PocketPC emulator freezes RC

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by bobz, May 30, 2006.

  1. bobz

    bobz Bit poster

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    5
    I'm trying to develop a Compact Framework app with Visual Studio 2003 under Windows XP Professional guest OS. This setup works great except for the fact that the guest OS consistently freezes when I attempt to start the PocketPC emulator.

    Is anyone successfully running the emulator in Parallels RC?
     
  2. luz

    luz Member

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    87
    Why PocketPC emulator freezes..

    I am facing the same problem, and it also occurs the same on Parallels for Windows. I asked the question in the Parallels for Windows forum and got an explanation from DaveP there.

    See http://forum.parallels.com/thread1619.html for details.

    Bottom line - PocketPC2003 emulator is based on a system driver originating from VirtualPC, which means that this is a VM in a VM situation. This is not necessarily a problem, but in this case this system driver generates a silly burst of timer interrupts that the emulation handles with a 1000 times slower speed than native. It does not actually freeze, but it keeps the CPU busy for a few hours (where a real CPU is only busy a few seconds)

    @Parallels: anything you can do about this? This is a real show stopper now for PocketPC developers :(
     
  3. bobz

    bobz Bit poster

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    Thanks for the info, Luz.

    Parallels, I second Luz's sentiment. I'm primarily a Mac user, but I also do some freelance .NET development. I hoped this product would enable me to move to a single development platform. Do you have plans to address the issue?
     
  4. tacit_one

    tacit_one Pro

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    434
    The problem with MS VirtualPC (used in PocketPC emulator) is known but unfortunately, you will probably not be able to use it in the upcoming version of our VM.
    The problem here is not related to the speed issue, but to some features, that will be available only in the next version of our virtualization engine.
    But you still should be able to use your eVC (3.0 or 4.0) or VS (7 or 8) to program PocketPC hardware and run it from within Parallels.
     
  5. akac

    akac Hunter

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    144
    I've used the VS 2005 PPC 2003 emulator without any issues at all under Parallels RC1. Going to try it soon under RC2.

    Nobody doing PPC dev should be using VS 2003. They should be using either eVC3/4 or VS 2005.
     
  6. akac

    akac Hunter

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    Yes, the emulator in VS 2005 seems to work great.
     
  7. luz

    luz Member

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    eVC4 + VS2005 PPC2003 emu working?

    Agreed, but the emulator that comes with eVC3/4 is the one that causes the freezing problems.
    I only know the WM5 emulator from VS2005. Is the VS2005 PPC2003 emulator also working with eVC4, eventually?
     
  8. bobz

    bobz Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    Hey, the emulator works under RC2! It's far slower than I'm used to, so it remains to be seen if this is a usable solution, but at least the VM isn't freezing any more.
     
  9. akac

    akac Hunter

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    144
    The VS 2005 emulator subsystem is dramatically different from the one in VS 2003 or eVC. While those were x86 emulators that passed through the native processor, the VS 2005 emulator is a true ARM emulator and runs well under emulation.

    The best part is that you can use the VS 2005 emulators for WM5 and WM2003 WITH eVC3/4. Just cradle the emulator so it syncs with ActiveSync and voila :)
     
  10. luz

    luz Member

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    87
    I know - it's more like a real device. But I didn't know there is a WM2003 emulator for the VS2005 subsystem.
    Thanks for the info - if the VS2005 emulator has resonable speed under Parallels, this solves the problem well! :)
     
  11. msolsona

    msolsona Junior Member

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    15
    I have read several posts about Activesync issues.

    Have anybody succeeded on debugging a PPC device with VS2005?

    I am 90% of the time working on Pocket PC 05 (Phone) devices, and so far no luck getting them connected to the windows VM.

    Thanks (eagerly awaiting my memory upgrade for my MacBook).

    marc
     

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