Debugging Still Waiting For Root Device
You may have faced this error while Installing macOS or after a successful Installation in Hackintosh or real Macintosh
In this post I’m going to explain this problem and suggest a solution with using my personal experience.
What does “Still waiting for root device” means ?
It means that a driver/kext for the source from which you are booting is not detected properly by the mac operating system (USB kext not detected or loaded)
Mac OS released prebuilt with the latest drivers that supports SATA out of the box
but you may face this issue If you
- Have an old motherboard.
- Have a PATA (Parallel ATA) Port.
- Have a Gigabyte Motherboard.
- Using a USB Pen Drive/Flash Drive to Boot.
This problem occurs before / after the installation but it depends on the boot disk.
1 Case 1
You may be trying to Install Mac using a bootable USB .
This occurs when Your USB Port is not recognised by macOS & In some LGA 1156 motherboards they need to use some additional kexts to Make USB Work Properly.
How to Fix?
- Try to boot with the kernel flag USBBusFix=Yes
This usually triggers all the USB Ports & Fix all usb related issues - LGA 1156 motherboard users install Zenith432’s GenericUSBXHCI.kext into the Bootable USB ( /Extra/Extensions ) or into Clover Using Kext Wizard / Clover Configurator / Transmac (If you’re using windows)
- Try to Enable / Disable Legacy USB in BIOS
2 Case 2
You are trying to Install macOS using a DVD.
This occurs when Your DvD Drive is not recognised by Mac OS
Note: Unless if you are using a USB DVD Drive: Check solutions of Case 1
How to Fix?
- Try to Set SATA as AHCI on Bios
- Try to Change SATA Ports
- Connect DvD to Primary SATA/PATA Port
If these does not help stop trying it is unworthy to try in Case 2
3 Case 3
You are Trying to Boot/Install macOS Using a Hard disk (SATA/PATA)
Note: Unless if you’re using a USB Hard Disk Check The Solutions of Case 1
How to Fix?
- Boot with USBBusFix=Yes
- Boot with ahcidisk=8 debug=8
- Check Bios Settings Set AHCI as SATA
- Connect Hard disk to Primary SATA /PATA Port
- Installing These Chipset Kexts to /System/Library/Extensions
Most of The Systems Including Gigabyte MotherBoard with Jmicron Chipset.