Unable to install OS X 10.6 - "Still waiting for root device"

[Max the Sasquatch]

Been wrestling with this issue for a few days now - The host unit is an iMac6,1 (Late 2006), OS X 10.6.8 installed, running VirtualBox v4.3.8 r92456. The install media is a known-good bootable disk image of 10.6.8 on an external HDD which we use to image other Macs on a daily basis.

I've tried this with a VB profile for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Snow Leopard, using all default settings, both of which exhibit the same symptoms: The profile fires up and looks like it's attempting to launch, then hangs indefinitely, repeating the same message "Still waiting for root device" every ~30 seconds or so. Screenshot for reference:

Screen Shot 2016-04-15 at 2.39.54 PM.png (86.08 KiB) Viewed 8278 times

I've Googled the issue and ran across a similar previous post, wherein the consensus seemed to be that this error appears when the host unit is unable to natively support the OS you're trying to install on the VM. Except in this case, the host unit can support 10.4.7 > 10.7.5...

Any foresight or suggestions would be appreciated!

[socratis]

The install media is a known-good bootable disk image of 10.6.8 on an external HDD

That statement, right there, means that something is going wrong. Have you tried the original media, i.e. the DVD, either with a pass-through option or actually trying to make an image from "Disk Utility"?

"Still waiting for root device" means that the installer does not like something in your setup. Since you're booting, that can mean one thing; EFI boot is working, VirtualBox is passing the appropriate parameters. BUT, something is wrong in there.

Please read the following: Minimum information needed for assistance. As far as the "VBox.log.zip" goes, here's what you do:

1. Start the VM. Not from a saved or suspended state. Clean start.
2. Take the steps required to generate/observe the error.
3. Record the error message. EXACTLY. Post a screenshot if you have to.
4. Shut down the VM (if it hasn't aborted by itself). Not suspended, not paused. Shut down. If you can't shut it down by normal means, close the VM window and select "Power off".
5. Right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager.
6. Select "Show Log..."
7. Save it, ZIP it and attach it in your response (see the "Upload attachment" at the bottom of the form).

On top of that, we'd like to see the "recipe" of the VM, the ".vbox" file:

1. Right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager.
2. Select "Show in Finder/Explorer/Whatever".
3. ZIP the selected ".vbox" file and attach it in your response.

[Max the Sasquatch]

The install media is a known-good bootable disk image of 10.6.8 on an external HDD

That statement, right there, means that something is going wrong. Have you tried the original media, i.e. the DVD, either with a pass-through option or actually trying to make an image from "Disk Utility"?

"Still waiting for root device" means that the installer does not like something in your setup. Since you're booting, that can mean one thing; EFI boot is working, VirtualBox is passing the appropriate parameters. BUT, something is wrong in there.

Please read the following: Minimum information needed for assistance. As far as the "VBox.log.zip" goes, here's what you do:

1. Start the VM. Not from a saved or suspended state. Clean start.
2. Take the steps required to generate/observe the error.
3. Record the error message. EXACTLY. Post a screenshot if you have to.
4. Shut down the VM (if it hasn't aborted by itself). Not suspended, not paused. Shut down. If you can't shut it down by normal means, close the VM window and select "Power off".
5. Right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager.
6. Select "Show Log..."
7. Save it, ZIP it and attach it in your response (see the "Upload attachment" at the bottom of the form).

On top of that, we'd like to see the "recipe" of the VM, the ".vbox" file:

1. Right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager.
2. Select "Show in Finder/Explorer/Whatever".
3. ZIP the selected ".vbox" file and attach it in your response.

I had tried using the install disc the first time, however that was unsuccessful. At your recommendation, I created a disk image of the 10.6 Install DVD via Disk Utility, however this resulted in the same error message "Still waiting for root device". Here is another screenshot of the error encountered, this time while using the .dmg created directly from the disc:

Screenshot of error message encountered during startup, while initially attempting to install OS X.

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 2.31.17 PM.png (82.17 KiB) Viewed 8253 times

To clarify, I was still using default settings for the VM during creation: 2048MB memory, and 20GB fixed hard drive space.
Also included is the log file (wasn't sure how to find this the first time around, thank you socratis for the instructions), as well as the .vbox file.

VM for OS X-2016-04-18-14-31-26.log.zip

VirtualBox log file, compressed

(19.25 KiB) Downloaded 62 times

VM for OS X.vbox.zip

.vbox file, compressed

(2.41 KiB) Downloaded 51 times

[Max the Sasquatch]

Still hoping anyone might have insight...

[SarahPalin]

I have the same problem.

[socratis]

I'm sorry "Max the Sasquatch", I completely forgot about this thread

Let's see:

• You stated that you're running 10.6.8, but VirtualBox identified the kernel as Darwin 11.4.2, which corresponds to 10.7.5. Which is it?
• You're running VirtualBox 4.3.8. Could you upgrade to the latest 4.3.x series? That would be 4.3.38 as of this writing.
• You host's memory is 2048 MB. You have 1443 MB available at the launch of the guest. By definition you cannot assign all of your memory to the guest, there's going to be nothing left for the host. Lower the memory for the guest to 1024 MB. And that's plenty btw, make sure you have nothing else running on the host.
• On the opposite side your video RAM is too small at 18MB. Take it up to 64MB.
• Finally, I want you to try to boot the VM directly from the install DVD. Go to the Storage settings of the VM and select "Host Drive ...". Insert your OSX 10.6.x DVD and try to boot from that directly.