x86 Parallels LinuxCNC VM

EDIT 2024-01-28: Brevity for clarity

This is a plea for an x86 Mac owner with Parallels to make a fresh LinuxCNC VM available for testing x86 emulation in Parallels on an M-series "Apple Silicon" Mac.

Below is the original text of the question:

RE: kb.parallels.com/130217

I already assume this will not be productive or useful for running a CNC machine; I just want to satisfy my curiosity.

Parallels 20.2 (pro edition) newly includes an x86 emulator, so the prepared ISO of LinuxCNC available here on linuxcnc.org should theoretically function. The catch is that the VM must have been created on an Intel Mac, which I no longer have. So, this is a plea for an x86 Mac user with Parallels to make a fresh VM available for the current version of Linuxcnc.

I have zero plans to use it for anything except learning more about Linux and LinuxCNC. My N100 mini-PC has one job, which is to run LinuxCNC and my CNC router (once I wrap my head around it better). I would prefer to tinker around in Linux at my actual desk, rather than being tethered to a CNC router. That's why I'd like to try running the VM; some degree of separation is safer.

I have already successfully created an ARM64 VM, installed PREEMPT-RT and LinuxCNC, and the results were uninspiring. It satisfied my curiosity, which was the point, but now I would like to explore using the x86 emulation feature and the LinuxCNC prepared x86 ISO. But without an Intel Mac, I can't create a VM to test it.

Alternatively, instructions for creating a Parallels 20.2-compatible LinuxCNC x86 VM on an Intel PC would also be helpful (I have an HP Z2 mini G5 i7 workstation PC). This article suggests it's not possible, but it was published before 20.2 was released with x86 emulation: kb.parallels.com/115305/. Maybe I don't even need the Intel Mac? IDK - that just seems like the shortest path.

tommylight wrote:

If you can use any Linux x86_64 on it, then download the official ISO and try installing it, but might have issues with RT kernel running in a VM.
You can try Debian 12.x or Linux Mint Debian Edition 6, and if they work just install LinuxCNC with
sudo apt install linuxcnc-uspace
This will also install the RT kernel, but it will not be the default one, so LinuxCNC should work OK in SIM mode.
 

I have been looking at this response for almost a whole day, and I still can't figure out what part of it applies to my question.

tommylight wrote:

Are you trying to run LinuxCNC in sim mode inside a VM?
 

No.

Now, what was your question?

I need a Parallels LinuxCNC VM created in Parallels on an Intel Mac.

This probably doesn't belong to this specific place on the internet, but I'm posting it here anyway, 'cause it's in my head and I want to get it out:

As I have said many times before to anyone willing to listen, I fail to fully grasp how forums work. In my head, the right way to present a question, problem or dilemma is to give as much backstory and context to the problem as I can, so that the people that would know the answer would also know why I am asking and can see my full logic behind the problem. Ultimately, it's because I want to learn something, more than just solving my immediate problem, hoping the answers will have as much context as my question.

But that's not the way forums work. There are basically two outcomes:

1) Someone replies to the question they think I asked, in their own way. I usually have to clarify that the response doesn't apply to my question. Then they get offended and the rest of the thread is an argument about my attitude instead of an answer to my question. Onlookers pile on for predictable reasons, I disengage, and then a year later someone answers my question.

2) Someone replies to a small part of the subtext of the question, and not the question itself. Ten pages later, I still don't have an answer. Turns out, all the experts in the forum never thought of that. Over the next three years, people DM me instead because they didn't want to be on the wrong side in public.

I understand that I cannot demand better answers; I have no control over how people respond. I have control over:

1) How I ask questions;
2) Where I ask questions.

I need to get better at both.

fully_defined wrote:

I understand that I cannot demand better answers; I have no control over how people respond. I have control over:

1) How I ask questions;
2) Where I ask questions.

I need to get better at both.

Its great that you acknowldge that responsibility for the receiving of a message rests with the sender!

None of us know anything about Parallels. People have succesfully installed Linuxcnc on apple hardware from an ISO but the machine no longer runs macOS

You can't run a CNC machine from a VM because it requires a real time operating system (eg runs PREEMPT_RT kernel) 
For testing and experimenting, I would install Debian 13 (aka Trixie) using a CD ISO from cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/weekly-builds/
Drilling down to AMD64 cd-iso, it looks like there is a Mac version
cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/weekly-builds/amd64/iso-cd/

Be sure you are connected to a wired internet connection before running the installer
When installing Debian, ensure you install the XFCE or mate desktop (our ISO uses XFCE)
to install Linuxcnc then all you have to do is type:
 

tommylight wrote:

This time you can blame it on me as if i recall correctly, Parallels is the software running on Apple hardware and makes it possible to run other operating systems in it, in short running virtual machines.
If that is correct, then all my answers are on point, it should run any ISO without making images on other hardware, that is the whole point of it.
Then again, it is Apple, so maybe only runs ARM stuff?
 

Both links I included explain in explicit detail why I need someone with an Intel Mac and Parallels to create a VM on that hardware for me load into my Apple Silicon Mac. It was, and still is, all that I need to try out x86 emulation in Parallels 20.2.

As you'll only be able to run in simulation mode and you just want to get familar with Linuxcnc an arm install will be fine.

After doing a quick read I'd research the following:
Is Debian Bookworm able to be run. The kernel versions and X server versions seem to be limited.
Is the Kernel version that is on the Linuxcnc iso compatitable ?