iMac Pro iMac Pro running VMware fusion 10 - can't run Solidworks with accelerated graphics OpenGL

[wrajr]

Just bought an awesome iMac Pro base model with Radeon Vesa 56 8GB to run Solidworks using Fusion. I downloaded latest version 10 and it will not allow me to use DX10 or OpenGL 3.3 (only DX9) and Solidworks will not allow me to uncheck Software OpenGL slowing graphics to a crawl.

Has anyone got Solidworks to run under VMWARE Fusion with hardware accelerated graphics on the new iMac Pro? Thanks

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

For mine Solidworks has always co-operated much more nicely with Microsoft than Macs and to date High Sierra is not mentioned in System Requirements, only X.10, 11 and 12. Some are slow upgrading.

Come to that Apple where is High Sierra for Fusion drive model iMacs? Ran beautifully in beta on a Fusion drives when I had room for two iMacs. Now a full five months.

 

[richinaus]

Just bought an awesome iMac Pro base model with Radeon Vesa 56 8GB to run Solidworks using Fusion. I downloaded latest version 10 and it will not allow me to use DX10 or OpenGL 3.3 (only DX9) and Solidworks will not allow me to uncheck Software OpenGL slowing graphics to a crawl.

Has anyone got Solidworks to run under VMWARE Fusion with hardware accelerated graphics on the new iMac Pro? Thanks

Try bootcamp out rather than fusion. Look at ‘www.bootcampdrivers.com’ for the latest drivers and I am sure you will be good. I don’t use solid works but have used other apps like Revit, autocad, fusion 360, C4D and Rhino and all have been great on the iMac pro in boot camp.

Just as an aside, Fusion 360 doesn’t run any faster on the iMac pro in macOS over the iMac I7 2017 maxed. I think this is more programming than anything else as it runs great in windows. Rendering though is about a third quicker utilizing the cores in the CPU.

 

[bernuli]

Did you install VMware Tools on the guest VM?

 

[radus]

What is solidworks for ?

 

[wrajr]

Try bootcamp out rather than fusion. Look at ‘www.bootcampdrivers.com’ for the latest drivers and I am sure you will be good. I don’t use solid works but have used other apps like Revit, autocad, fusion 360, C4D and Rhino and all have been great on the iMac pro in boot camp.

Just as an aside, Fusion 360 doesn’t run any faster on the iMac pro in macOS over the iMac I7 2017 maxed. I think this is more programming than anything else as it runs great in windows. Rendering though is about a third quicker utilizing the cores in the CPU.

I tried bootcamp and it screams! Would like to be able to use a VM to take take advantage of Mac software in parallel though.

VMware tech support investigating. Thanks

 

[sputnikBA]

I was under the impression that Solidworks had pretty strict driver requirements. Many GPU drivers have to be specifically vetted (“certified drivers” are why Nvidia can charge so much more for their Quadro line of cards comparative to the Geoforce line despite being equivalent or superior hardware).

Without those approved drivers performance can be gimped. I don’t think VMs can expose access to low lever hardware in the same way that native OS access can. I suspect that there will always be an issue with the translation layer and that that is where your performance limitations are coming from.

But that’s just my theory, best for you to check in with both the VMware & Solidworks teams though.

 

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

I've always been partial to VMware Fusion to run Windows on Macs, but I went with Parallels Desktop Pro for my iMac Pro and finding it more seamless than VMware Fusion. Probably worth a try.

SOLIDWORKS® for Mac with Parallels Desktop

 

[khaoskosmos]

I was able to get realview graphics working after hacking around with registry keys. I attached the .reg files that need to be applied to Windows registry. I know that this registry edit works with Solidworks 2018 and 2019, as I tested those. It may work with others. If you are worried about the contents of the files, just open them up in a text editor first. If you need to use it on 2018, you have to edit the key. I have used this on VMWare fusion 11 and 11.5 (YOU WILL HAVE TO RENAME THE FILES FROM .TXT to .REG, or manually add/edit the keys and dwords).

Solidworks 2019 edits:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2019\Performance\Graphics\Hardware\VMware, Inc.]
"Workarounds"=dword:00000009

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2019\Performance\Graphics\Hardware\VMware, Inc.\Gallium]
"Workarounds"=dword:04000408

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2019\Performance\Graphics\Hardware\VMware, Inc.\SVGA3D; build: RELEASE; LLVM;]
"Workarounds"=dword:04000408

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2019\Performance\Graphics\Hardware\Gl2Shaders\Other\SVGA3D; build: RELEASE; LLVM;]
"Workarounds"=dword:04000408


Solidworks 2018 edits:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2018\Performance\Graphics\Hardware\VMware, Inc.]
"Workarounds"=dword:00000009

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2018\Performance\Graphics\Hardware\VMware, Inc.\Gallium]
"Workarounds"=dword:04000408

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2018\Performance\Graphics\Hardware\VMware, Inc.\SVGA3D; build: RELEASE; LLVM;]
"Workarounds"=dword:04000408

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2018\Performance\Graphics\Hardware\Gl2Shaders\Other\SVGA3D; build: RELEASE; LLVM;]
"Workarounds"=dword:04000408