Running OSX Lion install in VMWare

By Tarvis123
in Apple (macOS)

 Share

Recommended Posts

Community Regular

Tarvis123

Posted
Posted

A few months ago, my macbook pro (2011) suffered some water damage somehow and the display stopped working, but as far as I can tell everything else works. Everything turns on and it makes it's usually noises, and pressing the volume keys/keyboard brightness keys do what they should, just no display at all. External doesn't work either.

So I gave up on it for a while because I didn't feel like paying $800+ for a logic board, when I wasn't really that impressed with the laptop in the first place. Then for the past few days, I wanted to see if I could somehow get into the system again to enable screen sharing. I had realvncinstalled, but apparently it was a version that was not compatible with Lion, which I had installed just a few weeks before the aforementioned problem. So I can see the macbook on the network, and it tries to connect with realvnc, but realvnc crashes once trying to load the desktop.

I decided to download a vmware image of OSX 10.6 and use it as a makeshift screen so I could theortically guess what was on the other screen when I inputted keyboard commands. I tried installing the updated realvnc this way, and even going into the settings panel and enabling screen/ssh sharing. But alas this didn't seem to work, which makes me think some of the keys perhaps do not work. Which brings me to the point of the question of this thread.

I took the HDD of my macbook pro out, and hooked it up to my windows 7 desktop (which has the osx 10.6 vmware installation). I am aware that windows can't see the mac hdd partition of the harddrive, and most application's I've tried in windows can't do anything with it either. Is there anyway I can boot the raw HDD of my mac osx installation inside a vmware-type application? Even if I have to run the program inside of my other virtualized mac, is there anything I can do?

I just want to change the settings so I can remotely connect to the laptop through vnc.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1053673-running-osx-lion-install-in-vmware/
Share on other sites
Veteran

Unrealistic

Posted
Posted

There are plist files but they associate with daemons and I'm not sure you can just enable them. Does anyone you know own a Mac? If so you can take the hard drive out of your machine and boot into it (Target Disk Mode), enable all of the remote information and then just do what I said at the beginning.

Try this - you will need to mount the drive in VMware.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1312397?start=0&tstart=0

Community Regular

Tarvis123

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well, I was finally able to restore access by simply installing realvnc 4.6.3 on the vmware install of osx i had, and then copying those files over to the real hard drive replacing the install of vnc i had on there. I believe the files were in library/vnc or something like that.

Thanks for all the suggestion guys. :)

Veteran

Unrealistic

Posted
Posted

Well, I was finally able to restore access by simply installing realvnc 4.6.3 on the vmware install of osx i had, and then copying those files over to the real hard drive replacing the install of vnc i had on there. I believe the files were in library/vnc or something like that.

Thanks for all the suggestion guys. :)

So you did basically the same thing but with vnc. Glad you got it worked. I still recommend ARD as it is smoking fast compared to vnc.

  • 3 weeks later...
Neowinian

nysibk1

Posted
Posted

so i have a similar problem. My macbook is no longer with me, but i have a dd image i took a while back. I was able to mount it and get some files off, but i'd like to boot it into a vm. for some reason vm says its not bootable (i used liveview to make the vmdk's). Anyone know how I could boot the dd image of my drive into a vm? I can do it with other OS's, just not OSX.Thx

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • TerraMaster F2-425 Pro review: a low-powered Intel NAS that ships with AI (OpenClaw)

      By Steven P. · Posted

      I agree, especially if it is cloud sourced, like this one is.. but I wouldn't say no to a local AI assistant similar to the Zettlab one which would be really helpful with my large Photos library, but also to perform tasks like installing Docker apps rather than me having to do it via Docker Compose, but I don't think we're quite there yet. Synology Photos is somewhat AI, you can ask it to search for certain people (if you have tagged them and it will attempt to match similar photos to the person) and if you put a search term in for "cars" for example, it will show you all photos with a car.
    • Google Pixel 11 series: Here's what to expect

      By macoman · Posted

      I doubt that Google will keep the same price... it may go up from that list published.
    • Sennheiser's audiophile grade HD 600 hits lowest ever price on Amazon Prime Day 2026

      By hellowalkman · Posted

      Sennheiser's audiophile grade HD 600 hits lowest ever price on Amazon Prime Day 2026 by Sayan Sen If you are in the market for high-quality audiophile-grade over-ear headphones then Sennheiser's HD 600 are a great choice for sure, especially today on Prime Day 2026 as the product has hit its lowest ever price (purchase link under the specs table down below). The Sennheiser HD 600 has long been regarded as a reference headphone for listeners seeking a detailed and natural listening experience. It is an open-back design that is built around the idea of acoustic transparency which is essentially said to allow sound waves to move freely for a more spacious and accurate presentation by reducing turbulence and the type of distortion that can result from it. At the heart of the product is Sennheiser’s proprietary driver system featuring a 42 mm driver paired with a lightweight diaphragm and aluminum voice coils. The company says this design helps deliver fast response times and better articulate sound across the audible frequency range. Comfort and durability are also key aspects of the HD 600 as the headphones feature soft velour ear pads designed for extended listening sessions. The HD 600 comes with a detachable 3-meter cable, a 6.3 mm stereo connector, and a 3.5 mm adapter for compatibility with a wide range of audio equipment. The technical specs of the Sennheiser HD 600 are given in the table below: Specification Value Transducer Principle Dynamic, Open-Back Ear Coupling Circumaural (Over-Ear) Frequency Response 12 Hz – 40,500 Hz Sound Pressure Level (SPL) 97 dB (1 V) Impedance 300 Ω Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) < 0.1% (1 kHz, 1 V) Cable Length 3 m (9.8 ft) Connector 3.5 mm Stereo Jack Plug Included Adapter 6.3 mm (1/4") Stereo Jack Adapter Weight 260 g Magnetic Field Strength 1.8 mT Driver Size 42 mm Dynamic Driver Diaphragm Size 38 mm Get it at the link below: Sennheiser HD 600: $237.00 (Sold by Electronics Expo, Shipped by Amazon US) (Was: $449.95) Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases
    • The Microsoft Office feature that time forgot

      By cleverclogs · Posted

      woah
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it

      By cleverclogs · Posted

      So the card is targeted at headphone users - so the review should be from someone that uses this - maybe I can review a card next time.

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      timbobit earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      476
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      170
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      104
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      88
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      70
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!