moosetracks

Virtual Machines

7 posts in this topic

I run VM workstation 12 and keep all my Rockwell software installed on a windows 7 virtual machine.  It predominantly works great.   I like to run the VM in unity mode and that way I can use apps on both my host machine, and the PLC software on the VM.  However there are a few quirks to this. 

1.  Doing branches and using the drag and drop to add instructions doesn't work as well as doing it when not in unity.  

2.  When Studio 5000 would normally hang and show a blue circle the unity mode causes the Studio 5000 window to hide and your staring at whatever is running in the background.  Once 5000 gets done it pops back up.  Its visually annoying, but really doesn't seem to cause any issues.      

3.  Sometimes when minimizing or maximizing the 5000 window it will appear to be lost.  However up in the upper left hand corner you can see a tiny portion of the studio 5000 title bar and if you double click it everything goes back to normal.  (image attached of this scenario)

 

Do you guys have a similar setup, or do you run the VM full screen?  Is Hyper V any better than VM for doing this?  Its my understanding that Hyper V doesn't have a unity mode and you have to connect via remote desktop.  

 

 

 

 

 

Tiny title bar.png

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The "sometimes its here, sometimes its not" issue is often classic memory leakage, applications pushing resources past their limit.  How large did you declare your VM to be?  Is your PC a quad-core that supports hyperthreading?  Is hyperthreading enabled in the BIOS?

I have a long VM Primer I developed with configuration settings and notes.  If you are interested, message me your email and I will DropBox a download link to you - the file is too large for an attachment.

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I run multiple VM's, no major problems so far.  VMWorkstation 14, windows 10 pro host (32gb ram/16gb dedicated graphics),  all vm's set to 8gb memory, 4 processors, 256gb disks, Full screen.

If Studio5K starts acting weird or crashy, i just reboot the vm.

 

 

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Kaiser.  Thank you... Message sent.

Travis,  The VM seems to run fine its just the unity mode that is finicky.  Have you ever tried unity mode with Studio 5000?

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I haven't.  I do a lot of remote work over vpn, so I just launch the vm.  If I need to use something on my host, I either minimize the VM or hook up my external monitor.

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I second Travis's comments.  Just for giggles, I tried unity mode after reading this thread, no short answer is no, nope, no way....

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Ive never had good luck with unity mode - period.  Something flaky always happens so I just gave up and put it on a second monitor.

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