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  #1  
Old 10-20-2008, 10:17 PM
Voyn1x's Avatar
Voyn1x Voyn1x is offline
 
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Possible solutions for "Still waiting for root device"

Here you will find some solutions to the common "Still waiting for root device" issue which has been compiled from information in the osx86project wiki. If anyone has managed to solve it another way, please post it here.

Solution 1 - change drive to primary


The most common solution is making your OSX drive the primary IDE. Try disconnecting all the other hard drives, make the OSX drive IDE0, using either cable-select or Master jumper settings.

In some cases forced or strange IDE master/slave settings can cause problems. For instance, on one system setting the DVD drive via jumpers as the slave drive but attaching it as the only device to the end of the cable can cause this problem. Reconfiguring the drive to use cable select (it then chose to be the master drive) fixed the problem.

Solution 2 - specify the boot disk

Code:
rd=diskXsY -v
X and Y are just placeholders and need to be replaced with proper values. X is the disk number (on most systems installed to the first hard disk, this will be disk0) and Y the partition number.

Solution 3 - use an IDE drive

Use an IDE drive or alternatively try and patch the install dvd with the correct SATA chipset driver for your hardware.

Solution 4 - use a SATA optical drive

For newer Intel chipsets such as the 965 that do not natively support IDE (and use chips such as JMicron or Marvell), use a SATA optical drive.

Solution 5 - try different boot options

Code:
platform=X86PC -v

platform=ACPI -v

-x -v

-f -v
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  #2  
Old 11-25-2008, 09:31 PM
Misi Misi is offline
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i hope it's not a stupid question, but this commands ar entered before the installation or after if the "Still waiting for root device" problem appears ?

Misi
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  #3  
Old 11-26-2008, 04:16 AM
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nfoav8or nfoav8or is offline
 
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before...

during the countdown of the Install DVDs, press f8 to enter the boot flags shown above.

After installation... during the countdown of the system startup from the Hard Drive, press any key to enter the boot flags.

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  #4  
Old 01-26-2009, 10:43 AM
zipboing zipboing is offline
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Red face solutions don't work... help me please!

Hi
I've tried every solution except #4: still not working.
IDE HD is jumper-set on primary master, dvd on primary slave (HD is first in cable, dvd second).
With solution #2 still have "still waiting for root device".
With platform=X86PC -v I have this.
With platform=ACPI -v have this.
With -f -v have this.

maybe there's something wrong in my installation. I used this config:
- drive formatted with GUID and MBR as well, both HFS journaled
- chipset: ICHX fixed
- kernel: SLEEP (tried stage XNU as well)
- fix: cpus=1 -fix (tried ACPI -fix as well)
- video: AGP (tried no video card as well)

I've tried Iatkos and kalyway (don't start installation), you're my last hope
thanks a lot!
Lo

mobo: asus P4S800D
chipset: sis 655 fx
processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz Prescott
(IA-64 Not supported; MMX, SSE, SSE 2, SSE 3 supported)
bios: American Megatrends Inc.
Version: 1011.004
release date: 09/17/2004
ram: 4gb A-data pc400
ATI Radeon 9600 (RV350) 256 MB
SiS 7012 Audio Device
IDE HD maxtor 60gb (only for OSX)
IDE dvd HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20
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  #5  
Old 01-27-2009, 07:49 AM
zipboing zipboing is offline
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Posts: 5
hey ...is there anybody out there?

mobo: asus P4S800D
chipset: sis 655 fx
processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz Prescott
(IA-64 Not supported; MMX, SSE, SSE 2, SSE 3 supported)
bios: American Megatrends Inc.
Version: 1011.004
release date: 09/17/2004
ram: 4gb A-data pc400
ATI Radeon 9600 (RV350) 256 MB
SiS 7012 Audio Device
IDE HD maxtor 60gb (only for OSX)
IDE dvd HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20
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  #6  
Old 01-27-2009, 10:25 AM
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nfoav8or nfoav8or is offline
 
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Location: WA, USA
Posts: 933
Have you tried switching the drives around so the DVD drive is primary and HD is secondary.

I wouldn't rule out buying a SATA HD and retrying with your DVD on Primary IDE as well.

Some boards are just finicky and you may also need to try other distros to get better support (although I don't think this is the case here)

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  #7  
Old 01-28-2009, 08:24 AM
zipboing zipboing is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nfoav8or View Post
Have you tried switching the drives around so the DVD drive is primary and HD is secondary.
before or after the installing? after didn't work.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nfoav8or View Post
Some boards are just finicky and you may also need to try other distros to get better support (although I don't think this is the case here)
tried Iatkos: the installation didn't start (pc made loop reboot)
tried kalyway: the dvd didn't even start!

I understand that there are not two identical pcs in the world, so it all depends on my configuration; the question is: is there a list of "what to use if you have..." somewhere in the web? I mean, I have an not-so-old-assembled-pc (4 years) but it has got a P4 cpu... maybe the versions I tried are for dual cores, or they asks more resources...
suggestions?

thanks a lot!
Lo

mobo: asus P4S800D
chipset: sis 655 fx
processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz Prescott
(IA-64 Not supported; MMX, SSE, SSE 2, SSE 3 supported)
bios: American Megatrends Inc.
Version: 1011.004
release date: 09/17/2004
ram: 4gb A-data pc400
ATI Radeon 9600 (RV350) 256 MB
SiS 7012 Audio Device
IDE HD maxtor 60gb (only for OSX)
IDE dvd HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20
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  #8  
Old 01-28-2009, 08:44 AM
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nfoav8or nfoav8or is offline
 
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Location: WA, USA
Posts: 933
The biggest resource is the HCL. I'm linking you to the 10.5.2 HCL because the other ones have not been fully updated yet. Yours isn't listed. I've only seen the P4P800 series board in other versions of the HCL... but the two boards are related and the other methods may work.


Last edited by nfoav8or; 01-28-2009 at 08:48 AM.
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  #9  
Old 01-28-2009, 03:28 PM
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varunbtech varunbtech is offline
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i am also facing same problem with my SATA HDD. so, pls anyone help me, how i will install mac leopard 10.5 in sata hdd in intel chipset?

my pc config:
Mother board : Intel D102GGC2
Processor : Intel PentiumD
Memory : 1GB
Hdd : SATA 160GB

Last edited by varunbtech; 01-28-2009 at 03:43 PM.
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  #10  
Old 01-28-2009, 09:51 PM
nfoav8or's Avatar
nfoav8or nfoav8or is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varunbtech View Post
i am also facing same problem with my SATA HDD. so, pls anyone help me, how i will install mac leopard 10.5 in sata hdd in intel chipset?

my pc config:
Mother board : Intel D102GGC2
Processor : Intel PentiumD
Memory : 1GB
Hdd : SATA 160GB
This doesn't use an Intel Chipset... an Intel CPU, yes, but the chipset is "ATI* Radeon* Xpress 200 Chipset" as seen in the picture.

Kalyway's 10.5.1 Install DVD should install for you but you will not have USB support. This is simply a complication between the kexts and the board and is well known. You can search for "D102GGC2" over and InsanelyMac.com for more in for on this.

You will be able to use the voodoo kernel with this and then be able to update if you also update your bootloader to Chameleon and add a few more files.



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Last edited by nfoav8or; 01-28-2009 at 09:56 PM.
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