Sandy Bridge SL install problem

[aedeeley]

First here are my system specs, at least the relevant ones:

 

i5 2500k

Asus P8P67 LE (rev 3)

GTX 460

 

Here is my issue, then I will do a brief rundown of the steps I've done so far. I'm going to try to be as detailed as I possibly can, as I am an avid OS X, Linux and Windows user and a developer (although for the web).

 

I successfully installed Snow Leopard via [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] Legacy and an external HDD copy of Snow Leopard. I proceeded to update to 10.6.7, install the contents of AndyBoot CD, [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and then 10.6.8. During the 10.6.8 update I had a kernel panic which resulted in my not being able to boot back into OS X. I believe my issue there was I looked past using the UpdateHelper. I will get to that after I solve my main problem. After playing around and trying every conceivable (and Google searchable) way to resolve the issues I was having, I decided to format and try again (d'oh for not backing up my original successful install).

 

Now, the issue I'm having is this: I boot into [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and when I select to boot from the external hard drive (using a combination of -x -F GraphicsEnabler=no maxmem=4096 and always in verbose mode) it always ends up outputting a message about my USBF device not responding in 5 seconds and then eventually repeatedly "Still waiting for root device". I know it's not finding the hard drive where the install is, so I grabbed a copy of retail SL on a DL DVD. IT SUCCESSFULLY STARTS THE INSTALLATION But, it always gets stuck and eventually crashes at "28 minutes remaining"...

 

I'm stuck, spent all last night trying to troubleshoot this with absolutely no forward progress. I'm not asking for a tutorial on exactly how to fix this, but any input would be greatly appreciated. I will on stand-by to answer any questions any of you have. Here is a step-by-step process of what I've done so far.

 

 

 

 

1. Boot w/ [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] Legacy

2. Successfully SL install from external HDD w/ -v GraphicsEnabler=no maxmem=4096

3. Install contents of AndyBoot CD

4. Install 10.6.7 Combo Update

4. Install [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] (can't remember specific settings)

5. Reboot (now everything is working except my display is @ 1024x768)

6. Install 10.6.8 Combo Update (in anticipation of installing Official NVIDIA Drivers for my GTX 460)

7. 10.6.8 Combo update causing kernel panic

8. Reformat OS X hard drive

9. cannot re-install OS X

 

 

 

Any feedback or suggestions are GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thank you so much for reading (my lengthy) post and hopefully someone can bring some light to my situation.

 

Thank you again!