OK I managed to come to the same basic conclusion as some others that Vista was exploding because it didn't like either the way OSX partitioned the drive or that it wasn't the main partition. I haven't looked deeper into it yet. Anyway I went through the basic steps of installing bootcamp, the firmware, etc and then started the install. When you get to the section where it asks where to actually install vista....well here's the main problem...you delete all of them. Even OSX. Yes this isn't a dual boot solution (yet anyway) but it does allow vista to run. See update below...

Things I noticed: The drivers CD that apple has you make doesn't work. It starts installing, gets to about where it starts installing various drivers, installs the video ones, and then goes stupid, rolls back the changes, and says it errored out. I haven't tried to extract the MSI that has the driver packages so that I can manually do it yet. Also I installed the ATI Beta vista drivers and even though they install fine I don't get glass and 3d stuff explodes in my face too. I thought I read somewhere that someone did get glass going but I haven't yet.

Anyway thats it for now. Still doing half a dozen things at once. I'll post more later as I figure things out. Here's some pics.

UPDATE: Just so people aren't confused by this old post I believe Vista RTM works with Bootcamp 1.1.2. If you don't have the latest version installed or for some reason I am wrong you also can just delete the 200MB EFI partition and it should also work without killing OSX. You'll just loose the ability to remove vista later. You also can install vista as the only OS assuming you don't want OSX.

IF YOU ARE INSTALLING VISTA.... I recommend seeing this thread as it has a good step by step walkthrough for the drivers

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=38998

Also see the following page for a full install walkthrough

http://www.geocities.com/nja469/

Great work, AirmanPika! I wrote something on our blog to let people know... and you're also on digg!

Great work

Now to work out a dual boot solution.

just a thought but....


i remember when i installed vista on a pc it put a ton of files on the other partitions of my drive. maybe its trying to write those files to the hfs partition, realizes it cant, then explodes (as you called it). maybe you can boot with hirens cd, hide the osx partition, then unhide it somehow, so vista doesnt try and put its own bootloader everywhere. just a thought.


id try it myself but im tired of reinstaling osx. parallels just bit me.


good work and good luck.

I managed to install Vista a couple of days ago without removing OS X.

All you have to do is remove the 200 meg EFI partition. Without it, OS X still boots, and so will Vista.

This isn't without problems though, as Boot Camp then wouldn't allow me to later remove the Windows partition, claiming I needed a software update. The fix was to boot the Mac OS X install DVD in single-user mode, and replace the EFI partition using the gpt command (wasn't easy considering I'd not used GPT at all before, so I had some to learn).

After replacing the EFI partition, all was fine. I could remove the Vista partition, and OS X was never harmed. I didn't think to try if Vista still booted with the EFI partition replaced, but I expect it wouldn't.

To get Aero 3D fx working you should tweak the registry to enable it. (Just googling for it, now i'm not at home to send you my .reg file)
Shortcut tu manually turn off fx is: Shift + F9.
To make fx of windows (minimize or maximize..) us Shift + mouse click (like Mac?!!!)
Windows + Space make a fx like Alt + Tab in 3D style.

Just a quote from the MS Vista beta newsgroups.

"Go to a run prompt (winkey + R) and type: WinSat Aurora

let that run for a few seconds, log out and then back in and you should have
DWM."


Worked well for my Notebook with GeForce FX 5600go. Uncheked the 'compatible drivers' box and used the driver for FX 5600. Maybe it will work for your Macinteltoshes as well.

That's so sad. For some reason I think we might be seeing Macs shipped like this.

This really great work

You are ROCKS!!!

Thanks for that. I had a hunch it might have been that partition but like I mentioned I just started toying. Also thanks to the rest of ya who threw in the info on glass. I'll try all that in a bit.

Have you tried installing Vist inside of the Virtualization software? That would be pretty cool...

w0w, vista on a mac is just plain sexy.

No problem. Was fun to experiment!

It proves that there's nothing inherently wrong with the OS X / Vista mix. I think it's going to be up to Microsoft to solve the issue with their bootloader, so hopefully they'll have done so by RTM.

Sweet.

What build is that?

5342 if I'm remembering correctly

(If you want to see Glass running at 1440x900)

can some one send me that registry tweak

Could you be more specific, please?
How did you "remove" the partition, with DiskUtility under OSX?
And could you please tell us how to restore it using GPT?

thanks,
inic

I dont think the registry tweaks work with the newer builds. Or so I've read. But it looks like grabberslasher got it working somehow...

I had used registry hacks to enable it on that build I installed (5270), but in 5308 and later you can just download the ATI Catalyst Driver for Windows Vista (check the ATI site) - it has support for the Radeon x1600 in the iMac and will enable Glass.

This is still so ugly. I can't believe that this is the final vista theme. They must be hiding something till the last minute.

My instructions here: http://tinyurl.com/otob4 (and I have crap bandwidth, so especially by posting the link here the site will get very slow)

More photos:

is the ati video drivers support opengl?..casue i tried running some 3d programs like maya and it would crap out using my pc computer running nvidia 6800gt....using the nvidia vista beta drivers

great work guy! definetly gonna try this out on my MBP =)

From past experience I have found you will have to turn off Glass (Control-Shift-F9) or install Windows XP graphics drivers to run games or OpenGL applications.

You're famous! CLickY


However I think somebody doesn't know what the hell they're talking about, they're research seems to be a bit patchy at best :


"Apple already has had a history of not being too pleased with the OSX86 project. In February, the company served a DMCA order on the group, ordering it to cease and desist its efforts to reveal how its Mac OS X 10.4.4 could be patched to run on ordinary PC hardware. The group never actually reported success in this attempt, though after having being taken down for a few days, OSX86's site currently claims it's in full compliance with terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Companies have recently relied on the terms of this act - which some say leverages anti-terrorism provisions in an effort to defeat software piracy - to prevent others from making copies or alterations to their software or architecture."

lol... What an inaccurate article.

And damn, is my screenshot on imageshack down? If that happens the other couple of pics I will host them elsewhere.

i tried installing vista, removing only the efi partition. horrible time. seemed to go ok at first, i got an error on the restart but recovery options fixed it. then the second part of the installer froze. but i guess it finsihed most to all, cause it would semi boot. i could boot in safe mode every time. but when i boot regular 95% of the time it would hang for a ridiculously long time at setting up your desktop. tried all kinds of things in safe mode to fix it.

not sure if it was just my build or not.

o well, xp with the vista wndowsblinds skin isnt too bad


used build 5342.

yea i tried that before...but vista with no glass...is well..... windowx xp =)

does anyone else know how to reinstall the efi partition, im totally lost in how to reinstall it according to the brief method mentioned earlier in the post. thanks

so how does vista run with glass enabled say compared to OSX ?
some sort of feedback coparison would be great as to its general responsivness etc would be appreciated and did you mention your system specs (cant check while writing a reply can i !)

thanks

You are a very nice person. I will never kill OS X to install Windows...

I didn't. I used the gpt command.

I am currently writing the instructions to remove the EFI partition and later replace it.

In order to check that I'm giving you guys the right instructions, I need to run through the procedure again to remember all of the steps (I can remember the most important parts, but I need to double-check whether or not the EFI partition format stage could cause some issues (like accidental erasure of OS X partition!)).

I'll pick up my install DVD from home later today, and will post the full instructions within the next few hours.

OK, I've double-checked my method, and here it is:

I give no guarantee that the following instructions won't cause damage to your partitions. Changing partitions is always risky. Capitalisation is important throughout. Always read the label.

edit: I have reason to believe that these instructions do not work in every case. It seems that Mac OS X does not always number the partitions in the same way as the example below. In which case, you must use some method to check which partition number is your EFI partition before the format stage. I suggest you mount partitions 2 and 3 first to check that partition 1 is indeed EFI. If you don't know what any of this means, then don't do anything below!

A few warnings about a "suspicious MBR" may appear throughout this process. This is nothing to worry about.

1. Boot from install DVD, in single-user mode:

a ) Insert DVD.
b ) Boot system with option key held.
c ) Highlight the install DVD, but don't yet click the start arrow.
d ) Hold command-s, and click the start arrow (whilst still holding the keys).

2. Do not mount the hard disks (as suggested by the last lines of the boot sequence).

3. To remove the EFI partition:

a ) Type: gpt remove -i 1
b ) Press enter.
c ) Type: reboot
d ) Press enter. (Your system will reboot, and you can continue to do whatever it was you were going to do - like install Vista, for example.)



If you wish to reinstate the EFI partition:

1. Boot from the install DVD using the instructions in steps 1 and 2 above.

2. To replace the EFI partition:

a ) Type: gpt add -b 40 -i 1 -s 409600 -t efi /dev/disk0
b ) Press enter.
c ) Type: reboot
d ) Press enter. (Your system will reboot, but you must now again enter install DVD single-user mode, using the instructions above)

e ) Type: newfs_msdos -F 32 /dev/disk0s1
f ) Press enter.
g ) Type: reboot
h ) Press enter. (Your system will reboot, and the process is complete.)



I hope this helps for everyone.

Well Vista with Glass enabled doesn't run any slower than OS X - you can't really compare the two because Windows XP is fast anyway on the iMac, and Vista now is just as fast but also sends the UI drawing to the graphics card making it even faster. Yes there is much bloat/etc to counteract that effect, but Vista is perfectly fast on the iMac.

My iMac is the baseline 17" model (1.83GHz Dual, 512MB RAM, 128MB Graphics).

XP looks so much better running on an apple.
Random question, how exactly are you able to get a copy of Vista when it's not even out yet.
I thought it was still in the Beta stage. Then again I'm not keeping too up to date with this stuff.
Keep up the great work guys.

Some people have access to the beta.

true say.

I'm already in the middle of a PM-exchange with someone who has hosed their partitions through incorrectly following my method.

Please, please, please do not alter your partitions if you have no understanding of what to do if something may go wrong!

If you don't understand what it is my instructions do (rather than just copying them) then you probably shouldn't be doing this.

question alex, why cant you just delete the efi partition in the vista installer. what is the difference of using gpt. like i said before, thats what i did, but the installer ends up hanging, and vista semi boots, but horribly slow.

Not sure.

One thought is that I believe the CSM actually provides a fake MBR to Windows. If this is the case, then any changes to the partitions during Windows setup would occur to this fake MBR, and not properly be transferred to the GPT.

that would make sense, except that once i deleted it windows no longer sees it if i try and reinstall.

hmmm.

maybe it just deletes the fake.

what command can i use in osx to see my partitions, not familiar with termnal just yet.

edit

used diskutil list. efi doesnt show up, just osx and windows. is that typical that its hidden? or did windows actually delete it correctly.

It sounds like it's deleted properly then. Which Vista build are you trying to use? The install for 5432 is incredibly slow.

Yes, there is a Vista testing group, around since Beta 1 last year.

Also, as far as I know Vista is also publicly available for download: http://www.jcxp.net/news.php?newsid=1249

yea its real slow. what ends up happening is the install goes black and the mouse freezes. actually i used to get the winload error, but last time i tried i used diskpart to set the windows partition active and that error didnt show up. gave me high hopes. it booted ok, but cpu usage is never below 50 and explorer is so unstable it crashes before i could even hope of trying to install drivers. ugh, maybe i need a new copy.

im gonna boot in single user and use gpt show command, just to make sure. i know the diskutility in osx used to show my efi partition, ever since the new firmware and 10.4.6 it hadnt, even when windows showed it.



dont use 5308 it wont load keyboard or mouse on my imac. (even redownlaod to check)

5270 also doesnt work.

just tryin to save some time.

Did you try unplugging the keyboard/mouse and plugging it back in? That worked for me in 5270, didn't try 5308.

yea tried it a bunch of times, even plugged in 2 other sets of keyboard and mice. it just doesnt like them i guess.

5270 loads, but you get a kernel error upon the first reboot that cant be repaired, not by conventional means anyway.

That's weird... my first couple of shots were of 5270 on the iMac. The better quality shots are of 5342. I'm partitioning my drive again so I can dual boot OS X and Vista. I've set up two partitions, partition 1 is a 20GB DOS one, 2 is the Mac HFS+ disk. In the Vista setup I'll format the DOS one and use it.

be careful about having the windows partition first. i think the apple loader doesnt like it. 90% sure i read that somewhere, but i never tested it.

We'll see, I can format it again if we have problems. Last time I tried it for the XOM Windows XP it worked though.

yea xom is an entirely different loader. i think i read it where people were trying to triple boot with linux, if xp was on the second partiton they could, but on the third they could. the bootloader wants it to be on the last partition.

but who knows til you test it.