Automation Studio 6.5 network failure on Parallels VM (Mac)

[roger.schoch]

What’s happening

After installing Automation Studio 6.5 on a Windows 11 ARM64 VM (Parallels Desktop), all network connectivity was lost - no internet access, no communication with host, completely isolated.

Findings

AS 6.5 installs the WinpkFilter LightWeight Filter (Component-ID: `nt_ndisrd`). When active on the network adapter, it appears incompatible with ARM64 + Parallels.

Comparison tests:

Platform	WinpkFilter	Network
ARM64 W11 + Parallels	Installed & active	✗ Blocked
x64 W11 + VMware 17.6.4	Installed & active	✓ Works

Note: WinpkFilter is NOT installed by AS 6.3.4.31, starting with 6.5.

Tested Environments

• Affected: ARM64 Windows 11 25H2 on Parallels Desktop
• Working: x64 Windows 11 25H2 on VMware Workstation 17.6.4

Workaround

Disable the filter in PowerShell:

Disable-NetAdapterBinding -Name "Ethernet" -ComponentID nt_ndisrd

(Replace “Ethernet” with your adapter name - check with `Get-NetAdapter`)

[kovarj (Jaroslav Kovar)]

thanks for sharing @roger.schoch

[elam (Emily Lam)]

I ran into this issue as well for my AS 6.5 and Parallels VM (Windows 11 ARM64) setup and @roger.schoch’s solution worked for me! I ran it for each of my network adapters and that worked.

[oliver_D]

I know that it sounds rather hard but B&R does officially not support ARM architecture: