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Time Machine - cant boot after full system restore


AlexEz
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Had to do a full restore. Used the install DVD to get to the RESTORE option, and restored from the latest TM backup. Appears to restore fine, but system dont boot :) . Have worked through various methods of reinstalling bootloaders and EFI (dd if=etc, startupfiletool etc, fdisk -e etc) but to no avail. I really need a bit of guide, how to use time machine full system restore on hackintosh systems with EFI and GUID

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I have the exact same problem, people in here are not very responsive to this obvious malfunction. To me, it seems that the mbr is changed by Time Machine. Perhaps even the partitioning scheme? Because the blinking cursor is something I get when I didn't partition correctly and/or didn't install efi correctly. So, how to solve this guys?

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I had the same problem with TM restore and blinking cursor.

 

Upon further investigation I found that the error is com.apple.boot.plist not found kind of error.

TM does not actually back those files up as real macs have openfirmware/efi which eliminates the need to do so.

 

You can boot from the dvd or another working partition and copy that file to correct location and then change permissions.

 

Alternatively you can use the startupfiletool which was used to make the partition bootable.

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After two days parsing forums, i solved this problem! :)

 

Extract attached file on FAT or FAT32 flash drive and name it "FLASHKA" (you can use another name ;) )

 

After time machine restore, boot again from install DVD, insert flash drive "FLASHKA", run Terminal and type:

 

 

 

diskutil list

 

Found in this list your leopard restored partition (For me is "disk0s2" and named "MacHDD")

 

Making partition active (2 - is my patition number (disk0s2)

 

 

 

 

fdisk -e /dev/rdisk0
update

f 2 

w

q

 

unmount ALL partition on target drive (for me is disk0 and it has two partitions: "MacHDD" and "HDD1"), for it type:

 

 

 

 

diskutil unmount /Volumes/MacHDD

diskutil unmount /Volumes/HDD1

 

go to flash drive and efi directory (extract attached file)

 

 

cd /Volumes/FLASHKA/efi

 

install EFI to partition 2 (disk0s2) and to disk0

 

 

 

 

./startupfiletool /dev/rdisk0s2 ./boot_v8
dd if=./guid/boot1h of=/dev/rdisk0s2 bs=512 count=1

dd if=./guid/boot0 of=/dev/disk0 bs=400 count=1

 

then type:

 

 

bless -device /dev/disk0s2 -setBoot -verbose

reboot

 

For me its working, i hope this help you to! :D

 

efi.rar

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I'll try this again. However, I think I already did something similar in my Tiger partition. I've read some posts which say this could be a problem and I should use these commands from within the Leopard DVD... I'd find it weird if that would make a difference with these commands. Anyone else? I'll try it.

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I use GUID formated partition and original vanilla kernel, this giude is combination of Netkas's EFI install giude and some other useful commands )), for me it working, and i can boot now full restored time machine partition.

 

"MacHDD" and "HDD1" is MY partitions, and your partition names will be different, also maybe diff it numbers (disk0s2)

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Here it did work to make the restored partition bootable again, kernel extensions are being loaded, I see EFI is present in a flash, but after that the machine immediately reboots. I'm really wondering how this can be, the restored partition should hold the correct kernel etc. right? My system worked great beforehand. Anyone who has encountered my problem? It would be of great help.

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  • 2 weeks later...
After two days parsing forums, i solved this problem! ;)

 

[ ]

 

You've just saved my sanity. I've been at this for a week. Finally, I can now stop reinstalling OSX for needless reasons. Thank you....

 

ls

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I did a similar thing, restored OS X from Time Machine, and that stopped it from booting. However, I didn't have the patience you guys did to solve it, I just did a reinstall. However, I forgot.... after installing Leopard, when setting up your account, it asks you if you want to bring in any files from your old Mac.... or Time Machine. Which I did. I used my Time Machine backup to restore my Hackintosh, and it works fine again! So if you don't want to go through all that, there is another way to bring your Hack~ back to life.

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AlexEZ

 

GREAT MAN !!!!! It worked wonderfully !!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have just save my as !!! After using SuperDuper 2.5 and restore an image from the Disk Utility in the MAC 10.5.1 DVD Instalation Disk.... I JUST couldn´t load anything.

 

just a blinking cursor.... but I did exactly what you post.... and everything is as smoot and normal as before.

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!!!!

 

Xeikon

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After two days parsing forums, i solved this problem! :P

 

Extract attached file on FAT or FAT32 flash drive and name it "FLASHKA" (you can use another name :) )

 

After time machine restore, boot again from install DVD, insert flash drive "FLASHKA", run Terminal and type:

 

 

 

diskutil list

 

Found in this list your leopard restored partition (For me is "disk0s2" and named "MacHDD")

 

Making partition active (2 - is my patition number (disk0s2)

 

 

 

 

fdisk -e /dev/rdisk0
 update

f 2 

w

q

 

unmount ALL partition on target drive (for me is disk0 and it has two partitions: "MacHDD" and "HDD1"), for it type:

 

 

 

 

diskutil unmount /Volumes/MacHDD

diskutil unmount /Volumes/HDD1

 

go to flash drive and efi directory (extract attached file)

 

 

cd /Volumes/FLASHKA/efi

 

install EFI to partition 2 (disk0s2) and to disk0

 

 

 

 

./startupfiletool /dev/rdisk0s2 ./boot_v8
 dd if=./guid/boot1h of=/dev/rdisk0s2 bs=512 count=1

dd if=./guid/boot0 of=/dev/disk0 bs=400 count=1

 

then type:

 

 

bless -device /dev/disk0s2 -setBoot -verbose

 reboot

 

For me its working, i hope this help you to! :P

 

efi.rar

 

Fantastico, semplice, diretto, funzionale...

Semplicemente meraviglioso...

4 ore di follia risolte in mezza pagina.

 

Fantastic, simply, direct and FUNCTIONAL!

Simply wonderful...

4 hours of crazy solved in half page!

 

Really really really [etc] THANKS...you are my hero!

:)

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This really does solve the problem of restoring from TM. Now, it would be nice to be able to:

 

1- Be able to run this from a different partition with a slimmed down 10.5.x install. That way you'd avoid the slow install DVD booting.

 

- I've tried everything to do it from a different partition but it just won't work. Perhaps it might be possible to restore the Instal DVD to a small partition? I tried but then I couldn't boot that partition.

 

OR

 

2- Make an emergency boot Flash disk and run things from there.

 

 

Finally, apart from the changing disk designations wouldn't it be possible to devise a script to handle this? In any case, it's the only method that has worked for me so for now it's the only game in town (for me).

 

ls

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If I may, Time Machine is as any of the Clone Software, CCC Superduper etc, they were written to restore data to a different drive or repaired one.

This is where the problem lies!

They were all written to make a genuine Mac Drive bootable after the restore, and NOT a PC drive!

 

So if you made the drive bootable before or after the restore like you would when you first installed it, it WILL be fine!

It's not the software, it's the fact that we're using it on PC's!

 

 

SticMAN

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1 - Be able to run this from a different partition with a slimmed down 10.5.x install. That way you'd avoid the slow install DVD booting.

 

- I've tried everything to do it from a different partition but it just won't work. Perhaps it might be possible to restore the Instal DVD to a small partition? I tried but then I couldn't boot that partition.

 

OR

 

2- Make an emergency boot Flash disk and run things from there.

 

Where is the UDB boot Genie when you need him??

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  • 2 months later...

AlexEz - Thank you for the helpful post. I melted my machine after installing the 10.5.3 update and could not get the Kallyway disk to reinstall my build (it would go to 99% and then {censored} out no matter what I tried). Your fix worked like a charm, even for a guy who is the most skill at using the command prompt. To those of you with GUID builds, this works like a charm.

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Is there a way to do this with MBR partitions?
I am interested to know too.Anyone has similar experience with MBR partitions?Thanks

AlexEz - Thank you for sharing with us your solution with EFI & GUID partitions.I tried following your instructions but encountered HFS+ partition error on reboot.However I am using MBR partition instead of GUID.

What is required to get MBR partition with full system restore to reboot?

Thanks

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I use ToH RC2 DVD to do a full TM restore in MBR in the following steps.

 

1. After finished restore and restart, sure you cannot boot, boot again DVD wait until Installer Screens

2. Go to utility choose diskutil, unmount your leopard partition, quit diskutil

3. Go to terminal and type /usr/misc/script.sh Leopard [or whats your diskname] (something written in your terminal screens)

quit terminal

4. do steps 2 and 3 two more times

5. quit installer choose restart now you can boot without DVD

6. Goto Utility choose diskutil (in your HD) choose verify disk it will say your disk is error and needs repair

7. Boot DVD install again wait until Installer Screens

8. Go to utility choose diskutil, choose your leopard partition choose repair disk when finished quit installer and now you can boot back your Time Machine Backups in MBR partition and begin to install efi if you want to.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I am interested to know too.Anyone has similar experience with MBR partitions?Thanks

AlexEz - Thank you for sharing with us your solution with EFI & GUID partitions.I tried following your instructions but encountered HFS+ partition error on reboot.However I am using MBR partition instead of GUID.

What is required to get MBR partition with full system restore to reboot?

Thanks

 

If you have a dual-boot, use EasyBCD from your windows partition. It has a built-in utility for fixing the HFS+ partition error - worked great for me after I trashed my Kalyway 10.5.2 with the 10.5.3 update....caution!

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