Starting a virtual machine crashes Mac Pro (new Intel tower)

jdifronzo said:
I did some tcpdumps and found that parallels and the bridge was properly fragmenting outbound packets. The problem seems to be in handling the inbound fragments, which explains why we all see web sites hang.

The main problem with disabling MTUD and setting the MTU to 1024 is paths to networks where the MTU is < 1024 won't work. Granted this is probably a very small number of paths that don't handle this, but you just won't know if the site is down or if there is an MTU problem.

Now the real question is why is parallels not handing fragments on the Mac Pro. This works just fine on my Macbook Pro.

One final thought on the PMTU work around. Thinking about this more, I don't think the changes to the registry should have any effect. The problem is receiving incoming fragmented packets, not sending fragments, which is what the registy setting change. With that in mind I decided to remove all the suggested registry entries and reboot the VM.

After restart I toggled the MTU setting in System Preferences as suggested by Jeff A. It seemed to work just fine for me.
 
I now concur with jdifronzo, updating the Windows Registry is not required, I just removed the values I had set previously and was able to get networking functioning just by toggling the MTU setting on the Mac side each time I restart the VM.
 
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Jeff A said:
I now concur with jdifronzo, updating the Windows Registry is not required, I just removed the values I had set previously and was able to get networking functioning just by toggling the MTU setting on the Mac side each time I restart the VM.

What's the advantage to that? By changing the windows registry, it's a one-time adjustment. Otherwise you have to toggle the MTU setting in OS X each time you boot a VM. What am I missing?
 
Running it in 32 bit mode defeat the purpose of having a macpro. It is retard. Please update it into 64 bit mode.

Tim Surgent said:
Guys,

We do work on Mac Pro support by PD. However, it will take us a short while to prepare and test the update.

For those who badly need to run PD on MP right now or want to experiment a bit, there is a workaround. Please treat it as unofficial (untested and unsupported) one, it is provided as is.

1. Open Applications->Utilities->Terminal
2. Run the following command:
Code:
sudo nvram boot-args="-legacy"
3. Reboot your Mac Pro.

This will switch your MacOS into legacy (32-bit) mode.

If it doesn't help and you still experience hypervisor problems or even kernel panics,

1. Open Applications->Utilities->Terminal
2. Run the following command:
Code:
sudo nvram boot-args="-legacy maxmem=2048"
3. Reboot your Mac Pro.

Please note, the 2048 value is empiric one. You may find greater values working for you - just experiment.

If you want to revert your Mac Pro back to original state, here's what you need to do:

1. Open Applications->Utilities->Terminal
2. Run the following command:
Code:
sudo nvram boot-args=""
3. Reboot your Mac Pro.
 
marcmec said:
What's the advantage to that? By changing the windows registry, it's a one-time adjustment. Otherwise you have to toggle the MTU setting in OS X each time you boot a VM. What am I missing?
It turns out updating the Windows registry wasn't the correct fix. It 'worked' only after I toggled the MTU setting on the Mac. It's the toggling action that temporarily fixes the problem. Unfortunately on my system it appears to be needed each time I restart the VM.
 
cineologist said:
It was really disappointing to learn thath there was an issue with Parallels and Mac Pro. I have been beta testing Parallels on an Intel Mac Mini and it was all nice.

Only if they provided support for iSight or webcams, my company would be buying 100 licenses from them today; however, I have not heard one word from Parallels (I've sent them several emails and no avail).

good news for you, bootcamp 1.1 supports the isight. so if you install the bootcamp 1.1 drivers inside of your virtual windows xp, you should be able to use the isight with parallels.

(I haven't tried yet, so don't take my words for granted)

lg philipp
 
Jeff A said:
It turns out updating the Windows registry wasn't the correct fix. It 'worked' only after I toggled the MTU setting on the Mac. It's the toggling action that temporarily fixes the problem. Unfortunately on my system it appears to be needed each time I restart the VM.

The windows regitry change worked for me. I have never changed the MTU setting in OS X.
 
Just wanted to chime in. My Mac Pro arrived today.

After 3 kernel-panics attempting to start XP Pro, I discovered this forum and this known-issue.

Any ETA on a Mac Pro update?

Thanks,

Mike
 
This is really a nice way to run a business. Very nice. There's a problem with a new computer released and there's no mention of the problem on the website anywhere except the support forums. I just bought this software yesterday to run on my new Mac Pro. Great job. Just great.

For some odd reason I only checked the support forums when Parallels decided to crash my new Mac. It's typically common sense that users would only go to a support forum if they had problems with the software. I didn't think of using the tryout. My friends using it on iMacs and Mac Minis never had a second's trouble. I just thought it would work on the Mac Pro I purchased without a hitch. Boy was I wrong.

If there's a problem this big in the software it would be a good idea to show a warning to potential purchasers that this software doesn't work on the machine they're purchasing it for. It would prevent people like me from thinking that they had just purchased a worthless piece of software (at least at the moment). Please fix this as quickly as possible as there are bound to be people like me who have their money tied up in a computer and a piece of software that doesn't work together.
 
Mac Pro

Well - I'm in the same boat - I tripped an hour to an Apple store specifically to purchase a retail copy, and even they said nothing about a problem with the MacPro - so after my 3rd kernal panic, I went Googling.

I'm not too worried - i've been making do with a PC just for dev testing, but I'm anxious to get this running on my tower, as the performance promises to be much better.

I will agree that an easy to find note that this is a problem may have saved me crashing my machine 3 times in a row, the first kernal panics I've had since Jaguar I think. If I had of lost anything, I would be much less understanding. However I never would have gone looking for a bug until after it crashed anyways...

That said - this is a killer product on the machines I've seen it run on, and kudos to the guys working on this project. I'm dying to have a working install on my new XeonRocket!
 
Khadgar said:
This is really a nice way to run a business. Very nice. There's a problem with a new computer released and there's no mention of the problem on the website anywhere except the support forums. I just bought this software yesterday to run on my new Mac Pro. Great job. Just great.

For some odd reason I only checked the support forums when Parallels decided to crash my new Mac. It's typically common sense that users would only go to a support forum if they had problems with the software. I didn't think of using the tryout. My friends using it on iMacs and Mac Minis never had a second's trouble. I just thought it would work on the Mac Pro I purchased without a hitch. Boy was I wrong.

If there's a problem this big in the software it would be a good idea to show a warning to potential purchasers that this software doesn't work on the machine they're purchasing it for. It would prevent people like me from thinking that they had just purchased a worthless piece of software (at least at the moment). Please fix this as quickly as possible as there are bound to be people like me who have their money tied up in a computer and a piece of software that doesn't work together.

I went to an Apple store and talk to an Apple expert and they had no idea until after I told them that the software would not run on the new Mac Pro. I don't particulary know that the dev team did either until they got their hands on one of the Mac Pro's. I am new to Apple, first one I ever bought. I have faith they will be offering a patch ASAP. I am sure it is their highest priority. I spent a lot of time tring to get it to work but I'll consider that a learning experience.

If anyone on the dev teams wants to answer this ....

Do we have an estimated ETA on a patch?
 
Oh I'm pretty sure the devs here didn't either, but they DID know the day I purchased the software. My gripe is not that it doesn't work. Crap happens, but there is no notice anywhere on the website except here in the forums that it indeed doesn't work at the moment on Mac Pros.

Parallels Desktop works with any Intel-powered Apple...

I thought that by that statement there it meant that it worked on any Intel-powered Apple. I have a Mac Pro that is an Intel-powered Apple. Considering that statement I bought the software as all my friends owning other Macintosh models did. This is what I'm angry about. I'm not looking for a refund either. I expect it will be fixed soon. I'm just looking for software that I have purchased to work as advertised.
 
I just ordered a memory upgrade for my Mac Pro (16GB) with the intention of using Parallels with a number of different operating systems. I hope this bug is fixed soon, I would hate to have to wait for VMware to come out with their OSX version. It would at least be nice to see some sort of update on the Parallels website with a Mac Pro version release date.
 
I was happy to see the quick responses from the Parallels team members when the Mac Pro issues first broke (Aug 10 to 14). :)

Now, nothing but crickets for the past week. :(

I can scratch this itch on my MacBook Pro, where the software runs like a charm. I even have sling player running in an XP window while I work on my OSX desktop. So I can be more patient than most:D

However, in my experience radio silence does not mean good things.

Please give us Mac Pro owners a glimmer of hope PD team :confused:

Cheers
 
Not so lucky MBP

macaddict said:
I was happy to see the quick responses from the Parallels team members when the Mac Pro issues first broke (Aug 10 to 14). :)

Now, nothing but crickets for the past week. :(

I can scratch this itch on my MacBook Pro, where the software runs like a charm. I even have sling player running in an XP window while I work on my OSX desktop. So I can be more patient than most:D

However, in my experience radio silence does not mean good things.

Please give us Mac Pro owners a glimmer of hope PD team :confused:

Cheers

I'm still getting at least 2 Kernel Panics per day (mbuf and unresolved kernel trap) on a MBP w/2GB RAM and 768MB set for XP VM. I'm running build 1862 in Mac OS X 10.4.7 8J2135. Kernel Panics occurring even without Parallels running. Removing Parallels from startup items solves the problem. I'm curious, how come yours is runing so well? What version are you running?
 
zaxxon said:
I'm curious, how come yours is runing so well? What version are you running?

I have stayed away from betas. I am running 1848.2, the out of the box version I bought at Apple retail. I have 10.4.7 of OSX. Win XP Pro. Standard VM sizings.

I tried running Blackberry desktop within my XP/Parallels window and couldn't get USB to recognize my BB. I know some of the subsequent beta PD releases have improved USB connectivity, but I am too scared to upgrade to a beta, since my slingplayer is operating so smoothly.

Knock wood, I have not had one panic or even so much as a shiver in MBP under PD. I don;'t know what else to say...

Cheers
 
I am baffled by the people who 1. expect a reply to every email and forum request for "when it is going to be ready" and, at the same time, 2. expect the problem to be fixed quickly.

Do you all think that the Parallels team is going to abandon development of Parallels for Mac upon the release of Mac Pros? Think about it!

Relax, folks. They aren't wasting time on answering the hundreds (thousands?) of emails and messages asking "when, when, when???" They are focusing on fixing the problem.

-Blue
 
information politics

I got my Mac Pro last week and Parallels Desktop hoping to finish an important project over the weekend. Spent a lot of time reinstalling and searching the reasons for the kernel panics that crushed my machine till I finally found this hidden forum.

I'm highly disappointed, not because the much hyped program doesn't work on my Mac Pro, but because a known and documented incompatibility with Mac Pro is not mentioned anywhere on the Parallels site, neither in the FAQ's nor when you buy the product.

I'm quite amazed that there is not a bigger outcry online or in the press about such shady information politics. This will likely change if the problem is not fixed or at least officially acknowledged very soon.

However busy the Parallels guys might be fixing the problem, it takes only a couple of minutes to add an appropriate warning on the Parallels Desktop for Mac site which will save Mac Pro customers a lot of trouble and time.. not to speak of the data potentially lost by the unexpected crashes.
 
BlueSkyISdotCOM said:
I am baffled by the people who 1. expect a reply to every email and forum request for "when it is going to be ready" and, at the same time, 2. expect the problem to be fixed quickly.

Do you all think that the Parallels team is going to abandon development of Parallels for Mac upon the release of Mac Pros? Think about it!

Relax, folks. They aren't wasting time on answering the hundreds (thousands?) of emails and messages asking "when, when, when???" They are focusing on fixing the problem.

-Blue

No, most of the gripes lately have been due to the lack of information on the site about its not working. That's the big problem here, not the fact that it doesn't work. People purchase the software thinking it will work as advertised, but low and behold they get kernel panics and a nice crash on their new Mac Pro.

I'm surprised someone hasn't seeded this on Digg or Newsvine. This is quite a big deal. A program doesn't work as advertised and there's no information anywhere stating anything to the contrary.

I, myself, will wait for the fix, but I think they should put some information on the website stating that it doesn't work with the Mac Pro yet.
 
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