VirtualBox 4.2.6 Mac OS X 10.8.2 host fails to start Mac OS X 10.6.8 guest

[macsforme]

Note: this issue may be related to #10998, #11401, #11288, and #11052, but I have additional information.

Host machine is an Apple Macmini5,1 (Mid 2011 base model). The host machine dual boots Mac OS X 10.8.2 and Mac OS X 10.6.8 on separate partitions. I created the guest VDI image by cloning this same 10.6.8 partition that the machine itself boots from successfully, using VBoxManage.

Booting the machine into 10.6.8 and running VirtualBox 4.1.12 allows me to successfully start the 10.6.8 guest using the VDI image. However, when booting into 10.8.2 and running VirtualBox 4.2.6 (or any other version compatible with Mountain Lion that I have tried), the virtual machine fails to complete the boot up process when this same VDI image is attached. Console output shows a last line of "AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient: ready" and then no further output is seen.

EFI was enabled in both tests, and all settings seem as equal as possible considering the differences between these versions.

In a response to the related bug report threads it was suggested to downgrade to VirtualBox 4.1.*. However, it is impossible to downgrade to VirtualBox 4.1.12 in Mac OS X 10.8.2 because that version of VirtualBox refuses to run (and when forced to do so from the command line, it crashes when starting a VM). My attempts to compile it from source were not successful. From release notes and other bug reports, it appears that Mountain Lion specific bugs were fixed in a version subsequent to 4.1.12, so it appears I will not be able to run this version on Mac OS X 10.8.2. I also tested other later versions of 4.1.* that do run on Mac OS X 10.8.2, and they all exhibited this same issue.

I have attached logs for the successful boot under the Mac OS X 10.6.8 / VirtualBox 4.1.12 host, and of the unsuccessful boot under the Mac OS X 10.8.2 / VirtualBox 4.2.6 host. I have also attached screenshots of the console output until the bootup stops on 10.8.2, and one of the console output on 10.6.8 going past that point.

[macsforme]

10.6.8 Host VM Log

[macsforme]

10.8.2 Host VM Log

[macsforme]

10.6.8 Host VM Screenshot

[macsforme]

10.8.2 Host VM Screenshot

[macsforme]

10.6.8 Host VM Log

[TGOS]

I would say that this is an exact duplicate of #11401

[Frank Mehnert]

Please reopen if still relevant with VBox 4.3.2.