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How to Install Retail OS X 10.6 "Snow" and OS X 10.7 "Lion" under VMware ESXi 5

MSoK

By MSoK,
in Multi-booting and Virtualisation

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yozh
yozh
Posted
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Yes that is the issue. The Lion support in Fusion 2011 beta always creates SCSI drives and CDROMS. I can't find a way to create a SCSI CDROM in ESXi except as pass-thru to actual server drive.

 

 

This is very strange based on some research, we should be able to add a scsi CDROM atleast from vmx file using this

 

scsi0:0.present = "true"
scsi0:0.startConnected = "TRUE" 
scsi0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

 

but I get this and machine doesnt boot.....

 

Invalid scsi device type "cdrom-raw"

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Donk
Donk
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This is very strange based on some research, we should be able to add a scsi CDROM atleast from vmx file using this

 

scsi0:0.present = "true"
scsi0:0.startConnected = "TRUE" 
scsi0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

 

but I get this and machine doesnt boot.....

 

Invalid scsi device type "cdrom-raw"

Yep and VMware will also re-write the VMX file to convert SCSI CDROM to IDE. I have a recollection that ESXi has never supported SCSI CDROM which point to ISOs.

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Grootstyr
Grootstyr
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I installed Donk's patch, rebooted a couple of times, and when I try to install snow leopard via an iso it hangs.

When I view the event tab it says: The CPU has been disabled by the guest operation system. Power off or reset the virtual machine.

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

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Donk
Donk
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I installed Donk's patch, rebooted a couple of times, and when I try to install snow leopard via an iso it hangs.

When I view the event tab it says: The CPU has been disabled by the guest operation system. Power off or reset the virtual machine.

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

What is the guest type set to?

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Donk
Donk
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It is an AMD Phenom II X6, but I thought by using VMware ESXi, that wouldn't matter.

 

I have run Snow Leopard on it using ModCD's though.

 

Would a AMD Phenom II X6 be to new for 10.6.0?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Grootstyr

Sorry but these patches will only support CPUs that Mac OS X supports out of the box. You would need to put together something with a modified kernel to work on this. Should point out that all the work I have done, also the support by MSoK, is only for using vanilla copies of Mac OS X.

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Donk
Donk
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It was a vanilla Snow Leopard, only a ModCD to emulate BIOS.

So if I'm right I need to buy an Intel board with Intel i7 or something?

I would guess the ModCD had a modified kernel installed to allow AMD chips. You could look and see if there is anything in the other forums ere, but I don't really follow hacking to run on AMD. An modern Intel CPU will run it OK but make sure t is 64-bit with VT-x and EPT extensions.

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Donk
Donk
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Intel CPU's not used by any mac in the past are also not supported, am I right?

 

(Such as Intel's Sandy Bridge platform)

 

Depends, the latest patch to Snow Leopard supports Sandy Bridge and Lion does out of the box.

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DFox
DFox
Posted
Posted

I tried Snow Leopard Server and Lion installation on my ASUS P5K + Intel Q6600 and everything works fine!

 

One question: it's possible now an hardware fake using smbios.plist or something similar??? I found that use of smbios.plist is possible only with Chameleon.

 

Thank You very much...

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iceman3301
iceman3301
Posted
Posted

I installed the ESXi 5 patch and created an OSX 10.6 x64 VM. I then booted via the Snow Leopard ISO on my data store. I get the grey screen with the Apple logo and the spinning gear. After a minute or so, the Apple logo turns into a circle with a line though it. Any ideas?

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MSoK
MSoK
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I installed the ESXi 5 patch and created an OSX 10.6 x64 VM. I then booted via the Snow Leopard ISO on my data store. I get the grey screen with the Apple logo and the spinning gear. After a minute or so, the Apple logo turns into a circle with a line though it. Any ideas?

Iceman,

 

We need some more information, i.e. Processor type, version of OS X 10.6, the normal problem is the latest retail version of OS X is 10.6.3 and if you have a Core i processor or Xeon 5600 series they are not supported without the CPUID mask being set, but this is a guess without additional information. Have a look at the following topic, link below, which is the equivalent of this "How to" but for Workstation 4 and Player 3 instead of ESXi 5, but still should find some useful information:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1622074

 

Cheers, MSoK.

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Uranus
Uranus
Posted
Posted

Alright, so I figured out why I was getting stuck at the Grey apple logo, or with the white screen with the spinning beachball.

I was using a VM I created a few days ago and it still had "smc.present = false". I changed that to true and now the installer starts up! It is installing lion right now. I hope it goes well.

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iceman3301
iceman3301
Posted
Posted
Iceman,

 

We need some more information, i.e. Processor type, version of OS X 10.6, the normal problem is the latest retail version of OS X is 10.6.3 and if you have a Core i processor or Xeon 5600 series they are not supported without the CPUID mask being set, but this is a guess without additional information. Have a look at the following topic, link below, which is the equivalent of this "How to" but for Workstation 4 and Player 3 instead of ESXi 5, but still should find some useful information:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1622074

 

Cheers, MSoK.

 

Thanks MSoK! Here are my specs-

Processors: 2 x Intel Xeon E5410 Harpertown 2.33GHz (based on Penryn)

Chipset: Intel 5100

Motherboard: ASUS DSAN-DX

Array Controller: LSI MeagaRAID SAS 8708 EM2

Snow Leopard Version: 10.6.0 (Retail DVD)

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kashMoney
kashMoney
Posted
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I've read and i'm confused!

 

So first you create the virtual machine as 10.6, then under settings options you change it to 10.7,

Root in, run Donk's Unlocker, then boot from usb to install ?

 

Question, can i install via ISO if i first change to scsi cd rom drive? and then mount the lion iso?

 

also do you have to change smc.present = true, and the cpu id to sandybridge?

 

TIA!

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sofakng
sofakng
Posted
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I've installed the ESXi 5.0 unlocker but after I boot my retail Snow Leopard DVD (10.6.3), I see the Apple logo, and then a blinking cursor, and then it reboots over and over.

 

I've added the cpuid and smc.present = true lines to the VMX file but I'm still not having any luck.

 

The ESXi host is running an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Processor. (I didn't think the host CPU mattered though since the guest operating system is virtualized...)

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Donk
Donk
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Posted
I've installed the ESXi 5.0 unlocker but after I boot my retail Snow Leopard DVD (10.6.3), I see the Apple logo, and then a blinking cursor, and then it reboots over and over.

 

I've added the cpuid and smc.present = true lines to the VMX file but I'm still not having any luck.

 

The ESXi host is running an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Processor. (I didn't think the host CPU mattered though since the guest operating system is virtualized...)

 

See your other post.

 

[Added my other post as now usng this thread]

 

Virtualized systems pass the real CPU characteristics through to the guest. Emulation would allow any CPU to be specified. That's the reason virtualization is so quick compared to emulation.

 

You can mask certain features and it may be possible to do that for ESXi booting Mac OS X. MSoK can point you in the right direction for a CPUID mask that may help.

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sofakng
sofakng
Posted
Posted
See your other post.

Thanks! I'll continue my questions about installing Snow Leopard here since it seems more appropriate. (please let me know if I'm incorrect)

 

Anyways... My ESXi host is running an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T.

 

After installing the unlocker, I tried booting my retail Snow Leopard (10.6.3) DVD but it didn't work. It sounds like that is because the ESXi host is an AMD system.

 

My next attempt was using this guide here which has you restore the retail Snow Leopard DVD to a USB stick and then install "ModUSB".

 

I've tried that but when I attempt to boot it inside ESXi, it says "EFI USB... unsuccessful." (ie. it can't successfully boot from my USB stick) The USB stick definitely works because I've booted my main PC using it and it booted into the ModUSB bootloader.

 

TLDR; How do I get my AMD ESXi 5 host working with Snow Leopard?

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SeqR
SeqR
Posted
Posted

With special help from MSoK, was able to finally get Lion running on ESXi 5.0. Amazing. Thanks to all.

 

Server is Dell PowerEdge T710 with X5650 Xeon.

 

Installed from "restored" USB stick that was added as a USB Device in the VM. USB plugged into the T710.

 

VMWare Tools installed by mounting the .iso as described earlier on.

 

Few remaining issues.

 

1. Still struggling with using USB and CD/DVD drive

 

2. New VMWare Converter 5.0 succeeded (took a long time) on cloning the working VM but the new one failed to boot immediately on power on.

 

3. Originally built the VM with a 40GB drive. Once working I expanded it to 100GB (in VSphere edit settings). Disk Utilities shows the original 40GB partition and shows the additional 60GB. Cannot however extend the original partition to use it nor can I create a new partition from it. (This may be my inexperience with OSX)

 

 

Will keep working it.

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a3897431@nepwk.com
a3897431@nepwk.com
Posted
Posted

hi all,

 

already posted in donk's thread, and waiting for response. however i#ve a feeling that its not up to the esxi unlocker

 

I am using a HP ML310 G3 with IVT enabled // Dual-core Intel® Pentium® D 940 (3.2 GHz/800 - 2 x 2MB L2)

 

QuickSpecs: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quicksp...v/12364_div.pdf

 

 

i used vm-image created on vmworkstation 7.1.x from retail, and converted it with vmconverter to esxi5. i have used the "unlock script" .. however after i start the VM a few seconds later it stuck on the grey apple logo screen

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Donk
Donk
Posted
Posted
hi all,

 

already posted in donk's thread, and waiting for response. however i#ve a feeling that its not up to the esxi unlocker

 

I am using a HP ML310 G3 with IVT enabled // Dual-core Intel® Pentium® D 940 (3.2 GHz/800 - 2 x 2MB L2)

 

QuickSpecs: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quicksp...v/12364_div.pdf

 

 

i used vm-image created on vmworkstation 7.1.x from retail, and converted it with vmconverter to esxi5. i have used the "unlock script" .. however after i start the VM a few seconds later it stuck on the grey apple logo screen

 

I am afraid it is probably as the processor is too old for Mac OS X to recognize. The earliest Macs are built around Core 2 processors. At this stage I am not sure there is much I can do to help.

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