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How to Fix OSX86 Still Waiting For Root Device Error

How to Fix OSX86 Still Waiting For Root Device Error

Posted May 14, 2008 at 12:10am by iClarified
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These are instructions on how you might be able to fix the OSX86 "Still Waiting for Root Device" error.

These instructions may not work for you; however, I am publishing this method since the solution may save someone hours of frustration. This fix was confirmed working for someone who had successfully installed leo4all v3 and upon reboot received the above error. In this case the cause of the error is due to incompatible or incorrect kexts for your ATA controller.

Step One
Boot up using the LeoV3 DVD as if you are going to install Mac OS X again.


Step Two
Select Terminal from the Installer's Utility Menu.

Step Three
Now we are going to copy all the the ATA kexts from the install DVD to your hard drive. To do this enter a command like this:
cp -pr /Volumes/Leo4allv3/System/Library/Extensions/*ATA* /Volumes/MacHD/System/Library/Extensions/.

NOTE*: Replace Leo4allv3 with the name of your install dvd and replace MacHD with the name of your hard drive volume.

Step Four
Now we need to set the permissions for those kexts we copied
chown -R root:wheel /Volumes/MacHD/System/Library/Extensions/*ATA*
chmod -R 755 /Volumes/MacHD/System/Library/Extensions/*ATA*

NOTE*: Replace MacHD with the name of your hard drive volume.

Step Five
To remove the kextcache execute the following:
rm -rf /Volumes/MacHD/System/Library/Extensions.*

Note* Replace MacHD with the name of your drive volume.

Step Six
You may now restart your computer. I would suggest pressing F8 while booting and then entering -f as a boot option to force reloading of the kexts.

-----
There are many causes of the "Still waiting for root device" error so please don't assume this will fix your problem. It is however a possible solution.


How to Fix OSX86 Still Waiting For Root Device Error
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Comments (29)
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Kyle
Kyle - April 3, 2013 at 9:00pm
Thank you so much! Now to fix a problem where as soon as it finishes booting my computer restarts :(
tda
tda - August 23, 2011 at 12:20pm
another question I've, when I install, I dont know exactly what kind of CHIPSET i should select under the option, because there are AHCI INJECTOR, etc... but I dont know what is the right for me...
TDA
TDA - August 23, 2011 at 11:22am
Hi, I cannot fix this ugly "STILL WAITING FOR ROOT DEVICE"... I've installed through Snow Leopard 10.6.6 by Hazard My HW: P5N32-E SLI HD 5850 4GB RAM I cant figure out how to fix this :( If someone has a tipp....thank you :)
4Core
4Core - March 23, 2011 at 4:41am
Awesome! Copying those ATA kexts did solve the error for me on 4CoreDual-VSTA!
hany ahmed
hany ahmed - January 21, 2011 at 8:22am
dear alls, i find a solution for that threat ,i can boot without that msg! i can describe what i made as follow: 1- restart your pc 2- press f8 while booting 3- you will find mac try booting and a boot: prompt in thier 4- you will find a phrase hd(x,y) for my pc it was hd(0,2) 5- so what does it mean? it mean your hard disk in slot 0 and your root part ion is in 2 order 6-so only you do to write the following cl in the boot rd=disk0s2 then enter rational, you will replace 0 and 2 as it will be shown in your booting thanks
OMG, Thanks Soo Much
OMG, Thanks Soo Much - November 7, 2009 at 2:41am
Thankss, I Installed Leo4All V3 On My Alienware 4 GB Ram PC, AWEESOME! Didn't Boot :( Boots Now :) THANKYOU SOO MUCH, URE A PC GENIOUS!
Jack
Jack - November 7, 2009 at 2:53am
Just Trying It Now Hold, On. Ignore Other POst
Mario Rozalén Guzmán
Mario Rozalén Guzmán - October 29, 2009 at 8:09pm
Increible, eres un crack!!! Muchísimas gracias.
Anon
Anon - June 20, 2009 at 10:28pm
This worked for me without issue. Now, OSX starts to boot but then stops at the grey screen with the spinning disc. The disc just spins and spins. I don't get any errors using -v, so I'm not sure what to check next. I've never used OSX before.
Tom
Tom - March 21, 2009 at 10:42pm
OMG! After spending a lot of time over spring break on this, your solution worked! I was ready to give up after a seemingly endless search on Google for an answer. THANK YOU!!!
Carlos
Carlos - March 10, 2009 at 12:33pm
After doing the trick booted ok, found boot device but now it goes on an infinite loop launchd failed to launch DirectoryServices version 5.2 (5.14) on and on and on and on, like the energizer bunny
Umang
Umang - March 10, 2009 at 3:10pm
Carlos, i guess U gotta find some other thread to fix that.. Seems like you are bumping into Compound problems. I Guess you could wait for the latest - leo4all v6 to be released.. http://leo4all.com/Blog/
Sangeetha
Sangeetha - January 7, 2013 at 12:17pm
ok the iphone is grate and so if apple.you cant not say they are givnig a lot of support and updates to your phone ..if they never made the iphone the phones of today would be a lot worse. because the iphone stared phones off to a new era!!!!apple shouldn't keep stopping the jailbreaks tho i do see why they wouldn't want jail-breaking to happen!!!what they need to do is find out why people jailbreak and update there firmware so that there would be no point in jail-breaking!!!! or join with cydia rather than fight it and make a contract with it!!!! simple!and dont worry there will be an untethered jailbreak coming soon .
Vishal Arya
Vishal Arya - November 20, 2008 at 7:47am
thanks , worked like a charm
Visvaldas
Visvaldas - November 10, 2008 at 10:05am
Worked like a charm.!!!!! My Leo4All boots now. Thanks
The_Edge3000
The_Edge3000 - September 28, 2008 at 11:06pm
Worked to solve my "Still Waiting For Root Device" error! Other errors preventing me for booting though... Also if your HD is named "Macintosh HD" Enter it in the command line as "Macintosh\ HD"
rcasca
rcasca - September 13, 2008 at 7:59am
Thanks for all, It works for me too. Thanks again.
Torn
Torn - July 27, 2008 at 12:05pm
ASS! i can't even make : <------ that symbol. some other button is wrong too, such as - and ? has changed places, but they work. : doesnt. please help
Umang
Umang - July 8, 2008 at 8:51am
I went through the same thing.. it din't work for me the 1st time either.. I was p*ssed off, but I did it again, with patience.. worked like charm.. YMMV, i hope it does not in this case =]
Protocol82
Protocol82 - July 6, 2008 at 11:14am
Did all the above but still "waiting for root device" ARGH so close. I thought I was on a winner. Any thoughts?
Honza
Honza - July 6, 2008 at 8:36am
Instead of booting with F8 and -f... after you are done putting the kexts in place and changing permissions, just do a 'touch /System/Library/Extensions'. This updates the time/date of the extensions folder, which forces the system to update the kexts caches when it next boots.
Niels Roetert
Niels Roetert - June 30, 2008 at 6:09pm
Worked for me, thanks.
Umang
Umang - June 11, 2008 at 3:43pm
The 4th step should work as every other step did.. copy the command into a Notepad / textedit to make sure that you leave spaces as required.. chown -R root:wheel /Volumes/MacHD/System/Library/Extensions/*ATA* chmod -R 755 /Volumes/MacHD/System/Library/Extensions/*ATA* I am doing everytime my computer shuts down and it works every time.. if it works, it will not provide any usage message or anything.. it will show you the prompt to type the next command. Make sure that you replace the MacHD with the name of your partition too..
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