Running PioSolver on a Mac

Hopefully this is an OK forum for this question. I have a macbook with an M2 chip and want to run PioSolver. Has anyone successfully done this using Wine or VirtualBox? If so, could you offer some tips on your setup? If using VirtualBox, how much RAM and storage space did you allocate to the VM? What version of windows are you using? I'm trying to avoid having to use bootcamp (EDIT: ugh, just learned that M2 chips don't support bootcamp) and totally switch OS's whenver I want to use Pio. I was very saddened to learn it can't run on MacOS natively Thanks for any help!!

PIO is very RAM-intensive, so the more you allocate the better. I would say 8 GB minimum, and you would need to severely limit the bet sizing options, etc. if you only allocate 8 GB. 16 GB+ would be better. Storage space will be dependent on what you intend to do. You will need more if you intend to run scripts to complete thousands of solves. I'm not sure about the overall feasibility of running pio in a VM on a Mac, so someone else who has done it will need to chime in. If you haven't already purchased PIO you might consider other options that are compatible with MAC (I'm assuming they exist, but I use a Windows laptop so not sure if GTO+, etc would work). Also if all else fails there are always browser-based solvers like Odin and GTO Wizard.

by Kler m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58519760#post58519760)

Hopefully this is an OK forum for this question. I have a macbook with an M2 chip and want to run PioSolver. Has anyone successfully done this using Wine or VirtualBox? If so, could you offer some tips on your setup? If using VirtualBox, how much RAM and storage space did you allocate to the VM? What version of windows are you using? I'm trying to avoid having to use bootcamp (... See full post

It also depends on the complexity of what you’re trying to run. 100bb BvBB with 3 sizes on each street can take as much as 20 minutes on my PC with 64gb ram and ryzen9 5900

In case anyone else comes across this with a similar problem, here's what I've found. It seems you have to use Parallels to effectively run a windows VM on Macs with M1/M2/M3 chips. It costs 10$/month, unfortunatly, but this is still better than GTOWizard's 200/month for custom solving features. I allocated 14GB of RAM to the VM, which results in only 8GB of RAM actually available for the solve. On a host with 24GB of RAM I can probably allocate 18-20GB without problems. The host computer runs totally fine for normal tasks, even with so much RAM allocated to the VM. With 8GB of available RAM I can usually solve a SIM with three bet sizes per street for both OOP and IP using the original PIO algorithm which requires less RAM but is slower than the newer CFR algorithm. In PIO 3 you have the option to use either depending on avaialble RAM. I believe the total storage space is shared with the host drive, and doesn't need to be allocated. You can also allocate the number of cores you want the VM to use, which may speed up solves, but I haven't experimented with it yet. All in all it works fine. I was hoping to only have to buy PioSolver once and have no further expenses, but $10/month isn't too bad

by Kler m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58522241#post58522241)

In case anyone else comes across this with a similar problem, here's what I've found. It seems you have to use Parallels to effectively run a windows VM on Macs with M1/M2/M3 chips. It costs 10$/month, unfortunatly, but this is still better than GTOWizard's 200/month for custom solving features.I allocated 14GB of RAM to the VM, which results in only 8GB of RAM actually availa... See full post

Thanks!

by Kler m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58519760#post58519760)

Hopefully this is an OK forum for this question. I have a macbook with an M2 chip and want to run PioSolver. Has anyone successfully done this using Wine or VirtualBox? If so, could you offer some tips on your setup? If using VirtualBox, how much RAM and storage space did you allocate to the VM? What version of windows are you using? I'm trying to avoid having to use bootcamp (... See full post

I’d be careful with VirtualBox here. The M2 changes the equation because you need Windows 11 ARM, not the normal x64 Windows install, and PioSOLVER itself is a Windows application. VirtualBox on Apple Silicon has also had ARM guest limitations, so I wouldn’t build the whole setup around it. If I were trying this on an M2 today, I’d use Parallels or VMware Fusion with Windows 11 ARM and let Windows handle x64 application emulation. There are reports of PioSOLVER users trying the Windows-on-ARM route, but I’d test your exact Pio version before committing to a large VM setup. For RAM, PioSOLVER's own documentation says 8 GB is enough for normal use and 16 GB for really large trees, so I'd give the VM 8 GB if the Mac has 16 GB total, or 12–16 GB if you have 24/32 GB. Don't starve macOS just to give Pio more RAM. The other option I'd seriously consider is PioCloud, particularly if you're mainly interested in solving rather than running the solver locally. It avoids the whole Windows/ARM compatibility headache, although its available hardware is currently limited to 32 GB RAM. So I wouldn't bother with Boot Camp on an M2, and I'd put VirtualBox low on the list. Windows 11 ARM in Parallels/VMware is the route I'd try first.