Installation fail for SnowLeopard on 10.15.5

[mollykathariner]

Hi there. I'm trying to install SnowLeopard via VB on my 10.15.5 Mac. I'm running into a super vague issue that I don't know how to go about resolving. My installation process runs just fine for the first couple steps, but then it abruptly gives me this error:

Install Failed

The installer could not install some files in "Volumes/SnowLeopardVB". Contact the software manufacturer for assistance.


Does anyone know where I might have gone wrong? Is there anything specific I should have done when I formatted the disk?

Any tips are appreciated. Thanks.

[paulmc]

@mollykathariner, please provide some more details about your effort to set up a Mac OS X v10.6 'Snow Leopard (SL)' guest VM via VBox on your macOS 10.15 'Catalina' Mac:

• You mentioned that your "installation process runs just fine for the first couple steps …". What's that installation process exactly {e.g., a VBox User Manual chapter, or an online site, etc.}?
• What are you using as the SL Install media {e.g., official Apple disc(s) such as a general-release Mac OS X 10.6.x DVD or a model-specific set of Restore Discs, etc.}? {Recall too that there might be some controversy over which edition(s) of SL — Server vs. regular client — can legally be virtualised.}
• As your Mac is running Catalina, I assume that for the SL installer it's actually too new a model {i.e., released ca. 2012 or later (depending on Mac family, I think)}; so, are there any adjustments or tweaks that you've made to allow the SL installer to accept your Mac?

Hmm, it's been quite a while since I set up the two SL VBox guest VMs, among others, that I use on my Mac Pro 2012 tower {for software dev testing, as well as to support the scanning software for an ancient Canon multi-function device} … I can say that my SL guest VMs start up faster than SL ever did natively on my host Mac tower, and also run quite well. Although, I did have to apply a special config setting to the SL guest VMs {via the VBoxManage tool, in Terminal} to let their system clock run more in sync with that of my host Mac. I might still be able to locate my notes about any other workarounds that were needed, etc.

There are also some possibly useful prior threads, in this 'VirtualBox on Mac OS X Hosts' forum or the 'Mac OS X Guests' one, that discuss various aspects of SL guest VMs:

'VirtualBox on Mac OS X Hosts' Forum

• '[Solved] Snow Leopard guest, Sierra host on new (late 2016) MBP' [2017-02-14+]
• 'Can't get any free leopard dmg/iso OX to work on mbookpro' [2019-01-31+]

'Mac OS X Guests' Forum

• 'can you run a snow leopard with virtual box on a running el capitan?' [2017-07-19]

I'm guessing that, like me, you have specific reasons for running an old SL guest VM, whether to conduct testing of your own developed software, or to support the manager software for an older scanner or printer, or even to run a favourite old PowerPC program, etc. Depending on your needs, another option might be to obtain a relatively inexpensive used vintage Mac to run SL natively.

[Edited a day after initial posting, mostly to add links to some prior threads.]