Tripple boot GPT disk - Packard Bell iMax Mini

[Asansi]

Hi all,

 

just wanted to write down my method of installing Mac OS on my Packard Bell Imax Mini ION nettop PC. (it's actually a rebrand of the Acer Aspire Revo)

 

This is a basic install, not all hardware is supported yet. But I'll be working on that hopefully when I manage to find the time.

 

Also, this is not the fastest way, but it worked for me, without too much hassle.

The order of steps is important also.

 

What do we need?

 

* iAtkos v7 DVD

* Windows 7 DVD

* Linux Ubuntu 9.10 CD

 

The iMax Mini has a 160Gb disk onboard.

To partition it, I booted with the iAtkos v7 DVD and started the Disk Utility from the menu

I partitioned it in 5 parts using the GUID method :

 

1. FAT Partition : 40Gb - Windows 7

2. Mac OS Journaled Partition : 40Gb - Mac OS 10.5.7

3. FAT Partition : 60Gb - Data Partition to share between different OS's

4. FAT Partition : 18Gb - Linux Partition

5. FAT Partition : 2Gb - Linux Swap Partition

 

In reality there will be another partition (EFI) which is placed in front of all the others. This one is 200Mb in size. (and the Data partition is only 50 something, as a 160Gb disk isn't really 160Gb )

 

At this point you reboot your computer and put in the Windows DVD. Install as usual on the first partition. You can format using NTFS if you like. (preferred) Once this is finished you should be able to boot at least in Win7

 

Now it's time to install Linux Ubuntu. Reboot using this cd and install as usual. Only at the last page before actually starting the installation you have a button Advanced where you can select the location of the boot loader. By default it will install itself in the MBR, but that's not a good idea in this case. Select the dropdown and use /dev/sda5 (or whatever disk you used)

 

You won't be able to load anything from your disk after this most likely. That's because parted messed up your mbr. This can be fixed with the gptsync tool. Check the bullet at the end of the post for this howto.

 

Once you're in windows, set the Mac OS partition active.

You can do this by running a cmd terminal in administrator mode. Run : Diskpart, list disk, select disk <number>, list partition, select partition <number>, active, exit. Now reboot with the iAtkos v7 DVD.

 

With this DVD install MacOS. I had to disable MultiThreading in the BIOS before I could get the install running. Once MacOS is installed you can then re-enable Multi-threading and it'll still boot.

At first install and boot you might have to use the switches -x (boot in safe mode) as it will try to load a driver for your wireless which will put you in a very tiring wait.

So once you have MacOS loaded up and you are at the main screen, go to the /System/Library/Extensions folder and remove the IO80211Family.kext . Once that one is removed I was able to boot the box in normal boot mode. (ofcourse wireless won't work, but I'm positive by replacing this kext with another version it might work. Didn't get there yet)

 

* Every time you want to repair your windows bootloader, make sure you put the windows partition active in fdisk.

 

* If you would get a message at the windows repair that your disk is not supported, you probably messed with gparted. This tool has the bad habit of enabling the flag msftres on your partition when toggling the boot flag. If you would make a different partition active the old one remains with this flag if it's a fat or ntfs partition. The only actual way of removing this flag was for me to convert this partition to ext2. Then you can disable the msftres flag. After this you can format the disk using FAT32 format. Don't forget to use the gptsync tool to sync your GPT and MBR after these manipulations. You can do this by loading the livecd for Ubuntu and then run in a terminal : sudo apt-get install gptsync

If this doesn't find it, go to the menu Administration - Ubuntu sources and enable the universe library. Once installed run : sudo gptsync /dev/sda

This will propose you to rewrite your mbr. Accept and reboot.

 

** Thanks to various members on this board for their posts and threads. I have gotten a lot of information by reading their posts and issues.

[srs5694]

The iMax Mini has a 160Gb disk onboard.

To partition it, I booted with the iAtkos v7 DVD and started the Disk Utility from the menu

I partitioned it in 5 parts using the GUID method :

...

* Every time you want to repair your windows bootloader, make sure you put the windows partition active in fdisk.

 

This and various other comments make me think you're using a hybrid MBR configuration, with both GPT and MBR partition definitions for at least some partitions. I mention this because hybrid MBR configurations are flaky and potentially dangerous, so you should be aware of what you've got so as not to damage it unintentionally. See my Web page on the topic for details.

 

* If you would get a message at the windows repair that your disk is not supported, you probably messed with gparted. This tool has the bad habit of enabling the flag msftres on your partition when toggling the boot flag. If you would make a different partition active the old one remains with this flag if it's a fat or ntfs partition. The only actual way of removing this flag was for me to convert this partition to ext2. Then you can disable the msftres flag. After this you can format the disk using FAT32 format.

 

I've heard (but not verified personally) that the latest versions of GNU Parted fix the bug you note; however, I don't know the exact version number when the fix was introduced. Also, the last time I checked, GNU Parted didn't recognize hybrid MBR configurations; it wipes out the hybrid MBR part, leaving only a "pure" GPT setup. That's one of the many ways you can mess up a hybrid MBR configuration, as noted earlier.

 

In fact, GNU Parted's flakiness with GPT configurations was one of the reasons I wrote GPT fdisk (aka gdisk). It's a text-mode GPT partitioning tool that won't wipe out MBR-based boot loaders, that leaves hybrid configurations intact (unless you delete hybridized partitions), and that doesn't improperly change the partition type codes (which GNU Parted reports as having the "msftres flag" set -- which is in fact a bit of a misnomer). You can also use GPT fdisk to change the partition type (erase the "msftres flag") much more easily than you describe -- just use the 't' main-menu option and set the type code to whatever's appropriate (probably 0700), then save the changes by exiting via the 'w' option.