentOS.
Keep the marker on the top listing. At this point, you are using
GRUBS, a boot loader that comes standard with most distributions. - Press 'e' on the top entry. You should see the following.
- The second entry is your kernel. Move the cursor to the second option, and press 'e' to enter additional options.
- Move the cursor all the way to the end of that line.
- Add "i8042.noloop noacpi clock=pit"
- Press enter, then 'b' to boot!
Pretty easy. Once the system is installed and asks you to reboot, choose not to. Edit /boot/grubs/menu.lst and find the default entry. Add "i8042.noloop noacpi clock=pit" to the kernel options to make it permanent.
Go back to Virtualize Linux from Vista - Part 1
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