Parallels 5 custom disk configuration possible?

[cfair]

Just back into Parallels 5 from VMware on reports of better speed.

I have the 3 partition boot camp setup as follows

disk0s2 = MacOS
disk0s3 = Data (formatted ntfs, but it shouldn't matter)
disk0s4 = Win7 (64bit)

Trying to get parallels to setup disk0s3 as d:\Data as it is in my Win7 setup, but I can't find documentation on what Parallels 3 called "custom disk configuration" as I had before switching to VMware.

Can anyone show me how to modify the .pvs file to always mount disk0s3 as d:\ as a hard drive partition and _not_ networked drive? The Win7 absolute paths break when the partition mounts as network drive.

 

[I-che]

Hi cfair,
'Custom disk configuration' is not possible in PD 5. PD 5 officially supports standard Windows installations created using Boot Camp Assistant on disk0s3. Parallels is working on extending this functionality, but no exact ETA can be given.
P.S. Modification of .pvs will not work.

 

[megavolt17]

Ah, likely why Parallels no longer works on my system. I just added TT5 eDrive. I can boot into Windows 7 by selecting the Boot Camp partition (contrary to what happens with XP Win 7 has no problems being on a new partition number). Parallels can't find the operating system...

There is an old post here that talks about a 3 partition system and how to configure the pvm file. I tried that and found several references to Disk 0:3 that I changed to 0:4 but nothing changed. Eventually I removed my PVM file and tried to configure a new virtual machine that would use Boot Camp - did not work.

Looks like I'm not going to be able to use Parallels until there is a fix for 3 partition systems. Here is my current setup:

/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *320.1 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 272.5 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_HFS eDrive 12.9 GB disk0s3
4: Microsoft Basic Data Windows 7 34.2 GB disk0s4

Please let me know when you have a solution. I am willing to assist with beta testing.


Megavolt17

 

[I-che]

Hi megavolt17,
you are already included to beta program (under the same email registered on Parallels forum), and will receive appropriate notification to participate when beta is announced.

 

[megavolt17]

Is there a way to change partition size without reinstalling everything? I know iPartition claims you can resize the partitions including Windows NTFS ones without formatting, but will Parallels still work on the partition if I change it's size?

Is the 2 partition limit the only catch, or would changing the size of the Windows partition also be unsupported? I am realizing the default 32 Gb Windows 7 partition is inadequate to install more than 1 game before having <3 Gb free when playing a game. I'd like to increase to 50 Gb or 75 Gb but don't want to lose the ability to run Parallels. If I have to reinstall everything from scratch I really don't want to push my luck with Windows support to have them authorize another install!

Thanks


Megavolt17

 

[I-che]

Hi Megavolt17,
we can hardly assist you on this issue. Parallels Desktop currently does not support configurations created with iPartition or rEFIt, so we cannot guarantee positive result or recommend you anything.

 

[megavolt17]

OK, I made sure I had a good backup of my system and I made a backup of my Windows 7 partition using Winclone (which I kept on the Mac desktop, so would not have had access to if everything got messed up).

I had to make a bootable CD for iPartition because you can't change partitions from the boot drive. I shrank my Macintosh HD partition and expanded my Windows 7 partition from 32 GB to 50 GB. iPartition took care of all hard disk modifications and moved files that needed to be moved. It took around 20 minutes in all (including reading the minimal instructions 8 or 9 times prior to pressing the start button).

I then booted to OS X with no problem, Disk Utility found no issues. I booted to Windows 7 via Boot Camp with no issues, I checked the disk for errors and found none.

Now to boot Parallels - of course with HD changes it could not get past the booting from IDE drive message. I was however able to make another virtual machine from my Boot Camp partition and that seems to work fine.

Overall much less problem than I had expected. Sure beats the official way of removing the Boot Camp partition, using the Boot Camp Assistant to create a new partition, installing the drivers and then reinstalling Windows from scratch.

Megavolt17