(Snow) Leopard Server not working in Parallels 11

[WillMo]

Since I upgraded to Parallels Desktop 11, it is no longer possible to boot into OS X Leopard Server or Snow Leopard Server as guest operating systems with the default settings. The error message says it's not a server version:

An invalid Mac OS version is installed. Mac OS X virtual machines can have only the Mac OS X Server Leopard or Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard operating system installed. Other versions of Mac OS are not supported.

My guest operating systems are server versions and worked in Parallels 10 and they work in Parallels 11 if I set Hardware->Boot Order->Boot flags in the configuration to vm.bios.efi=0.

This looks like Parallels no longer fully support Leopard Server and Snow Leopard Server as guest operating systems.

Has anyone else experienced this? (Does anyone else use Leopard and Snow Leopard as guest operating systems?)

William

 

[Macintosh Rescue]

Hi William,

I've been trying to setup a new Mac OS X Server 10.5 VM and am having major problems although it does boot.
I've installed from disc version 10.5.4 but I cannot apply software updates beyond 10.5.5, another problem I have is that the network connection does not start properly, I have to open System Preferences in the VM, change Configure IPv4 to "off" the back to DHCP to get a network connection, in other words this virtual machine is no use as a headless server.
I have a Mac OS X Server "Snow Leopard" VM I configured in Parallels Desktop 9 and I can start and run that without and problems.

I think we need to send support requests and hope that the Parallels team are interested in fixing these bugs.

Andrew

 

[WillMo]

Hi Andrew

Well, you could download the system updates from Apple and install them manually. These might be links:
Mac OS X Server 10.5.8 Update v.1.1 and Mac OS X Server 10.5.8 Combo Update v.1.1
I got them by navigating to apple.com -> Support (at the top of the page) -> Downloads and Updates (near the bottom of the page) -> Browse by Product -> Search for "server 10.5.8" (without the quotes). I have not tested if the downloads actually work.

I have three disks on my Virtual Machine, each with a different version of the operating system (10.7.5, 10.6.8 and 10.5.8). Since Parallels 10, the option "Select boot device on startup" (under Boot Order on the Hardware configuration screen) has not worked with the default configuration. I raised a support issue for that and spoke first to someone in India (I think) and then to someone in Russia (I asked her where she was). They were very nice, but provided no help in resolving the problem, plus I had to give them access to my computer with logmein,com (I can't remember the actual web site now). I got the answer to use vm.bios.efi=0 in the boot flags from elsewhere.

I'm interested that your server actually boots. with default settings. Perhaps the default efi in Parallels 11 only looks on the first disk for the file /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist which determines that the system in a server. As I have 10.7.5 on the first disk, it does not have that file so it fails to boot. Perhaps (when I have some time) I will install the file there and see if it gets round my problem with booting.

For your network problems, have you tried different settings for Network Source and NIC Type? For source I use "Bridged Network: Default Adapter" and NIC Type "Realtek RTL8029AS". The other NIC Types give me "cable unplugged" in System Preferences.

William

 

[Macintosh Rescue]

Hi William,

Thanks, now that I'm running OS X Server 10.5.5 I can use that RTL8029AS network adapter normal, I use it in bridge mode since I will move this virtual machine to a Mac mini server and start the virtual machine with the prlctl command when I need the old server.

I've tried running the manual update packages you referenced, I've also tried going incremental though versions making snapshots in-between but the only update which worked was 10.5.5 but I cannot update to 10.5.6 through an increment, the 10.5.7 combo update fails as does 10.5.8v1.1 so it seems that I'm stuck at 10.5.5.

Since you are having a boot problem I should printout that when I Installed Leopard server the final screen read "Installation Failed" with a message about being unable to set Macintosh HD as the startup disk however on reboot the Server Setup Assistant started just as it should.
Perhaps you could try enabling the Parallels boot menu and selecting the hard disk manually on every boot, it seems to work on Parallels Desktop 11, it would be interesting to see if you could start Leopard that way, if so you might want to look at splitting your OS X installations into separate virtual machines and sharing a virtual disk between them if you are simply trying to share data between them.

I tried that vm.bios.efi=0 boot flag to see if it would sort my update problem, all it seems to do for me is make the white screen with the grey apple appear on startup rather than the UNIX style shell.

I think that the underlying problem is that Parallels Desktop is evolving and a little too good at showing off the host machine which is problematic when running and old system like Mac OS X Server "Leopard" since you would be unable to install that on a modern Mac, Parallels needs some good old fashioned emulation technology in the same way that VmWare allows the selection of older hardware versions, Parallels Desktop has no such option.

Attached is what happens when I try to update beyond 10.5.5.

I've opened a case with Parallels support and I'll let you know if I learn anything relevant.

Good luck and if you need any files from one of my VM's please let me know.

 

[Macintosh Rescue]

Here's an update on the Mac OS X Server 10.5 situation.

I moved my virtual machine to VMware Fusion, installed all software updates including the OS X 10.5.8 combo, verified that the virtual machine was working flawlessly then converted it back to a Parallels virtual machine.
When I try to start my good virtual machine on Parallels Desktop I encounter the exact same startup problem, I feel now that I can conclusively say that Mac OS X Server 10.5.8 does 'not' work on Parallels Desktop 11. My little look at the current version of VMware Fusion has made me realise that there is a superior product to Parallels Desktop now and so I think I will be using that from here on unless there is a miraculous update to Parallels Desktop which improves compatibility and stability, historically areas which break after every major Parallels Desktop update.

I'm sorry I couldn't help anymore but I can tell you that VMware Fusion does exactly what it says in the documentation.

 

[WillMo]

Hi Andrew

Sorry for delay in replying, I'm been away for a few days.

My experience is that OS X 10.5 and 10.6 guest machines have not worked properly since at least version 10 of Parallels. I mentioned before that the facility to select startup disk disappeared. Then in version 10.1.4 the ability to see shared folders on the host machine disappeared. I managed to fix that by reinstalling the version of /usr/bin/prl_fsd from an older version of Parallels. That also works on Parallels 11, except they have now moved prl_fsd from /usr/bin to "/Library/Parallel Guest Tools".

I agree that Parallels can no longer be regarded as supporting guests with these OS X versions (10.5.8 and 10.6.8). I too have been considering moving to VMware, but I need to find the money for that. I'll wait and see what happens with El Capitan, or perhaps I'll look at VirtualBox; this page https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Guest_OSes says it will run Leopard and Snow Leopard.

William

 

[Macintosh Rescue]

Hi William,

VirtualBox is good however the manual states that it can only run Mac OS X versions on hardware that supports the guest since it is a very transparent hypervisor, in other words If your Mac shipped with Mac OS X 10.6 it is not likely to support a Mac OS X 10.5 virtual machine. VirtualBox is free so it is well worth trying and I have positive experience of using it on Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and Ubuntu host machines. VMware Fusion has probably the most comprehensive guess support and it is a lot less invasive than Parallels Desktop; you can share files by simply dragging them to and from the guest rather than needing to setup shares but you can setup permanent shares if you wish. The one thing Parallels Desktop seems to excel at is performance, that is the reason I persevere with it's troubles.

I've had a long thread of communications with Parallels Support and they have taken an interest; they have advised me that the data I have sent will be used to improve future builds of Parallels Desktop so let's see what happens.

In regards to your boot problem I just realised that you might not be using Parallels Desktop 11 Professional, if that is the case then a lot of features will have been removed when you upgraded which might include the ability to select the startup disk on boot.

I'll respond you your conversation soon with the file you need.

 

[WillMo]

Hi Andrew

No, I don't have Parallels Pro, but the boot selection stopped working in Parallels 10, so I think it's not associated with the Pro version. Besides, the option is still available in my version (Hardware->Boot Order-> Select boot device on startup).

I got around to trying VirtualBox. Setup is quite complicated, but Mac OS X 10.5 can be made to work. I have used both a machine which was capable of running it directly (iMac 24 inch, Early 2008) and a newer machine (Mac mini, Late 2014). I think performance is as good as Parallels, at least for what I want to do. Some things are missing (e.g. clipboard sharing and disk sharing) but I can work around those.

Let me know (off list) if you are interested in how I made it work. My address is in the conversation.

William