Battery Cut-off using Parallels with Windows 7

Does anyone have a solution or comment for this comment that I just saw on the MacWindows website? I want to run Parallels with 32 bit Windows 7 on a MacBook Pro just like this poster with the battery problem describes. Does anyone know if Parallels has addressed this?:




Reader says Parallels, Win 7, disable MacBook Pro battery

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Sven G. reports that the latest build of Parallels Desktop 5, disables his MacBook Pro battery, when running Windows 7. This is a problem that readers reported in 2007 with earlier builds of Parallels Desktop. Sven tried the suggestions on our Parallels Tips and reports page, and was able to get the battery working:

I was experimenting with creating a 32-bit Windows 7 virtual machine in my MacBook Pro 2009 with Parallels Desktop 5 build 9344 (the Italian localized version), and suddenly, incredibly, I found hat Parallels had disabled the battery indicator in the Mac OS X menu bar (and, thus, the battery itself): it had a cross on it instead of the battery symbol, and thus was also completely unavailable.

Well, after numerous tries at resetting the SMC, the PRAM, booting in Safe Mode, and after disconnecting all cables and leaving the computer at rest for some minutes, etc., I finally managed to revive the battery: but this is a quite serious bug, indeed, to say the least! For example, in the absurd "Parallels-modified-state" (battery disabled!), the MacBook Pro wouldn't even boot without a MagSafe power cable connected.

After reading all the similar comments on your site (those from 2007), the symptoms with the latest Parallels Desktop 5 build are exactly the same: first, a battery icon with an X, saying that no batteries are available; then, after some random restarting and resetting, the usual mains logo in the battery indicator, but saying that the battery isn't in charge; finally, when the problem has been fixed (I don't know exactly due to what: see SMC reset, PRAM zapping, restarting, shutting down, unplugging cables, etc. etc.), the same correct icon, but saying that the battery is fully charged (which it indeed is, as the computer is attached to a LED Cinema Display with its built-in MagSafe power connector).

And the same happens also if one simply tries to change the battery settings in the Parallels Windows 7 VM 's optimization settings: instant disabling of the battery - and subsequent "user panic" in order to try to restore its functioning state!

The system is a mid-2009 15" 2.53GHz MacBook Pro with Mac OS X 10.6.2. Nothing had changed in the previous hours, except that I had begun to run a newly created Windows 7 virtual machine with Parallels Desktop 5 build 9344: so the problem almost certainly depends on this software.

 

I would only add that this problem didn't occur in build 9804 or previous ones; only after upgrading to build 9344 (the latest one).

Very strange, indeed...

 

Thanks Sven. Any idea if Parallels is even addressing this issue with a revision or update?

 

I really have no idea...

Anyway, the first time I experienced this issue was after creating a Win7 VM with Parallels, and then again when changing its optimization settings: so, even if of course it isn't 100% sure that it's Parallels Desktop's fault, something strange happened, anyway. (It could maybe also be that the battery connector is loose, who knows...: I'll verify that when I upgrade the RAM to 8 GB, in a few days.)

Hopefully, they can test for potential issues like this one also on their machines...

 

... And here is what I did afterwards:

http://www.macwindows.com/parallels.html#040710f

Yes, something quite strange happened, indeed: who knows why and how...