Dual Boot Ubuntu and OS X, starting with Ubuntu, is it Possible?

[removesstains]

Ok i want to dual boot my Dell 1525 w Ubuntu and os x. Don't want windows at all. I have installed OS X on this laptop w no problems, but the small hardware problems made me go back to Ubuntu temporailly until i can find a good tutorial to dual boot both Ubuntu and os x.

 

Right now i'm currently running ubuntu 8.10 and would like to not have to reinstall it or have to install windows in order to get this dual boot to work. Is it possible and will it be a huge pain if i try to do it w just linux?

 

I was thinking of trying to use this guide:

 

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_linux_a...irst.htm?page=1

 

and hope i got lucky. However i don't really want to start this until i get more detail in what i'm getting myself into. If it looks like a huge pain to me, i'll just go back to only using os x, or maybe vista and os x since this is just a hobby laptop.

 

Thanks

[Guest]

Ok i want to dual boot my Dell 1525 w Ubuntu and os x. Don't want windows at all. I have installed OS X on this laptop w no problems, but the small hardware problems made me go back to Ubuntu temporailly until i can find a good tutorial to dual boot both Ubuntu and os x.

 

Right now i'm currently running ubuntu 8.10 and would like to not have to reinstall it or have to install windows in order to get this dual boot to work. Is it possible and will it be a huge pain if i try to do it w just linux?

 

I was thinking of trying to use this guide:

 

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_linux_a...irst.htm?page=1

 

and hope i got lucky. However i don't really want to start this until i get more detail in what i'm getting myself into. If it looks like a huge pain to me, i'll just go back to only using os x, or maybe vista and os x since this is just a hobby laptop.

 

Thanks

If you post menu.lst of your ubuntu and the output of the command: sudo fdisk /dev/sda maybe I can help you.

 

OSX is on a GUID or MBR HD?

Giorgio

[removesstains]

This is what I get from menu.lst.

 

Command (m for help): menu.lst

Command action

a toggle a bootable flag

b edit bsd disklabel

c toggle the dos compatibility flag

d delete a partition

l list known partition types

m print this menu

n add a new partition

o create a new empty DOS partition table

p print the partition table

q quit without saving changes

s create a new empty Sun disklabel

t change a partition's system id

u change display/entry units

v verify the partition table

w write table to disk and exit

x extra functionality (experts only)

 

Also i'll be starting from scratch w a Kalyway disk for os x.

 

Thanks

[Guest]

This is what I get from menu.lst.

 

Command (m for help): menu.lst

Command action

a toggle a bootable flag

b edit bsd disklabel

c toggle the dos compatibility flag

d delete a partition

l list known partition types

m print this menu

n add a new partition

o create a new empty DOS partition table

p print the partition table

q quit without saving changes

s create a new empty Sun disklabel

t change a partition's system id

u change display/entry units

v verify the partition table

w write table to disk and exit

x extra functionality (experts only)

 

Also i'll be starting from scratch w a Kalyway disk for os x.

 

Thanks

You must post the file menu.lst that is in /boot/grub of your ubuntu.

 

And you must post the output of the command (by terminal in Ububtu):

sudo fdisk /dev/sda <RETURN> (type your password) <return>

then type: p <retrurn>

and post the output of these commands.

Giorgio

[removesstains]

ok hopefully i did this right.

 

$ sudo fdisk /boot/grub menu.list

 

Usage: fdisk [-b SSZ] [-u] DISK Change partition table

fdisk -l [-b SSZ] [-u] DISK List partition table(s)

fdisk -s PARTITION Give partition size(s) in blocks

fdisk -v Give fdisk version

Here DISK is something like /dev/hdb or /dev/sda

and PARTITION is something like /dev/hda7

-u: give Start and End in sector (instead of cylinder) units

-b 2048: (for certain MO disks) use 2048-byte sectors

 

 

and the 2nd part:

 

$ sudo fdisk /dev/sda

 

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 19457.

There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,

and could in certain setups cause problems with:

1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)

2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs

(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

 

Command (m for help): p

 

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x0004fccb

 

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/sda1 * 1 18705 150247881 83 Linux

/dev/sda2 18706 19457 6040440 5 Extended

/dev/sda5 18706 19457 6040408+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

 

I feel clueless when it comes to terminal commands. Thanks

[Guest]

2 questions:

 

1) in wich Hard Disk have you OSX installed?

 

2) How Many hard disks have you?

 

The file called menu.lst is a file that is in the direcory /grub/boot

 

You must COPY this file and post THE FILE (is a file!).

 

And it is a good thing if you explain your hardware in detail

 

Without this informations I can't help you.

 

Giorgio

[french squared]

in teerminal type

sudo vim /boot/grub/menu.lst

 

that will open the file menu.list

you can then copy the text inside it.

 

No one can help you until you get the basics of linux.

menu.lst ids the grub boot loader configuration file

 

They are asking to see the file so they can tell

you how to modify it. It is very simple to make

a grub bootloader for a triple boot system, but you need to

be able to use terminal to edit the menu.lst file.

 

Good luck