Parallels has "Unexpectedly Quit" a few times (known issue?)

Hello,
I have been using parallels (Build 5160) with a boot camp partition (WinXP) for the past week or so. I have had parallels unexpectedly die for no apparent reason. I am running on a MacBook Pro 2.4 ghz with 4 gig ram. The last time parallels dies I was using IE (I know insert IE joke here) and I had no CPU/memory intense programs running.

I want to know if there are existing known issues where parallels dies unexpectedly. I took a look at the troubleshooting section and nothing jumped out.


Thanks,

Tony Nuzzi

 

Well, this is kinda a bummer. I was evaluating both VMWare and Parallels. I ended up actually purchasing Parallels but it looks like I will return it. I have not seen any of these problem with VMWare fusion. I have to say Parallels looks prettier and more native to the Mac OS. However, I will take stability over pretty any day.

FYI: I had been running VMWare for about a week and a half with no issues (installed tons of software on XP). I ran Parallels for about three days and had the program quit unexpectedly 2 or 3 times.

Personally, I have no bias to either program. I just want one that works.

Thanks,

Tony Nuzzi

 

your key will work with build 4560

http://download.parallels.com/v3/en/GA/Parallels-Desktop-4560-Mac-en.dmg

Parellels should get this resolved soon

 

BenInBlack,
Thanks for the information. I will give it a try and see if that build fixes the problem.

Thanks,

Tony Nuzzi

 

There aren't any known issues with the Parallels program crashing that I am aware of, at least not with build 5160. If possible run a hardware test on your computer (run the extended tests, otherwise the RAM tests will not be thorough enough).

If you could provide one of your crash logs, your problem will likely be fixed within a few weeks (or a few days...). That is, of course, provided your problem isn't due to bad RAM or some similar hardware failure. Parallels Desktop is frequently updated, so any problems you have are likely to be temporary as long as you report them.

 

I have the same problem!!

I have the same problem after upgrading to 5160.

I am running on a MacPro and Parallels crashes with this message. But I realized that without clicking on the "close" button in the popup, I can safely shutdown Windows and then click on the close button. This way the VM is safe.

How do I report the logs to Parallels? Manually copy/paste from the report?

I see only "Send to Apple" in the popup!

Regards.

 

You could do that (copy and paste from the report), or you can open the Console application (located in Applications > Utilities) and browse to ~/Library/Logs > CrashReporter > Parallels.crash.log to get the crash log information. If you select "Report a Problem..." from the "Help" menu while Parallels is running, you should be able to paste the crash log there. You could also post the crash log here.

 

I am having the same problem with 5160 and it is definitely NOT a hardware error. I cannot reproduce it directly but it is definitely related to the execution of JavaScript in Internet Explorer 7 -- either directly in IE7 or in a .CHM help file, which is the same thing because the HTML Help viewer uses IE to render the HTML. It has never happened with any other browser or with pages not containing JavaScript -- always only with Internet Explorer or the HTML Help viewer and pages containing JavaScript.

 

Crashes in 5160

I am having the same exact problem with Windows Crashing with Parallels 5160. I am running a MacBook Pro 17" 2.4Ghz. My windows version is Vista Ultimate. Below is the info that Windows reports each and every time there is a crash:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 9f
BCP1: 00000003
BCP2: 82A23B98
BCP3: 8445FA18
BCP4: 832E75F8
OS Version: 6_0_6000
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1

I don't have to be doing anything for this problem to occur. I had the laptop in my bedroom last night and it rebooted at least 4 times while I was sleeping (the Windows welcome tune woke me up).

Please note that this problem start occurring the day I upgraded to 5160. Vista Ultimate never BSOD'd on me in the past, so I am sure there is not any kind of hardware issue.

-Andy
-----------
Macbook Pro 17" 2.4Ghz

 

Follow-up: It may also have something to do with having multiple VMs open at the same time with activity in both. I just tried to close down an XP VM while running an Ubuntu VM at the same time and the XP VM crashed out instantaneously the moment I selected shutdown in the Start menu, the shutown options dialog was not displayed and there was no proper shutdown. I've never had this happen while running XP on its own.

 

In the interest of Science and with a good backup, Last weekend I decided to give 5160 another chance. I was going on a hunch that the issue was with Smart Select and previouse versions file associations.

see my response in thread http://forum.parallels.com/showpost.php?p=83978&postcount=8

Note: I also run memory as manual and no pre-allocation

I have been able to run the whole week with out crashing on 5160, but essentially had to turn off all new stuff that is in 5160.

 

I eventually did decide to uninstall parallels and go with VMWare. However, in the course of troubleshooting I was told to turn off ActiveScript in IE and/or disable the sound for the VM. I was unable to try this, if anyone else is having the same issue you may want to try the above suggestions.

Thanks,

Tony Nuzzi

BTW: I had an absolute horrible experience with customer service regarding box refunds.

 

One thing to keep in mind (although this probably isn't the problem posted here):

I kept having a problem with parallels quitting. Further down the line my system had other issues and I finally discovered one of my RAM chips had gone bad...

Fortunately it had one of those lifetime warranties so it was easy to get replaced. But if you have this problem its something you might want to check. When I had the ram replaced, all the problems I had with parallels crashing ceased...

I downloaded a program for Mac called Rember, which allowed me to test my ram and did discover the problem...

 

5160 Really SUCKS!

I've been using Parallels for several months with NO issues. Today I ran the updater to 5160 and it constantly quits, several times today already. Nothing has changed in my setup and I only use Parallels for 1 chat application. Nothing intensive. The shadows are nice on the windows, but something sucks with this build!

Here's my crash log:
http://www.popenc.com/parallels/parallels.crash.log.txt

Marc

 

Bobby,
Thanks for the info. Unfortunatly, I actually try on 2 different sets of RAM chips (by chance). The original 2 gig I got with the system then with an upgraded 4 gig and both had the same problem.

A quick question to the Senior member who replied to this post. Has Parallels officially deamed this build has bad or problemattic?

Thanks,

Tony Nuzzi

 

Tony:

I was having a similar problem with my VMs. My solution (in 5162) was to remove the sound device in the VM configuration.

It hasn't crashed since.

Thanks,
Nick

 

My VM dies about 3 times a day on average and always while using IE6 on Windows XP. When will 5162 be made available to the public via "Check for Update"? I'm currently on 5160.

 

Same bluescreen error

Is anyone working on a solution? It was working before i installed this recent build.
Help!

 

The sudden crashes on Mac Pro machines appear to be caused by hard drives accessed by your Parallels VM spinning down on the Mac Pro. If this happens and if your Parallels VM tries to access the VM while the drive is spun down Parallels will crash. The solution is to install a cronjob on OSX that accesses each hard drive at regular intervals (5 minutes appears to be fine) to ensure that they will never spin down. In addition to this, activation of the screensaver, sleep mode or hibernation mode in a Windows VM can also cause crashes, particularly on Windows Vista

I have been able to fix these crashes on 5160 in Tiger with the following steps:

1: Disable all sleep, screensaver and hibernation options in Vista. Vista running in the VM should never be allowed to switch to a screensaver, sleep or hibernate. It doesn't hurt to disable them in XP virtual machines as well because having these functions in a VM is pointless anyway.

2: Make sure that none of the hard disks on your Mac can ever spin down. If they do, Parallels can crash when it tries to access the drive. You can prevent this by creating a cronjob. Instructions can be found here -- the easiest method is to use the free Cronnix application (see the 4th comment on the main post).

 

Hello,

garutch,
what build of Parallels Desktop are you using? Do you have any crash logs?

Best regards,
Stacey