w7 + leopard + chameleon, single drive

[jamesd256]

Hi,

 

I have a HP G61 110SA laptop.

 

I have installed windows 7, leopard (ipc) and chameleon 2 rc4 (also tried rc5 beta).

 

I can get windows 7 and leopard (via chameleon) to boot ok by flagging their respective partitions as active. I currently have the windows partition active and use the ipc dvd to boot leopard, which is fine for now.

 

I first partitioned the disk as GUID using diskutil in the ipc installer. I then created the hybrid gpt/mbr partition tables using gptsync, which allowed me to install windows 7.

 

Following the install of w7, I installed chameleon, then fixed the windows 7 bootloader, followed by flagging the leopard partition as active, giving me the chameleon boot screen.

 

Trouble is, it only lists the leopard partition. It does find windows on my usb drive, which suggests to me it only works with one OS per physical drive, or else why can't it 'see' my healthy working w7 partition?

 

Do I have to add the windows partition to the boot plist or something? Stuff I've read elsewhere suggests that chameleon should work in this configuration out of the box. I have searched quite a lot on this, but maybe I'm going forum blind.

 

Thanks!

[mulcyber]

Hi,

 

I have a HP G61 110SA laptop.

 

I have installed windows 7, leopard (ipc) and chameleon 2 rc4 (also tried rc5 beta).

 

I can get windows 7 and leopard (via chameleon) to boot ok by flagging their respective partitions as active. I currently have the windows partition active and use the ipc dvd to boot leopard, which is fine for now.

 

I first partitioned the disk as GUID using diskutil in the ipc installer. I then created the hybrid gpt/mbr partition tables using gptsync, which allowed me to install windows 7.

 

Following the install of w7, I installed chameleon, then fixed the windows 7 bootloader, followed by flagging the leopard partition as active, giving me the chameleon boot screen.

 

Trouble is, it only lists the leopard partition. It does find windows on my usb drive, which suggests to me it only works with one OS per physical drive, or else why can't it 'see' my healthy working w7 partition?

 

Do I have to add the windows partition to the boot plist or something? Stuff I've read elsewhere suggests that chameleon should work in this configuration out of the box. I have searched quite a lot on this, but maybe I'm going forum blind.

 

Thanks!

 

I consider Chameleon a complex issue: Part 3 - Install Chameleon Bootloader

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=180954

http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php?topic=1671.0

 

I have only installed Windows 7 (first partition) and Snow Leopard in AHCI mode.

Here is a less pretty workaround in case you become frustrated. Make Windows active, download the free bootloader Easybcd, and Add Mac OS X to the Easybcd boot menu. You can change the boot order so that Mac appears first and is the default boot option and can also change the time delay.

 

hxxp://chameleon.osx86.hu/static/some-words-about-donation?ref=file_download/39/Chameleon-2.0-RC4-r684-bin.tar.gz file: Chameleon-2.0-RC4-r684-bin.tar.gz [744.10KB] "you can click here to download the requested file"

 

After you unpack this file, you will find all the Chameleon binaries in the /i386 folder. I think it is a good idea to copy the fdisk found in this folder to fdisk440 so you won't get it confused with the OS X version of fdisk, see below

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/chameleon-rc4-is-out/?cp=94%253F

blackosx on February 24th, 2010 at 3:56 pm

 

QUOTE (asadev @ Feb 24 2010, 02:29 PM) < {POST_SNAPBACK}>

Im very intrested in the fdisk440 method as my windows7 installation does not sleep.

 

Here's my interpretation and a quick overview of fdisk440…

 

When you download Chameleon, you will find an 'fdisk' binary in the i386 folder. I always read that this should be used when installing Chameleon, so I always did, but I never really knew why. As it turns out, this version of fdisk was a modified version of the fdisk that ships with OS X, and the modification was it only writes to the first 440 bytes of the MBR.

 

The modified binary being called 'fdisk' though has led to confusion in the past as the one that comes with OS X would be used instead of the modified one, so Zef has renamed the modified fdisk to fdisk440 to save future confusion. Therefore, if we all use and refer to fdisk440 from now on then we should all be singing from the same hymn sheet.

 

The main benefit though can be found when dual booting with Windows7 on the same HDD as Chameleon. This is because when you install Windows7 it will write to the MBR and when you boot, the code in the MBR will go off and do it's thing to load Windows7. If you then go and write Chameleon's boot0 to the MBR using the fdisk that's shipped with OS X it will overwrite the code that Windows put there, resulting in Windows being unable to boot. Where as if you write Chameleon's boot0 to the MBR with the modified fdisk440, it will co-exist with the Windows code, not destroying it, so Windows will continue to boot happily. Though for this particular example, you will want to actually write Chameleon's new boot0hfs to the MBR instead of boot0, as the new boot0hfs will load Chameleon from a non-active partition, allowing Windows 7 to remain the active partition."

 

If you think the effort of figuring out how to install Chameleon manually is worthwhile, have at it.

http://www.taranfx.com/download-install-chameleon-bootloader [not sure whether boot0 or boot0hfs]

I'm not sure that this works on Leopard, so the obligatory recommendation is to make a backup.

[jamesd256]

Thanks, I tried EasyBCD (2.0) but it didn't get OS X to boot. I can't remember the message.

 

I hear what you're saying about the fdisk440 technique. My only doubt about that is that Windows does actually boot fine, as does OS X, when their respective partitions are active. This suggests to me that my problem is not because Windows thinks the MBR is broken, but rather that there is some reason that Chameleon does not detect the (inactive) Windows partition when it loads.

 

However, I will try what you suggest when I get home.

[mulcyber]

Thanks, I tried EasyBCD (2.0) but it didn't get OS X to boot. I can't remember the message.

 

I can get windows 7 and leopard (via chameleon) to boot ok by flagging their respective partitions as active. I currently have the windows partition active and use the ipc dvd to boot leopard, which is fine for now.

 

I first partitioned the disk as GUID using diskutil in the ipc installer. I then created the hybrid gpt/mbr partition tables using gptsync, which allowed me to install windows 7.

 

Following the install of w7, I installed chameleon, then fixed the windows 7 bootloader, followed by flagging the leopard partition as active, giving me the chameleon boot screen.

 

Trouble is, it only lists the leopard partition. It does find windows on my usb drive, which suggests to me it only works with one OS per physical drive, or else why can't it 'see' my healthy working w7 partition?

 

Well, this has me stumped. I'm not so sure writing boot01H to the non-active partition Leopard is going to solve this. I think you should write down the Easybcd error message. I haven't used Leopard just Snow Leopard. With SL, by default it only shows external drives on the Desktop, in this case your USB Windows drive. I think in Finder preferences there is a box to check to show internal partitions on the Desktop. However, does your shared (internal) Windows show up in Disk Utility, it should list all the partitions and also your USB drive? If it does not, wouldn't that indicate that gptsync is not functioning as expected?

 

After reading a few problems reported with gptsync, I see they do reinstall Chameleon (boot0).

If something went wrong with the MBR and Windows was overwritten, I think you indicated that you knew how to run a Windows repair to restore Windows to the MBR so it would boot. Lastly, I would unhook the USB drive and eliminate any possibility that some Chameleon file is getting written to the wrong drive. Good Luck. Googling the Easybcd error message will sometimes tell you what the problem is and how to fix it if you include enough relevant search terms such as gptsync.

 

EDIT:

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dual-booti...ok-remix-9.html

 

1) Open Terminal (easiest way is to type "terminal" into Spotlight in the upper right corner of OS X)

2) Once the terminal console window comes up, type "sudo gptsync /dev/disk0" and enter your password when requested to do so.

3) It will show you what the MBR looks like and what the GPT looks like and, if they are out-of-sync, will ask you if you want to sync them. Respond "yes."

 

That's it for the basic re-sync process. If you are trying to use the enhanced gptsync tool to specify which GPT partitions should end up in the MBR, consult the instructions for using that advanced functionality. You should be able to type "man gptsync" and/or "gptsync -h" in Terminal to get instructions.

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=177505

here's an OSX port and enhancement i made to help creating hybrid MBR partitions on GPT drive.

 

Code came from project rEFit: http://refit.sourceforge.net/

 

The package below contain the gptsync command line tool for Mac OSX Leopard.

 

You can download the package here:

 

Edit 02/08/09 version 0.2: gptsync-0.2.pkg.zip

 

I've been reading a lot of Rod Smith and I doubt the problem is Chameleon; hybrid MBRs are flaky.

Why don't you run gptsync again and see if it reports your partitions are correct. Maybe when you change flags or restore the MBR, gptsync has to be rerun.

[jamesd256]

Well, this has me stumped. I'm not so sure writing boot01H to the non-active partition Leopard is going to solve this. I think you should write down the Easybcd error message. I haven't used Leopard just Snow Leopard. With SL, by default it only shows external drives on the Desktop, in this case your USB Windows drive. I think in Finder preferences there is a box to check to show internal partitions on the Desktop. However, does your shared (internal) Windows show up in Disk Utility, it should list all the partitions and also your USB drive? If it does not, wouldn't that indicate that gptsync is not functioning as expected?

 

After reading a few problems reported with gptsync, I see they do reinstall Chameleon (boot0).

If something went wrong with the MBR and Windows was overwritten, I think you indicated that you knew how to run a Windows repair to restore Windows to the MBR so it would boot. Lastly, I would unhook the USB drive and eliminate any possibility that some Chameleon file is getting written to the wrong drive. Good Luck. Googling the Easybcd error message will sometimes tell you what the problem is and how to fix it if you include enough relevant search terms such as gptsync.

 

....

 

I've been reading a lot of Rod Brooks and I doubt the problem is Chameleon; hybrid MBRs are flaky.

Why don't you run gptsync again and see if it reports your partitions are correct. Maybe when you change flags or restore the MBR, gptsync has to be rerun.

 

I heard from someone else that the hybrid approach is flakey, so I guess I'll end up going for MBR only.

 

The reason I ended up with hybrid is that the Windows 7 I have refuses to install on a GPT only disk, and the Leopard I have refuses to install on an MBR only disk.

 

I have read about the technique of installing leopard to an external disk and then cloning it to an MBR disk, so I might give that a go.

 

Incidentally, I ran gptsync again (by the way, there is no man page entry for gptsync ), but examining the help output, I was left with the conclusion that it only supports a one way sync of GPT -> MBR, which is not going to help me.

 

Once Windows is installed, I believe this would render Windows beyond recovery by the normal methods, as the installer would not be able to find it, as has happened to me before. FYI, here is the output of gptsync:

bash-3.2# gptsync /dev/disk0

Current GPT partition table:
#      Start LBA      End LBA  Type
1             40       409639  EFI System (FAT)
2         409640    312980863  Mac OS X HFS+

Current MBR partition table:
# A    Start LBA      End LBA  Type
1              1       409639  ee  EFI Protective
2         409640    312980863  af  Mac OS X HFS+
3      312981504    313186303  07  NTFS/HPFS
4 *    313186304    625139711  07  NTFS/HPFS

Status: MBR table must be updated.

Proposed new MBR partition table:
# A    Start LBA      End LBA  Type
1              1       409639  ee  EFI Protective
2         409640    312980863  af  Mac OS X HFS+
3      312980864    625142447  ee  EFI Protective

May I update the MBR as printed above? [y/N]

 

I don't think re-running is an option here. I might have another bash with EasyBCD, but that would be less satisfying somehow :/

 

Many thanks for your input anyway, much appreciated. It is often the case that we would not take things on if it weren't for blind optimism, but in the end, we learn how things work. I am about half way there.

[jamesd256]

It's working.

 

The trick was to get EasyBCD 1.72 instead of the current 2.0, which didn't work.

 

I still have Chameleon, as it comes up when I choose OS X from the boot manager, so I can still boot OS X off a USB drive withouth messing with EasyBCD.

 

Anyone else with an HP G61 110SA who googles there way here, also worth noting that the Intel GMA 4500 on kexts.com has just installed succesfully for me too

 

http://www.kexts.com/view/222-modified_cha...ntel_x4500.html

 

Thanks for the input.