Add the Extension Pack to VirtualBox :.Mount the iBoot ISO image to the virtual drive (I am using drive letter E).Install Virtual Clone Drive (it will install a driver that might trigger a security warning).Procedureįirst a few screenshots of the process, to add a little clarity along the way (each image is also linked at the relevant part of the article). Of course, a bit of patience and tech savvy will go a long way. Used to update Snow Leopard to the latest version Needed so that Snow Leopard will install on an MBR disk ( alternate link)Īdditional Software, Post-Install (not used in this guide): Software Title Will be used for the initial boot loader (iBoot) Despite the seemingly long procedure that follows, the steps take less than 15 minutes to follow (plus the 1 hour wait for the DMG to extract). Since we are doing this without accessing a Mac (we are starting on a Windows machine), we are going to use the Disk Utility on the Snow Leopard installer, and will access it through a virtual machine. The best way to get the contents of a DMG image onto a USB drive is by using Mac’s Disk Utility.

Furthermore, since we will need to modify the installer, a more complex route would be needed if a piece of software can only burn the image to disk (and not modify it). Most Windows tools are unable to work with a DMG file, and from my experience, those that can, have difficulty with the OS X installer. The problem with this is that Windows can only see 3 (4 with EFI) partitions (which, as I typically have 5 partitions in addition to my operating systems, will not work) A more practical solution is to use a hybrid GPT/MBR drive, which is easy to setup, and works well.EDK2/tianocore), however, the success rate tends to be low and the complexity is high. It is possible to install an implementation of EFI (e.g.The need for MBR stems from Windows, which is currently unable to boot from a GPT disk on a non-EFI system (although, Windows 7 does recognize GPT disks).Īs a side note, there are two ways that can be used to install Windows on a GPT disk: Background:įor the above mentioned setup, a modification is required to the Snow Leopard installer so that it will accept an MBR (master boot record) type destination disk, instead of only a GPT (GUID partition table) type destination disk. The next few posts will chronicle the necessary steps to complete a triple boot (Windows 7, Ubuntu 10.10, OS X 10.6.5) setup on a (non-Mac) notebook. (Note: the limits imposed above were purely for the fun of it – I have access to a functioning triple boot Hackintosh, but realise that many people trying to create such a Hackintosh for the first time do not.) Today’s task is to prepare an OS X installer on a USB drive, starting from an Apple Disk Image (.dmg), without access to a Mac. It’s holiday time, and as such, the geek within is restless.

Install snow leopard from usb windows