Help - 7 64bit/SL Dualboot on the same drive

[hondafanboy]

Ok here is the deal;

 

I have a successful Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit / Snow Leopard dual boot on the same drive...

 

Here is a little history before I ask my question...

 

I first did a clean install of SL, rebooted and changed the boot order to boot first from a different drive, and installed 7.

I then changed the boot order again to boot first from the drive I installed SL on, and the boot loader showed both OSX, and the Windows Partitions.

This was great, I was dual booting, but like most americans I got greedy.

I read some where, that I can get VMware to see the Windows Partitions as bootcamp, and I was like hells yes, thats what I want!

The only catch was according to the post, I would have to install Windows 7 on the same drive as SL, which begin my whole ordeal.

First I didn't want to convert over to Master boot record, because I saw first hand with my MacBooks, that you can run into issues with updates if not using GUID, so I carved out a new partition for Windows 7 on my SL drive.

Downloaded this CLI tool call Gptsync (I think I spelled that right), and converted the drive into a MBR/GUID Hybrid drive.

I then installed Windows 7....

.... so this is were my problem started as many of you who are reading this, you already know what I'm about to say.

Windows took over, and all my computer knew was Windows 7. The only way I could boot into OSX was to use my Jump-drive with a boot-loader that showed all partitions.

So I thought ok, All I need to do is reinstall my boot-loader (which is Chameleon-2.0-RC4 btw), but this broke Windows 7, and I had to repair it.

The only way I was able to get this to work was to use this Windows Application called "Easy BCD"

Everything works, I can boot into OSX, or Windows 7, I can even boot the Windows Partition in VMware; but I hate this I don't like the Windows boot-loader.

 

So here is my question...

Is there a way to get Chameleon to be the boot-loader again for both OSX, and Windows 7, when both OS's are on the same drive.

The post that talk about using fdisk don't work for GUID drives; also in Windows I can't set the OSX partition to be the activate one because it's not a MBR.

I was wondering if this could be resolve in OSX some how, for GUID/MBR Hybrid drives?

[srs5694]

The simplest approach is to use a GPT-unaware disk utility to set the active partition on the MBR side of your hybrid MBR configuration to OS X, or to remove the active flag entirely. This is easily done with something like Linux's fdisk -- use the 'a' option to toggle the boot flag. It appears that it can be done with OS X's fdisk (see the man page), but I'm not familiar enough with OS X's fdisk to give precise instructions. Alternatively, you could use my GPT fdisk to create a new hybrid MBR with no partition marked as active, but that runs the risk of upsetting Windows, should it perceive its partition to have changed (say, if its position in the partition table changes).

[hondafanboy]

@srs5694

 

I know it's been a few days, but I wanted to thank you for pointing me in the right direction, and educating me on partitions.

I did a lot of reading on your website; but honestly I did most of my learning the hard way.

 

1. I found that using GPT aware partitioning tools, could convert your Hybrid MBR, back to GUID only.

I found this out by using one of those rescue Linux bootable CD's from your website. I toggled the boot flag (which amazed me, because it was already set to the EFI boot). This as you could imagine, affected Windows, which in-turn wouldn't boot. I used the enhanced GPTSync CLI tool, I found on someone else post on this website, which brings me to my next point.

 

2. GPTSync by default removes the active flag, on a Hybrid MBR setup.

I guess the reason I didn't see this at first was because when I created my Hybrid MBR it was before I installed Windows 7.

I found that removing the activate flag will allow Chameleon to be in control once again, but this causes two problems.

One, you will lose the ability to make changes to the MBR for Windows; meaning tools like "Easy BCD," will no longer work and you start to scratch your head wondering how in the hell did Windows Boot anyway.

Two, VMWare no longer will virtualize your Windows Partition, which beings me to my last point.

 

3. If you want all this to work meaning Windows/OSX dual boot on the same drive with a Hybrid MBR setup, with Chameleon still in control, meaning no Windows boot loader controlling the boot; all with VMware virtualizing your Windows Partition.

Your going to need to do the following:

a. Have a Hybrid MBR setup with the Windows Partition being active

b. Install Chameleon on a different physical drive all together (another HD, a jump, or what ever)

Then set Chameleon to boot your OSX partition on the other drive (or I guess you can tell it to boot your Windows Partition if you want).

Then you tell your bios to boot that drive first.

What I ended up doing was carving out a small 1Gig partition for Chameleon, on a different drive, and I told my bios to boot that drive first.

 

For those reading this post wondering why would one do this; it's because to me, it makes my Hack, work like my Macbook pro, with out using something like bootcamp, which I hear works now, but the boot up is really slow.

On my Macbook Pro, I have a Windows XP/SL dual boot, with VMware being able to virtualize the Windows Partition (bootcamp).

I think this setup is pure computing heaven to me; because it allows one to boot into Windows, only when you need Windows to have the full power over the hardware. An example would be like playing PC Games...

Or you can boot straight into OSX, and open Windows in VMware, if you only need to run something like Visio, or say blackberry desktop manager (which still to this day sucks in OSX, F's up my blackberry up every time I use it, and one can't install leaked OS's using it).

 

I may write a more detailed guide later, but for now this is all I had time for...

[srs5694]

I recall reading somewhere that a version of Chameleon that doesn't boot straight through to Windows when its partition is marked active has either just been released or will be released soon. That might be worth looking into, since it should eliminate a few headaches. Another alternative is to use another boot loader for at least part of the job. GRUB, for instance, can change the active flag on a per-boot basis. GRUB2 can even boot OS X directly, without involving Chameleon or other OSx86-specific boot loaders, although getting it working right can be tricky.