Disillusioned/upset with my iMac

[seniorgeek]

First of all let me say that I love the hardware, my issue is with OSX Lion, just working is a myth as far as I am concerned.

Having come from many years of building pc's and using Windows, I have a computing consulting business and have a lot of experience with operating systems and troubleshooting pc's. I am the rare guy that never had any negative issues with Windows Vista. I also need to use Windows Visual Web Developer Express and Windows Matrix to design and maintain BlogEngine.net websites, there is nothing remotely close on the Mac side for this. There are so many things I like about my iMac, one of them is the Mail program, preview and more. I also like the advice and knowledge offered here.

Since I needed to run Windows I contemplated installing Bootcamp and Vista but soon learned that Lion would not let me, I needed Windows 7. I purchased VMFusion at a discount an installed it and my copy of Windows Vista and the programs I needed.

I have also had to reinstall Lion 3 times to get it working without issues, 2 of them without formatting and the last time I just formatted and started over, of course this meant a cople more hours installing VMFusion and Windows again, the updates take a lot of time.

So here I am again, the iMac would not wake up this morning and I had to shut down with the power switch and restart, this screwed up Windows and now I have to reinstall VMFusion, Windows and all the programs again.

Lion has been a nightmare for me, all the issues with it not waking up, not shutting down and freezing up are about ready to induce me to maybe get rid of my iMac. So now I am thinking of either buying a Windows 7 Notebook to run my Windows programs and not installing it on the iMac, or buying a copy of it and running Bootcamp, this would keep the operating systems totally separate, I do enjoy switching back and for the with VMFusion but I now know that this will entail more issues in the future.

Any advice out there for me?

 

[James_C]

First is it not normal behaviour that your iMac freezes, so you have clearly got a problem.

First step is to try and figure out what is causing the problem. I suggest that you try and do a clean install of Mac OS X again and install bootcamp and run with that for a few days to see if the problem occurs again. If it does then maybe you have a hardware issue.

If the problem does not occur then it looks like VMFusion maybe the root cause. I don't know much about VM Fusion, but I have used Parallels to run Windows on my Mac ever since it was in Beta, and has never been a problem for me. Parallels is great as you can share the desktop between OS X and Windows. With Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X Lion applications side-by-side.

 

[seniorgeek]

I cannot run Bootcamp on Lion with Vista I would need to buy Windows 7.

I do not think VMFusion is the source of the problems as the issues occur even when it and Windows are not running. I am aware of Parallels, VMFusion is it's competition and works in the same manner.

 

[theSeb]

The issues that you describe are not normal. You need to return the computer for a replacement model instead of wasting your time with it.

I am running Windows 7 via VMFusion on Lion without the issues that you describe. I have 3 mac computers running Lion.

 

[yashi]

The issues that you describe are not normal. You need to return the computer for a replacement model instead of wasting your time with it.

I am running Windows 7 via VMFusion on Lion without the issues that you describe. I have 3 mac computers running Lion.

This. My experience with my iMac and Lion have been nothing but excellent. It sounds like the OP got a lemon. I would definitely try to get it replaced.

 

[mmomega]

Very confused over the problems you're having but I have an iMac with Lion running as almost the backbone of our office and it has been for sometime now.
Has Parallels running Windows 7, the machine from the moment it boots has both OS's running, Windows runs QuickBooks Pro 2011, our medical office program, Outlook, Word and Excel daily. It's set to at least have the screen go off and lock the computer every 5 minutes.

Also, I have Parallels Windows 7 folder/files backed up so I do not have to really reinstall it. Just copy/paste the file, did this from day one cause you never know, I just have never had a problem yet.

Sorry to hear your story.

My other 2 27" iMacs run perfectly as well and are on for months at a time being woken from sleep several times a day.

 

[wessew]

Definitely not a normal experience, and it is not likely Lion is your problem. We have 5 Macs in our household. All are running Lion. Two machines use virtualization programs: parallels and fusion. All machines are running fine. It sounds like you have a hardware problem. Alternatively, it could be system corruption but if you reinstalled that should have taken care of the problem. Best bet is to replace the machine. By the way, Windows 7 is far superior to Vista, in my opinion.

 

[James_C]

I cannot run Bootcamp on Lion with Vista I would need to buy Windows 7.

I do not think VMFusion is the source of the problems as the issues occur even when it and Windows are not running. I am aware of Parallels, VMFusion is it's competition and works in the same manner.

Ok so Bootcamp is not an option then, but just because VMFusion is not running does not necessarily mean that it is still not causing a problem, as these virtual environments need to hook into a number of 'under the hood' processes, and perhaps it has changed something important. When i did a quick search I found quite a few articles re VMFusion causing freeze issues on the Mac, admittedly many of them appear to be older versions of VMFusion.

As others have said it may be a hardware issue, I am not sure how often these freezes occur, but maybe you could try running a clean install of OS X over the weekend to see if it freezes. If it does then you know you need to get it looked at. Anyway hope you get your problem fixed.

 

[derbothaus]

Any advice out there for me?

Go back to Windows and a PC. If you have been building PC's don't see why you can't figure out the iMac and suss out any issues. Separating HW failures vs. SW failures vs. human failures. If you really are an aged techie you would know that marketing is poppycock. "It just works" for the vast majority of users. But then again so does Windows. Also you can run whatever version of Windows you want (with some tweaking) Why believe Apple's recommendations and filthy driver's? Why would you give up so easily? Especially with your background. An iMAc is a PC. Put in a Win disc and boot it then go download your own drivers. Use Boot camp as NTFS partitioner only.

 

[robgendreau]

derbothaus makes a good point, but I'd still make sure the hardware is good.

Open Console and check the logs and see if you can find out what's crashing the machine.

And yeah, maybe run Windows 7 on it, and maybe the Mac system in emulation. Or on an external. You could also try Virtualbox.

Rob

 

[mroldguy]

Running 3yr old 3.08imac, wind 7 installed on 64gz btcamp partition. THEN Parallels installed in lion. In lion, wind runs seamless in Parallels, but the wind financial software (resource intensive) is slow, clunky.

So I just boot into the wind partition when necessary, use btcamp drivers, fast stable performance.

If you've uninstalled VMware and wind 7 and iMac is happy w. lion, then problem is VMware or wind, otherwise Mac hdware. If VMware/wind and wind is installed as VMware file, try creating btcamp/wind partition, reinstall VMware for Mac integration. Lots luck.

GWM

 

[driftless]

go back to windows and a pc. If you have been building pc's don't see why you can't figure out the imac and suss out any issues. Separating hw failures vs. Sw failures vs. Human failures. If you really are an aged techie you would know that marketing is poppycock. "it just works" for the vast majority of users. But then again so does windows. Also you can run whatever version of windows you want (with some tweaking) why believe apple's recommendations and filthy driver's? Why would you give up so easily? Especially with your background. An imac is a pc. Put in a win disc and boot it then go download your own drivers. Use boot camp as ntfs partitioner only.

+1

 

[Spike88]

I've got an iMac for the my one kid to do mail, GarageBand, iTunes and photos. Amazing Multimeida tool. I've got a HP Laptop running Win 7 for mail, for portability and for playing movies via its HDMI port. And, for doing Win7 programs like income tax program, MS Word, etc. Amazing low cost portable tool. Especial while using at side of swimming pool (watching kids) or on the sofa (using it during commercials). And, I've got an XBOX 360 for games. Thus, proper tool for the proper job.

Perhaps the OP should get 1 x tool for each different job as well? Works great for my family... There isn't a law stopping one from getting different tools.

 

[srxtr]

I've got an iMac for the my one kid to do mail, GarageBand, iTunes and photos. Amazing Multimeida tool. I've got a HP Laptop running Win 7 for mail, for portability and for playing movies via its HDMI port. And, for doing Win7 programs like income tax program, MS Word, etc. Amazing low cost portable tool. Especial while using at side of swimming pool (watching kids) or on the sofa (using it during commercials). And, I've got an XBOX 360 for games. Thus, proper tool for the proper job.

Perhaps the OP should get 1 x tool for each different job as well? Works great for my family... There isn't a law stopping one from getting different tools.

You mean get the best of both worlds? Are you crazy? Who does that?