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CherylChasin

Problem with 9.04 on a Mac under Parallels

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I've been running v9 on a Mac using Parallels without difficulty until I installed v9.04. I use the data_paths.txt file as described elsewhere on this forum, and all the entries in Preferences/Current Project Options/Advanced point to the Win7 file structure, except for backups, which are on the Mac side to facilitate use of Time Machine and my cloud backup service. Until yesterday, this was working fine. I even had my exhibits on the Mac side, and that was working well, too.

 

After I installed v9.04, TMG was very slow, especially on things like optimize or reindex or making a backup. I reinstalled the program from the install file (not update from within the program), and verified that data_paths.txt was correct and in place. No joy. Then I noticed that upon opening the program, TMG was actually opening project files from the Mac side. (They exist because they were copied over to my new Mac from my old PC. I haven't deleted them yet because I'm paranoid and because I'd rather keep my exhibits on the Mac side anyway.) So I closed TMG, changed the folder name on the Mac side, reopened TMG and voila, TMG couldn't find the last used project. That option was greyed out on the Welcome screen. Also, if I select a project from disk, the file hunt starts at Network/psf/Home/Documents . . . .

 

Long story short, I think v9.04 is ignoring the data_paths.txt file.

 

 

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Diana,

 

In which folder did you place the data_paths.txt file, and when did you place it there? It must be placed in the same folder on the Windows side where the new tmg9.exe file has just been installed, and it must be placed there BEFORE you first execute the program. Did you do that?

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That's interesting. No, it's not. It's \\psf\Home\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects\ . So I can fix that. But how did it get that way? Like I said, this has been running beautifully until I went to 9.04.

 

Another thing that was a little odd. When I last reinstalled, after uninstalling, the data_paths.txt was already there. I don't think uninstalling removed it. But maybe it's not supposed to. The only other non-routine thing I did was to open the project in TMG Utility. I didn't do anything, not even a logfile run. I just opened it, looked at the various options, and closed it.

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The project path setting is a program setting so it always needs to be checked when you are running in a non-standard environment and do a program update.

 

The uninstaller only removes files that it installs so it wouldn't remove the Data_paths.txt file.

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I've been testing TMG 9.x on my new MacBook, Parallels 10, Windows 8.1 upd 1 without a data_paths.txt file and so far the only issue I've identified is Restore fails when the path specification begins with \\psf selecting a mapped drive Z: or whatever works. Most all of the shortcut keys work but a few don't.

 

Having read this post I setup a data_paths.txt file and found that TMG did create the user folders in the specified path, in this case

[glenn]
UserData=C:\Users\Public\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9
[admin]
UserData=C:\Users\Public\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9
FYI - this allows using the same projects if I'm logged into windows as either Glenn or Admin
What I discovered is an ADDITIONAL Sample project folder under the Projects main folder in a folder named psf (parallels shared folder) the psf folder path below
C:\Users\Public\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects\psf\home\documents\the master genealogist v9\projects\sample
One thing I did which I don't see menitoned was running Notepad as administrator when saving the data_paths.txt file to the TMG program folder.
I've had failed installs when the data_paths.txt file was left in the program folder.
There have been a LOT of changes particularly in Parallels since writing the original article, what a user will need to do to get TMG running in a Parallels VM will depend on the version of Parallels they are running. Based on what I just observed regarding the creation of the EXTRA folders will be something to be aware of when using a data_paths.txt file at least in P10.
Another thing I just noticed, I ran TMG as administrator after installing the data_paths.txt file and all the paths in preferences were set to C:\Users\Public\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9... however after closing and reopening TMG normally the project path in Program Options > General was set back to \\psf\Home\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects\ which is the Mac folder where projects are located when running without a data_paths.txt file, the paths in Project Options > Advanced remained C:\Users\Public... Running again as administrator the path in Program > General was back to C:\Users\Public, this certainly will cause some confusion as a user might need to run as administrator one time to get the unlock key to stick.
At this point with P10 Win 8.1 it looks like a data_paths.txt file is not needed, but so far I've only tested the sample project stepping through each item on the Menu, with one or maybe two actions for each.
If I were to write a new article today Using TMG 9.x on a Mac with P10 it would say something to the effect that when restoring a project select the mapped drive letter for the Mac folder where your project files are located
Z:\Home\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects\my project folder\
Since I jump between P6 to P10 I don't know which version of Parallels the communications behavior between Mac and VM changed, I've heard from some others who say they are using P9 and don't need a data_paths.txt file.

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I

Another thing I just noticed, I ran TMG as administrator after installing the data_paths.txt file and all the paths in preferences were set to C:\Users\Public\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9... however after closing and reopening TMG normally the project path in Program Options > General was set back to \\psf\Home\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects\ which is the Mac folder where projects are located when running without a data_paths.txt file, the paths in Project Options > Advanced remained C:\Users\Public... Running again as administrator the path in Program > General was back to C:\Users\Public, this certainly will cause some confusion as a user might need to run as administrator one time to get the unlock key to stick.

This sounds a lot like what happened to me. However, anything I do on the Win7 side of my Mac is as an Administrator. I'm the only person who uses this computer, so I have just the one account. It's a desktop, not a laptop, so I have no concerns about unauthorized access (unless one of my dogs develops some hitherto unknown keyboarding skills).

 

I'm using P9 and I suppose I'll upgrade to P10 at some point. Are you saying that, with P10, the TMG project files can live in the Mac file structure as long as they are referenced with Z: and not \\psf\ ?

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What I've seen so far is everything works fine with \\psf\Home\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\... In all path settings in preferences. The EXCEPTION is a Restore operation which requires a drive letter instead of \\psf

 

I have not tested Second Site yet, but I have used TMG Utility without problems.

 

Running as administrator does not mean logging into Windows with an account with administrative privileges, it means right clicking a program icon and selecting Run as administrator from the context menu.

 

I install TMG 9.x by logging into Windows with an administrator account, right click tmg9setup.exe select Run as administrator from the context menu. When the install finishes I do not run the program, I reboot the VM, I then log into Windows with a standard user account, right click the TMG icon, select Run as administrator from context menu enter my admin PW, TMG starts and asks to be unlocked, I enter my unlock info and exit TMG. Thereafter I run TMG normally in a standard user account.

 

Windows 7+ for normal daily use should be run with a standard user account, it's not an unauthorized access issue, it's a privileges issue! Administrator accounts have elevated privileges. If you are logged in as a standard user and you do something that needs administrative privileges you will be prompted to enter an admin password, sort of like when you install a Mac program.

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Cheryl and other users,

 

You do not need the data_paths.txt file or special instructions to use TMG under Parallels if you are willing to configure Parallels and uncheck the "Shared Profile" option in the Sharing section of the VM configuration. When you do that, the Windows user folders are not mixed with Mac user folders, so TMG operates the same as on a real PC.

 

I've been using Parallels this way for years. I can still share files between the two operating systems, if necessary, by using network paths that Parallels provides.

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