[HowTo] Dual Boot Guide Leopard-Vista or Vista-Leopard

[Treyarch]

This is a short guide to help those who are trying to dual boot Vista - Leopard or Leopard - Vista on a single drive.

 

This is a compilation of things I tried and ran into while trying to dual boot on my Asus G1S.

 

Note that this guide only applies to Vista as it's bootloader differs from XP, and hence the tweaks used in this guide will not work on XP unfortunetly.

 

So here we go, here's a list of things you will need :

- iATKOS, Kalyway, or any other DVD that let's you install Leopard of course.

- Vista install DVD

- GParted Live CD (this is optional, but good to have anyway)

 

IMPORTANT:

Before we start , one thing to check is your drive compatibility in your BIOS if you have a SATA drive (most PC do nowadays). if so, select "Compatible", "IDE" mode, or whatever it's called depending on your BIOS type. That's very important to Leopard until you have your dual boot working, afterwards you can restore your "Enhanced" or "SATA" mode.

 

Method 1) Vista - Leopard dual boot

(Note: Only use this method if you have Vista already installed and don't want to start from scratch.)

 

We will be installing Leopard on a second primary partition of our drive and will use the Vista Bootloader to chain load Leopard. To do this, follow these steps :

 

Step 1 - Preparing your drive

Right-click on "My Computer", select "Manage" and go to "Disk Management".

Resize your drive so you have enough free space to install Leopard. (5GB is the minimum I think but just to be on the safe side, try 10GB+) .

Leave you new free space as un-allocated.

If you want to use a spare partition, just make it un-allocated by deleting it.

(Note: Something to be wary of when you install on a Portable PC is the fact that many companies like ASUS or DELL create a hidden recovery partition at the start of your drive and to install Leopard you will need to get rid of it.)

Step 2 - Creating our Leopard partition

Close the "Disk Management" console and launch the "Command-Promt" console by typing "cmd" in the "Run" prompt. (Make sure you run this console with Admin rights.)

 

- Type diskpart

- Type select disk 0

- Type create primary id=af

 

If all went well, you should get an ok after a couple a seconds.

 

- Type list partition

 

We list the partition created on our drive, and if all went well you should get 2:

Partition 1 is Vista

Partition 2 is our newly created partition for leopard.

 

- Type select partition x (where x is our newly created partition)

- Type active

- Type exit

 

You can now close the console and we are ready to install Mac OS X.

 

This method is still the safest as the MBR is left untouched and if you find that Leopard doesn't work well for you or totally crashes, just set your Vista partition back to active either with your Vista install DVD or GParted and you are back in business.

 

Step 3 - Installing Leopard

Boot into your Leopard install DVD, and select at the top "Utilities -> Disk Utility".

Select your drive and partition you created in Vista on left and on your right click "Erase". Make sure you erase with "MAC OSX Journaled Extended".

Once done, quit "Disk Utility" and follow the steps to install Leopard.

Don't forget to customize you install to your needs, selecting one of the two "Darwin Bootloader" available (iATKOSv1.0ir2).

 

After your install and if everything went well, you should boot into Leopard.

 

Step 4 - Repairing Vista Boot with Vista install DVD

Once you have happily played around with Leopard, reboot into your Vista install DVD and select "Repair", now select the "Command Prompt" and do the following:

 

- Type bootrec /fixmbr

 

Step 4 (alternative 1) - Repairing Vista Boot with GParted Live CD

Get your GParted Live CD out, boot it and restore the "boot" flag on your Vista partition.

 

Step 4 (alternative 2) - Repairing Vista Boot with Leopard install DVD

Reboot with your Leopard install DVD, press F8 at the prompt and type -s. This will boot into user mode and do the following :

 

- Type fdisk -e /dev/rdisk0

- Type flag 1

- Type quit

- Type reboot

 

This should get you back into Vista.

(Note: if you get an error when typing quit, make sure you still have you drive set to "Compatible", "IDE" mode in your BIOS)

 

Step 5 - Adding Mac OS X to Vista Bootloader

Once you are back into Vista, put your Leopard install DVD into your drive and copy the CHAIN0 file from your DVD to your Vista partition root, C:\

Now open again the "Command Prompt" console by typing "cmd" in the "Run" prompt. (Make sure you have Admin rights again.)

 

- Type bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Leopard"

- Type bcdedit /enum active

- Type bcdedit /set {GUID} PATH \CHAIN0

 

Where GUID is the huge alphanumeric key you see next to IDENTIFIER for the "Leopard" entry in the list you got after typing bcdedit /enum active.

 

Alright, we are set, you can now close the "Command Prompt" console et reboot. You should be greeted with the Vista bootloader and 2 options, Vista and Leopard. Select "Leopard" and you will be sent to the Darwin Bootloader where you can press F8, select the Mac OS X partition and press ENTER.

 

And there you go Vista - Leopard dual boot.

 

As you can see the downside of this method is the fact that you have to go through 2 bootloaders to get into Leopard, first Vista bootloader and then Darwin bootloader. It's a bit of a pain but safer and shorter than method 2, you get no HFS+ error and no winload.exe error either.

 

And now onto :

 

Method 2) Leopard - Vista dual boot

(Note: only use this method if you are sure your install of Leopard works and you want to keep it, because if you erase your Leopard partition, your Vista install will be left unusable, you will have to re-install)

 

Ok, this method is far better if you, like me, want to use Leopard more often than Vista. Leopard will be installed on the first primary partition and you get only 1 bootloader "Darwin" to boot into both OSes. Make sure you backup all your data on an external drive or DVD as we will erase the entire drive this time.

 

Step 1 - Setting up the partitions

Boot with your Leopard install DVD and select at the top "Utilities - Disk Utility".

From there, on the left side, select your drive and go to the "Partition" menu on your right and select from the dropdown menu "2 Partitions", resize them as you see fit.

Now click on the "Options" button and check "Master Boot Record".

(Note: I have not tried the "GUID Partition Table", so I can't tell if it will work with this method.)

Select "Partition 1 " and erase it with "MAC OSX Journaled Extended", leaving the 2nd partition untouched for the moment and once done you can quit "Disk Utility".

 

Step 2 - Installing Leopard

Follow the screens customizing your install to your needs and make sure you select one of the two "Darwin Bootloader" available (iATKOSv1.0ir2).

 

Step 3 - Installing Vista

Once you have your Leopard installed and running nicely, grab your GParted Live CD and boot it. Select your drive and format your free space as NTFS Primary partition. Flag it as "boot", reboot to your Vista install DVD and install to your newly created partition.

 

Step 4 - Setting up your dual boot

Now, here comes the tricky part. By default, your Vista Bootloader assumes you are running it on partition 1, and that's where it fails.

When you are happy with your Vista install, there's a step we have to do. Launch "Command Prompt" by typing "cmd" from the "Run" prompt, making sure you have Admin rights yet again, and do the following :

 

- Type bcdedit /set {default} osdevice "partition=C:"

- Type bcdedit /set {default} device "partition=C:"

 

And that's all there is to it. With these 2 commands, we won't get "winload.exe" errors when restoring the Darwin Bootloader. The Vista Bootloader knows where to find its loader.

 

Now close the "Command Prompt" console, grab your leopard install DVD and reboot.

 

Step 5 - Restoring the Darwin bootloader

Now onto the last step. At the boot screen press F8 and type -s to boot into user mode.

 

- Type fdisk -e /dev/rdisk0

- Type flag 1

- Type quit

- Type reboot

 

If all went well, you should now be able to see the Darwin Bootloader. If you press any key you will see your 2 partitions and they should both boot fine.

 

Questions or comments are, of course, welcome.

[camstillworksout]

i got to the bcdedit /set {GUID} PATH \CHAIN0 last step and it told me that

the element data type is not recognized

what'd i do?

[gadgetsboyj]

Good guide but I get stuck with a problem. If I mark the Leopard partition active, then it gives me an HFS+ Partition error. I fix that by typing in in single user mode of the install DVD: fdisk -e /dev/rdisk0 then I type flag 1 then quit and then reboot. That makes it show up but I get an error when I select Windows. It says that BOOTMGR is missing. I can fix it by running the repair on the Windows CD. Its actually Windows 7 but there isn't much of a difference yet and I had the same problem when dual booting Vista. Any help?

 

EDIT: Ran those Windows cmd commands again and then set partition 1 as active again. Working OK for now. Probably not for long because I seem to be pretty unlucky with the laptop lately.

[david129]

HI. I have Asus M50VC-AP012C and I cant install Leopard on it. I just can boot with iDeneb 10.5.4 and after I install it, it wont bood. I

 

download iATKOS V5i 10.5.5 but it didnt even boot and every time my laptop was restarted.

 

My laptop Details:

 

Intel Centrino2

 

Cpu: Intel® Core2 Duo Processor P8400 : 2.26 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MBL2

 

Chipset Mobile Intel® PM45 Express Chipset +ICH9M

 

Ram: 4GB DDR2 800MHZ

 

Wireless: Intel 5100 ab/g/n

 

Network: Realtek8169

 

Can anyone help me plz?

 

Sorry for my bad english.

 

Thank you

[SomniusX]

I'm gonna use this guide from already installed iAtkos 10.5.7 on my system. I'm gonna try Vista on the 1st partition and then boot leo with chain0

 

but.. there are two (2) chain0 inside my iAtkos Installation DVD.. one plain and one chameleon2/chain0 ???

Now i'm booting with Chameleon2, so i must copy the 2nd on the vista partition and use vista bootloader?

 

Thanx in advance!

 

edit : now that i think about it, i may use the 2nd way..

[Treyarch]

I'm gonna use this guide from already installed iAtkos 10.5.7 on my system. I'm gonna try Vista on the 1st partition and then boot leo with chain0

 

but.. there are two (2) chain0 inside my iAtkos Installation DVD.. one plain and one chameleon2/chain0 ???

Now i'm booting with Chameleon2, so i must copy the 2nd on the vista partition and use vista bootloader?

 

Thanx in advance!

 

edit : now that i think about it, i may use the 2nd way..

 

Unfortunately, I made this guide way before Chameleon debuted and I've never used it so I can't really help you there but my guess would be trial and error to see which one boots your Vista install.

[SomniusX]

And i'm interested on the old Darwin bootloader that i'm used to..

 

So, how can i install iAtkos 10.5.7 without Chameleon2 but with the old Darwin ?

[cringemaster]

By far one of the most helpful tutorials I have every used. Works perfectly for Windows 7 and Leopard with chameleon2 RC2. Thanks.