Mac OS X on x86 Hardware 2008–2024 Technical Archive
InfiniteMac OSx86 › Leopard 10.5 › "Still Waiting for root device" - help
4,496 reads · 2008-02-20 – 2008-06-09
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"Still Waiting for root device" - help

I would like to appologize in advance as this is a "help me install AMD 10.5.2 plz!" thread. But I suppose this is what the forum is for. I downloaded, burned and installed the new AMD 10.5.2 release, but after the installation I see this:…

Primary Author
@ark_mage2 Published 2008-02-20
Collection
Leopard 10.5
Archival Footprint
4,496 historical reads · 8 curated field notes (from 13 dispatches) · 2008-02-20 – 2008-06-09
Credited Voices (7)
@ark_mage2 (4)@broncoboy (3)@eddie11c (2)@cgsheen@Cooalis@Protocol82@rvaldomiro

I would like to appologize in advance as this is a "help me install AMD 10.5.2 plz!" thread. But I suppose this is what the forum is for.
I downloaded, burned and installed the new AMD 10.5.2 release, but after the installation I see this:

When I boot in diagnostic mode It gets stuck on "Still Waiting for root device". I would be grateful if someone could explain what I am doing wrong (and what I need to choose durring setup). My specs are as follows:
AMD Athlon 3700+
ASUS AV8 motherboard
1gb of RAM (not sure if it matters)
150gb SATA drive
NVIDIA 7600GS AGP
Atheros PCI Card

Author Updates & Technical Revisions

Follow-up dispatches by @ark_mage2

Author Update #1 @ark_mage2 2008-02-20

I tried installing it again with the 9.1 kernel and the VIA chipset drivers. It now freezes at a different place in the boot. Here is a picture of the verbose screen:

I am grateful for ther help.

Author Update #2 @ark_mage2 2008-02-20

My onboard LAN was already disabled, and I removed my atheros card, however the boot still stops on the last step shown in the picture. I also noticed that when rebooting it multiple times It will also stop on the steps before the last shown as well, however the above picture is the furthest I have gotten. I would appreciate any help.

Author Update #3 @ark_mage2 2008-02-20

I reinstalled it without the nvidia kexts, and it now boots. Thanks to everyone who helped me. Now there are a couple of things that I still need help with.
1. Get it to see my ATA hard drive (NTFS)
2. Get my Atheros card to work
3. Get my Geforce 7600GS AGP to work
4. Get my sound card to work
I appreciate the help.

Synthesized Community Field Notes

8 technical responses curated from 13 original dispatches

Field Note #1 @cgsheen 2008-02-20

You have a VIA chipset motherboard. Was there an option in "customizing" the install for VIA chipset support?

Here's some background: The "still waiting for root device" error generally comes from the OS not recognizing or properly supporting your motherboard chipset or the SATA interface. In the past many have gotten around the problem by using IDE drives for OSX. Much of that was supposed to be fixed in 10.5.2...

A pic of the "verbose" screen would probably have been more helpful - there are lines of text that may hold clues for the Guru's here to decipher...

Field Note #2 @eddie11c 2008-02-20

disable your network drive from the BIOS if you can.

Field Note #3 @broncoboy 2008-02-20

Hi I am new osx86 & I get the same message after installing 10.5.2 on my sun ultra20.
Maybee I am not customising properly, don't know, would love a native version of osx instead of a virtual.
Can someone
Here are my computers specs-:

SUN_ULTRA_20_WORKSTATION

Motherboard: Tyan Tomcat K8E S2865
CPU: AMD Opteron 152 - 2.6Ghz
Cache: 1MB L2 Cache

Memory: PC3200 3gb(2x1gb+2x512mb)

Onboard Network: 1000/100/10 Base-T Gigabit

Graphics: Nvidia FX 1400 Quattro 128MB RAM Dual Display

Hard Drives: 250gb sata + 80gb sata + 200gb ide
(80gb drive is mac only with 2 partitions 25gb+55gb)

Also have attached a verbose pic

Field Note #4 @eddie11c 2008-02-20

It looks like it should be booting, you tried booting with -x? -f? maybe boot in single user mode -s and remove the geforce/NVDA kexts.

Field Note #5 @Cooalis 2008-02-20
[cite] broncoboy:all good now, finally a successfull install

How did you solve it? I've got the same problem.

Field Note #6 @broncoboy 2008-02-21

I didnt install any nvidia files at all & used ac97 audio & forcedeth lan & nforce chipset drivers.
All good now, I am quad booting XP,VISTA,SUSE & OS_X & they all work. I love it.

Field Note #7 @Protocol82 2008-02-21
[cite] ark_mage2:I reinstalled it without the nvidia kexts...

How?

Field Note #8 @rvaldomiro 2008-06-09

broncoboy, how do you fix this?!?!
help-me, i'm same situation!

Corroborated & Participated: @broncoboy
Sources & Contributor Provenance (7 credited usernames · Thread #379)
UsernameDossier ContributionDispatchesActive Window
@ark_mage2Primary Author42008-02-20
@broncoboyCore Contributor32008-02-20 → 2008-02-21
@eddie11cContributor22008-02-20
@cgsheenContributor12008-02-20
@CooalisContributor12008-02-20
@Protocol82Contributor12008-02-21
@rvaldomiroContributor12008-06-09