Parallels Hiccup

[chriskleeman]

Had a very strange and fairly terrifying time with my MBP a couple of days ago. Parallels 10.

In the middle of using my Windows 7 partition with Parallels, the whole video screen flashed horizontal stripes, and went to black. The fans were blazing at the time as well.

There does seem to be some conflict with Adobe Flash running in the Browser (SeaMonkey) and running Parallels at the same time, the computer heats up and the fans run up to about 5000 RPM.

Anyway, I powered off and rebooted, and the MBP booted into Windows. After the log-in screen, the display went into a blue screen, and would not display Windows. So, I rebooted again with the power key, and the MBP booted into Windows again. I powered off, started again with the Option button to choose the Mac Hard Drive, and it took two boots to get the video display working. And when it finally did boot, I'd lost my Desktop picture and it had reverted to one of the stock Mac pictures.

Verified the Disk,  repaired Permissions, so far so good.

Any thoughts?

CK

[Paddy]

QUOTE(chriskleeman @ Jun 13 2015, 11:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Had a very strange and fairly terrifying time with my MBP a couple of days ago. Parallels 10.

In the middle of using my Windows 7 partition with Parallels, the whole video screen flashed horizontal stripes, and went to black. The fans were blazing at the time as well.

There does seem to be some conflict with Adobe Flash running in the Browser (SeaMonkey) and running Parallels at the same time, the computer heats up and the fans run up to about 5000 RPM.

Anyway, I powered off and rebooted, and the MBP booted into Windows. After the log-in screen, the display went into a blue screen, and would not display Windows. So, I rebooted again with the power key, and the MBP booted into Windows again. I powered off, started again with the Option button to choose the Mac Hard Drive, and it took two boots to get the video display working. And when it finally did boot, I'd lost my Desktop picture and it had reverted to one of the stock Mac pictures.

Verified the Disk,  repaired Permissions, so far so good.

Any thoughts?

CK

Yikes. Have you checked here: https://forum.parallels.com/forums/parallel...top-for-mac.58/

I use VMWare Fusion, though did have Parallels for a while as part of a bundle, but didn't really use it. Never had it do anything to my Mac OS/video etc.

[chriskleeman]

Thanks Paddy, but I'm not finding anything yet pertaining this particular issue.

Tonight when we got home from going out to dinner I opened the MPB to find that it was not sleeping any more. I booted up, and it still wants to boot into Windows 7 in default, this is definitely not right.

I'll keep looking and if these issues  continue, contact Parallels support again. They were very helpful in reconfiguring the re-install a couple of weeks ago after my Windows partition hosed itself, and am wondering if there's something they did when they helped with the reconfig.

CK

QUOTE(Paddy @ Jun 13 2015, 09:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE(chriskleeman @ Jun 13 2015, 11:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Had a very strange and fairly terrifying time with my MBP a couple of days ago. Parallels 10.

In the middle of using my Windows 7 partition with Parallels, the whole video screen flashed horizontal stripes, and went to black. The fans were blazing at the time as well.

There does seem to be some conflict with Adobe Flash running in the Browser (SeaMonkey) and running Parallels at the same time, the computer heats up and the fans run up to about 5000 RPM.

Anyway, I powered off and rebooted, and the MBP booted into Windows. After the log-in screen, the display went into a blue screen, and would not display Windows. So, I rebooted again with the power key, and the MBP booted into Windows again. I powered off, started again with the Option button to choose the Mac Hard Drive, and it took two boots to get the video display working. And when it finally did boot, I'd lost my Desktop picture and it had reverted to one of the stock Mac pictures.

Verified the Disk,  repaired Permissions, so far so good.

Any thoughts?

CK

Yikes. Have you checked here: https://forum.parallels.com/forums/parallel...top-for-mac.58/

I use VMWare Fusion, though did have Parallels for a while as part of a bundle, but didn't really use it. Never had it do anything to my Mac OS/video etc.

[chriskleeman]

So, this all gets a little more mysterious...

Thinking at this point I have a video component related problem to this behavior.

Whenever I restart, the MBP wants to start up in Windows. If I don't remember to hold down the option key, it boots into Windows every time. This is pretty strange all by itself!

Now today, with Parallels not being used, I had a video failure while booted into 10.9.5. More vertical lines, then flashing in and out, then a textured blue screen, then black. I had to turn off the MBP with the power button, and it restarted into Windows. This is where it gets interesting. Windows said it could not boot due to a problem with the "display". Next time it happens, I'll write down the error message in it's entirety.

Could it be that there is something weird going on with the Windows Drivers that Apple installs in Boot Camp? For the life of me I can't figure out why this MBP wants to boot into Windows instead of it's native OS.

Cannot start up to use the Apple Hardware Test by holding down the "D" key, because it eventually wants to boot into Windows. So I used the internet version by holding down the D and option keys. Passed the Hardware Test. There is a more advanced option to test more fully, which I will use sometime later this evening I hope.

I am stumped. I could remove the Windows Partition and start all over again, but it took me a long time to re-install things a couple of weeks ago, and with the video behavior today just using Mavericks and not running Parallels, I'm not thinking that the Windows partition is a part of the problem.  

Chris  

[gunug]

This thing of not wanting to start up on another OS is more common that you'd think.  I have two bootable drives in this Macpro (one with 10.10 and one with 10.6) and they don't always want to change bootable drives the first or second time I try.  I've also had trouble getting Windows 7 to start up under Boot Camp; although that was older versions of OS 10!

Aren't there video specific things about running Windows 7 on a MAC; you might need a "different" driver for Windows than one supplied by Apple.  It could also be the video chip going out on you!  

[chriskleeman]

QUOTE(gunug @ Jun 15 2015, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This thing of not wanting to start up on another OS is more common that you'd think.  I have two bootable drives in this Macpro (one with 10.10 and one with 10.6) and they don't always want to change bootable drives the first or second time I try.  I've also had trouble getting Windows 7 to start up under Boot Camp; although that was older versions of OS 10!

Aren't there video specific things about running Windows 7 on a MAC; you might need a "different" driver for Windows than one supplied by Apple.  It could also be the video chip going out on you!  

Yes John, this strange behavior. I'm going to not run a little app called SMC Fan control and see if there's some conflict there with Mavericks, so far so good.

Yes, the video chip could be going and not wanting to behave when it starts to heat up.

Dunno.

Probably the first thing to do is remove the Windows partition again.

Chris

[Paddy]

QUOTE(chriskleeman @ Jun 20 2015, 10:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE(gunug @ Jun 15 2015, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This thing of not wanting to start up on another OS is more common that you'd think.  I have two bootable drives in this Macpro (one with 10.10 and one with 10.6) and they don't always want to change bootable drives the first or second time I try.  I've also had trouble getting Windows 7 to start up under Boot Camp; although that was older versions of OS 10!

Aren't there video specific things about running Windows 7 on a MAC; you might need a "different" driver for Windows than one supplied by Apple.  It could also be the video chip going out on you!  

Yes John, this strange behavior. I'm going to not run a little app called SMC Fan control and see if there's some conflict there with Mavericks, so far so good.

Yes, the video chip could be going and not wanting to behave when it starts to heat up.

Dunno.

Probably the first thing to do is remove the Windows partition again.

Chris

Question: if you're using Parallels, why do you have a Windows partition? Usually, one only does that with BootCamp. Just wondering...mine lives in a Virtual Machines folder in my Documents folder.

[chriskleeman]

QUOTE(Paddy @ Jun 20 2015, 05:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE(chriskleeman @ Jun 20 2015, 10:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE(gunug @ Jun 15 2015, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This thing of not wanting to start up on another OS is more common that you'd think.  I have two bootable drives in this Macpro (one with 10.10 and one with 10.6) and they don't always want to change bootable drives the first or second time I try.  I've also had trouble getting Windows 7 to start up under Boot Camp; although that was older versions of OS 10!

Aren't there video specific things about running Windows 7 on a MAC; you might need a "different" driver for Windows than one supplied by Apple.  It could also be the video chip going out on you!  

Yes John, this strange behavior. I'm going to not run a little app called SMC Fan control and see if there's some conflict there with Mavericks, so far so good.

Yes, the video chip could be going and not wanting to behave when it starts to heat up.

Dunno.

Probably the first thing to do is remove the Windows partition again.

Chris

Question: if you're using Parallels, why do you have a Windows partition? Usually, one only does that with BootCamp. Just wondering...mine lives in a Virtual Machines folder in my Documents folder.

Paddy, AFAIK, Parallels runs the BootCamp partition at the same time as the Mac OS. You can do a lot of stuff back and forth with the two OS's running at the same time. I mean, maybe I'm missing some big here, but the reason I have Windows installed at all is to run the Proprietary Beverage software we have for work. It's Java based, and does not display properly or work properly with the Mac Java Applet.

Am I missing something here? I've been running Parallels with the BootCamp partition for over 3 years with barely a hiccup until now. But, this machine has never wanted to boot into Windows as the native OS, it's just weird! Normally, if I wanted to boot from Windows, I'd have to hold the Option key and select it. But now, every time I reboot because of the video glitch I have to use the Option key and select the Mac OS or it will try to boot into Windows.

Running Disk Utility from the Recovery Disk verifies the Mad HDD, I don't have an up to date version of TTP or anything else to go any further.

CK

[chriskleeman]

So I've removed the Windows partition with BootCamp Assistant, we will see if the video problems persist.

CK

[chriskleeman]

QUOTE(chriskleeman @ Jun 20 2015, 09:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So I've removed the Windows partition with BootCamp Assistant, we will see if the video problems persist.

CK

Footnote: Apple Hardware Test (Internet version), extended mode came up with this:

4/MEM/9/40000000: 0x84cdc018

Which is a memory related error message. Still testing, but I'm going to clean and re-seat the memory modules when it's the extended test is finished. Taking a good long while too!

CK

[chriskleeman]

Ahhh...

Paddy, is this what you mean? I never considered doing this, I just ran it from Boot Camp...


    Option 2: Import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into Parallels Desktop:

    A virtual machine is created using a separate virtual hard disk that stores an exact copy of the imported Boot Camp partition.

    Windows running from Parallels Desktop does not have the limitations listed in Option 1. Boot Camp and Parallels Desktop are separate. Changes you make in Windows while working with your virtual machine are not reflected when you start your Mac in Windows using Boot Camp.

        Set Parallels Desktop to use Boot Camp, as described in the steps above.

        Right click on the Parallels Desktop icon in the Dock and open Control Center (Virtual Machines list in older versions).

        Right click the Boot Camp version of Windows and click Import Boot Camp.

        Note: Windows must be shut down.

        Click Import.
        Locate where you want to store Windows and your data, and then click Choose.

    Windows and all your data are imported from Boot Camp. You can still use the original Boot Camp Windows installation, separately from Parallels Desktop.

    Important: In order to allow seamless operation between Windows and Mac OS X, Parallels Tools will be installed the first time you start Windows after setting Parallels Desktop to work with Boot Camp. Once Parallels Tools are installed, please restart Windows.

Hmm... feeling a little STOOPID...

CK

[Paddy]

QUOTE(chriskleeman @ Jun 21 2015, 03:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ahhh...

Paddy, is this what you mean? I never considered doing this, I just ran it from Boot Camp...


    Option 2: Import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into Parallels Desktop:

    A virtual machine is created using a separate virtual hard disk that stores an exact copy of the imported Boot Camp partition.

    Windows running from Parallels Desktop does not have the limitations listed in Option 1. Boot Camp and Parallels Desktop are separate. Changes you make in Windows while working with your virtual machine are not reflected when you start your Mac in Windows using Boot Camp.

        Set Parallels Desktop to use Boot Camp, as described in the steps above.

        Right click on the Parallels Desktop icon in the Dock and open Control Center (Virtual Machines list in older versions).

        Right click the Boot Camp version of Windows and click Import Boot Camp.

        Note: Windows must be shut down.

        Click Import.
        Locate where you want to store Windows and your data, and then click Choose.

    Windows and all your data are imported from Boot Camp. You can still use the original Boot Camp Windows installation, separately from Parallels Desktop.

    Important: In order to allow seamless operation between Windows and Mac OS X, Parallels Tools will be installed the first time you start Windows after setting Parallels Desktop to work with Boot Camp. Once Parallels Tools are installed, please restart Windows.

Hmm... feeling a little STOOPID...

CK

Actually, not quite. I've never, ever run Boot Camp. Just installed VMWare Fusion, then installed Windows. Did the same when I was using Parallels. There is a reason they call these things virtual machines. When you install Windows in Boot Camp, it's an actual Windows install, running as the OS on your Mac when you're booted into it. You can't go back and forth between a Windows Boot Camp install and your Mac files/apps etc. without rebooting.

If you always ran Windows from Boot Camp, I'm not quite sure why you even had Parallels - it certainly wasn't doing anything.

Now, *some* software for Windows doesn't run as well (in rare cases, at all) in Parallels or VMWare Fusion. Gaming in a virtual machine generally isn't as good an experience, for instance. Anything that is really processor intensive/memory intensive/video intensive may run better in Boot Camp than in a virtual machine (we're talking video editing, AutoCAD etc.) though all of those things continue to improve with each release of Parallels/VMWare and improvements to things like allocation of video memory.

Note to anyone considering VMWare Fusion 7 - VMWare 8 should be out at the end of August/beginning of Sept. if they follow their normal release patterns, so I wouldn't buy 7 now. At the moment, Parallels 10 benchmarks somewhat faster than VMWare Fusion, but these two apps have a history of leapfrogging one another in both features and speed, so I wouldn't assume that this will stay the case necessarily.

[chriskleeman]

From Paddy:

QUOTE

Actually, not quite. I've never, ever run Boot Camp. Just installed VMWare Fusion, then installed Windows. Did the same when I was using Parallels. There is a reason they call these things virtual machines. wink.gif When you install Windows in Boot Camp, it's an actual Windows install, running as the OS on your Mac when you're booted into it. You can't go back and forth between a Windows Boot Camp install and your Mac files/apps etc. without rebooting.

If you always ran Windows from Boot Camp, I'm not quite sure why you even had Parallels - it certainly wasn't doing anything.

Now, *some* software for Windows doesn't run as well (in rare cases, at all) in Parallels or VMWare Fusion. Gaming in a virtual machine generally isn't as good an experience, for instance. Anything that is really processor intensive/memory intensive/video intensive may run better in Boot Camp than in a virtual machine (we're talking video editing, AutoCAD etc.) though all of those things continue to improve with each release of Parallels/VMWare and improvements to things like allocation of video memory.

No, I did not run Windows from Boot Camp, only from Parallels. But I installed Windows in a Boot Camp Partition that I ran on a Virtual Machine in Parallels. After doing some digging, Parallels gives you the option to do it either way. But the second option that you described and then what I quoted earlier looks like a much better way to run Windows that having Parallels start it up from the Boot Camp Partition. And according to Parallels gives the user more options than running the Virtual Machine from the Boot Camp Partition. I would guess that when I installed it, I simply followed Option 1.

Here is the link to the support article I found on Parallels: Options 1 and 2

Anyway, it would appear that all of this may be due to the Apple Hardware Test memory message I got (4/MEM/9/40000000: 0x84cdc018) and is the root culprit of all of this weird behavior. Since I cleaned and re-installed the DIMMS the MBP is waking from sleep properly, and is not needing to be re-booted. If the problem comes back, I'll install the old OWC DIMMS and see if that takes care of it.

Crossing my fingers...

Chris  

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

I cleaned and re-installed the DIMMS

What kind of detergent did you use? Should we scrub against the grain or with it? Did  you drip-dry, or just use the delicate setting on a dryer? Enquiring minds (or lack of one?), ya kno...

[chriskleeman]

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Jun 22 2015, 12:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE

I cleaned and re-installed the DIMMS

What kind of detergent did you use? Should we scrub against the grain or with it? Did  you drip-dry, or just use the delicate setting on a dryer? Enquiring minds (or lack of one?), ya kno...

Electronic Contact Cleaner... You should try it sometime!!!  

Chris    

Seriously, I have come across a "recall" from Apple with these machines which is probably applicable to my MBP. Going to post it in a new thread so anyone who experiences any similar issues on their machine might save some time and $$$. I guess Apple is working from the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" axiom, but it would be very helpful to know of the possibility of something like this on any given computer made in the time frame in the link below. I've spent hours and hours on this darn thing!

MBP Video Repair

Taking mine into Apple shortly to see if it's one of the ones.