Cannot install XP Pro SP2 on Mac Mini

B

bigbod

Junior Member
Hi all,

This is my first post, and I'm reasonably new to Mac OS so please bear with me :)

I've installed PW for Mac OS X (Beta 6) but I cannot successfully complete installation of Windows XP Professional SP2. Installation gets to "Installing Devices" (approximately 37 minutes remaining...) and hangs in the sense that it does not proceeed past this point.

My current installation attempt has been running for 17 hours now, so I don't think it is going to complete :rolleyes: Does anyone have any suggestions, as I would really like to get this working.

I have Windows XP installed via Boot Camp, but I'd much prefer a VM-style solution.

I'm using a Mac Mini (Intel Core Solo) with 512 Mb RAM.

Thanks
Rod
 
Hi Wesley,

No (although a screen saver probably kicked in during the install). All enery saving settings were turned off.

Cheers
Rod
 
Same problems on MacBook Pro

While I have not yet waited 17 yours, I am on about 2 hours of the "Installing Devices" step of XP Pro SP 2. It's been at "33 minutes remaining" the whole time :)

I will report back if I end up getting it to install somehow. I will probably give it another shot after a few more hours.
 
Got it Working

I ended up restarting the VM while the XP install was still at "Installing Devices".

Upon restart, I got a "Setup resuming" screen and it all went well from there.

The only thing I changed the second time is closing all apps, and running in full screen mode. Not sure if that made a difference, or if just restarting it was enough.

Hope that information is helpful!
 
Hi nteske,

Interesting... how long did it take for the installation to complete after you re-started and it resumed the setup? Did you have screen and power savers turned off during the install?

Thanks
Rod
 
I observed this sort of problem while aMule was running in the background, but after turning it off I didn't have any problems. Installing Windows on PW in Mac mini hasn't been a problem for me since.
 
Hi Wesley,

Thanks for the info. Like I said, I'm new to Mac OS, so perhaps there is something running in the background during my install that I'm not aware of. What is the easiest way to tell?

I've only got a 512 Mb Single Core Mini... do you have any recommendations for VM memory settings?

Thanks
Rod
 
Giving 256MB to the VM is alright for WinXP, but the overall system memory of 512MB seems tad low. Meanwhile, you should try running Activity Monitor (use Spotlight, or find it unside Utilties folder in Applications) to check what apps are running.
 
Hi Andrew,

I've confirmed that Virtualisation mode is "Intel VT-x" during the XP installation. The Virtual Machine RAM is configured to 256 Mb. The installation still fails.

Initally, it gets to "Registering Components" and after spending an hour or more there the VM window simply closes. If I start it up again, setup is re-started, and it spends an hour or so in "Installing Devices", and then once again the VM window simply closes.

In your Labs, did any of the Solo Core machines only have 512 Mb of memory?

Thanks
Rod
 
I had the same problem when installing from CD.
I created an image file of my CD and was able to install from the image.

H

bigbod said:
Hi Andrew,

I've confirmed that Virtualisation mode is "Intel VT-x" during the XP installation. The Virtual Machine RAM is configured to 256 Mb. The installation still fails.

Initally, it gets to "Registering Components" and after spending an hour or more there the VM window simply closes. If I start it up again, setup is re-started, and it spends an hour or so in "Installing Devices", and then once again the VM window simply closes.

In your Labs, did any of the Solo Core machines only have 512 Mb of memory?

Thanks
Rod
Click to expand...
 
Not sure if the amount of memory is the problem, but it sure can't help. OS X itself likes at least a gig, and on the intel mac mini 80 megs are devoted to graphics anyway. Running OS X - 256 megs (for the XP VM) - 80 megs for the graphics sounds like a recipe for problems regardless of what app you are running. And running XP with 256 megs sounds like an exercise in frustration.

I have 2 gigs of ram in this mini, and even with 512 megs allocated to the xp vm, it still can get a little slow when using multiple large programs at once.
 
Hi Everyone,

I took the plunge and upgraded the Mac Mini from 512 Mb to 2 Gb, and presto.. all my installation issues disappeared.

I'm now a very happy Parallels Workstation camper - looking forward to the final release.

Thanks for all your assistance!

Cheers
Rod
 
was having similar problems

on my 20" Imac, I was stuck in what appeared an endless loop during the installing devices phase. It hadn't crashed (the background images kept on cycling), but it just didn't finish.

the solution for me in the end was shutting down the VM, and restart the installation (don't worry Xp takes off from where it left off) in full screen mode. I just let it do it's thing and didn't move out of fullscreen until it fininshed...viola xp installed.

before I tried fullscreen, I retarted the VM twice to no avail.

As always your mileage may vary.

Cheers
Dale
 
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