What's New/What's Fixed in Beta6 (comments)

[STim]

Changes:
* USB fixes (more devices supported: PDA, scanner etc.)
We’ve continued expanding the list of devices supported by Workstation.

* Shared Folders fixes (added support for guest Windows 2000)
Everyone running Windows 2000, XP, 2003 guest is recommended to upgrade Parallels Tools. We’ve added shared folders for Windows 2000 guest and fixed some bugs in our initial implementation.

* Network improvements: host-only networking
Essentially we made our virtual network adapter visible to Mac OS X. This provides an interesting opportunity of NAT networking for guest OS via standard Mac’s “Internet Sharing” feature. If you like to try it, please read last Q&A here http://forum.parallels.com/showthrea...=1217#post1217

* Custom video resolutions support added
Check your VM configuration to find a new “Video” option.

* Image Tool introduced
* Autoupdate introduced
Two nice additions.

* (!) Kernel panic in virtual memory manager fixed
Personally, I consider it a main fix of this Beta. It addresses a huge number of kernel panics on VM start and operation.

* (!) Installer hangs, sometimes with the whole host
Another major fix. This shouldn't happen anymore

* Shutdown in fullscreen mode hang fixed.
Annoying problem with guest shutdown while in fullscreen mode fixed.

* Virtual disk sync() problem with Linux guests fixed
Thanks to bbrown for his observations ;)


Known issues:
* Some USB devices may not work
…we’re still expanding the list of supported USB devices.

* Network doesn’t work in Linux guests if bridged to WiFi
Unfortunately, it’s true. As a workaround, you may try “Internet Sharing” as described at http://forum.parallels.com/showthrea...=1217#post1217

* Resume doesn't work correctly if suspend was made while playing audio inside guest
Just don’t suspend the VM while there’s any sound being played by guest.

[donsullivan]

I just upgrade from B5 to B6 and now have a dead environment. Every time I restart I get an error message telling me that "Parallels Workstation is unable to operate since it cannot communicate with one its drivers. Try to restart the application to overcome the issue. if restart doesn't help, re-install Parallels Workstation"

Well I've restarted three times, re-installed twice and rebooted twice. I'm now stuck with a non-functioning environment. Is B5 still available for download somewhere so that I can get back to a functioning environment. It won't even launch anymore.

[STim]

I just upgrade from B5 to B6 and now have a dead environment. Every time I restart I get an error message telling me that "Parallels Workstation is unable to operate since it cannot communicate with one its drivers. Try to restart the application to overcome the issue. if restart doesn't help, re-install Parallels Workstation"

Well I've restarted three times, re-installed twice and rebooted twice. I'm now stuck with a non-functioning environment. Is B5 still available for download somewhere so that I can get back to a functioning environment. It won't even launch anymore.

Hi,

Please try to wait for ~3-5 minutes after the restart. If it doesn't help, please open Applications->Utilities->Terminal and run the "/Library/StartupItems/Parallels/Parallels start" command. After that you should be able run PW.

Sorry for inconvinience...

[Scott Willsey]

Don, I still have beta 5 installer if you can't get 6 working. Let me know.

Parallels, one thing you might want to note as a change is that now it installs into Applications/Parallels instead of into Applications. I was left wondering why my doc icon didn't point to parallels any more. It took me a few seconds to snap out of stupid mode and realize it really had moved locations.

[donsullivan]

Tim, It looks like after waiting a few minutes it does indeed now start properly. Is this something that will be normal after any restart, or something unique to the beta cycle?

Scott, I saw the same thing with the icon and took a couple of minutes to realize it until I noticed the '?' on the icon.

Sounds like a couple of missing pieces of info for folks installing this update:

1- If you created a Dock shortcut, it will no longer work; you'll need to remove the old one and recreate a new one because of the location change.

2- Wait 3-5 minutes after reboot before trying to use it

[Scott Willsey]

All of a sudden after upgrading to beta 6, bridged ethernet is not working for me... it's no longer able to get an ip address. Anyone else see this? I made sure it's set for bridged networking pointing to en1.

[mdrevs]

I had the same problem. After reinstalling, it worked.

[ms @ parallels]

Another one: Parallels.app now moved from /Applications/Parallels.app to /Application/Parallels/Parallels.app if old /Applications/Parallels.app is exists then remove it and use new. When you continue using old binary then it can't be start because it incompatible with drivers.

[mcg]

Yeah, something is up. When I go to the System Preferences > Network > Network Status, I see two adaptors when I think I should see just one: "Ethernet Adaptor (en2)" and "Parallels Host-Guest Adapter."

Ethernet Adaptor en2 says, "The cable for Ethernet Adaptor (en2) is connected, but your computer does not have an IP address and cannot connect to the Internet." The other one says something similar. Renewing the DHCP lease has no effect.

Furthermore, in System Preferences > Sharing > Internet, I can see "Ethernet Adaptor (en2)" in the list titled "To computers using:", but not Parallels Host-Guest adaptor. In the drop-down list "Share your connection from:", I see both.

[peterwor]

After upgrading to Beta 6 I've lost bridged network capability in my WinXP guest OS. I'm using en1:Airport Adapter on mt MBP and its totally dead. When I us ipconfig /all I vet teh ol' MS 169.x.x.x default bogus non working IP address.

me thinks its broken lads.....

[mike3k]

All of a sudden after upgrading to beta 6, bridged ethernet is not working for me... it's no longer able to get an ip address. Anyone else see this? I made sure it's set for bridged networking pointing to en1.

Bridged Ethernet also quit working for me on my MacBook Pro with Windows XP. I've tried both en1: Airport and Default Adapter and neither one works. In Windows I get 'limited or no connectivity' and I can't see the network.

I've never had any problem with networking in previous betas. Until this is fixed, beta 6 is useless for me.

[gary]

wow, I am so happy with custom video resolutions. That's one thing I always wished Virtual PC had. You guys are amazing!!!

[RandyS]

In addition to the interruption of bridged networking since the Beta 6 upgrade and the confusion about the relocation of the application already reported, I still have the problem where a stock XP Pro SP 2 (recent release disc from MS) installed under Beta 5 including VM Tools and with VMTools reinstalled / updated in Beta 6, the virtual environment hangs when either the Mac OS goes to sleep or when XP goes to sleep. The VM cannot be shut down and Parallels must be forcibly quit. This is the same symptom exhibited under Beta 5.


Randall Schulz

[sbatson]

Still no support for the floppy...I know that there's not much need for floppy on modern computers, but using a VM with various systems, a floppy may be necessary. And, it would be nice to be able to get data off of the old floppies.

No one has responded to the floppy issue after a number of posts, is that support going to be in the final product? And, will it be able to use a USB Floppy? The Intel iMacs don't have floppy drives, so USB was the only option. If there is any way to make the USB floppy work with a Parallels VM, it would really be nice to hear about it.

[engrProf]

Tim Surgent's FAQ to set up host-only networking with Internet sharing:
======
- Go to Parallels Workstation->Preferences->DHCP and set “Scope end address” equal to “Scope start address” (10.37.129.1 by default).
- Go to Apple->System Preferences…->Internet & Network Sharing and share your network connection with Parallels virtual adapter (usually, en2).
- Set the VM network connection type to “Host-only networking” in the Network Adapter properties.
- Start the VM. It should obtain the IP address automatically.
=======

I'm on a 2 MHz MBP with 1GB RAM, running XP in Parallels.

I did the above (more precisely, I did my best understanding of the above). In Parallels preferences I set the start and end IP to 10.37.129.1 as instructed. I set up Internet sharing in Mac system preferences by choosing Parallels Host-Guest Adapter in the "share your connection from" drop-box, and checked the Ethernet Adapter (en2) check-box. (Note: a box pops up warning you that if you do this your ISP might terminate your service. Am I doing the right thing here?) I set VM network connection type to "Host-only networking" and started the VM.

Now in Network Connections on the PC, instead of "limited or no connectivity" (as it said when I tried Bridged Ethernet in Beta 6), it says I have a local area connection through Parallels network adaptor -- but the IP is 10.37.129.4. I presume that setting start and end IP to the same number is supposed to force it to pick that number, right? Then why is my IP not 10.37.129.1?

I can connect to my Mac and see my Mac files. But I can't get to the Internet.

[bmcfadden]

I really appreciate the quick development going on at Parallels, but maybe it's time to take a break and lay off the diet coke for a few hours ... Beta6 is a big step back from Beta5 ... I have no networking at all despite reinstalling several times and trying almost every setting I could think of, and mucking around in Windows ...

Thanks, Parallels Team, for reminding me why I hate WIndows so much! Such a confusing operating system, especially when something so seemingly simple as a network connection goes down ... all that exists is utter confusion, unless you're an expert.

Anyway, I've enjoyed this great product up until now -- but I've wasted half my evening trying to fix the networking issue -- so I guess I'll have to explore Bootcamp until I read that networking is back ... cause the only thing worse than staring at WIndowsXP is staring at it with no network connection.

[tacit_one]

sbatson,
thank you for your question about floppy support. We didn't consider it to be implemented till now as there is no such device in shipped mac's. Please, post your request at http://forum.parallels.com/forum28.html - we will surely consider it as smth. that should be implemented.

[Scott]

Responses to the networking issue are contained in several threads in this forum. Essentially, you simply need to input the ip and dns addresses manually.

[snit]

I don't understand the change in terms of supporting Internet sharing. I have been doing this from beta1-beta 5 in order to get more robust networking, as follows:

1) Share the interface I'm using for connectivity to the one I'm not.
2) Tell parallels to use the interface that is shared.

That's it. It has always worked.

[Ekke]

After upgrading to Beta 6 I've lost bridged network capability in my WinXP guest OS. I'm using en1:Airport Adapter on mt MBP and its totally dead. When I us ipconfig /all I vet teh ol' MS 169.x.x.x default bogus non working IP address.

me thinks its broken lads.....

See my post in the Announcemnets section of this forum, how to fix it.