Our ENTTEC LED Mapping software, ELM, is a Windows-based program that is not supported on MacOS. However, we can create a Windows virtual machine using Parallels Desktop and run ELM on our Mac. This multi-step process is not officially supported by ENTTEC, but we will outline the steps we followed to allow our Mac to run ELM.

 

Step 1. What You’ll Need

  • A Mac with macOS installed (Intel or Apple Silicon)
  • Parallels Desktop (you can download it from parallels.com)
  • A Windows installation image (ISO) or a Microsoft account if you download it through Parallels

Step 2. Download & Install Parallels Desktop

  • Go to https://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/
  • Download the installer and run it.
  • Follow the prompts to install Parallels Desktop on your Mac.
    1. Note: You’ll need a license key to activate it beyond the 14-day free trial.

Step 3. Start Parallels & Choose Installation Method

  • Launch Parallels Desktop.
  • It will offer you options to:
    1. Download Windows 11 automatically (recommended)
    2. Use an existing ISO image or USB drive
    3. Migrate Windows from a PC
      • Note: For Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3 Macs), only Windows 11 ARM is supported.

Step 4. If Downloading Windows via Parallels (Recommended)

  • Click “Install Windows”.
  • Parallels will download Windows 11 ARM version from Microsoft.
  • Installation proceeds automatically with minimal user input.

Step 5. Configure Your Windows VM

  • Choose how you want to use Windows:
    1. Productivity: for work tasks
    2. Games only: optimized for gaming
    3. Software development
    4. Or custom setup
  • Adjust CPU, RAM, disk space settings if you want (or use defaults).

Step 6. Complete Setup

  • Once the Windows installation finishes:
    1. Sign in with your Microsoft Account (optional).

Step 7. Start Using Windows

  • You can now launch Windows from the Parallels Control Center.
  • You can also enable Coherence Mode to run Windows apps like Mac apps.

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

 

Step 8. Downloading ELM on Your Windows VM

  • To access the internet on Windows, you must ensure your Network settings are set to Bridged Network (Default Adapter).
  • Now that Windows is open on your Mac, go to https://www.enttec.com/ to download your preferred version of ELM.
  • Once downloaded, open ELM.

 

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

 

Step 9. Using ELM on Mac and Sending Data

  • With ELM downloaded, we can now set up an ENTTEC device to receive data from ELM.
  • To achieve this, you’ll need to:
    1. Edit your network settings to connect your device to your Mac and Windows.
      • We go to the network settings of our Mac.
      • Click on Ethernet.
      • Click Details.
      • Click TCP/IP and change Configure IPv4 to DHCP.

 

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

 

  • If set correctly, a yellow icon with the message Self-assigned IP should appear under Ethernet.

 

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.


 

  • Now, return to your Parallels Control Center, and change the network settings to Bridged Network (Ethernet).

 

A computer screen shot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

 

  • In Windows, go to your Ethernet adapter settings, change your IPv4 settings to Manual, and change your static IP address to be within the decive’s IP range (192.168.0.101 for this example).
    • You’ll also need to set your Subnet mask to 255.255.255.0

 

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.


 

  • You should then be able to see your Ethernet settings appear as 192.168.0.101 in the drop-down menu of the Parallels control menu at the top of the Windows screen.

 

 

  1. With all that confirmed, open a browser window and type in the IP address of the device (192.168.0.10 for this example), and you should be directed to the home page of the device's web UI.

Step 10. Using ELM on Mac through Windows Running on Parallels.

  • Once all the configurations have been set up, you can now use ELM on your Mac, and output data from ELM to your devices.

 

Essential Things to Remember:

  • While running ELM through Windows on Parallels, your Windows VM will not have internet access since we have changed our IP settings to allow communication between devices plugged into your Mac and your Windows VM. However, you can still access the internet through a browser on your Mac.
  • Parallels is a paid subscription service, so to use it beyond the 14-day free trial, you will need to subscribe to Parallels.
  • This process has many steps and isn’t officially supported by ENTTEC. This guide explains how to use Parallels to run ELM on a Mac.
  • Make sure your Mac can run Windows through Parallels.
    1. You can check the system requirements here: https://kb.parallels.com/124223/