Booting into Mac OS X using USB Stick

[ebeyonder]

Hello all,

 

A few years ago I set up Mac OS X 10.5.5 to dual boot with Win XP on an eee-pc 1000H with no problems. I used iDeneb 1.3 10.5.5 and the instructions found here:

 

http://www.enik.ch/2008/10/osx-leopard-105...-the-eee-1000h/

 

However, recently, my Windows partition is undergoing some problems. I think it suffered from a virus attack. Whatever the case, it is now unbootable. When I select the computer to boot from the "foreign OS" (ie, Win XP) from Chameleon, all I get is a black screen. I cannot even get to safe mode or whatever. However, the partition is still accessible from Mac OS X, and I have backed up the essential files.

 

I would like to ask if it is possible to reinstall Windows on its partition without disturbing the Mac OS X partition? I have done a lot of setting up work for the Mac OS X, so I am anxious not to touch it if possible.

 

Searching these forums, I found this thread:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=224664

 

Is this how I can go about doing it:

 

First boot in OS X, and using terminal mark the windows partition as active, THEN

reboot

and boot from the windows disc, and use startup repair, it should work then. Afterwards you can either use Windows, or reboot and use OS X to set whichever partition you need active

Thank you for any advice

[ebeyonder]

Hello all,

 

When I used fdisk to set the active partition as the windows one and then reinstalled XP.

 

Then the problem is that I cannot now start Mac OS X.

 

First, I tried to use GParted to "flag" the Mac OS X partition as "boot".

 

What happened was that the computer could not boot into Mac OS and simply showed a blinking dash.

 

Second, I edited the boot.ini in accordance with the chain0 method and copied the chain0 file into the XP root directory. I used GParted to flag the Windows partition as "boot".

 

The computer started and led me to a OS selection menu - windows or mac. I selected Mac, but the computer simply rebooted itself without booting into Mac OS X. But when I select Windows, it boots fine into Win XP.

 

If anyone has any suggestions, that would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

 

Hello all,

 

A few years ago I set up Mac OS X 10.5.5 to dual boot with Win XP on an eee-pc 1000H with no problems. I used iDeneb 1.3 10.5.5 and the instructions found here:

 

http://www.enik.ch/2008/10/osx-leopard-105...-the-eee-1000h/

 

However, recently, my Windows partition is undergoing some problems. I think it suffered from a virus attack. Whatever the case, it is now unbootable. When I select the computer to boot from the "foreign OS" (ie, Win XP) from Chameleon, all I get is a black screen. I cannot even get to safe mode or whatever. However, the partition is still accessible from Mac OS X, and I have backed up the essential files.

 

I would like to ask if it is possible to reinstall Windows on its partition without disturbing the Mac OS X partition? I have done a lot of setting up work for the Mac OS X, so I am anxious not to touch it if possible.

 

Searching these forums, I found this thread:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=224664

 

Is this how I can go about doing it:

 

First boot in OS X, and using terminal mark the windows partition as active, THEN

reboot

and boot from the windows disc, and use startup repair, it should work then. Afterwards you can either use Windows, or reboot and use OS X to set whichever partition you need active

Thank you for any advice

[ebeyonder]

Ok I managed to boot into Mac OS X using the installation disc. But when I set the Mac partition as the active one, and try booting without the disc, I get an infinite booting loop. Pls help.

[capo_saric]

Ok I managed to boot into Mac OS X using the installation disc. But when I set the Mac partition as the active one, and try booting without the disc, I get an infinite booting loop. Pls help.

 

Ok I think i've understood your problem...

If your drive is formatted as GUID you shouldn't have had any problems... you could've just booted from Windows CD and installed it in the same partition you had Windows before (install wizard would't even notice there's a MacOSX partition anyways)... after install computer boots into Windows directly, just open CMD and set your Mac partition as active and everything should work perfectly....

 

now... you say you have Windows working but Mac isn't booting... maybe you should try booting into MacOSX using whatever bootCD you used for installing it, and then reinstall your bootloader (make sure your Mac partition is set active)

 

pls feedback

[ebeyonder]

Hello, thanks very much for your reply.

 

I used CMD to set Mac OS as the active partition. When the computer reboots, all I get is a black screen after BIOS; Mac OS X doesn't boot up.

 

It's the same when I used Gparted to set Mac OS as the active partition.

 

I then used my Mac OS DVD to boot into Mac OS X - I used Terminal to again set my Mac OS X as the active partition - still no luck: same problem with the black screen.

 

So are you suggesting that I should now (a) still set my Mac OS X partition as active; ( get into Mac OS using my boot CD and then © reinstall the bootloader from within Mac OS X?

 

I think my previous bootloader was Chameleon/Darwin (are they the same?) - how should I go about reinstalling them? Thank you.

[capo_saric]

Hello, thanks very much for your reply.

 

I used CMD to set Mac OS as the active partition. When the computer reboots, all I get is a black screen after BIOS; Mac OS X doesn't boot up.

 

It's the same when I used Gparted to set Mac OS as the active partition.

 

I then used my Mac OS DVD to boot into Mac OS X - I used Terminal to again set my Mac OS X as the active partition - still no luck: same problem with the black screen.

 

So are you suggesting that I should now (a) still set my Mac OS X partition as active; ( get into Mac OS using my boot CD and then © reinstall the bootloader from within Mac OS X?

 

I think my previous bootloader was Chameleon/Darwin (are they the same?) - how should I go about reinstalling them? Thank you.

 

I'm not quite sure if this will work for you but I had a problem similar to yours and this is what I did:

-As you said, boot into your Mac OSX installation with your CD (I used Empire EFI)

-Download latest Chameleon, I think it is Chameleon 2 RC4 (for this step you could use the installer provided in this post http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=201850 ) just make sure to install ONLY bootloader and to install it to your Mac OSX partition.

-Reboot, check and feedback

[ebeyonder]

Thanks very much again

 

One last thing - the Chameleon installs in Mac OS X? I'm in the office now so can't download the installer, but is it a Mac installer? Thank you again.

[capo_saric]

Thanks very much again

 

One last thing - the Chameleon installs in Mac OS X? I'm in the office now so can't download the installer, but is it a Mac installer? Thank you again.

 

Yes it is ... there are other methods to install Chameleon, but the link I have you is for a simple dmg Mac installer... right now I'm working on Windows so I can't check, but I'm almost sure installation has some sort of option to choose what you want or not to install, and there you check only the bootloader... If you have any problem please let me know

[ebeyonder]

Well I installed the Chameleon bootloader as advised. I could get to a screen which presents me with two choices - Win XP or Mac OS X. I select Mac OS X and I see the Apple logo, but then get the error message that I need to hold down the power button to reset the computer.

 

But the good thing is that now I can select WIn XP and it will boot into Windows without me having to set the active partition separately.

 

Now I can boot into Mac OS X using the installation CD. Do you think I could put the iso file into a USB thumbdrive to make it more portable? My PC is actually a netbook, so it doesn't make sense to carry an external CD-drive around just to boot into Mac.

 

So it is an inelegant situation, but at least now I can boot into Mac using CD and then into Win using Chameleon.

 

Any other suggestions on how to get Mac OS X booting from the start will be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[capo_saric]

Well I installed the Chameleon bootloader as advised. I could get to a screen which presents me with two choices - Win XP or Mac OS X. I select Mac OS X and I see the Apple logo, but then get the error message that I need to hold down the power button to reset the computer.

 

But the good thing is that now I can select WIn XP and it will boot into Windows without me having to set the active partition separately.

 

Now I can boot into Mac OS X using the installation CD. Do you think I could put the iso file into a USB thumbdrive to make it more portable? My PC is actually a netbook, so it doesn't make sense to carry an external CD-drive around just to boot into Mac.

 

So it is an inelegant situation, but at least now I can boot into Mac using CD and then into Win using Chameleon.

 

Any other suggestions on how to get Mac OS X booting from the start will be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Something's wrong with your kexts, this screen is the so called "kernel panic"...

did you installed any additional kexts? maybe the chameleon installer had some kexts in its installation package and that's causing this kernel panic...

if you have a backup of your previous kexts, try booting with your CD and reinstalling them...this should fix the problem

 

ok maybe you should first try removing sleepenabler.kext in case you have it... (finder -- select your OSX device -- system -- library -- extensions -- look for sleepenabler.kext and delete it) .... after doing this reboot and if it's not working yet, then try replacing your kexts with older ones (that's why I love TimeMachine )

and of course feedback

[ebeyonder]

Hello, thank you so much. Getting there!

 

I could not find any sleepenabler.kext.

 

How should I reinstall my previous kexts? Unfortunately I have no backup Is there another way around this please?

 

Something's wrong with your kexts, this screen is the so called "kernel panic"...

did you installed any additional kexts? maybe the chameleon installer had some kexts in its installation package and that's causing this kernel panic...

if you have a backup of your previous kexts, try booting with your CD and reinstalling them...this should fix the problem

 

ok maybe you should first try removing sleepenabler.kext in case you have it... (finder -- select your OSX device -- system -- library -- extensions -- look for sleepenabler.kext and delete it) .... after doing this reboot and if it's not working yet, then try replacing your kexts with older ones (that's why I love TimeMachine )

and of course feedback

[capo_saric]

Hello, thank you so much. Getting there!

 

I could not find any sleepenabler.kext.

 

How should I reinstall my previous kexts? Unfortunately I have no backup Is there another way around this please?

 

 

If you can boot into your Mac OSX installation using your CD it means that no boot-essential kexts were changed...

right before kernel panic, don't you get any message referring to a non-working kext?

maybe you should try looking for kexts that are known to work in your computer... you said something about using a netbook, there's plenty of material for netbooks!

[ebeyonder]

If you can boot into your Mac OSX installation using your CD it means that no boot-essential kexts were changed...

right before kernel panic, don't you get any message referring to a non-working kext?

maybe you should try looking for kexts that are known to work in your computer... you said something about using a netbook, there's plenty of material for netbooks!

 

Nope, no report of non-working kext... just the apple logo, then the "restart" screen.

 

Oh well, I guess I could live with this for the time being...

 

Would it help if I were to download say kexts for ASUS 1000H (my netbook) and then copy and paste them into my Mac OS?

 

Thanks a lot - you have been a great help!

[ebeyonder]

Ok what I have done is to put iDeneb onto a USB stick using ddmac.exe. That works.

 

So I set the laptop to boot from the USB stick - all I get is a blank screen with a blinking cursor.

 

Then I set the laptop to boot from my HDD with the Mac OS partition as active.

 

I get to the Chameleon bootloader and it presents me with three options: Windows, Mac OS and iDeneb (I still have the USB stick plugged in).

 

If I pick Windows, it boots into Win XP fine. If I select Mac OS, it goes into the kernal panic screen thing - it forces me to reset. If I select iDeneb, I get into the Mac OS installation screen.

 

Now, previously when I set the laptop to boot from my DVD drive (which has a DVD containing iDeneb), I could bypass the installation screen and boot straight into Mac OS.

 

That is what I am trying to do with the USB stick, but the laptop refuses to boot directly from that. I would have thought that since the USB stick's contents are exactly the same as my DVD, I could do the same.

 

Any help in getting me able to boot straight from the USB stick into Mac OS would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

OK I have solved the problem!!! :)

 

It appears the problem was that the newest version of Chameleon is incompatible with my version of Mac - 10.5.5.

 

So I simply redownloaded the old Chameleon installer under the Leopard section of these forums and installed that.

 

Then it worked! I now can boot into Windows or Mac without any DVD or thumbdrive or what not!!!

 

(Which also means I wasted money on the thumbdrive, but I'm happy that my netbook is now bootable to Mac with no problems. And all this started because Windows started to get choppy and I needed to reinstall that. Mac is the best!)

[Biso007]

not so sure but seems Chameleon 2RC4 default boot mode is 64 bit .. I faced the same problem when I 1st installed it but everything went fine by adding "arch=i386" to the boot file (u better try this flag manually while booting to ensure it solves the problem b4 updating the boot file).

[capo_saric]

@ebeyonder

 

sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner... I'm used to receiving an email everytime there's a post but this time I didn't ... so I thought it was you who hadn't answered...ha

 

anyways, I'm glad you finally solved it

and don't feel sorry about the money wasted in the thumbdrive... you got a perfectly running Mac when everyone else spends at least 1000 for the same thing