Windows flickers in 'Single Window' mode

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by DFoxgrov, Dec 19, 2007.

  1. Hugh Watkins

    Hugh Watkins Forum Maven

    Messages:
    943
    I have the same set up with WinXp sp2 and today build 5600
    but have only seen flicker if there is a hanging key in the keyboard (or dirt)

    do you have plenty of free space on your Macintosh Hard disk
    and the VM hard disk?

    If not clone your VM to an external Firewire 800 hard disk and run it from there

    worst case will be a hardware fault
    (I needed a new motherboard after 13 months)

    Hugh W
     
  2. jbailey

    jbailey Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    No dirt or stuck keys

    nothing here... Have new MAC OS image running 10.4.11 with plenty of space. Incidentially all the acceleration settings have been tried - no change. I am now rolling back to previous version. I have to get to work.
     
  3. Luzzano II

    Luzzano II Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    If I may jump in with a few words, I did not experience the flickering until immediately after installing the latest Leopard update 10.5.3 a few days ago. Prior to that, I had been using Parallels without any problems since it was first installed in January. Coincidence, I can not say. Thinking the VM was corrupt, I set it back to a recent mirror file without any change.
    I notice too that if I minimize Parallels and immediately restore it, the flickering goes away.

    iMac 24
    Leopard 10.5.3
    4 Gb RAM
    1500 available to Parallels 5560
     
  4. RKRaider

    RKRaider Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    I have exactly the same problem as the post above from Luzzano II. I installed 10.5.3 and the flicker problem started. I can hide and then restore to stop, but it only lasts a short time and then returns.
     
  5. nick2k3

    nick2k3 Junior Member

    Messages:
    14
    Today I have updated my OSX to 10.5.3 and Windows XP SP3 (installed on bootcamp running under Parallels) always get the flicker problem.
    I've tried all the workaround in this topic, more VM ram memory, more video memory, restart VM, restart OSX, reinstall xp..

    My configuration:
    MacBook Pro
    Intel Core 2 Duo
    2.5 GHz
    2 GB RAM
    Mac OS X 10.5.3 (9D34)

    PS & OT: has anyone else noticed a little slowdown of the whole OSX after updating to 10.5.3?
     
  6. lahaina99

    lahaina99 Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    10.5.3 and XP Flickering Issue

    Today I updated my OSX from 10.5.2 to 10.5.3. I have been running Windows XP SP3 under Parallels build 5600 successfully in single window mode prior to the latest OSX update. Immediately after installing 10.5.3, I started getting the screen flickering issue. I have reinstalled Parallels Tools, have gone back to a couple of prior VM instances, given more VM ram memory, more VM video memory, restarted VM and OSX several times and no joy.

    Any advice, workarounds etc. most welcome.

    My configuration:
    MacBook Pro
    Intel Core Duo
    2.16 GHz
    2 GB RAM
    200 GB Disk, 132 GB Available
    Mac OS X 10.5.3 (9D34)
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2008
  7. Airw0lf

    Airw0lf Junior Member

    Messages:
    15
    flickering problem came up since installing 10.5.3 on my imac.
    the only solution is to reboot the xp machine. this will fix the problem until it starts again! :( this suxx extremely
     
  8. Airw0lf

    Airw0lf Junior Member

    Messages:
    15
    just restarted xp and it started flickering immediately after the restart again! :((
     
  9. Airw0lf

    Airw0lf Junior Member

    Messages:
    15
    uh yeah by the way i found a workaround which works at least for me.
    if flickering begins you'll have to start a dos prompt by clicking start - run - cmd

    after the dos prompt appears press ALT-ENTER do get it into fullscreen mode - flickering is gone. press again ALT-ENTER to get the dos prompt into windowed mode again and type "exit" -> flickering gone!

    you can also force the flickering by open parallels options (I'm using full-screen mode on a second display)

    @parallels-team: can i switch my german licence key into an english one please, so i can use the current releases like 5600 or higher
     
  10. eurcynia

    eurcynia Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    Chiming in to say I am experience the same problem since updating Parallels yesterday. Is Parallels recognizing this issue yet? My coworker also updated Paralells on his home machine running Vista.
     
  11. Luzzano II

    Luzzano II Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    I'm not certain what the purpose of the DOS prompt serves however I too thought of trying Full Screen mode as a work around. _My experience_ is that the Parallels desktop does its transition "dance" indicating it is in Full Screen. The Parallels controls at the right of the screen disappear however the Mac menu bar at the top of the screen as well as the Mac dock continue to be seen which was not possible previously in true FS mode. Under these circumstances, the top Mac menu bar is sometimes just a solid black horizontal stripe and sometimes it appears normally as a grey background with text. In other words, it is flickering.
     
  12. Luzzano II

    Luzzano II Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    I'm sorry, I need to correct my last post. Going back and playing with settings, I see that somehow my Parallels screen resolution had dropped down a notch allowing the Mac bits to show through. Correcting that setting to maximum resolution again has Parallels in true Full Screen mode. My apologies.
     
  13. ewestby

    ewestby Member

    Messages:
    26
    Just updated my MacBook Pro to Mac OS X 10.5.3, and all of a sudden my virtual machine's display -- Windows XP SP2 in single-window mode, running under Parallels 3 build 5600 -- flickers so much when using menus, moving windows, etc., that it's essentially unusable. I immediately hopped over to this forum and found this thread. Glad to see it's not just me, but seriously bummed that it's a compatibility problem.

    Full screen mode just isn't an option for me, since I need to be able to switch quickly and seamlessly between Mac and PC for cross-platform testing.

    Hope a new build comes out soon....
     
  14. lahaina99

    lahaina99 Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    Hi I am from the US and notice that the link for the build 5160 downgrade offered as a "solution" for the flickering issue is actually a link for the UK version. Is there a link available for the US version of build 5160?

    Thanks!
     
  15. Khoji

    Khoji Member

    Messages:
    77
    Exactly the same problems on a Mac Pro 8Core with 6GB. Suggestions to change things like video memory are off base: Everything was working perfectly before the update to 10.5.3 -- it's the combination of 10.5.3 and the current version of Parallels.
     
  16. Khoji

    Khoji Member

    Messages:
    77
    Won't help you, 5600 has exactly the same problem. Confirmed with both Vista and XP virtual machines.
     
  17. jeffmurphy

    jeffmurphy Junior Member

    Messages:
    10
    I'm seeing the same problem with flickering. Parallels was rock-solid before I installed 10.5.3
     
  18. aziom

    aziom Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    I am experiencing the same flickering problems. However, here are some observations:

    - It only seems to happen if Windows XP is paused and restarted. It doesn't seem to happen if you startup Windows (or restart)
    - It doesn't happen when I tried to do a video screen capture using iShowU 1.66 or Snapz Pro X 2.1.2.
     
  19. SteveDemy

    SteveDemy Member

    Messages:
    25
    I've got the flicker too. I am running the latest XP, latest of all apps, 10.5.3. A quick trip to full screen is the work around for me.
     
  20. jgrotepass

    jgrotepass Bit poster

    Messages:
    6
    Same Problem here - UK version on a German OSX 10.5.3 installation. After upgrading to 10.5.3 on Friday, I got the flickering.
    MBPro - 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo - 3GB RAM, 1GB XP RAM
    Running since more than a year without troubles -
    Upgrade Parallels to 5600 doesnt fix the issue
    Temporary workaround with iconize and restore Parallels Window until Tooltips occurs on task bar.
     

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