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32-bit VM with Lion
Posted: 24. Nov 2011, 16:49
by sfh
Hi,
New to virtualization with my iMac. My son desperately wants a Lego Mindstorm, and the NXT 2.0 software that runs it does not run (according to Lego) on the 64-bit OSX Lion (I have 10.7.2). It WILL run under Lion in 32-bit mode, but I'd rather not restart the computer every time I use the NXT 2.0 software.
Can I use Virtual Box to do this? That is -- run my 64-bit Lion but have a VM which uses Lion in 32-bit? I understand from Apple that the licensing allows this, but I want to be sure that VirtualBox is the right tool. I've read through the User Manual and it seems this should work.
Advice/ideas appreciated. Thank you.
Steven
Re: 32-bit VM with Lion
Posted: 28. Nov 2011, 20:45
by Sasquatch
The license may allow it, but the way the installer works, it won't work on VB. There have been people here complaining that Lion doesn't work as guest.
Depending on the memory installed in your Mac, you can just as well change it's configuration to always boot in 32 bit mode. But before doing that, you have to be sure that it works that way. I've done a quick check and you should be able to run 32 bit applications while booting to 64 bit. Either way, Lion is not playing nice on VB.
Re: 32-bit VM with Lion
Posted: 1. Dec 2011, 05:48
by sfh
Thank you. I understand straight from Lego that their NXT 2.0 will not run under Lion in 64-bit but will work if Lion comes up in 32-bit. The easiest approach is to keep Lion in 32-bit. Another option is that I could buy Windows 7. I can use Lion as host with a Win7 guest, right?
Thanks again,
Steven
Re: 32-bit VM with Lion
Posted: 16. Dec 2011, 09:28
by --marc
The bundled LEGO NXT programming environment (NXT-G) has various issues running on OS X Snow Leopard and Lion.
So, with some investigation, I found a solution which (1) does not use Adobe Flash, (2) has a most recent NXT Firmware … ahead of LEGO’s releases, (3) has updated Mac OS X to NXT communications drivers and (4) does not require Parallels.
The solution use the National Instruments LabVIEW 2011 Student Edition for Mac OS X. National Instruments licenses LabVIEW technology to LEGO for NXT-G. Also, LabVIEW is a good stepping stone to professional grade tools (i.e. better career path training for us kids anyway.)
You will need to not instead the VISA and USB driver in the LabVIEW 2011 Student Edition for Mac OS X. Also, you will need the LabVIEW 2011 NXT Module for Mac OS X. Links for both the Student Edition ($20US) and the NXT Module (free) can be found on the National Instruments web site.
Best regards,
--Marc
"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open." ~Alexander Graham Bell