Dual Boot works, Triple Boot Does Not..

[thenewguy]

Okay I'll try my best to explain this:

 

I have a Dell Inspiron e1705 with a 500gb hard drive with three partitions:

 

Partition 1- Windows 7

Partition 2- Mac OSX Leopard 10.5.8 (upgraded from iAtkos 10.5.7 install)

Partition 3- Mac OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.2 (Retail disk 10.6 install from Boot 132 disk--then upgraded)

 

When I started the laptop it boots using Darwin / Chameleon RC4 684 and I can boot into either Windows 7 or Leopard (10.5.8) without a problem. When I try to boot Snow Leopard it says it "can't load custom" or "can't find custom.kernel". Then it brings me back to the selection icons of Darwin.

 

The ONLY way Snow Leopard boots is by using the BOOT 132 Darwin / Chameleon RC3 658 boot disk that I used to install the retail version of Snow Leopard.

 

How do I get Snow Leopard to boot via RC4/684 like my Windows 7 and Leopard Partitions?

 

My main concern is this boot process right now but I have a few other issues:

 

1.) My Broadcom 4321ag WiFi card that works 100% in Leopard does not work in Snow Leo.

2.) My Sound works 100% in Leopard but is choppy and "skips" like a scratched CD in Snow Leo.

3.) I have the ATI x1400 and was getting kernel panics often in Leopard with the patched kexts so I didn't try them again.

4.) Typing works 100% in Leopard, Frequently keystrokes "stick" in Snow Leo causing multiple characters.

5.) Leopard installation is full 64bit and fast (both cores), Snow Leo is exhaustingly slow despite both cores "working"

 

 

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

Ed

[Beerkex'd]

When I started the laptop it boots using Darwin / Chameleon RC4 684 and I can boot into either Windows 7 or Leopard (10.5.8) without a problem. When I try to boot Snow Leopard it says it "can't load custom" or "can't find custom.kernel". Then it brings me back to the selection icons of Darwin.

 

Do you have separate extensions folders for 10.5.x and 10.6.x in /extra?

 

Post the contents of your /extra/com.apple.Boot.plist

[thenewguy]

They're on totally separate partitions with their own drive letters, folders etc.

 

I have a E:MAC Leopard/Extra <--but MISSING the file com.apple.Boot.plist

 

I have a F:MAC Snow Leopard/Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist

 

 

 

In E:MAC Leopard/Library/Preferences/System Configuration/com.apple.Boot.plist it reads:

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Kernel</key>

<string>custom</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string></string>

<key>Boot Graphics</key>

<string>Yes</string>

<key>Quiet Boot</key>

<string>No</string>

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>5</string>

</dict>

</plist>

 

 

In F:MAC SNOW Leopard/Library/Preferences/System Configuration/com.apple.Boot.plist it reads:

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Kernel</key>

<string>mach_kernel</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string></string>

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>5</string>

</dict>

</plist>

[Beerkex'd]

Chameleon is reading the wrong com.apple.Boot.plist when you try to boot Snow Leopard, that much is clear.

 

I need you to post the contents of the com.apple.Boot.plist in /Extra as well. Chameleon reads that one first before looking at the one in /bla/bla/SystemConfiguration.

 

Where is Chameleon installed?

[neil43]

I am of the opinion that the solution is to use the same version of Chameleon across the board (so to speak). I recently added Snow Leopard partition to one of my older hacks and had a similar situation. My solution was to download and use the latest Chameleon binary distribution.

 

Opened up the archive, went to the i386 folder and copied "boot, boot0, boot1h and fdisk" files to my OSX 10.5.8 desktop. Also opened the Chameleon Doc folder and printed a copy of the readme file (which contains directions on how to manually install the boot loader). In summary, you use the included fdisk to write the "boot0" copy to the MBR on the disk, you use dd to write "boot1h" to each of the OSX partitions and you cp to copy the file "boot" to the root of both OSX partitions. If you are not comfortable changing boot loaders, google it for more complete directions.

 

Anyway that's my input.

 

Neil

[thenewguy]

I have installed it to the Leopard AND Snow Leopard partitions but is there a specific file or "type" of file I am looking for (this whole bootloader thing is fairly new to me).

 

I have installed Chameleon multiple times at this point to both partitions using both package installers and command line instructions.

 

Here are the contents of F:MAC Snow Leopard/Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Kernel</key>

<string>mach_kernel</string>

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>5</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string>arch=i386</string>

<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>

<string>y</string>

<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>

<string>y</string>

<key>PciRoot</key>

<string>1</string>

</dict>

</plist>

[neil43]

When you look in the root directory ("/") of the Snow Leopard partition, what are the attributes of the "boot" file (date, time stamp and size). I would like to assure myself that you have the correct version.

 

Neil

[thenewguy]

Date modified: 2/17/2010 3:27am Size: 62.5KB

[neil43]

Well that is strange. The 684 boot is a Dec 10, 2009 at 1:56 and is 384 KB.

 

What are the attributes of the "boot" file in your Leopard root directory?

 

Neil

[thenewguy]

That doesn't seem to help either.

 

"Attributes" for both files say "A"

 

Date/timestamp for MAC Leopard:

 

Date Created: 2/12/2010 11:02pm 312KB

Date modified: 2/17/2010 11:03am 312KB

 

When I boot, the Darwin info on the boot screen says 12/10/2009 22:56, RC4 r684

[neil43]

I do not know what you have. I have seen that people take Chameleon and make up an installer that is point and click. In this process the file attributes can be changed.

 

I can tell you that the Chameleon binary files can be installed (as indicated in the readme files) and they will retain their file date/time stamps and files size. You would see the same boot file in the root of your Leopard and Snow Leopard partitions.

 

The fact that you do not see this condition probably indicates the problem. I use RAID arrarys on my i7 machines so have become use to using the terminal and installing boot environments. I have had good success with Chameleon (latest binary).

 

If the laptop is your only machine and you so do not have a scratch environment to experiment in, then I would do nothing in that you risk locking yourself out of the machine. However for about a $100 you could have another 500GB 2.5" Sata hard disk and you could clone your internal drive. While Win 7 probably will not boot from an external hard dive, OSX will and you could work toward resolution of this problem with a safety net.

 

Neil.

[Beerkex'd]

Thanks for stepping in Neil, I'm a bit out of my depth trying to help with this problem, both my hacks have Chameleon and OS X installed on one drive and Windows on another.