Chameleon - Windows 7 Boot Error

[RaymondBotha]

Hi, after two weeks of fighting with my PC to turn it into a triple-boot-dream-machine (Windows 7 x64, Snow Leopard, Ubuntu), I am very close to giving up. I have managed to make OS X work with my very fussy graphics card (XFX ATI 5750) and I can now boot successully into Mac OS X and Ubuntu, which just leaves Windows 7.

 

The problem with Windows 7 (64 bit) is when I try to boot from Chameleon (Experimental ATI version by Kabyl) Windows gives me an error that says "The boot device selection failed because a required device is inaccessible" and error code 0xc000000e. Now, I know this is a problem that can usually be easily fixed by running the Windows repair disc after marking the Windows partition active, I have tried running startup repair three times and I've also tried fixmbr and fixboot. The fixes work great but as soon as I make my Mac partition active again Windows 7 just gives the error again when I select it in Chameleon or even [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url].

 

I used the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] & [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] method with a DSDT, the "Chameleon Experimental ATI Bootloader" by Kabyl, and a few extra kexts to get OS X working 100%. Ubuntu works 100% out of the box.

 

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SPECS

 

HARDWARE

 

Motherboard: MSI P55M-GD45 (Running perfectly in OS X with a downloaded DSDT)

CPU: Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (No problems with the CPU)

HDD: Samsung 1TB SATA drive

Graphics: XFX ATI Radeon HD 5750 (Full resolution with QE/CI in OS X)

Optical Drives: Two old SATA DVD burners

RAM: Two 2GB DDR3-1333 sticks from Geil

PSU: 650W Coolermaster

SOFTWARE

 

OS: Mac OS X 10.6.6 Retail (Booting 32 bit for WiFi drivers); Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop; Windows 7 x64

Bootloader: Chameloen RC5 r700 (Experimental ATI version by Kabyl)

 

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Below is a photo of the error screen I am getting.

 

Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[mulcyber]

I use two drives as this tutorial recommends. I notice that it has a (gpt)sync partition step if you are using one drive. http://m.lifehacker.com/5698205/how-to-tri...ndows-and-linux

 

I use free Easybcd, a Windows bootloader. Then I add an entry, Mac. When I boot, I'm offered the choice between Windows and Mac. Choosing Mac, allows booting to Linux or SL or memtest. Perhaps not an aesthetically pleasing solution, but better than giving up. Also, on many new mobos, you can hit F12 (usually) and select the OS you want to boot from the Bios. Here is another guide which mentions gptsync, http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/lofiversi...hp/t165899.html but I am wary of tools that realign partitions because some other utilities won't read them correctly.

[RaymondBotha]

I use two drives as this tutorial recommends. I notice that it has a (gpt)sync partition step if you are using one drive. http://m.lifehacker.com/5698205/how-to-tri...ndows-and-linux

 

I use free Easybcd, a Windows bootloader. Then I add an entry, Mac. When I boot, I'm offered the choice between Windows and Mac. Choosing Mac, allows booting to Linux or SL or memtest. Perhaps not an aesthetically pleasing solution, but better than giving up. Also, on many new mobos, you can hit F12 (usually) and select the OS you want to boot from the Bios. Here is another guide which mentions gptsync, http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/lofiversi...hp/t165899.html but I am wary of tools that realign partitions because some other utilities won't read them correctly.

 

Thank you, I am using gptsync and that lifehacker tutorial from the start (sorry for not mentioning that), and maybe I'll try EasyBCD, but I love the clean look of my themed Chameleon setup...

 

Tomorrow I'm going to repartition my data drive and also try putting Windows on it. That should probably avoid my error message.

 

Can I use just Chameleon to boot Windows from another drive or should I use EasyBCD?

[mulcyber]

Tomorrow I'm going to repartition my data drive and also try putting Windows on it. That should probably avoid my error message.

 

Can I use just Chameleon to boot Windows from another drive or should I use EasyBCD?

 

Rod Smith, http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/ , is an expert contributor on this topic and I gathered from reading him that gptsync doesn't work consistently; http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/booting.html read the Windows Section.

 

It used to be with Windows XP had to be installed in (hd0,0) = sda1 or you couldn't dual boot. Especially when IDE drives were standard. With Windows 7 and sata drives, I'm not certain that you need Windows 7 installed to first drive, first partition, sata port 1.. Gringo Vermelho has mentioned an issue with Windows 7 coming out of hiberantion if it isn't installed in sda1, http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t=#entry1597125 "Booting Windows from a disk other than the one it's installed on will break hibernation."

You only mentioned having 1 drive. I assume by data drive that it is your second drive so you will be installing Windows to sdb1. It will use the MBR of sdb. It might be safer to unhook your other drive. I'm not so sure that Chameleon will automatically scan for the new OS and add/update a boot entry for Windows 7 after you hook up your drive again (if you do that).

 

So I see no harm in trying Chameleon first. If it doesn't detect Windows or can't boot Windows, then you can make Windows bootable again and download Easybcd and add Mac to the boot menu.

I'm pretty sure that grub will work after an udpate, and you could bypass Easybcd that way, but I don't think the grub boot menu is any better looking than Easybcd(which is easier).

[RaymondBotha]

Rod Smith, http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/ , is an expert contributor on this topic and I gathered from reading him that gptsync doesn't work consistently; http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/booting.html read the Windows Section.

 

It used to be with Windows XP had to be installed in (hd0,0) = sda1 or you couldn't dual boot. Especially when IDE drives were standard. With Windows 7 and sata drives, I'm not certain that you need Windows 7 installed to first drive, first partition, sata port 1.. Gringo Vermelho has mentioned an issue with Windows 7 coming out of hiberantion if it isn't installed in sda1, http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t=#entry1597125 "Booting Windows from a disk other than the one it's installed on will break hibernation."

You only mentioned having 1 drive. I assume by data drive that it is your second drive so you will be installing Windows to sdb1. It will use the MBR of sdb. It might be safer to unhook your other drive. I'm not so sure that Chameleon will automatically scan for the new OS and add/update a boot entry for Windows 7 after you hook up your drive again (if you do that).

 

So I see no harm in trying Chameleon first. If it doesn't detect Windows or can't boot Windows, then you can make Windows bootable again and download Easybcd and add Mac to the boot menu.

I'm pretty sure that grub will work after an udpate, and you could bypass Easybcd that way, but I don't think the grub boot menu is any better looking than Easybcd(which is easier).

 

Thanks, Chameleon shows my external HD when I boot and if it's plugged in, so I think it should work with an extra internal drive. I just don't know if that would make the situation much better, considering that Chameleon can't boot Windows from my partition. I'll just have to try it later today. If that doen't work, I'll install EasyBCD.