Hi there,
I´m facing a problem using Rhino 5 on Windows 7 on a Mac with Parallels Desktop 10 (Mac OS 10.10.4).
If Rhino is running and I switch to Mac OS and back to Windows again, the Rhino viewports (only them!) turn black. Not always but most of the time (it seems almost random).
So far I couldn´t find any solution working out and as my flatmate got the same issue it must be a common problem. So I hope you guys can help me out. Looking forward to any response.
Thanks a lot!!
FS
That’s why Parallels specifically, and Windows virtualization generally, is listed as not supported in the Rhino for Windows System Requirements:
http://www.rhino3d.com/system_requirements
Parallels doesn’t supply the stable, minimum OpenGL requirements needed by Rhino.
Is there some reason you’re not using Bootcamp to make a native Windows partition?
Hi John,
thanks for the quick answer!
That explains a lot. Sounds like I have to live with it… I used to use Bootcamp but since I´m working with Mac OS and Windows at the same time I changed it. And besides the black viewport issue I´m very happy with it.
Is there hope for change in the future?
It’s not our problem to fix. If Parallels could actually support OpenGL 2.0 and Shader 1.2 as required by Rhino V5, then it would work now. Sadly, they seem unable or unwilling to fix it.
We are generally seeing better OpenGL support in virtualization with VMWare Fusion. It’s still not officially supported, but it does seems to be not as bad as Parallels.
ah okay. Thanks!
I´ll keep looking on the news of fusion then!
@FreshStart I use 10.8/Windows 7 and personally I found that Parallels 10 was worse with the graphics in Rhino than Parallels 9. I upgraded to 10.10 to see if Parallels 10 was better for me with that but no real joy.
I downgraded and am much happier with Parallels 9 and 10.8.
On my MacBook Pro I get the Rhino black screen if I change my display setup while Rhino is running. Unplug my external monitor or change my mirroring/screen sharing setup and I get the black screen. Only way to get it back is to restart Rhino.
As John said emulation is not supported so not McNeel’s problem. That said I do find the upside of using Rhino in emulation greater than the benefits of running it in Bootcamp. I am always impressed at how well Rhino runs in emulation.
@John_Brock Thanks for the heads up about the better openGL support in VMWare Fusion.
Just another opinion here but I teach college students as well as work for McNeel and I avoid emulators completely. I do too much in the curriculum that requires all the display features supported in Rhino 5. My experience has been that students who choose to use VM or Parallels have issues either with black viewports, pictureframe not working, osnaps tooltips not working, the UI being oddly sized, technical display modes including pen and artistic don’t work, lights may or may not work including the Sun, clipping planes may not work and the rendered display mode likely won’t work with shadows, texture display or anti-aliasing. In short, if you do any sort of visualization work like rendering or technical views, you’ll want to bootcamp Windows Rhino. On modern solidstate drives it’s quick to reboot IMO and worth the added features.
Brian is right on the money here.
I did NOT intend to give VMWare a ringing, positive endorsement.
My experience is VMWare is NOT AS BAD as Parallels for Rhino.
The bottom line is virtualization is not supported.
@BrianJ @John_Brock I think most of us using Rhino in emulation that have been around for a while understand that it is not supported. McNeel does`t mind if we discuss emulation here if we accept that do they?
If I could live without my plugins I would just use Rhino Mac. I dont do renders so I dont care that Rhino cannot access my designated graphics card.
For the one plugin that must have the designated graphics card I get my SSD to reboot into Bootcamp. Otherwise I just use Rhino in Parallels and am very happy with it.
@John_Brock never took it as an endorsement of VMWare…just some more info.
Not at all. Discuss away.
Sadly, people like you are the rare exception. The vast majority of users that buy Parallels, expect it to run Rhino flawlessly. They have no idea about the cup of wormy yogurt they’ve slid into.
I’ve been running Rhino in a VMWare virtual machine on a 2009 Macbook pro since 2009. Except for out of memory problems with a plugin I have no issues, no weirdness at all. That said, I don’t do much visualization stuff and when I do, like twice a year, I go to my Windows machine. Other than that, VMWare has been pretty much bullet proof.