How to Virtualize OS X Lion on Windows

Update: Fixed down hard drive files (February 8, 2012).

Sorry about the delay guys, this page has been updated so that Xcode 4.1 does not crash anymore. (August 17, 2011).

If you've tried to virtualize previous versions of OS X, you know that it is a very tedious and time consuming process. This new guide works by giving you a simple VMWare Image. This means that the OS has already been pre-configured on a hard drive. For the most part, there is no need to mess around with boot flags or installation settings

This guide will show how to setup a fully working OS X Lion 10.7 on a Windows machine. This process will take about an hour but most of the time is spent downloading files. This was done on Windows 7 but should work on any OS as long as it meets the requirements.

Requirements
A laptop or desktop computer that supports virtualization (most newer computers do).
At least 1 GB of RAM (the more, the better).
VMWare Workstation (this is a paid program but a little research will get you it for free).
VMWare Hard Drive (vmx files, it is in a self-extracting .exe file)
OS X Lion (VMDK File)

Instructions
Before you start, make sure that you have enabled Virtualization in the BIOS of your computer. This is usually disabled by default by computer manufacturers.

An updated video has been made of all the new steps:



1. From the file downloaded, double click on Mac OS X Lion VMware Files.exe. Click Run then Yes. This will decompress the files.

2. Once done, a folder named Mac OS X Lion VMware Files will appear, double click it.


3. You will need to follow the instructions in this video to unlock VMWare. Instead of using the files from the video, use the files from Step 2.



4. From Step 1, you should have also gotten a folder named Mac OS X Lion. Open that up and open the file named Mac OS X Lion.vmx. Double-click this file. It will open in VMWare Workstation.

5. On the left column, click on Edit Virtual Machine Settings. In the Memory tab, you can edit how much RAM OS X will get. In the Sound tab, change to Specify host sound card, change it to your sound card. After the machine has started and sound doesn't work, change to Use default host sound card.

6.  At the bottom of the box is an Add button, click it. Select Hard Disk from the left, click Next. Choose Use and existing virtual disk.

7. Browse for the Mac OS X Lion Installer.vmdk that was downloaded from the torrent. Click Finish. Click OK to close the box.

8. On the left column, click Power on this virtual machine.

9. If a box asks to repair the image, click Repair. Once the box comes up, click I copied it, click OK. A message about the CD Drive may come up, just click OK.

10. The machine should power up in a few moments, ready to go. For ease of use, click in VMWare Workstation, click File > Add to Favorites.

11. You should now have a Install Mac OS X screen. At the top, click Utilities then Disk Utility. Select the 42.45 GB Hard Disk. Click on the Erase tab. Now you can name your hard drive what you want. Then click on Erase. Click Erase again.

12. Once the process is done, close out of the Disk Utility box, the Install screen will come back up. Click Continue, Agree. Select the 40GB Hard Disk to install Lion. Click Install. The process will take about 30 minutes. Once it's done, the account setup will start. Once that's done, Lion will start.

13. To be able to use the machine in full screen, in OS X open Preferences, click on Displays. Now select the resolution of your monitor. Now in VMWare, click on the Full Screen button on the toolbar (10th button from the left).

14. Now you're done, you can use this OS as a normal to install programs.

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Developing iPhone Games with Unity on Windows

Unity is a fantastic multi-platform game maker. One of the most special things about it is that it is able to create games for the iPhone that can be submitted to the App Store. The problem is that this can only be done on a Macintosh machine.

The beauty of Unity is that the project files are saved in Unity's format that is later built for the platform (iPhone). The files can be transferred from a Windows machine to a Macintosh and then built for iOS.

If you're familiar with virtual machines, you probably know where I am going with this. A virtual machine will allow you to run a almost fully functional version of OS X on your Windows computer. So you can build a game with the free version of Unity on Windows, transfer the project files to Unity Pro on the virtual machine, build the project for iOS, test out on your own iPhone, send to Apple.

Visualized, this looks like:

Jus FYI, to build to an iPhone, the VM (virtual machine) needs to have Xcode installed but don't worry, we'll go over everything.

1. Install the VM on your Windows computer: http://techexxpert.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-virtualize-os-x-on-windows-7.html 

2. Now update the virutalized machine to OS X 10.6.7: http://techexxpert.blogspot.com/2011/04/updating-virtualized-os-x-1067.html

3. Install VMware Tools on the VM. This allows you to transfer files back and forth from the Windows machine. At the same time, it will allow you to go full resolution and enable sound on the VM: http://techexxpert.blogspot.com/2011/02/change-resolution-of-vmware-system.html

3. Now you'll need to install Xcode on to the VM: (you've already done steps 1 and 2): http://ipodtoucher55.blogspot.com/2010/12/installing-ios-sdk-and-xcode-on-windows.html

4. On your Windows machine and in the VM, download and install Unity: http://unity3d.com/unity/download/

5. Develop a game on your Windows edition of Unity. For now, I made a simple sphere with an animation. (Anything will work.)

6. Using VMware tools, transfer all the project files from Windows into the VM.

7. In the VM, open the project with in Unity.

8. Click File then Build Settings. Select iOS and click Build and Run.

9. The project will build create Xcode files in the project files. Open the .xcodeproj file.

10. Connect your device to your computer. In the bottom right of VMware Player, you should see an iPod icon. Right click the icon and click Connect. Make sure that your device is charging. If it is not, disconnect and reconnect. If that does not work, you will need to restart your VM.

11. Click the Organizer button to make sure that your device has connected correctly (green dot next to name).

12. In Xcode, you will need to change some build settings so that you can add it to your device. On the left side, click on the Unity-Project. In the middle column, click Unity-Project again. Click Build Settings in the center column. Make sure the settings look like the image below.

13. Do the same for Unity-iPhone targets, follow the image below.

14. In the drop down box next to Run, change to the first device next to Unity-iPhone. (This is your physical device).

15.Press Run. The app will be built and in a few moments afterwards, the app will appear on the home screen of your device.

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Change Resolution and Enable Sound on VMware System

When you first install a virtualized OS X on your machine, the resolution may not fit the entire screen. Also, OS X normally does not output sound.

This guide will show you how to change that to run OS X at your native screen resolution and enable sound.

Downloads

Snowy_VM.zip (you may have already downloaded this from a previous guide, if so, it isn't necessary to download again).

Instructions

1. Open your Virtual Machine. On the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Virtual Machine Settings > CD/DVD > Settings.

2. On the right, make sure the check boxes under Device status are clicked (Connected and Connect at power on.) Click OK.

3. In a few moments, a new icon should appear on your desktop named VMware Tools. Double-click it. Click on Install VMware Tools.

4. Keep pressing Continue, then press Install. Enter your password if you are asked. Press Continue, then wait for it to finish installing.

5. On the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Virtual Machine Settings > CD/DVD > Settings. At the top right, change the tab to Options. Under Folder sharing, click Enabled until next power off or suspend.

6. Click Add at the bottom of the window. Browse to the Snowy_VM folder (make sure you've unzipped it). Click OK, Next, and then Finish.

7. In a moment, an icon named VMware Shared Folders will show up on your desktop. Double click it, double-click the Snowy_VM folder that opened up. Double-click EnsoniqAudioPCI.mpkg.

8. Click continue twice, then check both boxes for AppleAC97Audio with EnsoniqAudi... and EnsoniqAudioPCI Plugin. Click Continue then Install.

9. Once finished, double-click the blue VMware bar to go into full screen mode.

The virtual machine should now cover your entire screen and sound should now work. You may need to restart your virtual machine to get it working.

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How to Virtualize OS X 10.6 on Windows

IMPORTANT: This guide is now outdated, a new, easier guide has been written on how to install OS X 10.7 Lion. Click here to go to it.


With newer computers, it is now possible to run two Operating Systems at once, one running inside of another. This guide will describe the process of running Mac OS X 10.6.2 on a machine already running Windows 7 or Vista. This process will likely work on Windows XP but has not been tested.

This will enable you to run all programs for the Mac Operating System on your PC.

Requirements

A laptop or desktop computer that supports virtualization (most newer computers do).
At least 1 GB of RAM (the more, the better).
VMware Player (virtualization software, you will need to create a free account).
Snow Leopard 10.6.2 (Operating System).
Snowy_VM.zip (extra files for installation).

Instructions

Update: A video detailing all these steps is now up:


Before you start, make sure that you have enabled Virtualization in the BIOS of your computer. This is usually disabled by default by computer manufacturers.

1. Unzip Snowy_VM and navigate to the following file: Snowy_VM\Snowy_VM\Mac OS X Server 10.6 (experimental).vmwarevm\Mac OS X Server 10.6 (experimental).vmx.

Double click this file, it will open VMware Player.

2. You should see a black screen now. On the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Virtual Machine Settings > CD/DVD > Settings.

3. On the left, click Use ISO image file, then click Browse.

4. Now select the Snow Leopard 10.6.2 iso file downloaded from the torrent above. Press OK to close the box and return to the black screen.

 
5.  On the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Send Ctrl + Alt + Del. The machine will now boot up with the iso file. Once the text appears, press F8 on your keyboard.

This is the screen where you can enter in boot flags. Depending on your computer, you may have a different flag from another computer. Many computers have worked without boot flag, so try that first (just press Enter).

A gray screen will appear. In a few moments, a language box will appear. If it does, go down to step 6.

If this screen doesn't appear for 10 minutes you will need to enter a boot flag. Go to the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Power > Reset. Press F8 at the same screen again. Now enter -x -v busratio=20 cpus=1 arch=i386 -x32. If you get to the language screen, move to step 6.

If you still don't get the language screen, press Virtual Machine > Power > Reset. Press F8 at the same screen again. Now enter -v at the boot screen. This will allow you to figure out exactly where the problem is computer is freezing. You can then Google your error.

6. Follow the on-screen steps until you reach Install Summary.

7. Here, click on Customize.

8. Select Mac OS_X_10.6.2. Under Kernels, select Legacy_kernel_10.2.0. Under Graphic_Drivers, select GraphicEnabler. Click Done.Click Install. This process should take around 10-15 minutes.

9. Once it's done, the count down from Step 5 will appear, press F8. Then on the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Virtual Machine Settings > CD/DVD > Settings.

10. Now go to Snowy_VM\Snowy_VM\darwin_snow.iso.

11. On the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Send Ctrl + Alt + Del.

12. Now wait until OS X 10.6.2 boots up! Just follow the simple setup instructions to create your user account and you'll be on OS X Snow Leopard. If the boot time is extremely long, go to the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Power > Power off. Then double click the name of your machine in the left column to start it up again.

13. When shutting down the machine, use the X in the top right corner or use the blue VMware bar, press Virtual Machine > Power > Power off.

14. Now to update to the latest OS X version, follow steps 2-4 on this guide:
http://techexxpert.blogspot.com/2011/04/updating-virtualized-os-x-1067.html

15. To enable an internet connection on the OS X machine, see this guide:
http://techexxpert.blogspot.com/2011/02/enable-internet-on-vmware.html

16. To enable sound and get a full-screen native resolution working see this guide: http://techexxpert.blogspot.com/2011/02/change-resolution-of-vmware-system.html 

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How to Partition HDD for Dual Boot

Ready to upgrade your computer from Windows Vista to Windows 7 but not yet ready to entirely remove Vista from your computer? You can create a new partition to install Windows 7 on.

1. Press Start, in the Search box, type in "Create and format hard disk partitions." Then click on that option
2. Under Storage, click Disk Management
3. Right-click the partition for Windows Vista. Usually this is the C partition. Click on Shrink Partition and select the amount you want to shrink the partition to. You'll need at least 30 GB for Windows 7 This will create an unallocated region.
4. Right-click on the unallocated region and select New Simple Volume.
5. Click Next and then set the amount you want for Windows 7. We recommend that you select the full amount. Click Next.
6. Now you can change the name and drive letter. Click Next.
7. Click Next again.
8. Click Finish.

 Now the drive will be formatted and it will be ready for installation with Windows 7

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