More Performance Questions on Flex6500 on Mac with VMWare Fusion

Ron K2RAS

Another vote for performance issues on VMware Fusion.  Running 2013 iMac 3.4Ghz i7 16MB and GTX680MX 2MB graphics, with VMWare Fusion 7.0.1 on Yosemite 10.10.1.  Have tried lots of processor/memory combinations in the Fusion VM to little avail.  Direct connected to the PC with ethernet.  Even with a single waterfall largely minimized SmartSDR is sluggish.

Any direction is appreciated.

Ron

Neal_K3NC

Hi Ron

You are not going to get a lot of love from Flex I am afraid, you are running two operating systems, some middleware on top of their contribution and its too many layers for real-time processing to be completely supported.

I would try prioritizing SmartSDR to run at High priority in WIndows. I am not aware on how to give fusion high priority in OSX, try googling it and see if there is any secret sauce for that. Its the only way I can see improvements for you in this configuration.

Jay -- N0FB

Ron, I'm running SmartSDR 1.3.8 under Parallels 10 running on Yosemite 10.10.1.  My iMac is a Quad Core i7 running at 3.5, 8 GB RAM, NVidia GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB VRAM.  I'm assigning 4 Cores, 4 GB of RAM, and 1 GB of VRAM to the Parallels instance of Windows 8.1.  I generally run it in Coherence mode so that it appears to be running natively in the Mac OS (even though it is not).  I have a stand alone 1GB network switch where both the iMac and the  6300 directly connected via shielded Cat6 cables. 

With this configuration, my performance is outstanding. 

Bill Roberts

Get a dedicated, cost effective Windows box????

Jay -- N0FB

Anybody can do it that way.  Where's the challenge in that?  :-)

Ron K2RAS

I am a Mac user and am hoping to keep everything on one computer.  I also have Win7 running under Boot Camp on the Mac and may give SmartSDR a try in that.  I really like, however, running the ham applications in a VM so I can restore easily if something goes wrong...  

It wasn't clear to me whether there is a consensus on Parallels vs Fusion, other than development appears to be done on Parallels (although probably not on a Mac).

Ron

Tim - W4TME

No guts, no glory!

Neal_K3NC

I always found Parallels much more responsive than Fusion so that truly is another thing to try. Noticeably faster, so try it!

Ron K2RAS

Is it easy to move a VM from VMWare to Parallels?

Ron

Jay -- N0FB

Hi Ron!   There is a Parallels forum thread that you should look at:  http://forum.parallels.com/threads/converting-vmware-fusion-virtual-machine-to-parallels.114254/

It sounds like an easy to step process to convert from Fusion to Parallels.   YMMV.

Neal_K3NC

It can take a long time however and, for some reason, I never had it work well enough for me to have confidence in the result. Its just easier to do a cold install in a new OS.

Jay -- N0FB

I agree with Neal.  Doing a conversion from Fusion to Parallels gives me the willies.   A clean install with your Windows 8 media using Parallels only takes about 30 minutes.   Its the safest route.

Jon_KF2E

I'm a die hard Mac guy. I use a Macbook pro as my everyday computer, an ipad, iphone...you get the idea. For my shack, I run a windows box with an AMD quad core, good graphics and lots of memory. It saves me the issues that come with a virtual machine. Also, it allows me to run lots of other great Windows software that is not available on a Mac. In particular DXLab which I could run on a VM but works even better on my Windows box.

Jon...kf2e

Sergey R5AU

i have 2 machines: WinBox :-) - Toshiba 2,4Ghz with 32 Gb Ram and SSD notebook and some a bit old iMac27 (2010) with Parallels and VMware , I not sense difference to run with N1MM or DXlabs on both macnines (BTW some issues exist on Mac with DAX, but this is related to the Mac HW, just compared with same iMac from the 2012) AND +++  Virtual environment give me incomparable flexibility with SW testing and new version check up  +  multiple vital desk ti run simultaneously

Ron can you explain please, what is you problem with performance ?

Michael - OZ1MDF

"Even with a single waterfall largely minimized SmartSDR is sluggish."

Sergey R5AU

i mean some screenshots or video appreciated

my SSDR on Parallels or VMware (i have both - no different can be reported)you can find out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK82V1g4GTM
or 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KSU3FE1LkI

Pete - W6OP

I run my Flex 5000 on a Mac Mini with a bootcamp partition. However, when I get my 6500 I plan on running it in a virtual machine, VMWare or Parallels, I own both. I would certainly hope Flex would do what they can to make it work well.

I program in MS Windows for a living but do not own even one Windows PC. Virtual machines allow me to have the equivalent of many PC's on a single iMac. I see no reason to have to buy a Windows PC just to use a radio. In addition, I have limited room and just don't have a spot to install yet another computer and monitor.

Jon_KF2E

Get a Nuc.

Jon...kf2e

WA6FXT Mike

Jay, At home, I run Windows 7 in Bootcamp on my MacMini and love it (2 x 24" monitors). On Field Day 2014, I ran Windows 7 under VMWare Fusion on my MacBook Pro (17") with no problems and it ran great., I would bet, I could make the setup faster by getting a (What did Greg used to call it?... A Giga Pro Ultra PCI; but, why do that when my Netbook Gadget will run SmartSDR just fine). Well... My VMWare Fusion setup runs my Flex6700 with 2 Panafalls just great. My MacMini is an i5 dual core (4 processors) and my MacBook Pro is an i7 Quad core (8 processors). I use my MacMini at home as the primary Ham box and my MacBook Pro as my "go machine". If you prefer OSX, then run under VMWare. Fusion and enjoy the Flex (try Unity Mode). Don't get hung up in the Mac/Win. See if you really need a MegaMonster Windows machine to enjoy the radio. Heck! A cheap PC with a good graphics card will run SmartSDR and a Flex6700 in modes the big Three can only dream of. My $0.02 and worth every bit you paid for (hihi) 73's de Mike

Jay -- N0FB

Hi Mike!, Thanks for the info. My install is working just great under Parallels. Ron, the original poster, is the one having difficulty. I'm sure your info will be very welcome to him! 73

Ron K2RAS

Mike, I am encouraged by your success on Fusion.  I have about the fastest Mac on the market with SSD drives and lots of memory.  I wonder what system configurations cause the performance variation.  Any idea what you might have tweaked to make the Fusion system work?  Also, what difference in performance do you see between the VM and Boot Camp?

Keith - AE5XN

Ron,

For me, the performance of Fusion is much better if you disable 3D acceleration in the Display options in the virtual machine library.  For Parallels Desktop, there seems to be little difference between having 3D acceleration enabled/disabled.

Once I disabled 3D acceleration in Fusion, I can't really tell much difference between the performance of Fusion and Parallels Desktop.  I can run up to 4 panafalls in either one on my machine.  Any more than four panafalls at the default frame rate and it gets too sluggish.

Keith - AE5XN

Ron K2RAS

Under Parallels have you had an issue with FLDigi being sluggish when dragging on the FLDigi waterfall scale to change frequency?  The SmartSDR screen reflects the change immediately but the FLDigi screen hangs and then updates.  The option to drag the scale is in the FLDigi configuration Waterfall/Mouse tab.

Thanks, Ron

Keith - AE5XN

Ron,

I just confirmed that I do see the delay in the FLDigi waterfall display when dragging the waterfall frequency in FLDIgi on my Parallels Desktop VM.  SSDR had no delay, just like you observed.

When I did the same in Fusion, it worked a little more smoothly, but still had some stuttering from time-to-time on the FLDigi waterfall when dragging the frequency in FLDigi.  Once again, no delay in SSDR is observed.


Keith - AE5XN  

Asher - K0AU

I ran a NUC 54250WYK for a few months.  Not a happy experience with SSDR and Intel integrated graphics. 

Sergey R5AU

correct, issue is integrated graphics