Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
2020 Update: Snow Leopard (client) and Parallels 15 & 16: Apparently Parallels "breaks" the ability to boot Snow Leopard client, as modified below, on versions of Parallels sometime around version 10 or 11.

IvanExpert has recently posted his updated method to install Snow Leopard client into Parallels 15 and 16 here and I just upgraded to Parallels 15.1.4 and it works like a charm! This renders my Snow Leopard client instructions below obsolete; so use Ivan's method (6/24/2020).

Remember Snow Leopard Server is an authorized installation for Parallels and is much easier to install and use, as noted below. I will update how to install SLS into Parallels 15 soon.

I will keep this post here for historical purposes and comments, questions, etc. since Ivan's blog does not accept comments.
____________________________________________________________________________

BIG NEWS UPDATE: Apple is now selling Snow Leopard Server for $19.99 + sales tax & shipping costs at 1.800.MYAPPLE (1.800.692.7753) - Apple Part Number: MC588Z/A (telephone orders only). Here is virtualized SLS in action! Installing Snow Leopard Server into Parallels is a much simpler process and recommended to all who have access to purchasing SLS (apparently USA & Canada, Australia and some European countries for now).

Full installation instructions for Snow Leopard Server into Parallels 10 are here

This thread remains for historical perspective and for those who cannot gain access to purchasing Snow Leopard Server (although try real hard - have a friend in the USA or Canada purchase it for you and ship it to you).

Someone actually went to the bother of posting a YouTube instructional video of this process
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

Preliminary Notes:

A. This post #1 is being constantly updated to reflect users comments. It is self-contained, in that you do not need to read the remainder of this thread to properly accomplish the Snow Leopard install; however, I do suggest that you read post #3: Cautionary Notes and Troubleshooting Stepshttps://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14807433/.
B. These instructions were originally written for use with Parallels 7 in Snow Leopard or Lion.
C. UPDATE FOR MOUNTAIN LION: Two users have contributed this modified STEP ONE for use in Mountain Lion and multiple users have confirmed it works - Thank you! Mountain Lion requires Parallels 7 Build 7.0.15106 or Parallels 8.​
D. Parallels 8: These instructions will work for Parallels 8. In STEP THREE #1: Parallels Tools is built into the main program in Parallels 8, so there is no need to install any ISO file as a CD/DVD, as instructed. Instead use: "Update Parallels Tools" from the Virtual Machine menu.​

What is needed:

• Installation of Parallels 7 in your Lion computer - I will expect this step has already been completed.

• A fresh copy of the Snow Leopard Installation DVD (and not a machine specific, nor restore disk that may have come with your computer).

• Use of the programs Disk Utility and Terminal, both of which are in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and Text Edit from the Applications folder and Terminal from the /Applications/Utilities/ folder within Snow Leopard once it is installed.

Step One - Preparing the Snow Leopard Installation DVD

1. Insert a fresh Snow Leopard Installation DVD into your drive and launch Disk Utility (/Applications/Utilities/). Since the release of Mountain Lion, you can obtain this DVD for $19.99 from the Apple Store or call their telesales agents [1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753)] or Customer Service and Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 or 1-800-275-2273 (ask for a Sales Representative). Do not use a grey, machine-specific Install DVD: see the attached photos.

2. Select the device for your optical drive (note that this is NOT the Mac OS X Installation disk, but rather the device that has mounted it; in this example the device is named "SuperDrive”). BE VERY CAREFUL HERE!

[See Disk Utility Image attached below; click on any image to enlarge.]

3. From Disk Utility’s File menu, choose “New > Disk Image from [device]” from the File menu, set the image format to “DVD/CD master” and Encryption to none and create the disk image on your Desktop. When the creation of the disk image file is complete, quit Disk Utility and eject the Snow Leopard Install DVD from your drive.

4. Mount the new disk image by double-clicking the file. You will now have two separate items on your Desktop: the image file and the container named Mac OS X Install DVD.

5. Launch Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/); cut and paste or carefully type the following command into Terminal and then hit Return/Enter:

touch '/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist'

6. Quit Terminal

Step Two - Installing Snow Leopard into Parallels 7 in Lion

1. Launch Parallels 7 from your Applications Folder

2. From the File menu go to New… and enter your account password when requested.

3. From the New Virtual Machine window select Install Windows or another OS from DVD or image file and click Continue:

[See Install Windows image attached below]

4. In New Installation, in the Install From box, select Choose an Image File… then find, select and open the Snow Leopard image file (for example SuperDrive.cdr) created in Step One above, and then click Continue.

5. If Automatic Detection fails, in the next window select Mac OS X and click OK.

6. The default name will be Mac OS X. I like to make it more descriptive by naming it Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Also check the box at the bottom - Customize Setting Before Installation (you can leave the box Share WIth Others Users of This Mac unchecked) and click Continue.

7. At the Virtual Machine Configuration window, click Hardware, then Boot Order and check Select Boot Device on Startup, close the Hardware window (click the red button) and then click Continue.

8. OS X Snow Leopard will now start to be installed into the Parallels Mac OS X Snow Leopard.pvm file located at ~/Documents/Parallels/. As with all Snow Leopard installations, the following selections need to be made, as they come up:

a. Use English for the main language (click on the right arrow).​
b. Install Mac OS X (click on Continue).​
c. Agree to the terms of the software licensing agreement by clicking Agree.​
d. Select the disk where you want to install Snow Leopard by clicking on the Macintosh HD, but DO NOT YET CLICK ON INSTALL​
9. In the Utilities Menu to the right of the Mac OS X Installer Menu (at the top of the Snow Leopard installation screen), Launch Terminal; see attached image below.

10. Type the following command (including the quotation marks) in Terminal and then click RETURN/ENTER:

mkdir -p '/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/'

11. Now type this command (including quotation marks) in Terminal and hit RETURN/ENTER:

touch '/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist'

12. Quit Terminal and go back to the installation of Snow Leopard; BUT FIRST: Click Customize and select Rosetta and optionally Quicktime 7 and all printer drivers. Click on OK.

13. Click on Install and the process will take upwards to 30 minutes or more as Snow Leopard is installed into Mac OS X Snow Leopard.pvm.

14. As it initiates Snow Leopard be sure to remember the Account Name and Password you establish.

15. Upon completion the installation process will reboot and you will now have a Snow Leopard Parallels window -- Cancel ANY attempt by Software Update at this time. I recommend the following optional settings in the Snow Leopard environment:


a. Go to Preferences in the Finder menu and make sure that Hard Disks and Connected Servers are selected.​
b. Launch System Preferences and go to Date/Time and then Clock and select show seconds.​

16. Shut down Snow Leopard. In Lion go to ~/Documents/Parallels/ and make an Alias of the file Mac OS X Snow Leopard.pvm and place the Alias on your desktop to easily double click to launch Snow Leopard. Optionally make a duplicate copy of the Mac OS X Snow Leopard.pvm file (Command-D) for protection.

Step Three - Updating the Snow Leopard Parallels environment

1. Installing Parallels Tools


a. Double click the Snow Leopard Alias to start Parallels, but do not click to start Snow Leopard.​
b. In the Parallels menu - Virtual Machine, go down to Configure… Select Hardware and select CD/DVD1. In the Connect to - box go down to Choose an Image File. Migrate the Open window to /Macintosh HD/Library/Parallels/Tools/ and select the file: prl-tools-mac.iso. Click the red button to close this window and Click Snow Leopard to start.​
c. Open the Parallel Tools icon on the Desktop and double click Install and follow the installation instructions. When complete, quit the Installer, eject Parallel Tools and Restart Snow Leopard.​
2. Preparation for updating Snow Leopard


a. Open TextEdit in Snow Leopard. NOTE: The first time you open TextEdit in the Snow Leopard Parallels environment, go to the TextEdit Menu, down to Preferences and under Format, instead of the default Rich Text, click Plain Text; then close the Preferences window.​
b. Copy the following xml code into a blank open document in TextEdit (NOTE: if you open Safari in Snow Leopard and type in the following URL -- https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=14799174 -- you can then easily copy and paste the following xml text into TextEdit):​

Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
    "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.rectalogic.vmware</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
            <string>/bin/bash</string>
            <string>-c</string>
            <string>/bin/rm -f /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist; trap "/usr/bin/touch /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist; exit" SIGINT SIGTERM SIGHUP; sleep 999999 & wait $!</string>
    </array>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

NOTE: the 12th line in the middle of the text above to be entered into Text Edit, runs off the screen here on MacRumors. BE SURE to get the complete line; either copy and paste the whole text or be sure you are properly entering this COMPLETE line:​
<string>/bin/rm -f /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist; trap "/usr/bin/touch /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist; exit" SIGINT SIGTERM SIGHUP; sleep 999999 & wait $!</string>​

c. Go to Save As in the File Menu of TextEdit.​
(1) Enter the file name: "com.rectalogic.vmware.plist" (without the quotation marks) in the Save As box (delete: ".txt"). You will see the correct default - Plain Text Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8)​
[If you do NOT see "the correct default - Plain Text Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8)" when you try to Save As, it is probably because, when you pasted in the code, it pasted as Rich Text. You can fix this easily by going to Format > Make Plain Text, after which the UTF-8 option (and .txt option) will be available.];​

(2) Uncheck the box "If no extension is provided, use '.txt'." and save it to the Desktop. If it asks which extension, choose .plist.​
(3) Quit TextEdit.​
(4) Go to the Desktop and move the file to /Macintosh HD/Library/LaunchDaemons/ and when it asks - click Authenticate and then enter your Snow Leopards account password.​



d. Open Terminal in Snow Leopard from /Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities/. Enter the following text in Terminal and then hit RETURN/ENTER:​

sudo chown root:wheel /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.rectalogic.vmware.plist

e. It will ask you for your Snow Leopard account password; enter it (nothing will appear on screen as you type the password) and hit RETURN/ENTER.​
f. Enter the following text in Terminal and then hit RETURN/ENTER:​

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.rectalogic.vmware.plist


g. Quit Terminal​

3. Updating Snow Leopard and other software updates


a. In the Apple Menu in Snow Leopard go to Software Updates...​
b. After it Checks for New Software, it will tell you updates are available:​
(1) Click the Show Details button.​
(2) My advice is that at this time (May, 2012) all updates should be accepted except for the Apple Software Installation Update 1.0 (which has had some problems and probably only fixes installation problems of software that you would preferably be installing into Lion anyway).​
(3) You will most likely have to restart after the Software Installation and there may be additional software updates that will appear after a restart.​
(4) Repeat this process until all recommended updates are complete.​


c. In System Preferences, go to Sharing and turn on File Sharing. NOTE: you may have to turn on printer sharing in your Lion environment to access your printers in Snow Leopard.​

4. Congratulations: you now have a completely functional Snow Leopard environment in Parallels 7 operating in Lion!

Step Four - Backup your Snow Leopard Parallels file

1. Shut Down Snow Leopard.

2. Make a backup of the Mac OS X Snow Leopard.pvm file. If you decide to do further backups of this file as you make changes within Snow Leopard, BE SURE to keep this original backup separately, so that you can always go back to this initial state.

END OF INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

NOTE: I never save important files in a virtualized environment; even in Windows XP. I use the Shared Folder or File Sharing to access all of my important files from my Macintosh HD and/or my many external HDs connect to my Mac and all saved files are also saved there.

_________________________________________

Thank you to all of the Internet sources that contributed to this solution.
 

Attachments

  • Terminal.png
    Terminal.png
    350 KB · Views: 3,909
  • Install Windows.jpg
    Install Windows.jpg
    106.3 KB · Views: 3,161
  • Disk Utility.jpg
    Disk Utility.jpg
    102.3 KB · Views: 2,829
  • snow leopard machine specific DVD.jpg
    snow leopard machine specific DVD.jpg
    67 KB · Views: 4,379
  • 10.6-Snow-Leopard.jpg
    10.6-Snow-Leopard.jpg
    57 KB · Views: 3,215
Last edited:

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Cautionary Notes:

1. I never save important files in a virtualized environment; even in Windows XP. I use File Sharing to access all of my important files from my Macintosh HD and/or my many external HDs connect to my Mac and all saved files are also saved there.

2. There are two types of computer users: those whose hard disk has crashed and those who hard disk will crash: BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP - I use Time Machine to backup my Macintosh HD, Retrospect to backup my Video Library's external HD to a mirror external HD and a LaCie 2TB RAID to duplicate my most important large files. I further use DropBox to keep an offsite copy of my important business/personal files from my Macintosh HD.

3. It has been expressed to me that this solution for installing Snow Leopard in Parallels 7 in Lion may be "broken" by future updates by Parallels with the possibility of no Parallels technical support for Snow Leopard. My environment has worked flawlessly from late September, 2011 through all of my updates through version 7.0.15106 (Build 786747; August 3, 2012) and now by others using Parallels 8. IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THESE ISSUES: you should install Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server into Parallels 7 or 8 as an alternative.

4. Terminal is a powerful program that can have unexpected results if you type in the wrong information. If you follows these instructions, use Terminal carefully: copy and paste my Terminal entries where applicable and/or type them carefully AND always double check the entry BEFORE you hit RETURN/ENTER.

5. You must avoid using the Parallels SUSPEND feature and always manually do a full shut down of Snow Leopard, especially when shutting down or restarting your Macintosh. Failure to do so, may result in the Dialog Box: "An invalid Mac OS version is installed" when attempting to restart Snow Leopard. See Troubleshooting in Paragraphs 9 and 10 below.

6. Mountain Lion: I have not yet upgraded to Mountain Lion, and of course have not tested Snow Leopard within Parallels 7 in Mountain Lion. If you want to use Parallels 7 in Mountain Lion, be sure you upgrade Parallels 7 to the most current version, which is currently: Build 7.0.15106, before you upgrade to Mountain Lion. Parallels 8 is fully compatible with Mountain Lion.

Current users have upgraded their existing Snow Leopard Parallels environment from Lion to Mountain Lion with success.​
Step One, as currently written below, does not work in Mountain Lion. These instructions for STEP ONE can be used to create the modified Snow Leopard Install DVD image file by using Disk Utility and Terminal in Lion or Snow Leopard and then this image file can be copied over to the Mountain Lion Mac for completion of the remaining Steps.

However two users have contributed this modifed STEP ONE for use in Mountain Lion

7. Troubleshooting Step #1

8. Troubleshooting Step #2 - usually resulting in the Dialog Box: "An invalid Mac OS version is installed" before Snow Leopard ever properly functions in Parallels 7

9. Troubleshooting "An invalid Mac OS version is installed" after Snow Leopard has properly functioned in Parallels 7

10. Troubleshooting "An invalid Mac OS version is installed" with NO backup .pvm file available
 
Last edited:

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Free Snow Leopard Install DVD for MobileMe subs

Received my free Mac OS X Snow Leopard install DVD from Apple today!

Are you a subscriber to MobileMe? Log-in and you can get one, too!
 

Attachments

  • Snow Leopard.jpg
    Snow Leopard.jpg
    544.1 KB · Views: 3,592

Ccrew

macrumors 68020
Feb 28, 2011
2,035
3
And, since no one's pointed out, installing Snow Leopard (non-server) into a VM is a blatant license violation.
 

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
That is a "blatant" Urban Myth – about virtualizing Snow Leopard in Lion.

However, I would like to keep this particular thread technical in nature, so if you have hard evidence of such Snow Leopard EULA language, please start another thread and feel free to link us over to it. Such comments in the future in this thread will be ignored. Thank you.
 

fr4nx0r

macrumors newbie
May 3, 2012
7
0
Success?

Cautionary Notes:

1. I never save important files in a virtualized environment; even in Windows XP. I use File Sharing to access all of my important files from my Macintosh HD and/or my many external HDs connect to my Mac and all saved files are also saved there.

2. There are two types of computer users: those whose hard disk has crashed and those who hard disk will crash: BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP - I use Time Machine to backup my Macintosh HD, Retrospect to backup my Video Library's external HD to a mirror external HD and a LaCie 2TB RAID to duplicate my most important large files. I further use DropBox to keep an offsite copy of my important business/personal files from my Macintosh HD.

3. It has been expressed to me that this solution for installing Snow Leopard in Parallels 7 in Lion may be "broken" by future updates by Parallels with the possibility of no Parallels technical support for Snow Leopard. My environment has worked flawlessly from late September, 2011 through all of my updates through the March 5, 2012 Build 7.0.15055 Revision 740667; and I am about to update my Parallels soon to their April update. IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THESE ISSUES: you should install Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server into Parallels 7 as an alternative.

4. Terminal is a powerful program that can have unexpected results if you type in the wrong information. If you follows these instructions, use Terminal carefully: copy and paste my Terminal entries where applicable and/or type them carefully AND always double check the entry BEFORE you hit RETURN/ENTER. If you are shy about using Terminal, wait until PART TWO of these installation instructions is posted, after I have had a chance to obtain some good advice of others to the Part One instruction set.

Will you be posting here after you update to Build 7.0.15094?

I'm going to need SL in a VM on my (soon to arrive) Lion machine, and there is no way I'm shelling out $499 for SL Server when I already have a (non-machine specific) SL 6.0 DVD. I'm wary of ordering the current Parallels build right now for the reason you state above, so I am very interested to know whether your SL VM continues to function properly after you run your April update.

Thanks for taking the time to put together this workaround for us!
 

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Snow Leopard functions in Parallels 7 April update

Will you be posting here after you update to Build 7.0.15094?

I'm going to need SL in a VM on my (soon to arrive) Lion machine, and there is no way I'm shelling out $499 for SL Server when I already have a (non-machine specific) SL 6.0 DVD. I'm wary of ordering the current Parallels build right now for the reason you state above, so I am very interested to know whether your SL VM continues to function properly after you run your April update.

Thanks for taking the time to put together this workaround for us!

Yes: As I expected, Snow Leopard continues to operate fine with the April 5th update.

My Cautionary Note #3 came in response to an off-site communication I had with an ifixit blogger who expressed some "day to day" concerns about the continuing viability of this approach after future Parallels updates and the lack of possible Parallels technical support for the installation of Snow Leopard. While I considered the likelihood of problems with future updates very slim, proper decorum called for the disclaimer.

Good luck with your new Lion machine!
 

Attachments

  • Parallels 7 update.jpg
    Parallels 7 update.jpg
    115.7 KB · Views: 1,921
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: FacetiouslyWry

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Troubleshooting Step One

Troubleshooting Step One:

The purpose of Step One is twofold: (1) to create a disk image file from your Snow Leopard Install DVD and (2) to insert a file "ServerVersion.plist" into it.

Here I walk you through it again with some suggestions to help out if you are running into problems in Step One:

1. Be sure you are using the proper Snow Leopard Install DVD. Do not use a machine specific version or a restore disk that may have come with your computer. The best way to insure that you have the proper disk is to purchase a new copy. They are available from the Apple Store from Apple's online store's telesales agents [1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753)] or Customer Service and Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 (ask for a Sales Representative).

2. In Disk Utility, be sure you are selecting the correct disk in the left-hand window: you want the one named for the DVD drive, not the one: "Mac OS X Install DVD" (see first image below).

3. When you go to Disk Utility's File Menu to select New, do NOT go to Blank New Image... or Disk Image from Folder..., BUT SELECT Disk Image from File... (see second image below).

Then set the Image Format as CD/DVD Master and Encryption to none (as shown in first image below) and save it on your Desktop. This can take some time as it will create an 7-8 GB file.

4. After you have ejected the Snow Leopard Install DVD and double-clicked the resulting image file on your desktop, you will see two separate items: the image file and the mounted container named Mac OS X Install DVD (see the third image below), as well as the opened container icon with its contents: Install OS X, Optional Installs and Instructions (which can be ignored for now).

5. After you use Terminal, it should look like the fourth image below. Terminal has now created the file named ServerVersion.plist and placed it into both the OS X Mac Install DVD and its image file (in the hidden folder: /System/Library/CoreServices/). [Ignore the word "snowleopard" in my image of Terminal; on your computer it should be replaced with the name of your home account name.]

You can use Terminal to confirm that the file has been created. Type the following command into Terminal and then hit ENTER/RETURN:

cd '/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/System/Library/CoreServices/'

and type the following command into Terminal and then hit ENTER/RETURN:

ls

[that is a small L and a small S]

In the resulting list of files (contained in the hidden CoreServices folder) you should confirm ServerVersion.plist has been created. [see the fifth image below]. If it is not there, repeat Step 5 in the original instructions, and use this step again to reconfirm that the file was created.

6. Quit Terminal and Step One is completed.

NOTE that there appears to be two different flavors of the Mac OS X Install DVD: one that installs 10.6 and the other (which I recently received free from the MobileMe campaign) which installs 10.6.3. I have now confirmed that both DVDs work correctly with the instructions of Step One.
 

Attachments

  • Disk Utility.jpg
    Disk Utility.jpg
    76.1 KB · Views: 1,661
  • List of files in CoreServices folder.png
    List of files in CoreServices folder.png
    40.1 KB · Views: 1,599
  • Terminal creating ServerVersion.plist.png
    Terminal creating ServerVersion.plist.png
    18.5 KB · Views: 1,764
  • Two mounted images.png
    Two mounted images.png
    272.9 KB · Views: 1,594
  • Disk Utility NEW.png
    Disk Utility NEW.png
    282.3 KB · Views: 1,565
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: FacetiouslyWry

yourotherform

macrumors newbie
May 8, 2012
1
0
help please!

Please help. I went thru alllllll of this, just so I can upgrade my audio interface/pre amp via firewire midi, so I can then use it on lion (I couldn't upgrade because the previous versions to upgrade to were PowerPC apps) the hardware is plugged in, it reads on lion, but on parallels/snow leopard, when I open "audio midi setup" via utilities it shows nothing, is there a way to change this??
 
Last edited:

vaporland

macrumors newbie
May 9, 2012
4
0
KB & Trackpad did not work during install - until...

My keyboard and trackpad were not working during the installation phase. I could not click install buttons, select menu options or interact with the Terminal App.

I found that I needed to connect an external KB & mouse, then go to DEVICES -> USB and select the external mouse and KB. After that, everything worked fine.

This was the only way I could interact with the VM and also my MBP (2008).

I am using the same version of Parallels as you.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS POST!!!

Extra note - after doing a "clean" install of 10.7.4, all issues were resolved - don't have to separately attach KB + mouse. I believe that the majority of glitches I experienced were due to the 10.7.x permissions bug which is fixed in 10.7.4 - that problem caused me no end of grief across the board.

I still cannot do a software update - logs indicate that update is finding issues with my virtual HD's integrity. I tried using the downloaded update DMG - same issue. Also, the VM has no sound unless I attach a USB speaker, but I assume that is a Parallels issue.

I was thinking to change the dynamically expanding HD to a fixed-size HD,but can't afford to give up 70GB of HD space right now.

Overall, VERY happy with this technique. Please note that it runs VERY fast under 10.7.4 (was slow / laggy in 10.7.3). 10.7.4 is 20% faster overall on my 2008 MBP than 10.7.anythingelse.
 
Last edited:

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Vaporland: So I read your post as confirming your successes; congratulations!

Parallels Tools installation (Step Three Number 1) and 10.7.3 usually fixed the sound issues. I cannot speak as to 10.7.4 and sound; although the speed increase looks very promising!

Snow Leopard Software Updates: be sure that these instructions were carefully followed: Step Three Number 2.

To confirm if this portion is working, in the Snow Leopard environment - the file ServerVersion.plist located at Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/ should be missing when you are about to perform the Software Update. DO NOT manually remove it though, as it is needed for a reboot, which the LaunchDaemon should perform with com.rectalogic.vmware.plist.

Or are you having problems with an update to Parallels 7?
 
Last edited:

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Please help. I went thru alllllll of this, just so I can upgrade my audio interface/pre amp via firewire midi, so I can then use it on lion (I couldn't upgrade because the previous versions to upgrade to were PowerPC apps) the hardware is plugged in, it reads on lion, but on parallels/snow leopard, when I open "audio midi setup" via utilities it shows nothing, is there a way to change this?? please shoot me an email to yada yada yada

Unfortunately, Parallels does not support mapping of the firewire port (and I believe this is true of all virtualization programs).

I note that you were able to solve your problem with the Dual Boot Partition solution; a solution that might not be available to purchasers of the latest hardware.

Any [Firewire] Port in a [Rosetta] Storm!
 

bbryan

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2012
3
0
Help please

This all worked very well EXCEPT the very end. When I tried to run:
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.rectalogic.vmware.plist
I go this error. I can't seem to get permissions to change to except the commmands.

launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.rectalogic.vmware.plist
nothing found to load

ideas? Thanks!
 

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
permissions problem

...ideas? Thanks!

I believe I was able to replicate your error message and I have found the reason:

The first time you open TextEdit in the Snow Leopard Parallels environment, go to the TextEdit Menu down to Preferences and under Format, instead of the default Rich Text, click Plain Text; then close the Preferences window. This should fix the problem, so now repeat the following:

Reenter the xml text from Step Three (2)(b). NOTE: if you open Safari in Snow Leopard and type in the following URL -- https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=14799174 -- you can then easily copy and paste the xml text into TextEdit).

Now when you go to Save As in the File Menu you will see the correct default - Plain Text Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8). Enter the file name - com.rectalogic.vmware.plist in the Save As box (no - .txt), uncheck the box "If no extension is provided, use '.txt'." and save it to the Desktop. Quit TextEdit.

Move the file from the Desktop to /Macintosh HD/Library/LaunchDaemons/ and when it asks, click Authenticate and then enter your Snow Leopards account password that you created. In your case, it may caution you that you are replacing your original file; accept Replace.

Now you should be able to properly enter the following commands in Snow Leopard's Terminal, as follows:

d. Open Terminal in Snow Leopard from /Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities/. Enter the following text in Terminal and then hit RETURN/ENTER:

sudo chown root:wheel /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.rectalogic.vmware.plist

e. It will ask you for your Snow Leopard account password; enter it (nothing will appear on screen as you type the password) and hit RETURN/ENTER.

f. Enter the following text in Terminal and then hit RETURN/ENTER:

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.rectalogic.vmware.plist

g. Quit Terminal

LET ME KNOW IF THIS WORKS! I am editing the main instructions to include the change in Preferences for TextEdit to Plain Text.
 
Last edited:

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Great news, Brian!

Let us know your particular need for Rosetta in Lion and how this solution is working out for you.
 

vaporland

macrumors newbie
May 9, 2012
4
0
Installed 10.6.8 ok!

To confirm if this portion is working, in the Snow Leopard environment - the file ServerVersion.plist located at Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/ should be missing when you are about to perform the Software Update. DO NOT manually remove it though, as it is needed for a reboot, which the LaunchDaemon should perform with com.rectalogic.vmware.plist.

Or are you having problems with an update to Parallels 7?

I was having problems with updating to OS X 10.6.8 - the installer would not install.

Your advice fixed my issue. Temporarily moved ServerVersion.plist while software update was running, worked fine. Also remembered to move it back before rebooting!
 

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
The LaunchDaemon com.rectalogic.vmware.plist should do that automatically.

NOTE: my revision to Step Three 2(a) - in that the Preferences for TextEdit needs to be adjusted.

Look at my comments to bbryan and repeat and see if this works now for you.

Let us know what your need for Rosetta is in Lion and how this solution is working for you!
 

bbryan

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2012
3
0
I have a few programs that require Rosetta and seem to working fine with this solution. Is a little laggy and would prefer that it would just work in Lion.....

thanks again!
 

rhp2424

macrumors regular
Jul 23, 2008
122
18
I ran into a problem during step 13 of the actual installation of Snow Leopard. About 11 minutes remaining, I got the error message:

"An invalid Mac OS version is installed.

Mac OS X virtual machines can have only the Mac OS X Server Leopard or Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard operating system installed. Other versions of Mac OS are not supported."

I am pretty certain I followed all steps slowly and carefully though I still ran into an error for some reason. Any ideas of what I may have done wrong or how can I can correct this error? Any and all help is appreciated!

Thanks.
 

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Troubleshooting Step Two:

The most common problem in Step Two results in the following dialog box after Snow Leopard finishes its install and reboots:

"An invalid Mac OS version is installed.

Mac OS X virtual machines can have only the Mac OS X Server Leopard or Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard operating system installed. Other versions of Mac OS are not supported."

This is most likely due to a failure in the implementation of steps 10 & 11. As it is early in the process, I would suggest that you start Step Two over.

In your home folder (~/Documents/Parallels/), you should delete the original failed SnowLeopard.pmv file, and start over at the beginning of Step Two.

When you reach Step Two #9 -- be sure you are starting Terminal at the right point -- see the first screenshot below.

Double check the typing of these commands into Terminal before you hit RETURN/ENTER. It should look like the second screenshot below.

After successfully entering these two commands in Terminal, you can double check its success, by next typing the following command (including the quotation marks) into Terminal and then hit RETURN/ENTER:

cd '/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/'

and then type the following two-letter command into Terminal and then hit RETURN/ENTER:

ls

That is a small L and a small S.

If steps 10 & 11 were successful, the result should be the file name:

ServerVersion.plist

as shown on the third screenshot below.

Then go on to step 12 and complete Step Two.
 

Attachments

  • Steps 10 & 11.png
    Steps 10 & 11.png
    26.2 KB · Views: 1,421
  • Terminal.png
    Terminal.png
    350 KB · Views: 2,342
  • serverversion.png
    serverversion.png
    29.9 KB · Views: 1,333
Last edited:

rhp2424

macrumors regular
Jul 23, 2008
122
18
It worked!! Thanks for the help! I'm in the middle of duplicating the parallels file while I write this.

A couple of questions. The latest software update is v1.1. Any suggestions on whether I should go ahead and install this? I've just avoided all software updates for now.

Last thing, for now at least, should I be able to see the other hard drives plugged into the computer that are visible in Lion? If I should, any idea why I can't? I have the Hard Drives and Servers options clicked in preferences.

Thanks again for setting this guide up and being there to help me so quickly.
 

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
It worked!! Thanks for the help! I'm in the middle of duplicating the parallels file while I write this.

A couple of questions. The latest software update is v1.1. Any suggestions on whether I should go ahead and install this? I've just avoided all software updates for now.

Last thing, for now at least, should I be able to see the other hard drives plugged into the computer that are visible in Lion? If I should, any idea why I can't? I have the Hard Drives and Servers options clicked in preferences.

Thanks again for setting this guide up and being there to help me so quickly.

Glad it works!

I do not know what Software Update is all about and I suspect it is for software that you will be using on Lion in any event (and not within Snow Leopard).

That being said, since you backed up your file; you could install v1.1 and let us know how it works. If it is a problem, you can always trash this .pvm file and go to your backup. I may try it with one of my backups soon, after I do some research.

All of the other updates seem to work fine and it is a good idea to get the JAVA/Security updates with that Malware scare going on.

Other drives: Did you install Parallels Tools? If so there should be a Shared Folders folder on the Desktop with links to all of the other hard disks. Is file sharing turned on in Lion?

If you did not yet install Parallel Tools, in the meantime, if you have file sharing turned on in System Preferences in Lion, you can use the GO menu in the Finder to go down to Connect to Server and enter your Lion IP and after logging in, you should be able to select the external drives.

Tell us what your reason was for needing Rosetta in Lion, too.

NOTE: I just launched SL and did a Software Update and Apple Software Installer is still at version 1.0 for me.
 

Syeerzy

macrumors newbie
May 22, 2012
2
0
Any and all help is appreciated

I ran into a problem during step 13 of the actual installation of Snow Leopard. About 2/3 remaining, I got the "5 languages restart" told me to turn power off and restart.


I followed all steps slowly and carefully though I still ran into an error for some reason.
Any ideas of what I may have done wrong or how can I can correct this error? Any and all help is appreciated!

Thanks, and sorry for copying the words from #22. (for my mother language is not english..and i have POOL english, sorry)
psb
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.