Problem launching HISE build on Windows (Parallels Desktop)

[lloyduss]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently following a tutorial from AudioDevSchool about how to build HISE on Windows using Parallels Desktop. I’ve followed every step carefully, and the build process seems to go fine.
When I create the build “Debug with Faust,” it successfully generates the “HISE Debug” application file (along with the other build files). However, when I click on the “HISE Debug” app, nothing happens — it shows a brief loading cursor for a few seconds, and then just stops. HISE never actually opens.

I’ve already tried uninstalling and reinstalling everything multiple times, making sure there are no leftover files from previous installations, but I keep running into the same issue — the build simply won’t open.

Has anyone experienced this before, or does anyone know what could be causing this issue?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[lloyduss]

@lloyduss UPDATE:

After some debugging, I’ve figured out what’s most likely causing the issue.

When I try to launch my “HISE Debug.exe” build, Visual Studio throws this error:

Unhandled exception at 0x00007FF70655F7C6 in HISE Debug.exe: 0xC000001D: Illegal Instruction

It seems that this happens because I’m running Windows 11 ARM inside Parallels Desktop on an Apple Silicon Mac (M1/M2), while the build targets x64 (Intel).

In other words, HISE is compiled for an Intel CPU, but my Windows installation is ARM-based — and that mismatch causes the app to crash immediately on launch.

So now I’m wondering:
Is there a way to make HISE fully compatible with Windows ARM (maybe by compiling it as ARM64 in Visual Studio)?
Or do I absolutely need to use a computer or virtual machine running a proper x64 Windows environment to get HISE working correctly?

Any insights or workarounds would be super appreciated.

[dannytaurus]

I'm interested in this too.

[d.healey]

@lloyduss Yeah I think you need to be on an x86 CPU, unless Parallels can fake it.

[bendurso]

@d-healey said in Problem launching HISE build on Windows (Parallels Desktop):

unless Parallels can fake it.

It can but it's really (really) slow.

@lloyduss said in Problem launching HISE build on Windows (Parallels Desktop):

Or do I absolutely need to use a computer or virtual machine running a proper x64 Windows environment to get HISE working correctly?

Yeah, I spent a lot of time trying to run Windows x64 on an Apple Silicon Mac. It’s not worth it. The solution is buying a decent Intel computer. I got a $200 Lenovo ThinkCentre with an Intel i7 7th gen, and it works like a charm — it compiles HISE in just 4–5 minutes.

In the end, if you spend too much time trying to make that setup work, you’re probably losing more than $200.

[dannytaurus]

I'm guessing Windows doesn't have a Universal Binary system like Mac does?

[dannytaurus]

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