If you are looking for the pre-installed Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard VMware image, then this post will be useful to find out the correct image and show the steps to install it on VMware Player or Workstation. In this guide, we discuss the 10.6.4 version which can be upgraded to a certain level in VMWare on your Windows computer.
The following method is completely for testing and learning purpose only. Do not use in the production or permanent use. Obviously, we can’t expect a good performance inside the VM, but overall it will be a good experience to learn and test macOS on Windows computer.
We have already mentioned several guides to install Mac on Windows computer by using virtualization technology, you can check them here to find out the latest version.
Installing the Mac OS on VMware which is based in Intel-based is not straight forward. You need to prepare the installation medium on a real Mac computer (or in a working Mac OS X VM), setup the proper boot loader, patch the software, and modify the VMX configuration file. To avoid these all steps, we can use the preinstalled image as shown in this guide.
Why Pre Installed Mac Snow Leopard Image?
- Easy to import in VMware and start using it.
- Mac Installation already is done, DVD or ISO not required.
- Saves your time by avoiding installation and patching for x86 computers.
- Drivers already installed. Sound, Network and Screen resolution working fine in this image.
- Updating to other versions working well.
- Not required to install any boot loaders.
My PC Configuration;
I have done the below demonstration on my Intel computer which has the following configuration.
- Intel Core2Duo 2.66GHz
- 3GB DDR2 RAM
- Intel P35 Chipset
- Windows 7 32 Bit Host
Required Products: Mac 10.6.4 Snow Leopard on VMware
I’m going to install and use this image on VMware Player, you can try on the VMware workstation as well. I have published similar posts about installing OS X 10.5 Leopard on VMware and Oracle VirtualBox with a pre-installed image earlier, you can check the links below.
Install Mac 10.5 Leopard on VMware Workstation
Install Mac 10.5.5 Leopard on Oracle VirtualBox
Products Needed for this method:
- Latest VMware Player or Workstation.
- Snow Leopard VMware Image (It’s a torrent download. Size is approximately 2.3GB with 7z compressed format.)
- Read this post and make sure VT is enabled on host computer BIOS.
Installation Steps
1) Extract the image. It contains VMX, VMDK and other tools required.
2) Make sure hardware VT is enabled.
3) Open Mac OS Snow Leopard.vmx file in VMware Player.
Edit virtual machine settings as you like. I suggest increasing the RAM and number of Processor Cores. If Mac OS stuck with any kernel errors, then change processor core to 1. Do not change any more settings in virtualization engine under processors.
4) Power on the virtual machine. I’m sure you will get Snow Leopard desktop without any problems. Do not worry about the language you see on the screen. I already changed it to English. Follow the steps below to change the language inside the virtual machine.
5) Click on Preferences icon on the desktop.
6) Click Languages icon.
7) Press Edit List button and remove unwanted language and leave U.S English. Also, go to Formats and change the region that matches your location.
Log off and log in, you will see the U.S English desktop and menus.
8) Admin Password for Image
Admin user name for this image is svp and the password is 123. You can use this 123 password to reset a new password for root.
9) USB devises Access
Yes, it worked. My external USB hard disk and flash disks worked inside Mac Virtual machine without any glitches. I had to mount the external hard disk in disk utility to make it work.
10) Network
Bridged and NAT network worked out-of-the-box without any patches in this image.
11) Multiple Screen resolutions and Wide Screen support available on this VM. The best part is, if you change the VMware Player screen size, Snow Leopard screen size also changes according it to fit the screen.
Check my earlier post here to learn how to install multiple screen resolutions in Mac OS X virtual machines.
12) Sound
For some reasons, the sound did not work for me straight away. If it doesn’t work for you, go to the extracted folder (from the download) and locate the SVP folder. Install EnsoniqAudioPCI.mpkg in Mac virtual machine. Restart the machine, the sound will work after it.
13) Software update
This image is having updates up to 10.6.2. Software update to 10.6.4 worked without any issues. I downloaded 10.6.4 combo updates from Apple site and updated successfully.
There you go, you are having a working Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard on VMware with your normal Intel PC. I’m sure this will work on the all latest Intel processors as long as hardware virtualization (VT) support available.
Here is a screenshot of a working virtual machine with this pre-installed VMDK image. If you are using it on VMware workstation, you will be able to take snapshots. That will be helpful to revert back the VM state if anything goes wrong.
14) Booting Issues
If the booting process stuck with the Apple logo, you can try this method.
Shut down the VM completely, open Mac OS Snow Leopard.vmx file in a text editor, look for smc.present=”TRUE” line. Change this value to FALSE. So, it should be smc.present=”FALSE”.
This step may solve any booting issues and keyboard, mouse delay. We have published a new guide on using macOS Bug Sur on VMware.
Does anyone know how to resolve the issue of when I run the VM I get “Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization. To run Mac OS X you need a host on which VMWare Workstation supports hardware virtualization”?
I’m getting this both with VMWare Player 3.1 and VMWare Workstation 7. I have VT enabled within the BIOS of my HP based AMD 5200+.
I’ve tried numerous settings within the VM settings and currently have under Processors it set to Intel VT-x or AMD -V and am using the legacy boot loader darwin_snow_legacy.iso.
@CB2000, Have you checked the VT from Host OS by AMD or MS tools as mentioned here,
https://www.sysprobs.com/disable-enable-virtualization-technology-bios
This looks like you are getting same error when hardware VT disabled in BIOS.
Hi,
I have intel core 2 due & I’m having the same problem like others mentioned.
I see the grey screen with the apple logo & a few seconds later it reboots, it repeats the running & booting till i close the session.
I don’t have the smc.present on my vmx file, I tried adding the line with true & false but neither helped.
@Kfir, type -v in darwin boot loader and let me know the last message on screen when it restarts.
Also make sure, VT is enabled on BIOS, and if your host OS is 64 bit use darwin legacy boot loader.
Firstly, excellent guide. Got everything working fine. Already impressed. However, I am unable to apply the RAM and CPU changes that I have made to the machine. When I modify the settings in VMWare they do not apply within the VM guest.
I am using the legacy boot loader iso and have:
Core i7 2.66GHz
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
8GB Ram
256GB Quad SSD
Any suggestions?
Yes, and it says the following:
“This system is compatible with Hyper V
This AMD64 system combines AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) Technology, high performance, and power efficiency.”
The strange thing is I have OSX 10.5.5 running in VBox 3.2 just fine, but can’t get Snow Leopard to run in VBox 3.2, VMWare Player 3, or VMWare Workstation 7.
Hi,
First of all hat was a great post indeed.
My problem is am using acer aspire 6920g with T5750 Processor. I guess i don’t have the VT feature supported with my process.
Any ideas what can i do to get Mac OS running on my laptop with vmware ?
Thanks
Hi Dinesh,
VT is enabled in my bios.
when I type -v, last messages are:
Patched DMI Table.
No DSDT replacement found. Leaving ACPI data as is
Starting Darwin x86_64
Then appeard a message on vmware:
A virtual CPU has entered the shutdown state. This would have caused a physical machine to restart. This can be caused by an incorrect configuration of the virtual machine, a bug in the operating system or a problem in the VMware Workstation software. Press OK to restart the virtual machine or Cancel to power off the virtual machine.
I tried the darwin legacy boot loader, that also didn’t help.
Thanks.
@Issa,
Then try this method
https://www.sysprobs.com/run-mac-os-pc-free-easy-vmware-player-3
@Dinesh that worked for me but i was wondering any idea where to get the 10.6.3 VM Image ?
@Issa, Still no idea about Snow Leopard 10.6.
Lets hunt.
I asked previously, but no response.
Does anyone have any idea how I may be able to resolve the following issues:
Unable to increase ram allocation in Mac OS X past 1GB
I am using the darwin_snow_legacy boot disk. I tried installing myHacks, it made no difference/didn’t work.
Any hints?
@Phil George, Sorry for not responding.
What type of processor you are using? Have you tried editing VMX file?
I think darwin boot loader is over writing VMX file configuration.
@Dinesh No need to apologise, I appreciate all the help. I think you are right.
My CPU is a Corei7 M 620 @ 2.66Ghz
I am running 64-bit Windows7 with 8GB Ram on a Sony VAIO Z.
I have edited the VMX directly.
This is what is says:
.encoding = “windows-1251”
config.version = “8”
virtualHW.version = “7”
maxvcpus = “4”
scsi0.present = “TRUE”
scsi0.virtualDev = “lsilogic”
memsize = “4096”
—-
I think it is the darwin_snow_legacy.iso. I have tried it with EFI (empireEFIv1085.iso) and (legacyempire_efi1085.iso) but due to 64-bit nothing works! Hope you have an idea. Run nicely even at 1GB but 4GB and 2 cores should improve things. Have you managed to get any form of hardware acceleration working on it?
I have also followed your guide with VirtualBox. I can get that one to assign more ram but sound is unreliable and it has power issues and crashes out when I go to About Mac.
@Phil George,
Yes, in VMware it worked better than VirtualBox. I suspect on maxvcpus you selected. Try to minimize it.
type -legacy and boot.
or check this link to get some addition options for booting loader,
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=99891
Let me see I help you in this.
@Dinesh
thanx for ur quick replied Dinesh
yes it does detect my 40 GB VMware Virtual IDE hard dish and mac disk under that , but why it doesnt use that for time machine n so on
my itune menu bar is disabled i think it has some things to do with this one …
n last question if u dont mind ,,itune wont detect my iphone when i connect them through usb cable ,,
many thanx
@HaweeN, No idea. I never connected iphone to Mac VM.
Hope somebody will help you here.
hi there
thanx for ur comments they r really help ful
im running mac os on my vista with out any problems
but i can not access to usb or external hard drive , i tried to mount it but its disable ,, basically i do wanna use external hard drive or even internal hard drive for time machines i tune n stuff like that many thanx 🙂
hi there
im running mac os on my vista with out any problems thanx to u
but i cant access to usb or external hard drive directely
basically i wanna use hard drive external or internal for time machine ,itune …so on
i tried top mount it but its disable
please help
@HaweeN, is Mac VM detecting the disk inside?
Try to mount it from disk utility, if it doesn’t work, remove it from VMware console and add it to different port. OR simply restart VM when disk connected.
This should solve the issue as did to me.
@Dinesh
Where do I type -legacy? At what point while booting VMWare?
And where is the MACVCPUs configured?
Cheers.
@Dinesh
Now that I have applied to 10.6.4 update and the myHack installer it will now boot using just the darwin.iso. It now supports my 4GB ram and my CPU’s. I will do some benchmarks and test further.
Any ideas on getting hardware acceleration working?
Cheers.
@Phil,
Edit virtual machine settings, and set only one core under processor.
While booting from darwin boot loader ( before see mac loading screen), press any key on keyboard. You can see a input screen at left side bottom where you can type extra switches for boot loader. type -legacy there and press enter. Even you can type -v ( -lagacy -v) to see whats happening during loading.
@Dinesh
It is now working perfectly with both Ram and CPU recognised. Next I will try and get Quartz Extreme working.
Have you tested that?
Cheers.
@Phil George,
Any luck with Quartz Extreme?
Most of the users reported failure as it may require proper VGA driver.
Have you checked these requirements for Quartz Extreme from Apple site?
Thank you so much for this tutorial!!!! I have an AMD processor and it WORKED! Ive been looking for so long for this. When I go to system preferensives it says i have and intel core for some reason but what ever it worked!
@Spencer, Don’t mind. Use it, AMD or Intel let it work. At least you are getting this screen in VMware, in VirtualBox it will go blank in this screen.
Dinesh, do you have any suggestions on how I might resolve my issue mentioned above? Also thanks for all of your efforts and the instructions you’ve provided to the community. Much appreciated!
@CB2000, Since I’m not that professional Tech blogger to have all kind of processor computers with me 😉 , I can only suggest following ideas to you,
1) Try with AMD EFI Boot loader from here http://www.mediafire.com/?m5wzzwyfg4m
2) type – legacy -v in any boot loaders and see the screen errors.
3) Can you select Windows 7 64 Bit or Windows 2008 R2 as Guest on VirtualBox , just to check whether these software sensing VT
Further, I have no idea How to help you.
@Joshua,
I hope you would have tried darwin (normal) and darwin_legacy boot loaders so far.
Its not required to write it on CD and use, you can directly mount ISO file.
Try these boot loaders from here,
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/05/iboot-20-updated-with-enhanced-usb.html
First try ATI or NVIDIA (depends on your VGA) boot loaders, then try ‘supported’ loader.
I’m sure you would have enabled VT on BIOS already.
Edit Virtual machine settings and set only one processor core and try.
Good Luck.
My PC doesn’t support hardware virtualization.
When I press the “Play virtual machine”, it says
“Mac OS X is not supported with software virtualization. To run Mac OS X you need a host on which VMware Player supports hardware virtualization”
Can I run Mac OS X without the support of hardware assisted virtualization ?
Thanks !
@Ruwan,
Without VT, you cant run Snow Leopard (10.6), but you can run Leopard (10.5) as mentioned here,
https://www.sysprobs.com/run-mac-os-pc-free-easy-vmware-player-3
Great, finally I found one person commented on my blog from ‘My Country’.
@Dinesh,
Well seems like i’ve made some progress. Odd thing is you keep saying to use 1 core….if I put 1 core it does a reboot with a kernal panic. If i put 4 cores, i go to the apple logo and no kernel panic with these new iso’s you told me to use. Only issue is i’m getting stuck at the logo. Looked at the vmx file and i don’t see the smc.present typed in. I tried adding the TRUE then tried FALSE and nothing changed. I ran the program for intel cpu’s or mobo’s and it said yes for virtualization but i’ll check my bios in a second and try and let you know what happens really quick. But other than that i re-ran everything for the iso’s. When i try different iso’s i get different screens like sometimes i’ll get the screeen to hit f5 then enter othertimes i’ll get like darwin/x86 or loading or w/e then reboots then no operating system found. So hopefully this helps out somewhat haha. Appreciate the assistance.
@ Phill George or Dinesh
Hello,
I have the same problem Phil George did being stuck at 1 gb of ram and have been unable to undestand the solution the two of you seem to have figured out.
Can one of you please clarify how you brought up the memory?
Thanks in advance!
@Michael Pinto, I never had memory limitation problem, Phill had. I hope he Phill can tell us.
if you are using 64 Bit host then i suggest to use darwin_lagacey boot loader.
Hey looked at my bios i don’t even see anything for the VT so, i’m confused now what to do I’m going to hunt down for a BIOS Update for my laptop. Possibly the issue. Its quite generic I would say. But idk if that will even help me like i said already i ran that little program for INTEL and it said yes for VT .. so idk..lost i’d say haha
@Joshua, Yes you have to press ENTER after F5 or installation DVD loaded.
Did you try these all on laptop????? I doubt it supports VT. Any how, if its latest one and re check again. if you are using MS OS, try this tool also,
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0EE2A17F-8538-4619-8D1C-05D27E11ADB2&displaylang=en#filelist
Hi, thanks, after 1.5 months of struggle it is working fine for me at last on my AMD, but i have one problem my Internet is not working in VMWARE. Can you please suggest some help.
JAR
@Jarthe13, Some users suggested following methods which worked for them.
Connect and disconnect network adapter from VMware console, Change network connection type for VM.
Try and let us know.