Warning for MP 2010 Owners DO NOT INSTALL PARALLELS [Archive]

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nxfxcom

Aug 22, 2010, 05:02 PM

Hello,

sorry for the CAPS subject, but be aware, i got my 12 Core on friday, after 2 Time machine Restores, and 4 Clean Installs, i Apple Store visits, i finally figured out what it is:
DO NOT INSTALL PARALLELS !!!!!!!
It is not compatible with the 12Core, it messes up something with the Kernel, spend hours of installing everything and then once i install Parallels, it Panics and will not reboot!

I had it all nice on my time machine, but no luck!!!

be aware!

eponym

Aug 22, 2010, 07:52 PM

I'm glad I'm a Fusion user. :eek:

freedom42

Aug 22, 2010, 08:06 PM

sjinsjca

Aug 22, 2010, 08:13 PM

And I'm SURE you'll get EXCELLENT support from Parallels on this matter, too.

[ \sarc]

I used to use Parallels' stuff and fled them because of their abysmal customer service. VMWare is no prizewinner in that category but there are few entities on this earth as customer-unappreciative as Parallels.

Come over from the dark side, then.

nxfxcom

Aug 22, 2010, 08:14 PM

Does parallels work when you boot the 32-bit kernel, rather than the default 64-bit kernel?

After 4 reinstalls, time machine restores and a lot of yelling, I decided not to try it!

sjinsjca

Aug 22, 2010, 08:14 PM

Does parallels work when you boot the 32-bit kernel, rather than the default 64-bit kernel?

FWIW, Fusion works fine on my machine (early '10 MBP 2.66, 8GB RAM), which I have perma-set to boot into 64 bit.

freedom42

Aug 22, 2010, 08:18 PM

After 4 reinstalls, time machine restores and a lot of yelling, I decided not to try it!

It is likely that this is the issue.

diazj3

Aug 22, 2010, 08:21 PM

My 2009 quad runs parallels 5 without a hitch - XP, 7 and Ubuntu... but I didn´t know their customer service was so bad.

Hope they fix this for you soon...

cheers!

eponym

Aug 22, 2010, 08:32 PM

What's multicore support at on Parallels these days?

Fusion now supports assigning 8 cores to a VM.

beto2k7

Aug 22, 2010, 08:35 PM

What's multicore support at on Parallels these days?

Fusion now supports assigning 8 cores to a VM.

As well as parallels. I have it running on my 2009 2.26 Octad Mac Pro @ 64 bit

freedom42

Aug 22, 2010, 09:20 PM

It is likely that this is the issue.

The guy in the other thread seems to have confirmed this. We will have to either do without Parallels or wait until they port their code to the 64-bit kernel.

In my case (if my machine ever shows up) I'll just run the 32-bit kernel.

nxfxcom

Aug 22, 2010, 09:21 PM

I have a 2009 at work runs perfect, apple support says it's a kernel issues with parallels and the new CPUs

Concorde Rules

Aug 23, 2010, 07:20 AM

The guy in the other thread seems to have confirmed this. We will have to either do without Parallels or wait until they port their code to the 64-bit kernel.

In my case (if my machine ever shows up) I'll just run the 32-bit kernel.

Well I'm quite glad I went for service and stability over speed then.

Massive fail for the Parrallels dev team there!

glassbathroom

Aug 23, 2010, 07:30 AM

This is a disaster. Parallels needs to sort this out very very quickly. Many thanks for the warning.

HDFan

Aug 23, 2010, 02:44 PM

My 12 core arrives on Wednesday and I'm trying to figure out whether I should deinstall Parallels before doing the application transfer to the new system. Given the huge number of applications I have it would take one or two days of work to do fresh installs so I'm not planning to start from scratch.

I logged a support incident with Parallels. This was their response:

Parallels Desktop is compatible with 12 core Processor.

The Virtual Machine(Widnows) in Parallels Desktop supports maximum of 8 processors.

So you can assign maximum of 8 Processors to the Virtual Machine.

For more information go to the below mentioned link:

http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v5/docs/en/Parallels_Desktop_Users_Guide/22943.htm

If the issue persists then do contact us.

So for those who had problems with parallels with 12 cpus - how many processors were configured in Parallels?

One comment on the Parallels Desktop vs VMware issue. I have both. Support for both was terrible. VMware required you to buy support incidents, you were sent to India. There was no way to even call them. I called their regular support and they told me that didn't know how to contact them! Snapshots are a nightmare. I had file corruption, and 102 snapshot files. I finally got to the escalations group and we spent weeks trying to piece all of the files together. The structure is complex - parents, children. Finally we had to give up. I lost my entire disk. After this incident they changed their support so it is now included (you don't have to buy incidents) and I believe it is locally based, so it has definitely improved.

Just another example. I decided to get Fusion running again in case I need to disable parallels. I started up Fusion. There is a new update. "A new version is available". I hit download and install and it asks if I want to suspend Fusion. I suspend it.. It then starts Fusion again. Again it says there is a new version, I hit download and install, again I suspend it, again it starts it up and tells me there is an update ... It is in a loop. This kind of thing has happened to me multiple times.

Parallels has always had free support. My most recent experiences with them have been positive - although I am very suspicious of the reply they gave above. Their user interface I find to be far superior to that of Fusion, particularly in Crystal mode. Much more intuitive.

The root of my problem was that I was maxing out my file system i/o due to lack of memory. Parallels would crash (taking up to 300% of my 4 cpus), but the disk was never corrupted. When Fusion goes down it takes your disk (I've had this happen several times).

locojay

Aug 23, 2010, 11:30 PM

got the same problem hier after installing the latest parrallels on an 8 core.
Kernel Panic . removed parrallels and all was back again.

Just posted a ticket let's see.

Anyone tried virtual box?

Concorde Rules

Aug 24, 2010, 07:19 AM

One comment on the Parallels Desktop vs VMware issue. I have both. Support for both was terrible. VMware required you to buy support incidents, you were sent to India. There was no way to even call them. I called their regular support and they told me that didn't know how to contact them! Snapshots are a nightmare. I had file corruption, and 102 snapshot files. I finally got to the escalations group and we spent weeks trying to piece all of the files together. The structure is complex - parents, children. Finally we had to give up. I lost my entire disk. After this incident they changed their support so it is now included (you don't have to buy incidents) and I believe it is locally based, so it has definitely improved.

Just another example. I decided to get Fusion running again in case I need to disable parallels. I started up Fusion. There is a new update. "A new version is available". I hit download and install and it asks if I want to suspend Fusion. I suspend it.. It then starts Fusion again. Again it says there is a new version, I hit download and install, again I suspend it, again it starts it up and tells me there is an update ... It is in a loop. This kind of thing has happened to me multiple times.

Parallels has always had free support. My most recent experiences with them have been positive - although I am very suspicious of the reply they gave above. Their user interface I find to be far superior to that of Fusion, particularly in Crystal mode. Much more intuitive.

The root of my problem was that I was maxing out my file system i/o due to lack of memory. Parallels would crash (taking up to 300% of my 4 cpus), but the disk was never corrupted. When Fusion goes down it takes your disk (I've had this happen several times).

Well good for you however i've never had any of those issues, support has been quick and easy for me and it's been on the whole a good experience.

And to top it off it's been ported to 64-bit so I can use it on my 2010 Mac Pro without any problems what so ever if I had one.

Horses for courses tho...

alphaod

Aug 24, 2010, 12:22 PM

I run the 64-bit kernel and have been doing for almost a year now with Parallels. I'm not so sure this is a kernel issue.

Aviators

Aug 24, 2010, 12:27 PM

got the same problem hier after installing the latest parrallels on an 8 core.
Kernel Panic . removed parrallels and all was back again.

Just posted a ticket let's see.

Anyone tried virtual box?

not on a mac pro, but this is the only virtualization software I use and for even a paid solution I'd be pleased, however given the fact that it's free i'm thrilled.

my friends who are parallels users have complained about things (not issues of this magnitude) for years, glad I avoided that altogether.

freedom42

Aug 25, 2010, 06:56 AM

I run the 64-bit kernel and have been doing for almost a year now with Parallels. I'm not so sure this is a kernel issue.

Now that I have my own system to work with (12-core) I looked at the logs and you are correct.

Given that it won't run no matter what I have tried, I was forced to remove it from the system. I'll give it a few days, but I have to admit I'm also a long time VMWare user and it seems like I'm heading that direction for OSX.

HDFan

Aug 26, 2010, 04:14 PM

I have an open ticket with Parallels. They have escalated the issue to their Level 2 Support.

HDFan

Aug 27, 2010, 05:45 AM

fishplant

Aug 27, 2010, 05:57 AM

I've used VirtualBox on my early '08 8-core Mac Pro and it works beautifully for a freebie! I haven't given it any serious work to do though, so I can't comment on how suitable it is for use on important tasks.

glassbathroom

Aug 27, 2010, 05:57 AM

using the special build which they just sent me. Previously the install itself caused the kernel panic. Next step is to test with some of my virtual machines.

They got it to me within 24 hours of the time I reported the problem. Awesome response time from their support.

Hi HDFan,

Let us know how you get on. Do you know when they are likely to release a build that works to everyone else?

jschmidt1340

Aug 28, 2010, 04:05 PM

using the special build which they just sent me. Previously the install itself caused the kernel panic. Next step is to test with some of my virtual machines.

They got it to me within 24 hours of the time I reported the problem. Awesome response time from their support.

I also cannot run Parallels 5 on my '10 MP 12 core. They have escalated the issue to Level 2 as well. I don't suppose you could send me the link for the special build?

mangrove

Aug 28, 2010, 04:43 PM

bizzle

Aug 28, 2010, 05:22 PM

Anyone able to share this build? They are making me jump through hoops to get this build and it'll take 2 days before I hear back from Tier 2 (according to the guy in India I talked to) and they want to send profiler information from the Report a Problem menu. I am not installing Parallels again to do this on a client's machine and risking any KP's which could damage the file system.

HDFan

Aug 28, 2010, 07:01 PM

as Parallels has now been working without a problem for 24 hours +.

I just asked them as to when the new build will be made available. Will post when I receive a response.

nxfxcom

Aug 28, 2010, 07:07 PM

Glad to hear i could warn some people, my main issue is still the same, i have a time machine backup, that has parallels etc on it. When i try to restore from time machine, it kills my machine. So for now, i will wait and see what you guys come back with.

As for parallels support, they made me pay $19 for a support incident. Now they want to use webEx to find the problem!

I told them, its not installed since it kills my computer and i can not reboot, so i let them in on webEx, they installed it again and it killed my computer AGAIN! So now i was sitting there my computer want start and they keep emailing me to restart the webEx sessions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got a Dual Link DVI kvm and a PC ;) Works much better ;)

HDFan

Aug 28, 2010, 08:15 PM

Parallels just got back to me. Extremely fast response, and on a weekend even!

The new build will be available next week.

Glad to hear i could warn some people, my main issue is still the same, i have a time machine backup, that has parallels etc on it. When i try to restore from time machine, it kills my machine.

Did you try booting in safe mode after the restore (holding down the shift key when booting)? Doing that, and then removing anything in /Library with the word "parallels" in it got my machine working again.

freedom42

Aug 28, 2010, 09:59 PM

As for parallels support, they made me pay $19 for a support incident. Now they want to use webEx to find the problem!

Sigh...

Corndog5595

Aug 28, 2010, 10:02 PM

The guy in the other thread seems to have confirmed this. We will have to either do without Parallels or wait until they port their code to the 64-bit kernel.

In my case (if my machine ever shows up) I'll just run the 32-bit kernel.

You really don’t need to be in 64 bit mode unless you’ve got like 200 gigs or RAM anyway.

Chaosg5

Aug 31, 2010, 03:07 AM

After looking around about this I can't find any mentions of the 2010 Quads so am I right to assume this issue is just affecting the dual Westmere CPU systems?

I.e would it be safe to install parallels on a 2010 Quad Nehalem?

glassbathroom

Sep 1, 2010, 05:08 AM

There is a new build out (yesterday) - 9376. This is supposed to fix the problem with the new Mac Pros. Has anyone tried it and does it work?

corbuso

Sep 1, 2010, 09:20 AM

I installed parallel 5 on my 6-core 3.33 ghz MacPro 2010 and everything works fine (version from end of 2009)

slughead

Sep 1, 2010, 01:30 PM

I used to use Parallels' stuff and fled them because of their abysmal customer service. VMWare is no prizewinner in that category but there are few entities on this earth as customer-unappreciative as Parallels.

Come over from the dark side, then.

I left when they wanted me to pay $90 to upgrade to the latest version, which would be fine except that they made it so the old version would "expire" when used with a newer OS.

VMWare might be fine but [edit]Vbox is free, and Free is hard to beat.

cluthz

Sep 1, 2010, 05:11 PM

I left when they wanted me to pay $90 to upgrade to the latest version, which would be fine except that they made it so the old version would "expire" when used with a newer OS.

VMWare might be fine but Fusion is free, and Free is hard to beat.

??

VMWare is Fusion, and Fusion ain't free! VirtualBox is free

slughead

Sep 1, 2010, 08:39 PM

??

VMWare is Fusion, and Fusion ain't free! VirtualBox is free

woops, I meant vbox

glassbathroom

Sep 2, 2010, 01:46 AM

Can anyone confirm if the new version has fixed the problem?

instabusto

Sep 2, 2010, 05:23 AM

Can anyone confirm if the new version has fixed the problem?

I downloaded the new build yesterday and it seems to work, no kernel panics for me

glassbathroom

Sep 2, 2010, 06:08 AM

I downloaded the new build yesterday and it seems to work, no kernel panics for me

Brilliant thanks. Hopefully my MP will be with me tomorrow so I will try it then.

studiox

Sep 2, 2010, 10:14 AM

I downloaded the new build yesterday and it seems to work, no kernel panics for me

Same here, I just installed a fresh system (on a new SSD) and used my earlier Parallels Desktop image and the installer downloaded a new version - that worked like a charm. Running OSX and Windows with 16G ram is -- heaven..

Edit: Edit

glassbathroom

Sep 2, 2010, 10:29 AM

Same here, I just installed a fresh system (on a new SSD) and used my earlier Fusion image and the installer downloaded a new version - that worked like a charm. Running OSX and Windows with 16G ram is -- heaven..

Hi studiox, You say "Fusion image" but you are talking about Parallels aren't you. Just to be sure.

studiox

Sep 2, 2010, 04:23 PM

Hi studiox, You say "Fusion image" but you are talking about Parallels aren't you. Just to be sure.

Yea sorry, I have been a long Fusion customer so just a typo, fixed in my reply. Thx for noticing :)

HDFan

Sep 3, 2010, 12:08 PM

The new build is available, as above. Here's the mail I received from Parallels:

As I promised, here is the link to the latest official build which includes the fix for the issue with new Mac Pros:

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/download/dr/

sjinsjca

Sep 13, 2010, 01:35 PM

VMWare is Fusion, and Fusion ain't free! VirtualBox is free

Frankly, I'm not wedded to Fusion, but VBox has lagged behind both Fusion and Parallels in terms of features, stability and speed... at least, that was the case last time I looked. I'd be happy to switch to Vbox if it's solid and speedy now, and supports USB 2 and multi-core architectures as well as Fusion does.

So, what's the status? Is VirtualBox ready for primetime?

I have a couple of dissatisfactions with Fusion:

o In creating and managing VMs, there are far fewer options than in VMWare Workstation on Windows. Why?

o There is no free VMWare Player for OS X. Why?

o VMs are not portable between Fusion and Workstation. They're supposed to be, but I've always had problems. Right now I have some fairly simple Windows XP VMs on a USB hard disk that run like a hose in Fusion on the Mac but won't load into Workstation on a PC. Maddening.

o VMWare's service, while not as abysmal as Parallels' in my experience, is still pretty bad.

By the way, for creating VMs, most of the time you really don't need anything other than http://www.easyVMX.com

Schismz

Sep 13, 2010, 02:52 PM

I also cannot run Parallels 5 on my '10 MP 12 core. They have escalated the issue to Level 2 as well. I don't suppose you could send me the link for the special build?

Parallels 6 is officially released tomorrow (Sep 14th) as far as I know, the beta builds are available from their own website.

A few years back VMware was rock steady and Parallels was... a mess. At this point in time, every review I've read recently places Parallels as being significantly faster than VMware at almost everything, the thing is... with a Mac Pro it doesn't matter so much (to me anyway), it's fast enough and I don't have any weird issues with it. I don't really love VMware, it wedges itself into everything and starts up a boatload of daemons that run all the time, even if I only use the VMs once in a long while when I absolutely need Windoze for something, but it's never completely hosed my system, or even really caused any strange problems. It just mostly works, including my latest transition to a dual-hex; had no problems with it.