[LBo] Re: 'playing' iso files

[Anerobe]

Anerobe wrote:

> ron wrote:
> 
>> hello,
>> 
>> Is there a way to 'play' live cds and install distros from an iso file
>> without copying it to a cd?
> 
> VMware player will do this. You will need a vmx file for your iso. There
> are plentiful instructions and editable files to get you going.
> 
> At VMware there are several live cds already packaged for download (these
> are listed as 'appliances').
> 

One clarification... when you use VMware to play live cd isos, you won't be
able to fully evaluate the distro in terms of compatibility with your
hardware (for example, video display, networking, wireless... ) as the
"live cd" will run through the setup of your underlying OS...

For example, my wireless PCM card has a Broadcom chip which requires
ndiswrapper to function. If I boot from a live cd (not iso), I've yet to
find a distro which will easily configure my wireless card. But when I run
the distro live cd iso through VMware, they route through the working
wireless network present in my installed OS and all is well.

Hope that's somewhat clear...

So while VMware allows you to get a feel for the distro, you may be
surprised with setup issues should you choose to install. Of course you
will need to burn it to CD to install.