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As I explained here, I have an old MacBook and I am planning to replace OS X with either Windows 7 or Linux.

I was wondering if it is at all possible to virtualize the physical Snow Leopard partition. In Windows you can convert a physical machine to a virtual machine using VMWare products. Could I do something like this for my MacBook?

The idea is to wipe everything, install Windows or Linux and have the original OS X partition as a Virtual Machine in case I need something.

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Dude named Ben
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  • Where do you want to store your 'original partition'? On an external drive? – klanomath Jan 06 '15 at 18:15
  • It doesn't matter. With VMWare products, in my experience, you can move VMs' location without problems. It will likely be on an external though due to the size of my internal. – Dude named Ben Jan 06 '15 at 18:28

1 Answers1

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According to this source this should work:

Prerequsites:

– Mac OS X 10.6.8 Server or Mac OS X 10.7 or later as prospective Guest OS

  1. Create a r/w image of your partition

  2. Open Terminal an enter:

    hdiutil imageinfo /path/to/image.dmg  | grep "Format"

    Output should be:

    Format: UDRW
Format Description: raw read/write

  3. Create a diskname.vmdk file with an editor:

    # Disk DescriptorFile
version=1
encoding="UTF-8"
CID=fffffffe
parentCID=ffffffff
isNativeSnapshot="no"
createType="monolithicFlat"

# Extent description
RW SIZE_OF_DMG_IN_SECTORS FLAT "Fully_Qualified_Pathname_of_DMG" 0

# The Disk Data Base 
#DDB

ddb.adapterType = "lsilogic"
#ddb.geometry.cylinders is not used by Mac OS.
#ddb.geometry.heads is not used by Mac OS.
#ddb.geometry.sectors is not used by Mac OS.
#ddb.longContentID will be generated on the first write to the file.
#ddb.uuid is not used by Mac OS.
ddb.virtualHWVersion = "6"

  4. customize SIZE_OF_DMG_IN_SECTORS (the size of your disk/512) and Fully_Qualified_Pathname_of_DMG in the above file

  5. Open VMware Workstation and create a new machine and choose the above created vdmk file as hdd.image

  6. There is a legal impediment to run Mac OS X on Non-Apple hardware. VMware Player & VMware Workstation therefore officially don't support the installation of Mac OS X on any hardware - not even on Macs.

klanomath
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  • Thx. It will be a while before I can try this, but it is good to know that it can be done. – Dude named Ben Jan 06 '15 at 20:34
  • re: # 6, VMware Fusion let's you install and run OS X guests on OS X hosts. The way you worded it, it makes it sounds like you can't do this, when in fact you can. – Patrick McMahon Jan 06 '15 at 21:30
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    @PatrickMcMahon Vic wants to install Windows (or Linux) on his Mac as only OS. VMware Workstation (PC/Linux) running on the Windows host doesn't allow to install Mac OS X at all even if it is Apple hardware. – klanomath Jan 06 '15 at 21:35
  • Also, the OP wants to virtualize the non-server version of 10.6, which is also not allowed. It's possible to (cheaply?) acquire a 10.6 server installation DVD; but, I'm not sure what happens when 10.6.3 (the latest server version on DVD AFAIK) is installed on top of a running 10.6.8 system. – Kent Jan 06 '15 at 23:35
  • @Kent max. OS X for Macbook4,1 is 10.7.5 so it shouldn't be a problem – klanomath Jan 06 '15 at 23:39
  • @Kent, Both client and server for Snow Leopard are at 10.6.8 for their latest versions. – Patrick McMahon Jan 08 '15 at 15:56
  • @klanomath, I apparently missed the first sentence in OP's opening. Thanks for clarifying. – Patrick McMahon Jan 08 '15 at 15:57
  • @PatrickMcMahon I know that -- we have a few Xserves running 10.6.8, but I'm pretty sure that the last install DVD Apple made for Snow Leopard server was 10.6.3. If there is no need to keep the old 10.6.8 system and data around then a fresh install of the Server from DVD won't be an issue. But it "downgrading" from 10.6.8 (non-server) to 10.6.3 Server, even momentarily, might cause some unexpected results. – Kent Jan 08 '15 at 20:20