Mac OSX Snow Leopard on Sun VirtualBox

How to install Snow Leopard on Sun VirtualBox Good walkthrough, but maybe a bit old. This one is a bit more concise

Before you begin, make sure you have enough CPU, RAM, Disk resources to share for the virtual machine.

Hardware Requirements:

   * Processor: Any Intel Processor with VT-x (Virtualization Technology) or AMD-V. (Almost all Intel processors starting from Core 2 Duo, Quad, etc. support it) Ask us, if you still have a doubt: @taranfx.
   * RAM: Anything above 1 GB, Recommended 2GB or higher
   * Disk space: 10GB (minimum)

Software Requirements:

   * Snow Leopard Retail Disc (or ISO). We recommend you buy Original, don’t pirate!
   * A OSx86 Leopard Distro – Any OS X 10.5.x iDeneb, iAtkos, etc. (I had bad time with Kalyway) iDeneb v1.3 (10.5.5) worked great for me. (and iAtkos 10.5.7 as reported by a commenter)
   * Virtualbox 3.1.2 (Download)
   * Bit of Patience :)

Let’s Get started:

Phase I: Install Leopard on Virtualbox

Step 1. Create a new Virtual Machine with name “Leopard”:

   * System Type: BSD, FreeBSD
   * Create Disk (10 GB will suffice) with name “Leofx”
   * System > Motherboard > Enable IO APIC
   * Acceleration > Enable VT-x/AMD-V
   * Memory to 512MB
   * Storage > IDE Controller – ICH6
   * Attach New CD drive > select image (OSx86 Leopard) in the IDE Primary Slave
   * Hit Ok

Shut down Sun VirtualBox then

Step 2. Open Virtual machine xml.

Windows 7: C:\Users\fx<Your User>\.VirtualBox\Machines\Snow\Snow.xml

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\fx<YourUser>\.VirtualBox\Machines\Snow\Snow.xml

Add string to the section <ExtraData> for the XML:

     <ExtraDataItem name="VBoxInternal2/SupportExtHwProfile" value="on"/>

Step 3. Start up Sun VirtualBox and switch on Virtual Machine and install Leopard distro (iDeneb_v1.5.1_OSX86_v10.5.7) as-usual. (You can check Install Leopard on PC guide, if you are new to OSx86).

NB! Use the 'customise' option and select the 9.7.0 Qoopz kernel but not the AMD patch fix in order for it to work after selecting a disk. Also the Audio driver AC97 GenericAC97Audio

If you can't find a disk, format it using the disk utility (there's a menu up top) using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format

Alright, Leopard setup would succeed and is up and running after reboot.(Make sure you change boot priority to “Leo” Hard disk in VM settings).

Stuck somewhere? Get in touch @taranfx on Twitter.

Now, Shutdown Leopard and move on to Final Phase

Now in Sun Virtualbox do:

   * Network > Adapter 1 > Attached to “Bridged Adapter”
   * Advanced > Adapter Type > Select “Intel PRO/1000 MT server”

Snow-leopard-virtualbox-settings

And add the following to Snow Machine XML:

        <ExtraDataItem name="VBoxInternal/Devices/e1000f/0/Trusted" value="integer:1"/>
        <ExtraDataItem name="VBoxInternal/PDM/Devices/PcExt/Path" value="VBoxDD3"/>

Step 2. Run the Virtual Machine and you will land into desktop with everything (including internet) working.

Note: If your mouse doesn’t work use this Kext. For me it worked as-is.

Go ahead and update to 10.6.2. And when the upcoming 10.6.3 is released, you will be able to upgrade without issues.

There you are, running the latest Snow Leopard, sweet! Enjoy the speed and cost benefits VirtualBox has to offer, Praise the Sun and love Open Source :D

---

The OSX86 project has lots more information

Insanely Mac has a driver database as well as forums