Running AC 19 on Parallels 14 hosting MacOS 10.12 Sierra vm

[Anonymous]

I reluctantly upgraded my iMac to MacOS Mojave to find that AC 19 does not work there and is not supported. I can't believe I didn't check that particular thing first.

Anyway, my only option now is to set up a virtual machine through Parallels (v14) that hosts MacOS Sierra, which does support AC19.

If AC19 is already installed on the main drive, do I just switch to the vm and then open AC, or do I have to do a new installation of AC19 on the vm? Is it possible somehow to drag and drop the original install? What about libraries and application support files?

How does the WIBU key work? Will AC see it?

Any insights appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I just found this quote on the Parallels Forum:

"Apparently, when you use macOS X as a virtual machine it runs like macOS X in safe mode and 3D Acceleration does not work."

What does this mean for renderings, etc.? I just use renderings as a way to look at something and always use the Outdoor Daylight fast setting. I'm not generating professional presentation renderings, just using it to have a look at what I'm doing.

[Karl Ottenstein]

ARCHICAD under Parallels Desktop is not something I'd recommend based on a few limited tests of my own over the years. The main issue is graphics acceleration - whether it is a MacOS or Windows virtual machine. It works - and is useful for running an old version to help with a conversion, or just to open an old project - but I've found it not usable for normal work.

The MacOS VM does NOT run in Safe Mode - rather, Parallels just does not offer much in the way of virtual graphics acceleration, regardless of how powerful your host iMac's graphics adapter might be.

You would be better to reboot your iMac from a bootable Sierra partition, but it sounds like it might be too late for that.

For your questions: Yes, you have to install AC 19 in the virtual machine - or at least download and install the WIBU driver - and then assign the USB keyplug device to the virtual machine (devices can only be connected to the host or a VM - not both at the same time). Conceivably you can share the applications folder with the VM and launch the app that is stored on the iMac's drive vs installing into the VM's virtual drive - but I'd not recommend that.

You can also create a Windows virtual machine (requires a 64 bit Windows 10 license) and install the Windows version of AC in that VM... but I've found that that doesn't perform very well either.

If you have any possibility of restoring your iMac to Sierra, or reinstalling Sierra, that would be the best option if you need to remain on AC 19. Since you created the VM from installation media, I assume you can backup your iMac, reinstall Sierra, then restore any missing user files...? I know nothing is lost when reinstalling the same MacOS version or moving forwards. Have never installed an old version on top of a working installation before, so don't know what would happen. But, backups always recommended before any major changes anyway...

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Karl. You always have such great information.

I haven't done the Parallels conversion, yet.

You are probably familiar with Time Machine. My "BackUp" drive started failing right after completing the upgrade to Mojave. After the install, it won't even mount sometimes. It is still sorta working sometimes, but given that a whole rewrite takes 5 hours, I'm very nervous about trying to go back to Sierra based on this hard drive.

I tried to clone it with Carbon Copy, but you get an alert that Apple's code is copywritten and can't be copied. So. I couldn't clone it onto a new hard drive.

So, I'm a little stuck.

I upgraded to Mojave because my email, Pages, and Numbers are having issues because they aren't in a compatible state with my iPhone and iPad. The email on my iMac just continually crashes. Pages and Numbers can't swap out documents with the other devices.

I host a database for my sheep that is synced with my iPhone, and I was having real compatibility issues with that as well.

So, I'd like to have all of those functions working again on my desktop, but that means that ArchiCad no longer functions. So I didn't do this on a lark... kind of forced into it.

And, I'm retired now and farming full time and I can't afford ArchiCad anymore.

I may end up doing as you recommend, i.e., having a separate boot drive. I've had to do that in the past and it's pretty annoying to have to reboot your computer to work on another program (and not have access to email and other programs in the process), but it may come to that.

Thank you so much - I appreciate your comments. I'm just trying to avoid any more mistakes.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Glad I could share some info, even if it doesn't truly help all that much.

Once a Time Machine drive gets corrupted (hardware failure, or being disconnected / losing power at a bad time) Disk Utility can take days, weeks or never to try to fix it. Corrupted drives can't be cloned.

Corruption is real, as you know. Try to have at least two Time Machine drives. They can either both be plugged in all the time... or just plug one of them in every week or two and keep somewhere safe. MacOS automatically alternates through all attached Time Machine drives. Unlikely that both drives will fail down the road at the same time. 😉

I'm super cautious and keep a full clone of my system on yet another drive too - but only update it every month or two.

You should be able to download the Sierra installation DMG from the App Store - go to your account and look through your 'purchases' (even though it was free). Parallels can create a VM from that disk image. As I said, AC 19 will limp along a bit due to the limited graphics support - but it will be easier than rebooting if you don't mind the speed hit...and you'll still have your Mac running for your mail and other current apps.

I used to raise Romney sheep, so wish you the best with your sheepy retirement and sorting out getting AC 19 running again.

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

Aw, thanks, Karl. I raise Gulf Coast and now in my 8th year. I love it. Also training a milk cow right now, and a bit overwhelmed this time of year with planting. I’m anxious to get this computer chapter behind me.

I think I’m going to set up the separate boot drive. I think it’s a good long term solution. I’ll just keep that maintained as a legacy drive and that will be my drafting table. I’ll have to do email and research on my iPad while I’m drawing, but that’s okay. It’s not as convenient as running Parallels, but it’s a little simpler - one fewer piece of software. I won’t have to continually maintain Parallels updates as Apple updates their OS. At this point in my life, simplicity works.

That way I can keep the main boot drive up to date always and can continue to input notes and photos for the dB in the pasture on the iPhone and not have syncing errors when I get back to the computer.

Thanks for the input. Your comments helped me reach a better decision.

Now I just have to sort out how to backup all of these different drives. I just outgrew my external 4 slot hdd tower.