2011
05.19

Ubuntu (11.04) + Unity + VMWare Fusion
Category: Technology, Work / Tag: , , , , , , , ,  / Add Comment

I just updated my Ubuntu installation to 11.04 and hit some issues. I’m still resolving some of them, but I managed to get Unity working in the VM despite it not being properly supported. They key is to install a 2d version of Unity and use that rather than the 3d version. Here’s how…

Open up a terminal window and enter the following:

  • $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:unity-2d-team/unity-2d-daily
  • $ sudo apt-get update
  • $ sudo apt-get install unity-2d-default-settings

    • This will install the 2d version of the Unity UI that doesn’t require hardware acceleration. Then you need to log out and when you enter (or click) your username to log back in select ‘Unity 2d’ on the bottom menu if not already selected.

    FWIW, it’s probably all too much trouble anyway. The Unity UI is awful, ugly and horrible to use. ;)

    4 comments so far

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    1. Craig said: 2011.05.29 23:52

      Thanks. Worked for me :)

    2. Ubuntu 11.04 on a 2011 Macbook Air « Bitshifting said: 2011.08.30 21:15

      [...] It does not support OpenGL on Linux, so the new Unity desktop doesn’t work. There are ways to avoid the issue, but I’d rather have the OS work out of the box than have to [...]

    3. Tom Z said: 2011.09.19 09:02

      Thanks for posting this! I just upgraded to VMWare Fusion 4 and installed Ubuntu 11.04 and was disappointed when I couldn’t get the new Unity desktop UI to work. Your recommendation worked like a charm!

    4. jaume said: 2011.09.23 03:58

      Fusion 4 has also disappointed me, it doesn’t support the Unity 3D theme on Ubuntu 11.04, 3D graphics acceleration only works on Windows.

      Fedora 15′s Gnome 3 isn’t supported either.

      VMware: start treating Linux as a first-class citizen!

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