MediaDirect button + XP + Leopard = Dual-Boot :)

[Lenka-Penka]

UPDATE: Brave yeye managed to dual-boot Mac OSX and Vista. See further posts below.

Further additions: It is advisable to use MediaDirect button for booting Leo, and Power button for booting XP or Vista.

Sonotone reported that otherwise Leo may not see your NTFS partition.

Theanine says: "I used the HxD and Ubuntu to update the 75 to 74 partition values as neither the cracked Acronis Disk Director nor the Paragon Partition Manger would allow me to edit the partition".

the great deceiver informs of another way of using MD button. See his post below, although it is suitable more of initial installation, when you are installing everything from scratch.

 

NOTE: This guide is in its experimental form yet, and the proposed modifications are not suitable for everyone. If you are unsure of your skills, don't attempt it! Since I have MediaDirect 3.5 on my laptop, these modifications should work for other DELLs with MD version 3.5. Nevertheless, they may also work on earlier versions, e.g. 3.3. Those users that have MediaDirect 2 or 1 installed should not attempt to follow this guide - it may just brick their laptops!

 

My configuration: DELL Vostro 1500, which came with latest Mediadirect reinstall disc, version 3.5

Before starting installation, I wiped all partitions on laptop's HD, which were preinstalled on it.

Then I installed a dual-boot configuration with Windows XP reinstall disc, which came with my Vostro, and Leopard's release "iAtkos ir2".

I used MBR and EFI.

This configuration was already working fine before I began the following modifications.

 

Tools I used:

• Acronis Disk Director
  
• Ubuntu Live CD
  
• MacDrive
  
• DELL MediaDirect reinstall disk
  

Note: one may use less tools for the following operations. For example, I'm sure that Ubuntu Live CD can replace both Acronis and MacDrive.

 

A little theory: sometime ago was proposed a solution on how to dual boot ubuntu and XP/Vista. For details see:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=231747 and http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=182495

These solutions won't work with Leopard - MediaDirect during boot does something strange to the partition table in MBR, so one cannot

have a dual-boot with Leopard after that: always after reboot the loader displays a nasty "HFS+ partition error".

 

Below I describe how to eliminate this error.

 

 

I used these two guides (see links above) as a reference.

Since I had already installed both Leopard and XP, I went directly to the point where one has to run RMBR.EXE program

from DELL MediaDirect reinstall disk.

---------------------------------------------------

BEFORE RUNNING RMBR.EXE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE BACKUP OF YOUR MASTER BOOT RECORD (MBR).

I used for this purpose Ubuntu Live CD. You can easily download it from the Ubuntu website.

After starting Live CD in no-installation-mode, start Partitioning Tool to inspect your drives.

Make sure that you connect either flash disk or any other disk, on which you can backup your MBR.

Don't backup MBR on the same disk, which is in your notebook! Use another one.

 

After inspecting your devices, run terminal and type:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/media/backup/backup.mbr bs=512 count=1

In this example /dev/sda stands for the internal HD of my laptop, and /media/backup for the external usb drive,

whose volume name is "backup". Please change these two values, so that they will correspond to your configuration as reported by

Partitioning Tool.

 

After running this command, it will create a file backup.mbr on your external disk, which size will be 512 byte.

If you break your MBR, you can easily recover it from the same Ubuntu Live CD by running in terminal:

sudo dd if=/media/backup/backup.mbr of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

 

After executing this command your MBR should be restored.

----------------------------------------------------

Because I had two partitions on my HD

1. HFS+ partition with Leopard,
   
2. NTFS partition with Win XP,
   

and I wanted to use power button for starting XP, and MediaDirect button for starting Leopard,

I typed in command line in Win XP: E:\dellkit\rmbr.exe DELL 2 1

The first argument ("2") stands for the number of Win XP partition, while the second argument ("1") stands for the number of Leopard partition. You should put here your appropriate values.

 

On program execution a MBR is modified and then one can shutdown the laptop.

After power up the following should be observed:

1. If you press "Power" button, the Win XP should start to load.

2. If you press "MediaDirect" button, the logo starts to show MediaDirect screen and then will write "HFS+ partition error".

 

Note that these two points are valid if you assigned your partitions the way I did it: the first number in RMBR.EXE program is for XP partition, the second one - for the Leopard partition.

 

At this point you can still revert your MBR by using its restore procedure, described above (see text in blue).

Now get prepared for some hacking. Use MacDrive to mount your Leopard partition (after installing MacDrive, it should mount it automatically). Run Acronis Disk Editor.

(I guess that it is possible to do the following operations via Ubuntu Live CD only, without Acronis DD and MacDrive).

 

Open in Disk Editor partition with Leopard. The first thing that you will see should be boot record, located in the beginning of Leopard partition. Its size is also 512 bytes.

 

Check if you have the following hexadecimal numbers in place:

seg000:0000  FA 31 C0 8E D0 BC F0 FF  FB 8E C0 8E D8 66 31 C0
seg000:0010  66 A3 00 E4 80 7C 04 AF  75 03 E9 09 00 BE 03 7D

If you have, you can proceed further.

 

Now, change the value 75 (shown below in red) to the value 74.

 

seg000:0010 66 A3 00 E4 80 7C 04 AF 75 03 E9 09 00 BE 03 7D

Don't change anything else! Save the sector to disk. Exit program. Job's done!

Now you are ready to restart computer, and check if you have a dual-boot with MediaDirect button and Power button.

 

Further mod:

if you want to skip a 5-second delay in Darwin bootloader, modify com.apple.Boot.plist file (located in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration):

 

Replace

		<key>Quiet Boot</key>
	 <string>No</string>
	 <key>Timeout</key>
	 <string>5</string>

with

 

		<key>Quiet Boot</key>
	 <string>Yes</string>
	 <key>Timeout</key>
	 <string>0</string>

 

Appendix

 

Here I give brief info on why we do the modifications described above. You may skip it - everything that should be done is listed above.

 

This patching changes the initial code of boot1h loader, which is located in the very beginning of Leopard partition:

 

seg000:0000 sub_0	   proc near
seg000:0000				 cli
seg000:0001				 xor	 ax, ax
seg000:0003				 mov	 ss, ax
seg000:0005				 mov	 sp, 0FFF0h
seg000:0008				 sti
seg000:0009				 mov	 es, ax
seg000:000B				 mov	 ds, ax
seg000:000D				 xor	 eax, eax
seg000:0010				 mov	 ds:0E400h, eax
seg000:0014				 cmp	 byte ptr [si+4], 0AFh; "identification number of HFS+ active partition"(?)
seg000:0018				 jnz	 short loc_1D		; "if number from our partition doesn't coincide with AF, a message is displayed HFS+ partiton error" and then system halts.
seg000:001A				 jmp	 loc_26				  ; "if number from partition coincides, the next loader in chain is loaded (boot2)"

 

What we do here is that we change

jnz short loc_1D

to

jz short loc_1D

so even if we didn't flagged Leopard partition as active, this loader (boot1h) will still boot Darwin bootloader, which in turn will boot Leopard.

 

Yes, I know that this is rather crude solution to the problem

It is a quick fix, which can be enhanced later.

 

Comments, corrections and suggestions are welcome!

[Chrysaor]

Thanks.

I will try this when I get my M1530.

[macgirl]

Could this be with Mac OS and Linux,or Mac OS and Vista?

[Lenka-Penka]

Could this be with Mac OS and Linux,or Mac OS and Vista?

In the case of Linux and OSX there shouldn't be a problem - the setup will be identical to what I described.

I can't says anything about Vista, since I never worked with it.

Anyway, following these two guides, to which I gave links you can figure how to customize

this hack - they describe dual-booting of Ubuntu + XP and Ubuntu + Vista. Just patch the bootrecord on Leopard

partition. Maybe someone else will try it and then report

[yeye]

Hello,

I've tried with my vostro 1700 and Windows Vista and DELL MD 3.3 and I have succeded until HFS + partition error.

Then I want to change the 75 into 74 but I can't since I haven't bought Disk Director (I'm in Read only mode in disk director). Do you know which freeware could do this? I've tried with G parted Live CD but I didn't find the function in Gparted to edit what I have to edit.

Thanks for your help

 

Eric

[Lenka-Penka]

Hi Eric,

 

do you have Ubuntu Live CD? If no, I suggest to download it: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

After you burn it to CD, boot from it and run terminal and Partition Tool.

The following command applies if you have Leopard partition on sda1.

Make a copy of it on external drive by typing in terminal

sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/media/backup/backup_sda1.mbr bs=512 count=1

 

I'll post in five minutes on what to do next

[yeye]

Hi,

I've already done that step with success.

I've downloaded a cracked Acronis disk director so I've just changed the 75 into 74. I'll inform you if that work in a few minutes

I'd like to know if you can change the DELL MD picture which is so awful by the one you want?

[Lenka-Penka]

Added later:

Ok, after you backup your boot record of Leopard partition (it is different from MBR!),

you can edit it manually (before editing it manually, make another backup of it just in case smth goes wrong).

Download and install free HEX editor from here: http://mh-nexus.de/downloads.php?product=HxD

Then open the backed up boot record file backup_sda1.mbr, and modify appropriate number (75=>74).

Save the file. Boot from Ubuntu Live CD. Open terminal and Partition tool.

Type in terminal:

sudo dd if=/media/backup/backup_sda1.mbr of=/dev/sda1 bs=512 count=1

 

Make sure that you correctly determine the name of Leopard partition!

After writing boot record you can restart.

[yeye]

I've succeeded with Acronis and now I'm on OS X having started with DELL MD button!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU MR LENKA PENKA.

Now, do you know if it's possible to change this awful picture of DELL MD?

 

To sum up: DELL MD 3.3, VISTA & Leo, VOSTRO 1700 => All is OK with your perfect tuto

[Lenka-Penka]

Congrats!

I haven't bothered with that MediaDirect logo, since it doesn't bother me that much.

 

I didn't analyzed the MBR code of MediaDirect in order to understand what it does during boot.

There are also two options - one is that there is a hidden partition (so called HPA) which cannot be uncovered by common partition tools (GParted included). The second option is that this picture comes from BIOS.

If this is the first case then I guess nothing could be done - I'm not aware of common programs that allow such access to HPA (there are of course more tricky ways to access it via lower-level programs but these are usually used

by people who repair hard drives). If it is stored in BIOS than you can download latest BIOS firmware from DELL's website and try to disassemble it. After appropriate recompilation you can flash it. This option is no better than the first since you can lose your whole laptop quite easily

 

A side note: if somehow you make your Leopard partition active again, you may encounter "HFS+ partition error".

In this case just make WinXP partition active back and everything should work fine.

[yeye]

What is exactly the usefulness of your Appendix?

[Lenka-Penka]

What is exactly the usefulness of your Appendix?

Well, it is just a simple description of why 74 sometimes is better than 75

It also shows that the root of the problem with common "HFS+ partition error" lies in this code.

Moreover I think that a better solution maybe proposed (e.g. writing another bootloader boot1h) - this is also another reason why I put that appendix.

And finally, it may stimulate other people to find solution to remaining problems with Hackintoshes.

[yeye]

Ok. I don't know how to dissassemble latest bios and then recompile so I won't try. Furthermore, I don't want to brick my lappy!

So if a pro succeed in changing this picture, please say it here!

[sonotone]

Working well on my Inspiron 9400

Thanks Lenka-Penka, good skill!

EDIT: One problem; Leo can't anymore mount my xp partition. (i never open it from Leopard, but it can be a problem for others users)

[yeye]

I don't have this problem. My Vista partition is still mounted

[Lenka-Penka]

Glad that you managed too

 

Working well on my Inspiron 9400

Thanks Lenka-Penka, good skill!

EDIT: One problem; Leo can't anymore mount my xp partition. (i never open it from Leopard, but it can be a problem for others users)

It is strange - I can still mount NTFS partition, and my VMWare works as stable as before patching.

Right now I can't think of why it happened to you

[sonotone]

OK, i give you more informations:

HD map:

-partition 1: Fat32

-partition 2: NTFS (xp)

-partition 3: HFS+ (Leo)

 

I used MediaDirect button to launch XP (\dellkit\rmbr.exe DELL 3 2)

Changed Leo bootsector AF 75 by AF74

 

Given that i use MediaDirect button to launch XP, maybe the issue comes with it.

[Lenka-Penka]

HI sonotone,

 

yes, I think that this is the problem - MediaDirect program which starts when

you press its button, changes MBR. Probably Leo relies on MBR to determine

whether to mount partition or not. I suggest you to rewrite values with RMBR,

so the MediaDirect button launches Leo, and Power button - Vista. But first

recover your original MBR, which I think you should have saved before.

 

Given that i use MediaDirect button to launch XP, maybe the issue comes with it.

[sonotone]

As i said, it's not a problem for me, cause i've never used this partition from Leopard. However, this issue is now known

[DarwinX]

Works perfectly! I used the HxD and Ubuntu to update the 75 to 74 partition values as neither the cracked Acronis Disk Director nor the Paragon Partition Manger would allow me to edit the partition. The HFS+ error persisted still until I realized that the Leo partiion ID was reset to 07, upon fixing that with fdisk and rerunning the rmbr.exe DELL 1 2, I can now boot Vista via the power button and Leo via the media one. It's actually quite handy.

 

Bravo and Thank You LenkaPenka!

[TheGreatDeceiver]

thanks for the great guide. I followed the thread below a while back. I know it's long and hard to find everything.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread...9086&page=5

 

but it solved my problems and I got my MD button back. Works perfectly fine with Vista btw.

 

thanks again for taking your time and writing sth up.

 

btw. for me the easiest way to get MD3 and functional button is to format the drive with MD drive preparation tool, then install Vista (or have an image and put on one partition) and then put an image of OSX on the other partition. I use Acronis True Image to do the latter. Use tboot for dual boot and MD3 is working perfectly fine still since it prepared the drive. With an already installed Vista and already installed OSX you can make an image of each partition and start with the MD3 drive preparation tool like above, then just copy images onto the partitions and set the one with Vista active...You may have to resize partitions to fit your own image onto the MD3 created ones (Acronis Disk Director).

 

no messing around with partition tables anymore. But, as Lenka-Penka points out this is best for an installation from scratch. It requires that you have at least an image of the OSX partition.

[Lenka-Penka]

Hi all,

 

thank you for the feedback. I've updated the first post to include the mods proposed.

[TheGreatDeceiver]

Hi all,

 

thank you for the feedback. I've updated the first post to include the mods proposed.

 

great guide! question about the MD partition. Is this still managed via a hidden protected partition? when I got my laptop (MD2) the MD partition was "Host-Protected Area" (HPA). I was able to later upgrade from MD2 to MD3 when I got a new hdd for the notebook. I see the latest is MD3.5. Any insight on what is new compared to MD3? Is there an image available of MD3.5 someplace?

 

thank you

 

edit1: never mind about MD3.5. found an image on the bay.

[Lenka-Penka]

Hi,

 

one of the differences between MD2 and MD3 afaik is that the first uses HPA while the second is not.

It seems that DELL reacted to many user complaints (digg the web - you will find plenty of them) that

laptops with MD2 can be ruined by simply pressing MD button, if hard drive was previously formatted.

In this case this hidden partition (HPA) tries to restore MD partition, erasing a lot of data from HD.

I don't have a confirmed information that MD3 works the same way but it seems that MD3 messes a bit with MBR

after pressing MD button. Anyway, this interference is not so drastic as in the case of MD2.

[TheGreatDeceiver]

Hi,

 

one of the differences between MD2 and MD3 afaik is that the first uses HPA while the second is not.

It seems that DELL reacted to many user complaints (digg the web - you will find plenty of them) that

laptops with MD2 can be ruined by simply pressing MD button, if hard drive was previously formatted.

In this case this hidden partition (HPA) tries to restore MD partition, erasing a lot of data from HD.

I don't have a confirmed information that MD3 works the same way but it seems that MD3 messes a bit with MBR

after pressing MD button. Anyway, this interference is not so drastic as in the case of MD2.

 

I think all MD releases mess with the partition table and basically switch sth around in the partition table, leading to either OS booting or MD. I think it does that independent of whether it's HDA or not (more on this in the notebookreview article above) and more in the long thread.

thank you