Parallels Desktop for Mac build 3036 Beta is available for download.

Could someone who has had success in getting Parallels working with a BootCamp partition post a copy of their pvs file? I'd like to see if I can't adapt it to get it working on my machine.

 

I did a test with the beta in Coherence Mode and a program called PawSense and even though it seemed to work, I noticed it's still easy to take PawSense out of focus and bring something else to the front. I don't know if this is possible or even what you might have been aiming for, but if possible, maybe there could be a way to allow programs like PawSense to lock down the Mac if a cat walks or sleeps on the keyboard. I just got my first Mac yesterday (even though I bought Parallels Desktop and Workstation for the PC way back before the price increase), so I'm still thinking like a PC user and this was one thing I wanted to test out with Parallels. Except for not totally locking down the computer, it works great otherwise. I'd rather have my cats stay away from the MacBook, but they never do what they're told.

I'm loving Parallels on the Mac so far, though. It was great on the PC, but even better on a Mac.

 

Fixed it -- I Read TFM ...

So, I read the manual, and figured I was missing the ALT-ENTER command. All is well. What a cool product.

 

beta install failed

Downloaded the beta today. On installing, Parallels said it couldn't load a driver so it wouldn't run. Reinstalled the software, on launching the beta said there was an error and had to quit.

Uninstalled then reinstalled the beta. Now Parallels says it's not registered and wants to install its first virtual machine.

Reinstalled the 1970 build and my existing stable virtual machine is up and running. Seems as if the beta has trouble seeing the existing installation on my iMac core duo.

 

I installed the beta and everything was great until I came in to work today. Now, the Parallels loads up and goes to Windows Blue Screen - Page Fault. It also appears to go from the normal box to resizing to full-screen before it crashes. I've not been able to figure out how to make it stop this behavior.

 

Maybe I missed something in the first post but there is an obvious difference between a duo core processor and multiple processors. I for one have both a MacBook Pro with the Duo Core processor as well as a dual G5 tower with, well 2 G5 PPC processors. What is the difference in how Parallels utilizes processing power in each scenario?

 

"there is an obvious difference between a duo core processor and multiple processors"

Not to the operating system there isn't.

 

Coherence worked... Then Stopped Working!

So.... here's what I did:

1) installed the new Beta that supports coherence

2) installed winXP on a virgin 24" imac

3) ran parallels for the first time, then hit the toolbar icon for coherence. amazing!

4) noticed font issues with coherence windows - changed the winXP VM's resolution and the coherence windows got nice

5) ran parallels tools on the new xp VM

6) rebooted for windows update


Now when i click the toolbar icon or use the key command for coherence, NOTHING HAPPENS.

any ideas? it's cruel to give me a taste of this feature and then poof!

 

coherence runs at low resolution

When I run coherence, it works but the resolution is set too low. everything in coherence is huge (task bar, windows apps). Am i doing something wrong or missing something?

On a Mac Pro with a 23" Apple Cinema Display.

thanks
mark

 

Two Questions about the current BETA

1. Boot Camp

I have never used Boot Camp. I started on Parallels due to its rich features. Is there a way to boot an existing Parallels VM into Boot Camp?

2. Extended Desktop

Is two monitor support available in this upcoming release?

 

This is happening because you need to install the Parallels Tools for Boot Camp. You need to boot into Windows through Boot Camp and install the Parallels Tools for Boot Camp. (Note that there is a bug with the installer where it will not complete the installation for some users. See this thread for a workaround: http://forum.parallels.com/thread6014.html. The fix in post #42 worked for me.)

Once Parallel Tools for Boot Camp is installed, then you can restart in OS X, and load your Boot Camp partition in Parallels. For more information, see the documentation included with the Parallels beta release.

 

This beta behaves very strangely with my MacBook and an external keyboard. The key mapping is totally messed up in this beta, I had to revert to Build 1970 to have a stable setup. The new Beta does has impressive speed, now if they could only get OpenGL and DirectX working!

 

yes that panicked me today because as a pensioner I am living on a shoe string and can not afford to pay for a new licence

you need to warn users about that before download - scary

it is not new hardware but it would be a nuisance to have to telephone MS support to et a new reactivation key

has this been reported to MS as their bug?

Hugh W

 

you could describe parallels as a driver for Win XP and the rest


Hugh W

 

Build 3036 and the MacPro

I have had 3036 on my MacBook Pro since the day it [the beta] came out. It has worked very well, with no notable issues.
Today I decided to take the plunge and install 3036 on my MacPro. The install went smoothly but I quickly found that there were resolution issues similar to what 'Mapin0518' mentioned in their post. I was able to find the following problems:

Going directly into coherence mode after booting the VM causes the display color depth to be set to 8bit and a very low resolution. Changing to fullscreen mode improves resolution but color depth stays at 8bit.

Shutting down the VM directly from coherence mode (at color depth greater than 8 bit) causes a boot error the next time the VM is started:



The VM then reboots and I get the "Windows did not start correctly" screen. Choosing "Start Windows Normally" just repeats the cycle. Choosing "Last Known Good Configuration" will get the VM up and running again.
Rebooting the MacPro does not make any difference in this sequence.

Switching from Fullscreen mode to coherence mode causes the VM to crash and reboot. After which you can only see the VM desktop in fullscreen mode. All other modes do not show the VM at all. The only way out of this situation is to stop the VM (by shutting it off) and restarting.

The build works on the MacPro as long as I am careful not to switch from fullscreen directly to coherence, or to go directly into coherence after startup. Before shutting down I have to remember to go to an OS window and shut down from there.

I will reiterate that these issues were found when using build 3036 on the MacPro. I am using 3036 on my MacBook Pro and cannot reproduce the problem.

17" MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Core Duo 2GB Ram

MacPro 3GHz Dual Core Xeon x2 3GB Ram
23" Apple Cinema Display
19" Eizo L685 flat panel monitor

 

Enable the include content while dragging option in Windows!

 

Just downloaded - just installed - just wet my pants

Great work guys! You just squashed VMWare for me.

If only Parallels had snapshot support like VMWare. Not a deal breaker for me, but it is great for unit testing my code.

Great work!
-David

 

Page Fault

I've also been experiencing page faults. I'm on the 3036 beta, using boot camp with XP SP2.The Parallels beta worked fine for a few days, now anytime I try to start the machine, windows returns with a page fault BSOD. Boot camp still works like normal, so it's not a bad install.

I tried trashing the machine (not the partition) but I still have this problem. Any ideas?

 

OMG! This is awesome.

In a word... Whoa!

Coherence rocks on my 2.16Ghz MacBook Pro 15".

I originally had only 1GB RAM (Only... huh! I remember then days when a DOS memory manager got me the ability to use RAM above 640K!) I just upgraded to 2GB of RAM... all I can say is holy shit!

I was happy with Parallels with 1GB but annoyed with some slowness and system delays with OSX during boot of the XP VM. Now with 2GB the system behaves amazingly well. I can boot the VM and during boot I do not have a perceptible delay or sluggishness of my systm.

Quite simply amazing! You guys have done an amazing job! I hope that you can fix the activation problem. I fear it will be more difficult if not impossible to solve.

A couple of things I would like to see:

- A better way to send a CTRL-ALT-DEL key sequence without needing to go to the menu. Perhaps a OSX keyboard shortcut for the menu option?

- Better integration with the macbook pro keyboard. When I boot using bootcamp to XP, I must run a shareware app to allow a ctrl-click with the trackpad mouse to perform a right click. This is required to do a ctrl-click with the internal macbook pro keyboard and trackpad mouse only in bootcamp. I realize I can use a usb external two button mouse... but thats a hassle. Anyway... when booting into a VM, the shareware utility is not required as the VM KB drivers work without running the shareware app. The issue is I have to kill the app if its running. I have it in the startup folder for bootcamp to run it. But don't need it in the VM. Not sure if this is a parallels issue, apple issue, or shareware app problem but its a pain to remember to kill the app when I boot the VM.

- DirectX support would be a huge plus.

- It would be cool to have an icon on the OSX Dock that was the VM Start Menu, with all the programs and items from the VM's start menu. Connectix did this with Virtual PC prior to selling it to MS. It was a cool feature. If the VM is not running, simply select Outlook or Excel or any app from the OSX "Start Menu" icon and then the VM boots, and runs the app selected. That would be SWEET. At the very least, start the VM, and when the VM is booted, get the start menu and add it as a context menu to the OSX icon.

Good luck with your development efforts! You guys have done a phenomenal job so far!

 

networking problems (win xp as guest)

hi,

first, as a totally new mac user (got my macbook pro a week ago) i'm so happy that parallels exists, great job, guys!

the only thing i have troubles with is connecting to the guest os from outside. i have installed windows xp professional as guest os. network mode is set to "bridged" and there is no way for me to change that in the preferences of the vm. questions are:

1.) both "shared" and "host-only" are not selectable in the preferences menue (or if i want to create a new network card for the given vm), is that a bug or a feature?

2.) my network DHCP server assigns 192.168.1.6 to the guest os, but any ping command or http request that i send to this IP is lost in space, no answers (ping) respectively network timeouts (http). an http server is running on the guest os so it should be reachable. what do i need to do to be able to access the guest os from outside?

kr,
guenther