Snow Leopard in VMWARE Post Installation Fixes and Tweaks

30 December 2009 by Vinay 47 Comments

Recently we published How to install Snow Leopard in VMWARE 7 and Windows host, many successful installations have been reported. A few folks asked as about some problems e.g. “Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization. To run Mac OS X you need a host on which VMware Fusion supports hardware virtualization.” “Default resolution is 1280×1024 how can i increase the resolution” and “My sound isn’t working in VMware installl”. So i decided to publish a new detailed post rather than editing the existing post.

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Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization

Christian Delgado cracked the mystery and he already shared with us in our comment section, anyway i m sharing again with you here.

For those that keep getting the “Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization. To run Mac OS X you need a host on which VMware Fusion supports hardware virtualization.” error. I was having the same thing, it means your processor does not support virtualization, you would probably get the same thing on if you try to use virtual pc with xp mode on windows 7. So I was really curious why my intel core 2 duo processor did not support it. Then I was checking out my BIOS Settings, and the virtualization feature was off on my BIOS.

Change The Resolution

Boot your Snow leopard VMware installation and copy the boot.plist file to your desktop, you can find boot.plist >> /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist
Open the file you moved to desktop, and add following two lines before </dict>

<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1280×1024x32</string>

Replace the 1280×1024x32 with the resolution you want, here 1280×1024 is your screen resolution and x32 is refresh rate. Don’t change the refresh rate just change the resolution according to your monitor.
Save the file as com.apple.Boot.plist on the Desktop (make sure the .plist part is there!)
Navigate the the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ folder
Drag your com.apple.Boot.plist file on the Desktop into the folder window, When a messages appears, click Authenticate and Replace and enter your password.
You’re done! Reboot OS X to see the changes

Here is an example of what the com.Apple.boot.plist file looks like with after editing the code

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://
www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string></string>
<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1280×1024x32</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Installing Sound Driver

First of all take a snapshot of the VM, now look for EnsoniqAudioPCI.mpkg.tar.gz from the Snowy_Vmware_files.tbz2 archive you downloaded earlier. Simply launch the pkg and choose both options, type your password when prompted and once installation finishes reboot your system.

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47 Comments »

aatkco said:

Thanks for the post , another tip : install vmware tools To get the graphics that fit your onitor without editing any files , to install it : VM > Removable Devices > CD/DVD IDE > Connect
Then Click on the icon which will appear on the disktop and click “install vmware tools” .

# 30 December 2009 at 8:50 pm

eric said:

It works on VMware Workstation 7 Linux running on FEDORA 11 x86_64.

The installation worked perfectly. Updated to 10.6.2 and applied the Sound extra package.

Everything works including the 1280×1024 resolution quick fix.

However, I cannot get install the VMware Tools… Vmware complains about not being able to find component on update server. Is there a separate download for the vmware tools ? Does it improve the Display capabilities such as: Core Image and Quartz Extreme ?

Otherwise, good stuff and thanks!

Eric

# 31 December 2009 at 4:08 am

Adam said:

This worked like a charm for me. However has anyone had success updating to 10.6.2? worked fine for me except the mouse click stopped working for me.

# 31 December 2009 at 8:35 am

Min said:

Could you upload the whole vmware image. thank you very much

# 31 December 2009 at 11:50 pm

eric said:

ok, everything works A1. I mean OSX 10.6.2 running on VMware Workstation 7 Linux x86_64.

I finally found the vmware-tools for mac osx on a copy of VMware Fusion 3 that I own.

So now I run in fullscreen mode: 1920×1200x32 with network and sound

Happy New Year!

Eric

# 1 January 2010 at 12:46 am

Thiago said:

I keep getting the “Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization. To run Mac OS X you need a host on which VMware Fusion supports hardware virtualization.” error.

And i have enabled the bios option.
Im running in a Dell Studio XPS Core 2 Duo computer.
Can you guys help me?

# 1 January 2010 at 8:22 pm

Raj said:

@Adam, after updating to 10.6.2, add the following to your VMX file..

monitor.virtual_exec = “hardware”
monitor.virtual_mmu = “software”
keyboard.vusb.enable = “TRUE”
mouse.vusb.enable = “TRUE”

I have 10.6.2 and everything works very well…

# 2 January 2010 at 9:00 am

Admin MAC said:

After installation, It just hangs at the grey screen with the apple logo, with a loading icon…

Can you please help???

# 2 January 2010 at 9:33 am

Matt said:

My processor is a Core 2 T2500, and supports hardware virtualization. I have the option turned on in my BIOS, however I still receive the error message “Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization”

Any further steps I can take to debug whether VMware Workstation is recognizing my hardware correctly? Do I have to configure the virtual machine further?

Any help would be extremely appreciated, thanks.

# 4 January 2010 at 5:45 am

Zanthros said:

Although this works and I had no problems with the install and was able to get the audio and the screen size adjusted by use of the “fixes” above I cannot play a DVD as there is no graphics hardware installed and cannot burn a CD or even play a standard music cd with Itunes. MP3’s play and I can “see” a movie DVD but I get a message that there is no hardware to play the DVD on the machine. Is there a fix for this? I have installed Iwork and it seems to work but during an attempt to install ILife the OS stopped responding. I assume that this was due to a lack of graphics hardware in the OS. Can this be patched of can you tell me how to “fix” this?

# 4 January 2010 at 5:54 am

jay said:

worked like a charm. updated to 10.6.2. however, mouse/keyboard input takes a while after the update, but works.

ive installed vmware tools, but cant change the resolution using display options. does anyone know any other way to get HW accelleration working? (QE/CI)

# 4 January 2010 at 8:58 am

jay said:

update: display config works now! (forgot to do a reboot lol)

# 4 January 2010 at 9:01 am

Howard said:

Thanks! The tweaks worked well. Almost everything is working fine even with the latest OS updates. My only issue is that my mouse stops working after about 15 minutes. Its driving me crazy cause I’m so close. Any thoughts or tweaks that will stop this? I am using a bluetooth mouse/keyboard combination Logitech MX5000 if that makes a difference.

# 4 January 2010 at 9:11 am

JayG said:

@Adam – Try starting in VM Player, it worked for me after I did the software updates

# 4 January 2010 at 10:07 pm

Adam said:

Thanks for the tips guys. I am using VMWare WkSt 7, and when I add

monitor.virtual_exec = “hardware”
monitor.virtual_mmu = “software”
keyboard.vusb.enable = “TRUE”
mouse.vusb.enable = “TRUE”

I get a dictionary error when i start it up.

# 6 January 2010 at 9:56 am

sneakinhysteria said:

Enabling Intel VT in bios wasn’t enough for me, I had to change the CPU setting in the VM to VT too, it wouldnt work with “automatic”. Installing now as I type.

# 11 January 2010 at 12:22 am

Hector said:

Hi there, am kind of new to all this but I still undersatnd the hole procedure. However, when is geting ready for installation ( am using MAC OS X 10.6.1 ) a screen pups up saying ” Mac OS X can’t be installed on this computer – options> restore from backuo OR Restart”
Am I forgeting to change any settings?

If anyone could help me I’ll really appreciate it!!

# 13 January 2010 at 8:56 pm

Adrian said:

Admin MAC said:

After installation, It just hangs at the grey screen with the apple logo, with a loading icon…

Can you please help???

In order to solve this problem you must change the virtualization engine on vmware machine settings, by default is in “Automatic” mode but it should be in “VT-X or AMD-V” mode.

It worked for me.

# 14 January 2010 at 4:17 pm

digitalix said:

hi there,

every things works just fine, is there a possibilty to expand the size of the hd? You can do it with vmware but im not able to repartioned in osx..

Best regards and thanks for help

# 18 January 2010 at 3:00 am

Doc Subaru said:

I’m getting the “Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization. To run Mac OS X you need a host on which VMware Fusion supports hardware virtualization.” error. I have updated my bios but there is no virtualization option at all, in them. Processor is Intel core2 duo. Am I stuffed? So close but yet so far

# 20 January 2010 at 2:13 am

i7 said:

Can someone help me with hardware acceleration? I really want it because sometimes its really slow (Magnification of the dock)is there a .kext or a .plist or a driver??

# 20 January 2010 at 8:15 am

ElTaco said:

Got the same Problem as Hector!
First i had the problem “Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization. To run Mac OS X you need a host on which VMware Fusion supports hardware virtualization.”
After changing the BIOS setting
(the virtualization point i found under topic cpu and not power like the screenshot show)
i can start the installation to the first mac window.
There i can choose the language.
At the next window I get the same error message as Hector
” Mac OS X can’t be installed on this computer – options> restore from backup OR Restart”
when i saw this message i can go to erase the hdd to “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” which i did.

Can anyone help me pls? Getting crazy because i’m trying to install mac since 2 or 3 days!!!

# 22 January 2010 at 4:23 am

Random said:

@Zantros

How’s your iWork? Is it fully functioning? Mine has issues, in the sense that it’s only all white in the workplace when it should really show stuff (the slide in Keynote, the cells in Math, etc)

# 22 January 2010 at 1:41 pm

d4m4s74 said:

I’ve succesfully installed it, but there’s a problem

after updating to 10.6.2 I have to wait 5 to 10 minutes before I’m able to click with my mouse or use my keyboard.
after that they work correctly though.

also, the boot problem is caused by fakesmc, it can be solved by (if you’ve finally booted) installing the kext on http://netkas.org/?cat=15

# 26 January 2010 at 10:05 pm

d4m4s74 said:

edit, I was wrong, but it is caused by SMC in general

open up Mac OS X Server 10.6 (experimental).vmx in notepad/nano (works in linux too) and change smc.present=”TRUE” to smc.present=”FALSE”
boot will be way faster too, and it solves the mouse and keyboard delay too!

also, I’ll create a torrent around friday

# 27 January 2010 at 2:02 am

iamhere said:

hello there
the tweaks are just fine, i installed the macosx and updated 10.6.2, it’s working perfect but i have some performance issues.

# 30 January 2010 at 7:48 am

yaniv said:

hey guys,

I installed 10.6 fine, with VM7 no problems, was working great, installed xcore, ilife etc etc but I was having an issue opening images, I could see the thumbnails but no pics with Preview or iPhoto so I updated to 10.6.2 it installed, and now I can’t boot back in, it starts up, I see the apple logo but before it even tries to load it just restarts and says OS not found, even though the first time it said Loading Darwin… any ideas? using a new hp laptop, intel i3. thanks in advance!

# 30 January 2010 at 11:59 pm

Brett Harrison said:

Adriam, how do I change the VMware from automatic to “VT-X” or “AMD-V”? Every time I apply an update I get stuck at the gray screen at the beginning after force restarting and just get an apple logo with the spinning wheel.

# 1 February 2010 at 6:03 am

Brett Harrison said:

nvm I got it woohoo! Only thing I have to do now is find out how to get my built in camera working

# 1 February 2010 at 6:13 am

C said:

I am 100% sure I changed my BIOS setting which supported VT… I installed 10.6 works fine if and only if I use 1 CPU cuz with 2 CPUs it ran the installation extremely crazily slow.. and use only 1024MB for RAM

after installed, I tried to update to 10.6.2, after update, and I got the same Error:

Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization. To run Mac OS X you need a host on which VMware Fusion supports hardware virtualization.

For some reasons, the BIOS setting is not really saved, it seems that I have to go to the BIOS to change VT to disable and enable, save BIOS, then VMware will recognize it has hardware VT… so strange… I am using Windows 7 and VMware workstation 7…

I guess I may need to uninstall and reinstall the VMware again and see if it works…

# 1 February 2010 at 11:59 pm

ElTaco said:

Got a solution for the “Could not install – Restore from Backup or Restart”
(I did it with VMWare Player 3)
1. Search for someone who has a MAC and a USB-Stick converted for MAC
2. Let him make a Backup of his MAC with TimeMachine on the USB-Stick
3. Start your VM and go until it says Backup or Restart
4. Choose Backup and be sure that the Stick is in your PC and connected to VMWare
5. Now the Stick has to be shown as a target for the Restore
6. Choose the Stick and restore the Backup
(This needs a lot of time, up to 1-2 hours or more)
7. For starting MAC OS X the Darwin_snow.iso has to be choosen

# 2 February 2010 at 12:43 am

Brett Harrison said:

Is there a way to expand the size of the virtual hard drive?

# 2 February 2010 at 8:01 am

terence said:

RE: d4m4s74’s suggestion about smc.present=”False”

It is working!!

no more wait 5 to 10 mins in order to control mouse and keyboard. Thanks.

I still can not install driver for nvidia display card…

Anyone help?

# 3 February 2010 at 12:34 pm

Gasher said:

Has anyone gotten CI/QE to work inside VM Ware?

# 4 February 2010 at 4:08 pm

lenx said:

@Eric

Can you tell me how do you get the vmware tools to work on vmware workstaion 7 on ubuntu?

# 4 February 2010 at 6:13 pm

lenx said:

nvm i just found how to do it.

I mounted the darwin.iso inside snow leopard. Then there is a prompt to install vmware tools.

# 4 February 2010 at 7:52 pm

osaka said:

ok, i finally installed vmware tools on mac, here how to get them:
1- goto vmare site , download VMWare fusion trial
2- you’ll get a VMware-Fusion-3.0.1-215242-light.dmg file
3- goto the cd in VMware then settings, choose “Use ISO image” click browse then make the file type “all files” select the VMware-Fusion-3.0.1-215242-light.dmg , don’t forget to check “connected”
4- in mac vm, you’ll see the vmware fusion mounted, install it, ignore the fusion serial.
5- after installing goto /Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/iso images get the darwin.iso file , double click on it, and you’ll get it mounted, this is the VMware-tools for mac, install them and restart!

# 7 February 2010 at 4:49 pm

eric said:

@lenx

I got the vmware-tools by using the one bundled with vmWare Fusion 3. I own a few Mac and vmWare Fusion is what allows me to run vm on both Linux & Mac.

I might suggest to download a trial version and get the vmware-tools for OSX from it.

# 8 February 2010 at 12:25 am

Andrea said:

Hello! I’ve installed mac os x 10.6.2 on a vmware 7!The problem are:
1)When i boot up the sistem block at the grey screen with the apple.I’ve to try a lot of time to boot to start the machine.

2)I have a ati mobility radeon hd 4650 where i can find the driver?

My computer is an hp pavilion dv6-1341el with windows 7

# 9 February 2010 at 4:40 am

namtrig said:

I’ve followed all advice on this page and everything works great except programs in iWork. Like another poster above, the iWork programs only display white in the main work area. For example, numbers has the tool bar and side bar but no grids.

Anyone have suggestions???

# 9 February 2010 at 7:33 am

Random said:

namtrig, I’m sure other programs like iLife doesn’t work too, right?

# 10 February 2010 at 9:09 am

namtrig said:

Correct. Seems like it has something to do with not having Quartz Extreme support in VMWare . I’m just wondering if anyone has figured out a work around.

# 12 February 2010 at 7:04 am

Michael said:

I would like to point out that the 32 after the resolution is the color depth, not the refresh rate. I’d still recommend not changing it unless there’s a specific reason you want 16-bit color.

# 13 February 2010 at 9:02 am

KrAppLE JaXX said:

anyone know how to get airport detected on a laptop?
also, my 3d acceleration seems not to help much

# 18 February 2010 at 1:42 am

Rap|d said:

Hi – got everything working but am having the same issues with the Preview not working. Updated without problems to 10.6.2.

Anybody solve this?

# 19 February 2010 at 3:47 pm

Dominic said:

All works fine except “Preview”.
However, if the image is SaveAs pdf. It can appear correctly in “Preview”.
Is there any alternative that can work exactly like what “Preview” do?

# 21 February 2010 at 6:43 am

sean said:

pls. anyone can me help to install mac osx on my pc windows 7 ultimate because everytime i boot it appears always error………. my pc is intel quad core Q9550

# 6 March 2010 at 1:06 pm