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Can you boot linux with chameleon bootloader?


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I have mac osx leo and xp installed. I want to install ubuntu, but don't know of any easy way of doing so because of it's grub bootloader messing things up. Does anyone have a relatively simple way of triple booting linux, mac os x, and xp?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

mtrog007

 

:blink:

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It's not like I haven't searched around or anything... I know this.

 

Could you point me in the right direction? I installed ubuntu without the grub bootloader and of course, chameleon doesn't recognize it. So what do I do when installing linux? Last time I installed linux and didn't touch the bootloader, the grub bootloader threw a bunch of errors at me...

 

Just a noob looking to do complicated stuff,

Thanks,

 

mtrog007

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Grub is able to boot osx and windows systems

 

If you install Ubuntu, grub boot only ubuntu and windows; you must add at the menu.lst of grub the line commands to boot osx and reinstall grub.

 

If you can try, install ubuntu and then post the file: menu.lst (that is in /boot/grub of ubuntu) and the output of the terminal command in ubuntu: sudo fdisk /dev/sda <return>

and the configuration of your system (number and type of HD)

 

Install Ubuntu in a primary partition (it is easiest to configure)

 

Giorgio

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 7 months later...
Install Grub to the Linux partition NOT the MBR. Chameleon will detect the Linux partition and load it.

 

Is this only for partioned disks or also for seperate harddrives? I have installed Ubuntu 9.10 on a seperate disk, also installed the Grub loader to this disk, but it won't show up in Chameleon RC4. Now i boot via Bios option to this disk.

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Install Grub to the Linux partition NOT the MBR. Chameleon will detect the Linux partition and load it.

ok, so i know this sound a bit noobish of me, but how exactly do I do that? I have OS X on one drive and 7 & Ubuntu on another. If I put the boot priority to the 7 disk i get GRUB, but cant see Linux in the bootloader. I kept an eye out when installing linux, but saw nothing on where it install GRUB.

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Look out for an "advanced..." button in the ubuntu installer, easy to miss, but thats where you can choose where to install grub. Grub should be installed to the Ubuntu's root partition (or seperate boot, if you have one).

So, I found that tab, and reinstalled Mint with GRUB installed to the bootloader. I got a result that I did not expect. Mint does not show up in Chameleon, but OS X shows up in GRUB... i want to fix this. I dislike grub...

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I had the same issue of Ubuntu not showing up in Chameleon - but I got it working (and now triple booting Win7, Ubuntu, and MacOSX).

 

I figured out that my problem was that my Ubuntu install created an EXTENDED partition (Which i believe cannot be recognized by Chameleon).

 

I used a Gparted Live cd to create the necessary Ubuntu partitions (one Ext4 (or 3) and a swap partition). I made sure that the Ext4 partition was PRIMARY. The swap can be extended or primary (for me I chose EXTENDED because I had already used a partition for Windows, MacOS, and now Ubuntu's filesystem.) Gparted Live can be downloaded at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php.

 

After partitioning, install Ubuntu to the newly created Ext4 and choose to mount it at "/".

 

When I restarted Chameleon detected it just fine without having to reinstall anything!

 

Hope this works for those still having issues!

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hey @all:

 

if you'd reinstall any of the 3 operating systems would the whole boatloader thing be messed up?

what would be the best way to:

1.) have the 3 operating systems installed (and all in one bootloader when you turn the computer on)

2.) to be able to get rid of one (or two) os (or just to reinstall an os) and not mess up the bootloader?

 

know what i mean?

 

thx,

vercetti.

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks so much!! You saved my day. I followed your instructions and Linux finally showed up in Chameleon. Very cool!

 

I had the same issue of Ubuntu not showing up in Chameleon - but I got it working (and now triple booting Win7, Ubuntu, and MacOSX).

 

I figured out that my problem was that my Ubuntu install created an EXTENDED partition (Which i believe cannot be recognized by Chameleon).

 

I used a Gparted Live cd to create the necessary Ubuntu partitions (one Ext4 (or 3) and a swap partition). I made sure that the Ext4 partition was PRIMARY. The swap can be extended or primary (for me I chose EXTENDED because I had already used a partition for Windows, MacOS, and now Ubuntu's filesystem.) Gparted Live can be downloaded at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php.

 

After partitioning, install Ubuntu to the newly created Ext4 and choose to mount it at "/".

 

When I restarted Chameleon detected it just fine without having to reinstall anything!

 

Hope this works for those still having issues!

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  • 7 months later...
I had the same issue of Ubuntu not showing up in Chameleon - but I got it working (and now triple booting Win7, Ubuntu, and MacOSX).

 

I figured out that my problem was that my Ubuntu install created an EXTENDED partition (Which i believe cannot be recognized by Chameleon).

 

I used a Gparted Live cd to create the necessary Ubuntu partitions (one Ext4 (or 3) and a swap partition). I made sure that the Ext4 partition was PRIMARY. The swap can be extended or primary (for me I chose EXTENDED because I had already used a partition for Windows, MacOS, and now Ubuntu's filesystem.) Gparted Live can be downloaded at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php.

 

After partitioning, install Ubuntu to the newly created Ext4 and choose to mount it at "/".

 

When I restarted Chameleon detected it just fine without having to reinstall anything!

 

Hope this works for those still having issues!

 

I'm having similar issues and chose not to install a swapspace partition when I installed Ubuntu, is it necessary to have one or is it just important to make sure my ubuntu partition is primary via Gparted? Also for what it's worth this machine is set up on a GUID. Thanks

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  • 3 weeks later...
this works for all linux distros right?

 

Different linux distros use different bootloaders. All of them can be configured manually to multi-boot, the method will be detailed in the instructions. The different Linux distros use different graphical user interfaces, which sometimes vary in design from one release to the next of that distro. So some GUIs will make the choice obvious between installing the bootloader to the MBR or to the boot sector, and others the choice will be hidden under an "Advanced" boot options menu. I think that it is unlikely that every Linux distro in each of its incarnations will display the "boot sector" option in the GUI, some will offer not to install a bootloader. Accessing the Linux distro to configure the bootloader manually can be done from the installation dvd or some of the available rescue dvds. There are also some "live" Linux distros/versions that run from a Dvd, and are not installed to the hard drive and don't have a default method to do that. So the answer to your question is no, but yes, nearly all.

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  • 2 months later...

easiest way for chameleon to pick up a linux drive is to run

 

sudo grub-install /dev/sda1

 

where sda1 is your drive AND partition, I cannot stress this enough DO NOT USE sda1 if that is not the drive and partition where linux is installed. you must select a partition as well because that is the only way for chameleon to see it. although you may need to add "--force" to the end of it (i did at least)

 

also I did this with mac and windows on one disk, and linux on a separate disk. worked perfectly for me.

 

i can imagine that if you ran this with linux on the same disk as OS X and then reinstalled chameleon to the MBR it would work perfectly.

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easiest way for chameleon to pick up a linux drive is to run

 

sudo grub-install /dev/sda1

 

i can imagine that if you ran this with linux on the same disk as OS X and then reinstalled chameleon to the MBR it would work perfectly.

 

I think the easiest way is to install grub to the linux partition in the first place, the only place Chameleon can boot linux, so that the MBR is never written to by grub, thus there is no step of putting Chameleon back into the MBR. The drive nomenclature in the quote below seems a little dated. Whatever happened to sudo update-grub?

 

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

 

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1388131.html

 

++use gparted (aka "Partition Editor") (found under System > Administration). If your linux partition is flagged "boot", go to Partition > Manage Flags and uncheck "boot". If your OSX partition is not marked boot, then go through the same process to mark it "boot." Close gparted.

 

" ++Install grub to the linux partition, NOT to the MBR:

while still booted on the liveCD, open a terminal (Accessories > Terminal) and type

$sudo grub [that gives you the grub prompt]

grub>find /boot/grub/stage1 [that returns the linux boot location, say (hd0,0)]

grub>root (hd0,0) [tells grub where the linux root is located]

grub>setup (hd0,0)

[tells grub to install in partition 1 of HD 1. (hd0) would install to the MBR]

grub>quit

$

and restart to...

 

Boot back into OSX, and open a terminal

type the command:

sudo fdisk -u -f /usr/standalone/i386/boot0 /dev/rdisk0

[replaces the previous mbr install of grub with the chameleon / darwin loader]

[fdisk will reformat your whole drive if done wrong. don't make any typos!]

-u says rewrite the MBR and preserve the partition table

-f says use the following file

/dev/rdisk0 says write the MBR on the first HD. You can check the correct designation on your system by running "diskutil list" in the terminal.

 

And then reboot. When the chameleon loader comes up, hit any key when it says you can to make the actual choice for another OS to show up."

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that is a choice i considered, but upon installing ubuntu i could not find any options to just not install grub. looked for an advanced menu to no avail.

 

http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/01/28/dual-...d-ubuntu-10-10/

 

One needs to "Specify partitions manually (advanced)". Actually this isn't hard, it just sounds hard. I

knew this because I installed Pinguy, a Ubuntu derivative, to the root partition, but the menu is easier.

post-689921-1303457244_thumb.png

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Is this only for partioned disks or also for seperate harddrives? I have installed Ubuntu 9.10 on a seperate disk, also installed the Grub loader to this disk, but it won't show up in Chameleon RC4. Now i boot via Bios option to this disk.

 

You could use Chameleon to boot from your favourite newspaper...

 

Joke aside, chameleon is fantastic it detects USB drives and all OS'es there...

It is a good idea to have a copy of your working OSX on another USB drive (diskutils or carbon copy) before you fiddle with your active OS install.

So you just put the usb drive in and can boot it instead of your dead wild cat. and you're in again.

 

You just must avoid to have two chameleons (one on your hard drive and another one on your USB) since you *may* get into a loop.

 

Laszlo

 

P.S. just install Ubuntu or any Linux without bootloader and let chameleon do... No need to fiddle with GRUB.

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