Parallels "not compatible" with new Mac Pros?

R

Rothgarr

Member
Hi Everyone. I searched the site and forums but couldn't come up with anything so I thought I'd ask...

Is Parallels not fully compatible with new Mac Pros?

I ask because we got three brand new Mac Pros (8 cores, 16GB RAM, the works). They are less than a week old so they obviously have no clutter on them. They all have Mac OS X 10.5.2, parallels v3 Build 5582, and Parallels Tools v3.0.5582.

To put it bluntly, Parallels has been a nightmare on all three machines. On two of them, Parallels will "unexpectedly quit" three or four times a day when doing anything from dragging an attachment from Outlook, closing a window, quitting Parallels, etc. On the third machine, it completely locks up the Mac (grey screen of death). When Parallels isn't running on that third machine it doesn't lock up.

I've already had to completely reinstall Windows on one of the machines because Windows had become corrupt from all the crashing.

Is there a fix or patch or something? Right now it's looking like all three copies of Parallels are going back to the store in exchange for the "other application"...
 
Actually, I think I mistyped. I just checked the version and I have 5584 on my machine so I assume the other two do as well.

The machine that kept locking up completely already switched over to Fusion. I had better luck today with my machine. No lockups, but I also didn't use Coherence at all and I did a lot let in Windows today.
 
Same problem here on a new Mac Pro. Locks up even trying to start any VM. Force Quit doesn't even work.

Nice trial experience, Parallels. That, and having to set my clock ahead a day to get the stupid trial key to work because Parallels hasn't done the math right for a leap year, does not instill confidence in this second-fiddle product.
 
Hello,

Rothgarr, please try the following:

1. Reduce your VM RAM in Configuration Editor, Memory tab;
2. Reduce the RAM allocated to Parallels in Parallels Desktop Preferences, Memory tab;
3. Reinstall Parallels Tools;
4. Install the latest MacFUSE version.

Best regards,
Xenos
 
Xenos said:
Hello,

Rothgarr, please try the following:

1. Reduce your VM RAM in Configuration Editor, Memory tab;
2. Reduce the RAM allocated to Parallels in Parallels Desktop Preferences, Memory tab;
3. Reinstall Parallels Tools;
4. Install the latest MacFUSE version.

Best regards,
Xenos
Click to expand...

I don't quite understand what MacFUSE is and why this needs to be installed... Since I'm not tech savvy would you mind explaining it in plain English?
 
Hello Rothgarr,

MacFUSE is the software used in Parallels technology and when it gets outdated for Mac OS X with the latest updates, file associations problems might occur. So updating it helps to eliminate these problems.

Best regards,
Xenos
 
You said "MacFUSE is the software used in Parallels technology and when it gets outdated for Mac OS X with the latest updates, file associations problems might occur. So updating it helps to eliminate these problems."
a) I wouldn't know how to do that. I'm a complete Mac novice (though experienced with
Windows, DOS, and already rusty re UNIX).
b) My problem is how to DOWNGRADE MacFUSE rather than upgrade it. I just opened
Parallels (latest build) and got:
"Operating System Too Old. The installed MacFUSE version is too new for the operating system. Please downgrade MacFUSE installation ..."
Is there anyplace I can find instructions simple enough for a novice like me to understand?
(My new Macbook Pro came with Parallels and Windows XP).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
a solution

I searched and found that installing the latest MacFUSE worked.
For novices like me:
a) went to MacFUSE page (as suggested in this thread)
b) clicked on latest (10.5-1.3.1), which resulted in downloading a dmb file.
c) double clicking on that gave a folder that included a .pkg file.
d) double clicking on that and assenting to everything, including the Mac HD volume
as the installation place installed it.
e) finally, restarted the mac, as advised.
 
thank god for google and this thread...being another mac novice with 24 hours before I leave for 2 weeks in India with my new macbookpro that so far has failed to do anything I expected it should (if I wanted hardware and software that didn't install and work right, right out of the box, I'd have just purchased another pc from my former employer. I've had this thing for a week and so far nothing has worked as it should have.

Guess I'll go try this mac fuse thing. At least I di'nt' drop $300 on xp pro today....
 
well, that worked well, oh except the part about being able to actually launch the program after it installs.

so, what does one do with a copy of parallels that won't install? Return it? Eat it? This whole experience has just been a nightmare. Hmm...maybe some sucker will buy it from my on e-bay. Along with this mac book pro--do you think I can get a dime for both?
 
I don't know if it's related but I'm not able to load my Boot Camp in Parallels 5584 on my brand new Mac Pro (8 core).

I get a weird error message about my install being a "non-standard" boot camp install. Are the new Mac Pros really not compatible with Parallels?
 
Hello,

Yerugid, thank you for posting the instructions that might be useful for others.

Mollieie, could you describe the issue in more details? You can not install Parallels or you can not launch it? Are you getting any error messages? What build of Parallels Desktop do you have? What is your Host OS and what Guest OS are you going to install? What is your MacBook Pro RAM? How much RAM is allocated to Parallels (Parallels Desktop -> Preferences -> Memory).

Ckrueger, please create two hardware profiles. If this does not help, follow these instructions.

Best regards,
Xenos
 
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Sorry for the late response, I had to leave the country for two weeks (with a lovely new macbook pro with which I was only able to check e-mail and upload my photos each day because I did not have time to get anything else up and running).

It installed but hung up when I tried to launch it. I tried installing the upgrade 'patch' mentioned above but it did nothing to change the situation (yes, I uninstalled and reinstalled just to be sure--having come from the PC world, I know what a difference clean installs make there).

I can't answer your other questions right now. I'm self employed and having been gone for 2 weeks, I have to do everything that was left undone since I left (my first "vacation" in nearly 6 years). I'll have to start over again (3rd time, if memory serves) and re-install and log the error messages, etc. I shall reply when I have time to start again.
 
oh,

build 4128.0

it's a new MBP so the os is OSX 10.5.2, build 97c010,

Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP41.00C1.B03
SMC Version: 1.27f1

My hope was to install windows XP pro SP2 but I'm not going to go out and buy it if this software doesn't work...no sense in wasting any more money.

update....
Actually, I tried installing macfuse again..and re-booted, and it seems to have helped...so far. I've been able to launch and register (knock wood) and now ready to install. I'm not chancing buying XP yet, so I'm going to install an old copy of 2000 and try that.

does this help?
 
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