I just tried to use the VM clone function for the first (and last) time. It locked up my machine almost completely. It would update the clock every 2-3 minutes and I could switch to Safari, but there was still a 2-3 minute delay on any activity. I had to reboot the machine to fix it. I started just about an hour ago. Now, why should I even use the clone functionality. I just used the Finder to duplicate my VM folder and it took about 4 minutes. I have done this type of "cloning" before and it seemed to work fine. It still works fine. It makes me nervous when my machine gets locked up like this. It is a Macbook and I worry that it could go to sleep, never wake up, and scramble the HD. Clearly there is something wrong with the cloning operation. The Finder can duplicate the 3 GB disk file in the same time it takes the machine to respond to a mouse click during cloning. This isn't right. My question is this - am I doing anything wrong by cloning using the Finder?
Cloning using the finder should work just fine. You can even move a VM to another machine that way. If you are using the Mac OS extended Journaled format, sleeping won't scramble the HD. It may scramble the file being copied, and I haven't tried it, but being in the middle of a copy may (has someone tried this?) prevent it from sleeping until the copy is finished, or it may resume the copy on awakening. Both behaviors would be logical, and now I'm curious. I'll try it in a few days (if I remember) if no one knows.
Thanks... That is what I thought. I am confident that sleeping along won't scramble anything. But, if it did go to sleep in that locked up state, I don't think it would ever wake up again and I would have to shut the machine off. It is a moot point because that is what I had to do anyway to get control back. Disk Utility found nothing to repair, so I guess my journaling file system helped me out. Plus, with these MacBooks, I'm a little worried about heat. A bad process could lock up the machine and overheat it. That would really annoy me. Still, it has and continues to annoy me when programmers write code that locks up my machine. They get partial credit for actually having a cancel button. Usually though, if I want to hit cancel, it is because the process is taking way too long (10x longer than the Finder?) and/or has locked up my machine. In those cases, the machine is so badly hosed that the cancel button doesn't even work. That was the case with Parallels.
I have a little platform with a couple of fans in it that my MBP sits on. I can run it full bore indefinitely and it doesn't overheat. These devices are available in stores. I got mine at CompUSA for $25. As to getting annoyed: 1) Unless it motivates you to do something about it, it's pointless. 2) Programmers don't typically write code on purpose to lock up your machine. 3) The fact that certain people even exist annoys some of us, but luckily not you or me.
