Insufficient Video Memory Error

K

Knocka

Junior Member
I have Parallels Build 5608 installed under Mac OS X 10.5.4. I run Outlook in Coherence Mode. If I leave the computer and return to it after a period of time, I almost always have a Parallels Error Box that says there is insufficient video memory and I should shut down the VM and Edit the Configuration. I have tried that, and increased the Video Memory to the maximum. I still get the error. Any ideas as to why? It does not seem to occur in any mode other than Coherence. Thanks.
 
Same here with Coherence Mode. I have a Mac Pro with the following specs:
Mac OS 10.5.4
2 x 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
8 GB 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
2 Cinema displays with each a resolution of 1680 x 1050.

The Parallels Desktop error message is :

>The screen resolution in the guest OS cannot be set because it is low on video memory. The displaymay not be >optimal. Please increase the machine video memory. To increase amount of video memory shutdown the virtual >machine, set new virtual memory size (Edit Configuration -> Memory -> Video Memory).

Unfortunately maximum main memory is 2048 MB and maximum video memory is 64 MB.

This is a major problem when I want to open outlook, excel, Bloomberg 4 screens, Adobe Acrobat and the Fax Software.

With a Mac Pro, should I expect to have a Powerful virtual PC? For the moment programs run very slowly and very often give the frequent Windows Vista error message: "NOT RESPONDING" application.

What are the alternatives to reach maximum power with Parallels?
 
Please try to decrease Mac OS resolution and check situation,
Try to start from 1024x900 and move to higher, check when it starts to give errors
 
Yes that's an idea, however i'd like to use the full resolution of my screen.
Parallels Desktop is limiting the memory and video memory of the guest OS.
If I want to get better performances, I need to increase both these values!
Why does it need to virtualize the Video card as well? What a pity... I have
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB...
 
In every Virtualization software, video card is emulated, the real one is not used,
We are working to add more video memory for future version
 
I am wondering if the Parallels Server trial would make a difference as I could allocate much more memory to the Guest OS (much more than 2 GB).

With my current installation (Windows Vista under Parallels Desktop), can I try Parallels Server trial?
If I don't feel the upgrade is worth it, can I go back to Parallels Desktop with that same installation?

Thanks.
 
Up to 8 Gb
Yes you can Parallels Server will convert current image to new format
Back up VM first , you will not be able to convert it back
 
so is the video memory given to parallels taken from the amount of memory given to parallels? for instance if i give parallels 1024mb and 32mb of video, does the 32mb come from the 1024 or is it kept separate?

i have the same problem the other users are describing. i start parallels and put it in coherence. i work with it for a while. after a certain amount of time i get an error that there is not enough video memory for the resolution. i put it back in windowed mode and then back to coherence and it keeps working until the next time.
 
It is separate from main memory.
Error is coming if screensaver is enabled either on Mac OS or on Windows, or graphic intensive application with memory leak is running on high Mac resolution
 
what if it's none of these?

the most recent problem for me came about after i started xp, put it in coherence mode. started up visual studio 2005 (almost always comes about when vs 2k5 is running and i know visual studio uses some window tricks when displaying the main window). no other programs with actual windows were running on xp. the taskbar was visible. on the mac side mail, safari and itunes were running though all of the windows had been closed. i left the computer which does not have a screen saver enabled on either the os x or windows side. i left the computer long enough for energy saver to kick in and put the display to sleep (the computer is set to never go to sleep) after 15 minutes. i was away for about 25 minutes. when i came back i woke the display and the parallels message box was visible informing me that memory was insuffecient for the display resolution. i put parallels back into windowed mode and immediately back into coherence.
 
ok i took screen shots this time.

i started xp. then went to coherence and received the "insufficient video memory" error.

parallels was set to 12mb, which was noted to be sufficient for up to 1920 x 1200. the os x resolution was set at 1680 x 1050.

p0.png

p1.png

p2.png
 
This is insufficient memory problem,
Note, that memory is also used by applications, and if application is graphic intensive, you can get this error
 
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