Parallels 3.0 Not Working in Leopard 10.5

Xenos - this is on a MacBook Pro - so there is only one video card - the config is a 4GB MacBook Pro - running XP with Office, Messanger, CISCO VPN

 

Spaces pref file is causing a problem?

I have a question... I had Parallels running fine on my first launch after the Leopard upgrade ... I of course was playing with Spaces and moved it to a new location then quit and restarted my Mac ... Now when I open Parallels "unexpectedly crashed" dialog. NOw I have done everything I could think of (beta, following the workaround steps, uninstalling reinstalling) ... Is it possible that my Spaces pref file is causing a problem? Any idea where I could find that to test. Just not sure why it would work and then no longer work.

Thanks!
Bill

 

Bingo... unplugged one monitor and now vista boots up, no problem.

ETA on the fix? Seems wasteful with a dark 30" on my desk.

 

knocks wood too

I've recently upgrade to 10.5 and Parallels runs almost perfectly fine. The only 1 minor exception is it's unable to mount the virtual hd on the Mac as a shared drive while Windows is running (gives a timeout error). Which I don't care too much about, and I think it's just a driver/library update if I did.

 

I also had this problem after upgrading to Leopard, but I did the following:

Uninstall Parallels
Reinstall
Reboot

That actually made Parallels boot again. Not sure how stable it will be, but at least it works for now.

 

TURTLESHEAD, you'll find the files with Parallels Explorer help.

mteahan, to transfer a working image from your other mac, copy .hdd file from there to any folder, then create a new VM in custom mode. When you get Select virtual hard disk option, choose Use an existing hard disk image and show the path to the .hdd file you've copied. If you want to use Boot camp, create a new VM in custom mode choosing Boot camp when you are offered to Select virtual hard disk.

bconnolly01, did you try to reinstall Parallels as described in known issues and workarounds?

wkharris, your issue is investigated by our QA team.

moas, cagg and syntheticzero, thank you very much for the feedback. With our customers' help Parallels developers and QA team are improving Parallels Desktop and other products.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Just FYI, I am using the beta 5540 build --- which I know isn't "safe" but it seems reasonably stable for me under Leopard compared to 5160. (Again --- it also didn't boot until I had done an uninstall/reinstall/reboot --- but since then it has been running okay.)

 

I have a few problems while using Parallels:

1. New iMAC 24" 2.8Ghz machine with 2GB ram and 750GB HD. I installed Leopard and after this I installed a boot camp partition of 32Gb. Using Windows XP with SP2. Start up looks oke but get message "(C) My Boot Camp.... Timed outwarning for the file system to initialize.

2. If I start using Windows under parallels it freezes after a couple of minits including the running applications. The only way to stop it is by using a forced stop. Afterwards it will start to do a consitancy check and starts again. If I stop Windows under parallels rather fast I can terminate Windows in a normal way via the start menu.

3. If I start Windows without parallels I get now the message hal.dll missing

3. Further I noticed when I had a USB HD with only data connected Parallels refuses to start while it found two Windows disks.

 

Kernel Panic

I recently upgraded to Leopard on my MacBook core 2 duo (2.0 GHz and 2GB or RAM) and I have tried to run Windows via Parallels 3 times. It worked once, and the other 2 times, as soon as I clicked on the 'Play' button to start up the virtual machine, I received a kernel panic. One time I had a number of other programs open, and the second time, nothing was running except Parallels. I am running build 5160, yet I have noticed other build numbers on this forum by users running leopard. Is there a more recent build?

 

Hello,

johnedithp, you can find workarounds for issues 1 and 2 in the list of known issues and workarounds, units 6 and 8.

You get the hal.dll error because of incorrect Windows work finishing (Force Quit). So you'll have to repair Windows installation now.

As to USB HD, did you try to share it? Configuration Editor -> Shared Folders -> User-defined folders -> + (Add)

godzilla, please look at unit 8 of known issues and workarounds as well.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Unit 8 talks about memory allocation problems: what if you have 2GB on your machine, the virtual machine set to use 512MB and no other applications running and still get the same result?
I have had to unistall Parallels for the time being because of the problems it is causing.

johnedithp: There is a FAR EASIER way to repair the XP installation if you have the hal.dll problem. Restart your Mac, hold down 'Alt' and select the Boot camp partition - you'll have to be quick for the next bit! As soon as the screen goes black and you see the bit where the windows boot loader selects a configuration (on mine there is a Parallels entry and another one) press the up or down cursor key. Make sure the NON parallels configuration is selected, and press return. You now boot into XP. Restart the Mac and go back into Mac OS. You should not see the error any more (this works for me at any rate).

Chris

 

I did a fresh machine wipe and install of Leopard on a new MacBook Pro. Installed Boot Camp. I made sure Boot Camp was running well, then installed Parallels. The first few times running it, it was okay, but then I started having crashing problems with Parallels (taking the whole machine down with that grey crash page in 5 different languages). When I tried to reboot in Boot Camp, I had the error "<windows root>\system32\hal.dll file is corrupt or missing, and needs to be replaced".

I've had too much damn trouble with this software. I've been trying to get it working since June (hence the recent drive wipe and reinstall). I'm off to see if VMWare is any more competent.

I'd advise anyone who relies upon Parallels to think twice about upgrading to Leopard. A fresh install in a default configuration should not have caused this kind of catastrophy.

Edit: I should mention that I did use the Windows Repair Console to attempt to save this install, but it cannot fix the trouble. It's a good thing this machine didn't have any valuable data on it. I'd be screwed.

 

Thank you for your reply, Xenos, but I do not believe that unit 8 of known issues and workarounds adequately addresses the problem. I had run Parallels under Tiger with many other programs running, and never ran into any issues in terms of kernel panics and not having enough memory. I just installed last night the beta build for Leopard (5540, I believe) thinking that perhaps it would work better with Leopard, but that turned out to be an incorrect assumption. I attempted to run Parallels again with no other programs running, with way more than 1 GB of RAM free (I have 1 GB allocated to the VM), and the machine kernel panicked again. Before the kernel panic, I received a message saying that enough memory was not available, but in reading other posts to this forum, it seems that people have had less memory allocated to the VM and with 2GB of total RAM in their computer, and are experiencing the same problems. When can we expect a build to address these problems? I purchased Parallels specifically so I could work from home, as I have a PC at work, and the current state of affairs is rendering this impossible.

 

Hello jrotondo and godzilla,

I’m sorry repeating myself but a free update providing full Leopard compatibility is being developed and will be released soon. This update’s quality and usability are very important for us, and Parallels Desktop is a multiaspect program, so the developers’ and testers’ work takes time. When full testing and bug fixing are finished, the update will be released. For the current update we could not prevent some bugs caused by last-minute changes in Leopard's official release.
So we do not advise installing Leopard before the mentioned build comes. Especially for work purposes and crucially important tasks.

When you make an update or install a new software please make a copy of your VM folders with configuration files on a separate data storage to prevent losing data.

For the Memory allocation issue causing kernel panics etc.: if your total RAM is less than 4Gb and there are no other applications running, please check what amount of memory you specify for the guest OS. Try to increase it manually to maximum (Parallels Desktop -> Preferences ->Memory tab). Also check, how much memory is specified for your VMs. Please decrease the amount of memory for the VM you use.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Thanks Xenos, but I've wrestled enough with Parallels. I understand that Apple made some last-minute revisions that threw you off, but in the end, users just need to find something that works. This time around, VMware has beat you to the punch. They claim 1.1RC is Leopard-compatible.

I guess time will tell if they're not being honest, but right now my boss is staring at my $2,500 brick and wondering why he let me talk him into buying a Mac. I don't have time to wait for your free release.

 

I originally did a regular upgrade to Leopard. I was able to use Parallels but the computer had too many random freezes to continue. I then did an archive and install which fixed all the freezes but now I get the Parallels missing driver error. I need to use windows to work, I can't work now. I realize a fix is in the works, but is there any idea when this will come out?

 

Xenos, I would strongly recommend that you post an important service bulletin on the Parallels homepage, stating that you recommend AGAINST Mac owners upgrading to Leopard if they plan to use Parallels. You'll save yourself a lot of tech support calls. Had I known you guys weren't there, I never would have upgraded. Now I'm stuck and have to switch VMs, because downgrading back to Tiger is not an option.

 

The hard way

Great finding this out after it trashed my Boot Camp XP installation and now won't run at all in Leopard.
I blame myself for trusting that SOMEBODY at Parallels would have the sense or interest to provide clear and visible notification not to use 5160 with Leopard other than a post near the end of a thread in the forums.

If you knew 5160 was not ready for Leopard users due to last minute chages why didn't or haven't you still let customers know this? How hard is it to put this warning in an obvious place on the download or web page?

I bet not nearly as hard as it is for your customers to fix the mess it makes and waste hours reloading. Good grief.

 

I feel the same way Oceans...

Since I had to reinstall Windows XP again anyway, I've opted for VMware this time. Patching Windows is a painfully long process, and I truly wish that the folks at Parallels had the forethought to think about the customers that would try upgrading to Leopard. They've lost me as a customer.

The folks over at VM have a $20 rebate. Makes the purchase easier to stomach. I guess that Parallels isn't worried though. They already have my $70. Time to give someone else a shot.

 

It really burns me up - customers know Leopard may create problems but when Parallels is STILL encouraging people to use 5160 with Leopard on the main page and they can't get their act togther enough to simply edit a webpage to warn users, there isn't an excuse for it.
I think I may be following you to VM. Sure not doing this again.