Installing MacOS x86 10.5.8 + iPhone SDK on VMWARE 6.5.2

2009-10-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to start looking at developing software for the iPhone and iPod Touch. I didn't really want to go out and spend a serious amount of money on a Mac that wouldn't get massive amounts of use and so started to look at other options. At present it's only possible to download and install the iPhone SDK on a Mac operating system. After doing a little digging around I came across the OSx86 project and decided to give it a go.

First I acquired Kalyway 10.5.2 and got that installed (and updated to 10.5.4) on a little Tranquil T7 Intel Atom based PC that was running Ubuntu 9.04. The install was seamless and after a little searching I was able to get the sound working and screen resolution satisfactory. Getting braver I decided to have a go at installing an OS X installation on my Samsung NC10 Netbook. I found a few blogs about using a NC10 specific distribution of JaS 10.5.6. I located this distro and proceeded to install it successfully on the Samsung.

Two installations down..... now the biggie.... could I install an OSx86 version on a Virtual Machine running on my high-end Win7 PC. I installed VMWare Workstation 6.5.2 and tried several distros without success. Some would allow me to get as far as installing and then crash.... some wouldn't even get that far. Eventually after hours of messing with settings, scouring the net for help and general hacking.... I sussed it and I decided to put this together to help others who may have a similar requirement and if the result of a long weekend's work. I hope you'll be able to have the same success I've had.

Software required

iDeneb 10.5.7 OSx86 distro ISO - You can find this from your favourite torrent site or even on Rapidshare, Megaupload or Mediafire. Google is your friend here and with a little perseverance you'll find what you need.

iDeneb 10.5.8 Combo Upgrade Kit - Again you'll find what you need if you search Google again.

VMWare 6.5.2 - Buy a copy of course!

Daemon Tools Lite - This is free from Daemon Tools Site

Really Smallprint: I do not advocate the use of pirated or illegal software. If you are going to download one of the OSx86 distros at least buy a proper copy of OSX so you have a license to cover it.)

Installation

First install Daemon Tools Lite
Then VMWare Workstation

Setting up the image

If you haven't already, configure Daemon Tools to create a single virtual CD drive.
Mount your 10.5.7 ISO image on this drive and make a note of the drive letter

Configuring VMWare (Click on images to enlarge them)

Create a new VM in VMWare and choose 'Custom' from the options.

Configure the hardware.

Don't install the Operating System just yet....

Configure as FreeBSD 64-bit for now... we will change this in a minute

Save your VM Config

Processors. Even you have Dual / Quad Core, this MUST be set to one

Set your Memory. A minimum of 1024 should be selected.

Network is 'Bridged'

I/O Adapter should be left at 'LSI Logic'

You want to create a new Virtual Disk

Leave it as SCSI

If you are going to be developing, set the size to at least 40Gb

Review you settings and make sure that 'Power On...' is NOT checked

Finally, go to the VM Settings and set the CD/DVD Physical Drive to the Virtual Drive that has the distro image mounted (remember???)

Once these steps have been followed there are two final things that need to be carried out before the image will install correctly. You are going to need to edit the .vmx configuration file that VMWare has created for your VM. Ensure that you close down VMWare and it is not running.

Locate the.VMX file (this will be in a subfolder which you named earlier in a folder called Virtual Machines which you should find in your 'Documents' or 'My Documents' folder)

Open it with Notepad and find the line that says

guestOS = "FreeBSD-64"

and change to

guestOS = "darwin-64"

PLEASE NOTE the letter case. No uppercase D!

(if you find that it hangs later in the installation, try changing this to 'darwin' rather than 'darwin-64')

Also, somewhere in the file add the line

 keyboard.vusb.enable = "false"

(This prevents a known issue with keys 'sticking' in the VM)

Finally at the bottom of the file you need to add the line

paevm = "true"

Now save the file. That's it. You have configured the VM and are ready to boot it up and see what happens.

Open VMWare and power on the VM. You should see the 'Darwin Loader' kick in. As soon as it does you need to click inside the VM screen and hit a key to force the Darwin loader to boot from the install CD (ignore any VM warnings about not being to locate darwin.iso... I've never managed to get rid of these!).

If it works you should find a couple of minutes later you are in the installer for iDeneb.

Select your language and continue

Now you will need to partition and format the 40Gb VM disk that your VM has created. To do this you need to use the Apple 'Disk Utility'. From the Utilities menu at the top choose 'Disk Utility'.

Once it's loaded highlight the 40Gb VMware drive on the left hand side and then select the 'Partition' tab on the main screen. It should show that there is no partition currently on your disk

From the 'Volume Scheme' dropdown, select '1 Partition' and give your partition a name (try to avoid spaces as they can cause problems). For the format make sure you choose 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)'.

Now click the 'Options' button and ensure that you have 'Master Boot Record' selected and not GUID. I could not get the VM to work with any other scheme. Click 'OK' to get back to the partition window and hit the 'Apply' button to continue.

When asked if you want to partition the disk just hit the 'Partition' button and let the installer do it's thing. Once it's finished you should notice a new partition has appeared in the left hand window under the 40gb disk. Click the little red circle at the top left of the window to close & continue. Agree to the license agreement.....

Now you should be presented with a Drive to install to. Select the one you just configured and Continue.

For now don't bother customising this installation as the defaults should get us close to where we want to be. Hit 'Continue' to start the install

'Skip' the disk check

Now sit back and wait.... it will take 20-30 mins to install the system.

When it has installed it will reboot itself. When you find it back at the BIOS screen, 'STOP' the VM as you are going to edit the file again.

If you changed the file at the beginning to read 'darwin-64' then you will need to open up the .VMX file again in Notepad and change

guestOS = "darwin-64"

guestOS = "darwin"

....and save!

You will need to ensure that the original image stays mounted with Deamon Tools otherwise your installation will not boot correctly. That's hopefully the hard bit behind us. Fire up the VM again and all being well you should find yourself at the setup screen in OS X within a short time. Complete setup so you find yourself at the desktop.

Now you can install the required 10.5.8 combo update (copy it to the VM using a flash drive or similar. If it's archived in sections, use Stuffit Expander to extract the files). Again accept the defaults when installing this.

If you want to add sound to your setup you can find the correct Kext file at InsanelyMac
and install it using KextHelper

Screen resolution can be altered by editing a system file. You can find out how this is done here.

You should now be able to install the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch SDK and XCode update without any problems.

If you'd rather not have an image mounted each time you boot your VM-Mac then you can create a VM 'snapshot' once you've booted to the desktop... this avoids having to keep the original image mounted.

If you've got any futher additions, fixes, complaints, complements... stick 'em underneath....

Happy Coding!!!

Adventures in OSX86

Installing MacOS x86 10.5.8 + iPhone SDK on VMWARE 6.5.2