3188 build is hosed

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by hanseric, Mar 25, 2007.

  1. hanseric

    hanseric Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    3188 build not working

    Just loaded the new 3188 build the other day my XP guest OS not working since. I can start VM, but that's as far as it goes.

    It is saying it can't communicate with one of its drivers. So I followed instructions to start Parallels from Applications > Parallels > Parallels as described. Doesn't fix it.

    Reinstalled the new build3 separate times. No fix.

    For some reason when I check my version under About Parallels, it shows I am using 1970 version. how that could be after installing the 3188 build I don't know. Also, the executable file under Applications > Parallels > Parallels is dated Nov 2006. This also seemed odd to me.

    Does anyone have any suggestions?

    My registered email (for the parallels guys if they need it) is hansericATearthlink.net.

    Hans
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2007
  2. Christopher Nielsen

    Christopher Nielsen Member

    Messages:
    26
    Did you use build 3186 previously, without any problems?

    Regardless, add me to the list of folks who want an official answer from Parallels re: the specific changes that were made in 3188 vs. 3186. Given the number of folks who seem to be having problems with 3188, combined with the fact that 3186 is working great for me, I am hesitant to install the upgrade.

    Anyone else have any thoughts/opinions?
     
  3. Olivier

    Olivier Forum Maven

    Messages:
    610
    1) With Parallels turned off, make a backup copy of your virtual machine(s) (pvs files, hdd files)
    2) Fully uninstall Parallels by mounting the disk image and using the uninstall tool.
    3) Shutdown / reboot your Mac. I know it sounds Windowish, but you have to.
    4) Re-download the latest Parallels disk image from the Parallels web site. Ignore *any* mirror which might have been offered.
    5) Mount it and run the installer for Parallels.
    6) Shutdown / reboot your Mac. Yeah still Windowish but if you want to clean the mess, follow that windowish advice.
    7) Start Parallels, review your VM settings prior to starting it : enough memory, and so on. Review Parallels preferences too, while you're at it. Unless you have tons of RAM (2 GB or more), be sure to leave the general memory setting on automatic.
    8) Start the VM. Upon Windows logon wait some seconds for the Parallels Tools update to start and let it run and shutdown your VM. This is very important to have updated Tools, or at least it is very important not to run with outdated Tools. You must have the right Tools or no Tools, but not an outdated version. If the Tools updater does not launch use the Parallels Desktop menu on your Mac to start it from the Action menu.

    You're done. That MUST work fine, either with build 3186 or 3188. The differences are **slim** and mostly Windows 98 related, the details have been published on this board by someone from Parallels.

    I have not the least problem using 3188 on my MacBook Pro 15" (original model Core Duo) as well as I had no issue with 3186. My main VM is a Windows XM VM.
     
  4. darkone

    darkone Forum Maven

    Messages:
    804
    http://forum.parallels.com/post50772-2.html

    They posted change information a while back.
     
  5. hanseric

    hanseric Bit poster

    Messages:
    9

    I think the last version I had was 3184(?). Right now it says I'm using 1970, though, which is odd since I have installed 3188 several times (as already posted).
     
  6. hanseric

    hanseric Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    Reinstalled Parallels but can't get previous guest OS to work now...

    I walked through all this and while it got me on the right version of Parallels finally, I am having trouble getting XP (my guest OS) to boot up now. I put the .pvs and .hdd files back in Library/parallels folder so Parallels could find them. But the only way i can get the guest OS to start is to click directly on the .pvs file. It starts to load, giving me the Windows splash screen, and then I get a black screen after that and what appears to be a lot of computing going on (judging by the little harddrive icon at the bottom of the VM window. But otherwise it just stays black. I've tried restarting it a couple of times, but to no avail.

    If I try running the guest OS by opening parallels and selecting the XP.pvs file (the one I backedup with its corresponding .hdd file before removing the previous version of Parallels), I get an error which reads: Unable to lockout the configuration file Applications/parallels/xp.pvs

    Anyone know what that could mean?

    Any ideas for how I can get XP back up and running again? I really need this to be working well again. There's lots of stuff I have on XP that I was using. I'm grateful for any help!
     
  7. hanseric

    hanseric Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    Back up and running! Thanks to all who helped.

    Okay, so this is working now. Just after posting this last bit above re: black screen, I found this thread: http://forum.parallels.com/thread9547.html

    That fixed it for me so all is now well and I'm back up and running. And by the way, the new COHERENCE feature is AWESOME.

    Now I just have to figure out how to keep my fan from running at high speed quite as much as it is. Glad to be back on with XP though. Thanks to one and all for the help! :D
     
  8. cmartinez

    cmartinez Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    I had a similar issue a few builds ago. For me, as hinted by Olivier's post above, the problem seemed to be with Parallel Tools. For some reason, the outdated Tools would not work with the newer version of Desktop. I'm not sure what the problem was, but I am guessing that the Guest OS could not display properly. All I would get was a black screen even though it appeared that my Guest OS (XP Pro) was loading correctly.

    I uninstalled the newer Desktop build and reinstalled the previous build that allowed XP to load and display properly. I then uninstalled Parallels Tools via Windows' "Add or Remove Program." I then uninstalled the older version of Parallels, and then reinstalled the newer build. I now always remove Tools before updating to a newer build (except for the last version, and it seemed to work fine). If this does not work, you can try booting under safe mode and removing Parallel Tools once your OS has launched (I'm not sure if this would work).
     
  9. hanseric

    hanseric Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    booting in safe mode worked to install tools

    That's exactly what I did. Worked great.

    Thanks for chiming in!
     

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