Error message on launching PD's VM

hi,

i've been running PD 3 for mac 10.4.9 without problem for months.

now i have the following problem: on clicking the VM link in order to launch windows xp, i get the following error msg:

Parallels Desktop is unable to operate properly since it cannot communicate with one of its drivers. Seems that drivers are inconsistent with the currently installed version of Parallels Desktop. To overcome this issue, reinstall Parallels Desktop and start it by selecting Finder->Applications->Parallels->Parallels Desktop.


although i did what is suggested above, the problem remains the same.

since there is no way to directly contact PD' support team (unbelievable but true: you are their client but once you've paid, they are not available anymore!!!!!!!!!), i hope that somebody might have a solution to this problem

note: althought this error message keeps displaying itself each time i click my (only) windows xp home VM's link, i need to click the green arrow and the VM launches itself and works properly

 

Hello,

there are numbers of ways to contact the SupportTeam. You can use free e-mail support, phone support or this forum. You can find more information here.

But let's return to your probem. Did you try to re-install Parallels Tools?
If yes, you can also try to turn off your Parallels. Then please delete *.sav and *.mem files from <VM name> folder that contains data on your VM. Then start Parallels and Windows again.

If your VM still doesn't start properly, please write me back.

Best regards,
Stacey

 

satyor,
Just for the record, you aren't their client unless you are getting on-going licenses, support, etc... They are not a consulting service, you are their customer.

Not to say they shouldn't help when their program has a defect, which from my experience they have always done...

 

Hi,

thanks for answering me and trying to help on the forum (i already contacted Parallels' support service via email for another technical question in the past but they never ever answered me).


as suggested i reinstalled Parallels Tool. it did not help.
then i restarted the mac and tried again to launch my VM. same problem.


what do you mean by "turning off my Parallels"? (i always shut down Parallels after use. it is not set to launch when i turn on my mac).
but maybe you mean something else i don't know.


about the *.sav and *.mem files:
1. i could not find them on my entire Macintosh HD (i used FileBuddy in case those were invisible files)
2. i therefore launched my VM and once into windows xp, i launched a search on its "C:" drive, the master hard drive.
i found 3 files with the ".sav" extension and none with the ".mem" extension
i did not delete anything. please, let me know if these are the files you mean.


and there's another problem arising now (maybe it's the consequence of the first one):
once my windows xp VM was launched, i tried to install "skype for windows".
the installation starts and after a while i get an error message saying the installation cannot be completed because the "L" drive cannot be found.

but, there's no "L" drive whatsoever on my windows xp system and no external hard disk is connected to my mac book pro.


thanks again for your attention
looking forward to hearing from you since i am stuck ;-(

 

Hello,

let's try to reinstall Parallels Desktop one more time. Look at this article please.

Best regards,
Stacey

 

Hi Stacey,

thanks very much for your suggestion. i therefore completely uninstalled and reinstalled PD (it's last release, of course) exactly as suggested (deleting the requested files, rebooting when necessary & so forth).

my windows xp VM seems to work properly now, for the time being, since i just completed the process of reinstallation.

but, when trying to install "skype for windows" on my VM, i get the following problem:
the installation starts and after a while i get an error message saying the installation cannot be completed because the "L" drive cannot be found.

note: in the skype for windows xp installation box, there's an option which allows you to choose on which drive you want to install the software. strangely enough, my windows xp C:/ drive was already automatically selected and in spite of this, i keep getting the above quoted error message.

i rebooted the mac and launched again the VM but that did not help at all.

please, what should be done in this case?

thanks again for answering me and for your precious help!
best regards

 

Hello,

do you have Shared Folders and Shared Profile enabled?
If yes, try to disable them and install Skype one more time.

Best regards,
Stacey

 

hi

i managed to unable Shared Folders (Parallels Menu > Devices > Shared Folders) but how do you unable Shared Profile?


thanks

 

You should run Parallels Desktop and you will see Microsoft Windows icon near the name of the VM. You should click on it and the Configuration Editor will open. There you can find Shared Profile tab.

Best regards,
Stacey

 

hi,

thanks for the tip
i did what you said but "skype for windows" still cannot be installed and i keep getting the same error message: "L disk is not available" & "due to fatal error #1603, skype's installation failed".

note: i managed to install other applications (like roboform's update and goodsync) without any problem, and so, even before i disabled Shared Folders. as for Shared Profile, i has never been enabled. maybe i should now, i don't know.

thanks

 

Hello,

I have investigated you problem with Skype and found out that some people also have such problems. Please look here, may be it will help you.
If you still have this problem, please write me back.

Best regards,
Stacey

 

hi Stacey,

i checked what you suggested: everything is ok now, i managed to install skype without any problem.

thanks you & thank you very much )

 

Similar problem

Hi: I have a similar problem with one of my customers. They get the message "Parallels Desktop is unable to communicate with one of it's drivers, etc..." Then if she wait's a couple of minutes it works fine.

While I understand that there may be some cogs and wheels that need to start spinning in OS-X, the machine is identical to two others in the company that work fine. They all have 3GB RAM and are fairly new machines.

Any suggestions?

 

Hello,

scuthber,
could you please tell me what version of Mac OS does your customer use and the build number of Parallels Desktop?

Best regards,
Stacey

 

Versions...

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac6,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 3 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM61.0093.B05
SMC Version: 1.10f3

Parallels is version 3.0, build 3124

Customer has two other imacs which do not present the same issue. As far as I am aware, they are identical.

 

Hello,

and what is the version of Mac OS? Tiger or Leopard?

Best regards,
Stacey

 

10.6, Tiger

 

Is it possible in the Mac' "Terminal" to perform the following command:
kextstat |grep parallels
and tell me the output of this command?

Also the re-installation of Parallels Desktop might help, but it is little bit difficult to perform:
1. Launch the Uninstall Parallels Desktop application (you can find it on the Parallels Desktop CD or in the downloaded Parallels Desktop DMG package) and follow the on-screen instructions. Please note that Parallels Uninstaller does not remove virtual machines from Macintosh hard disk. It is important to use the Uninstaller of the Parallels Desktop version currently installed or newer.

2. Delete these folders, if they can be found in your system:

/Library/StartupItems/Parallels
/Applications/Parallels

3. You may also need to delete the following files (it is recommended to restart your Macintosh computer before deleting them):

/System/Library/Extensions/vmmain.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/hypervisor.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/Pvsvnic.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/ConnectUSB.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/Pvsnet.kext

4. Try to install Parallels and create a VM using the existing .hdd file.

Best regards,
Stacey

 

I'll have to VNC in to try the command. I have reinstalled parallels already, using the instructions I found in another post with a similar issue. I'll try and remote in and post the results

 

reply

cooksmac3s-computer:~ CooksMac3$ kextstat |grep parallels
67 0 0xca0000 0x4000 0x3000 com.parallels.kext.ConnectUSB
(2.5.0) <32 11 6 5 4 3>
90 0 0xca4000 0x6000 0x5000 com.parallels.kext.Pvsnet (2.2)
<5 4 3 2>
100 0 0x657000 0x14000 0x13000 com.parallels.kext.hypervisor
(2.2) <11 6 5 4 3 2>
101 0 0xdef000 0xa000 0x9000 com.parallels.kext.vmmain (2.2)
<11 6 5 4 3 2>
102 0 0x5f4a0000 0x3000 0x2000 com.parallels.kext.Pvsvnic (2.2)
<35 4 3>