Still waiting for root device.. Lion 10.7.2

[cili0]

The problem is that Lion doesn't support anymore kext cache by means of Extensions.mkext. Indeed, we have to re-create manually that file using the command:

sudo kextcache -v 2 -a i386 -a x86_64 -m /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext /System/Library/Extensions

The correct way to avoid the system to load all the kexts is to use the file kernelcache, which is the new method used by Lion to load the cache. This can be done using the flag UseKernelCache=Yes in Chameleon/Chimera.
The main drawback of this solution is that we can't place anymore extra kexts in /E/E.

This is what I learnt taking part in this discussion:

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index. ... 0&start=20

The interesting part starts from post #32.

To check if everything went right, just boot with -v and verify if the system starts loading alla the kexts.

ciao!
cili0.

 

[edwardgtxy]

Hi,

I am wondering how you solved the still waiting for root device at the end. I just updated to 10.7.2 and encountered this problem, I tried everything, but arch=i386 -s -v doesn't even work. Any help please?

Thanks.

 

[sto]

FYI You can still have your /E/E folder with the kextcache solution.

sudo kextcache -v 1 -a i386 -a x86_64 -m /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext /System/Library/Extensions /Extra/Extensions

 

[cili0]

Hi,

I am wondering how you solved the still waiting for root device at the end. I just updated to 10.7.2 and encountered this problem, I tried everything, but arch=i386 -s -v doesn't even work. Any help please?

Thanks.

Have you tried to follow the instruction on the post I linked?

FYI You can still have your /E/E folder with the kextcache solution.

sudo kextcache -v 1 -a i386 -a x86_64 -m /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext /System/Library/Extensions /Extra/Extensions

thanks for the info, i will try ASAP on a test partition. I'm not so confident about the way Lion loads the cache so I followed the instruction posted in the thread on insanely.

Thanks for your help,
cili0.

 

[mattsaved]

Solution

Make sure you don't have a second /extra folder on another partition.

I too have multiple partitions with OSX installed and was having this problem.

My Extra folder was on my first partition with 10.6.8

my second partition has Lion.

Since I use just a few drivers which happen to be usable for Snow leopard and Lion I can get away with sharing the Extras folder. But when this issue started I could not boot lion.

I verified that UseKernelCache=Yes got me past the initial error but wont boot without /extra extentions.

Then I booted in single user mode to lion. I found that a new extra folder got generatored by multibeast on the lion partition with a kextcache on it! I deleted the whole extra folder, and then the bootloader loaded the proper one. Lion then booted,

 

[iH8Apple]

Woah woah woah...

... I'm a Mac Moron. On a PC, I could possibly launch nuclear missiles in Korea, but on Mac, I have enough trouble working out Single-User command lines...

I am experiencing this fabled "Still Waiting For Root Device" thing. I would like to ask if someone could be so kind as to offer step by steps on how to get round this.

Whilst reading through everything I get the general idea of what's wrong and what needs to be done to put it right, I'm unclear as to how to go about it.

Allow me to briefly summarise where I've got to so you know the situation:

1: Installed Snow Leopard
2: Multibeasted it.
3: I have an unsupported GFX card that I'm looking to fix with Lion.
4: I obtained Lion by NEITHER of the conventional methods. I shan't go into details...
5: I constructed a bootable USB using Unibeast
6: It booted and installed ok.
7: I proceeded to boot from the USB stick and attempt a Lion boot to no avail.
8: Added tag -x with no improvement.
9: Added tag -v to see what was going on - See the 'Still waiting for root device' issue.
10: Attempted boot in Single-user mode and attempted the command detailed in cili0's post, it seemed to do SOMETHING, so I rebooted and reattempted with no success.

I've seen it knocking around that the usekernelcache=yes flag has worked for some. Is this how you guys perceive it?

Thanks in advance, chaps! Greetings from the tea'n'crumpet-munching side of the pond.

 

[adamfink8]

Woah woah woah...

... I'm a Mac Moron. On a PC, I could possibly launch nuclear missiles in Korea, but on Mac, I have enough trouble working out Single-User command lines...

I am experiencing this fabled "Still Waiting For Root Device" thing. I would like to ask if someone could be so kind as to offer step by steps on how to get round this.

Whilst reading through everything I get the general idea of what's wrong and what needs to be done to put it right, I'm unclear as to how to go about it.

Allow me to briefly summarise where I've got to so you know the situation:

1: Installed Snow Leopard
2: Multibeasted it.
3: I have an unsupported GFX card that I'm looking to fix with Lion.
4: I obtained Lion by NEITHER of the conventional methods. I shan't go into details...
5: I constructed a bootable USB using Unibeast
6: It booted and installed ok.
7: I proceeded to boot from the USB stick and attempt a Lion boot to no avail.
8: Added tag -x with no improvement.
9: Added tag -v to see what was going on - See the 'Still waiting for root device' issue.
10: Attempted boot in Single-user mode and attempted the command detailed in cili0's post, it seemed to do SOMETHING, so I rebooted and reattempted with no success.

I've seen it knocking around that the usekernelcache=yes flag has worked for some. Is this how you guys perceive it?

Thanks in advance, chaps! Greetings from the tea'n'crumpet-munching side of the pond.

Try using these at the bootloader:

npci=0x2000
PCIRootID=1

 

[iH8Apple]

Hi,

Thanks for that - I'll have a go with it and report back.

Thanks again!

 

[MichaelDyer]

I have assembled my custommac hardware:
GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 F9 / i5-2500k @ 3.3GHz / Corsair Vengeance PC1600 16GB / 0.5Tb Maxtor(Lion) / 1.5Tb Seagate(Linux)
To test the hardware, installed Linux on 1.5Tb drive. No problems.

Reduce to 4Gb for OS-x install. (Is this really needed?)
Followed step-by-step for installing Lion using Kingston 8Gb USB, using my son's MacBook Pro & Unibeast 1.2.0.
Attempting boot from USB generates Chimera boot screen offering either UNIBEAST-0(USB name) or Linux.

Without any parameters, I get the grey Apple logo and the spinning wheel.
The wheel quickly stops spinning, and 10 minutes later I get an invitation to power down and reboot.

If I enter either "-v -x" or "-v -x npci=0x2000 PCIRootID=1" with UNIBEAST-0, I end up seeing "Still waiting for root device", repeated as many times as I care to watch. (Over 20 at one attempt.)
(btw, Does the screen output get written to a file on the USB? Couldn't find any file(s))

 

[mrbubbles]

I was experiencing this problem too after updating to 10.7.3 (Client Combo) from 10.7.0 (UniBeast method). UseKernelCache=yes resulted in a perfect boot (audio working and everything) but I couldn't do a fresh boot.

After trying nearly everything (various boot options, trying different versions of Chameleon/Chimera, installing a newer FakeSMC, etc) I reinstalled OS X (no reformat) and I was surprised to find that the installer didn't rename /System as I had expected and just installed on top of my existing installation, so I now had a 10.7.0 install with the same problem. UseKernelCache=yes still worked and it wouldn't boot without it so I don't think this actually did anything.

I then figured if I'm going to do a clean install anyways, may as well try something experimental before I wipe it. So I scoured Google for commands that clean and regenerate the kernel cache on Lion (which as mentioned earlier ignores Extensions.kext by default). To my surprise, it booted flawlessly after that (works both with and without UseKernelCache). Here are the commands I used:

sudo kextcache -v 2 -a i386 -a x86_64 -m /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext /System/Library/Extensions
sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
sudo kextcache -system-caches

Those commands may give you warnings about dependency resolution failures. Backup and delete the corresponding kexts from /System/Library/Extensions and then run the commands again until you get a clean run.

In my case, they warned about some of the hardware sensor kexts. I don't know if it was removing those or regenerating the kernel cache that fixed the boot, but my installation has been booting & running flawlessly since.

I also doubt that the first kextcache command has any effect since as I understand, Lion ignores this file and is now loading the 'kernelcache' file (from within the same directory) instead but I figured I would include it for completeness just in case.