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Finally a real work around! Can't boot the DVD? Can Now

Katch

By Katch,
in OSx86 10.4 (Tiger)

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Katch
Katch
Posted
Posted

BIG DISCLAIMER- This is a new guide so if you're unsure or know that you're not upto it, don't try it. Let me get some feedback and make any corrections that need to be made, or you may tombstone your PC. BIG DISCLAIMER ENDS!

 

 

Background

 

Some ppls computers, for whatever reason fail to boot the JaS (and other) install DVDs and present the user with at startup.

 

/com.apple.Boot.plist not found

 

The only real 2 work arounds that are being used are...

 

1 - Put the hard drive into a different PC that will boot the loader and install there. (can cause some hardware compatability issues)

2 - Use VMWare to install natively on a prepared partition. (Is not particularly easy to setup and has stabillity issues on some PC)s)

 

 

The Third Way

 

Just by accident I've found a way to make my Lenovo C100 natively boot and install from the JaS DVDs and I guess this will work for everyone :2cents: There are several stages to getting on track so bear with me and I'll make it as clear as possible.

 

Tools - Links as and when you need them.

 

A PC and DVD drive etc

Windows XP already installed (OR an existing Grub installation OR a Linux boot CD that can install Grub)

Wingrub (if you are the first of the options above)

Smart Boot Manager (a now deceased bootloading sourceforge project)

 

***************************************

 

Step 1 - This guide now assumes you are working from within a Windows XP environment (if not ur smart enough to skip to the end.)

 

Download the latest WinGrub Here, choose a close mirror.

 

Now you'll need a small Fat32 partition (can be as small as 20Mb or so so set that up using Partition magic or whatever you like using. I'd suggest you put it right at the start of the disk if possible, i.e. before C:\)

 

Install wingrub and just chose all the default options.

 

Start up the Wingrub GUI and choose Tools - Base Setup - check copy stage files and point it at your fat32 partition.

 

Then choose Tools - Install - Boot.ini and default drive.

 

You'll now have a folder at c:\grub (If you already have you small Fat32 partition ready it'll be on that drive)

 

The file in \grub called menu.lst should already be setup ready to use, but check it looks a bit like this;

 

title Windows at (hd0,1)
root (hd0,1)
chainloader +1

 

Give yourself a quick reboot and hope all goes well.

 

Once back into windows we need to add a couple of files...

Step 2

 

Download sbm.zip below (scroll down, its the attachment! do this wrong and nothing will work) and extract both files to your grub directory.

 

Now add this to your menu.lst

 

title CD/DVD Boot
kernel /grub/memdisk
initrd /grub/sbm.bin

 

Save and reboot with some kind of bootable CD in the drive.

 

When you get to the Grub menu select the new option - this will open up another small bootloader - choose the CD hit enter when it asks if you want to save options and once more for luck and hey presto - booting from CD rom.

 

Step 3

 

Tidying up after all your installs etc and installing Grub properly

 

First lets install Grub to the MBR and get it out of boot.ini

 

Hit ESC then C at the grub menu

 

then type;

 

root (hd0,0)

 

and

 

setup (hd0)

 

This should now have you all ready to go without using boot.ini so remove;

 

C:\GRLDR="Start Grub"

and delete GRLDR

 

Reboot and enjoy your new Grub loader and the ability to boot your JaS DVD like never before :2cents:

 

Your final menu.lst should look a little like this after your install,

 

title Windows at (hd0,1)
root (hd0,1)
chainloader +1

title OSx86 at (hd0,2)
root (hd0,2)
chainloader --force +1

title CD/DVD Boot
kernel /grub/memdisk
initrd /grub/sbm.bin

sbm.zip

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Rammjet
Rammjet
Posted
Posted

When you boot the install DVD, you are presented with a screen where several things are happening:

- it is counting down and says it will boot if you do nothing

- it asks you to press any key to install

- it asks you to press F8

Press any key to install - this should be obvious

 

Press F8 - this will take you to another screen where you can select a partition to boot and give you a command line to enter special boot parameters.

 

Countdown - if you let the countdown run out and don't "press any key to install", then you will not start the installer. Instead, it will boot the default partition which is your empty partition you set up for OSX. Since the partition is empty, the boot file cannot find the boot.plist to get instructions from and it displays its message "/com.apple.Boot.plist not found".

 

So, the solution to gettting the "/com.apple.Boot.plist not found" during installation from the DVD is: "press any key to install"

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Kirin
Kirin
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Posted

Seems kind of weird but when I added the CD/DVD entry to my menu.lst file, and then reboot, I selected the newly added entry and it's trying to access something in my floppy drive.

 

I, too, am experiencing this kind of problem (com.apple.boot.plist not found errors) when it comes to trying to install OSX on my PC. (Specs on my sig) ... I'm trying everything I could find on this message board, aside from using VMWare, which is something I hope to avoid.

 

I tried using three different ISOs so far: the 10.4.8 JaS Intel SSE3 repack, 10.4.7 JaS, and 10.4.6 Hot ISO

 

Any ideas?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Rammjet
Rammjet
Posted
Posted

Sounds like a problem with your DVD (not CD). Try burning it again at the slowest speed possible. If available, use a different brand of media and maybe a different type of media (dvd-r, dvd+r, dvd-rw, dvd+rw)

 

Verify that your DVD drive has the latest firmware.

 

Clean the lense in the DVD drive.

 

Your iso may have been corrupt. Try to verify the md5 hash and/or download it again.

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  • 6 months later...
Suman
Suman
Posted
Posted

Hi Kutch....

first of all thanks for this nice guide...... before I make any attempts of using ur guide just wanna ask one thing that as u have mentioned to make a 20mb partition before C:/ drive .... I am wondering if is it ok to make this partion somewhere else and make that fat32 (Do I need to set it up as primary or logical ???). I have four partitions in my 250 GB SATA HDD , can I make this 20 mb partition at last......

 

thanks in advance....

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  • 3 weeks later...
harte
harte
Posted
Posted

I hope this works for me, sounds good. I was able to install Jas 10.4.8 no problem, but I got the XXXXXXX.plist not found error on boot. Hopefully this will work. I'll report back either way.

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Signal64
Signal64
Posted
Posted

Will this method work for a USB DVD drive?

I get the pfile not found error when booting with such a drive and hoping this might be away around it.

 

A direct connected IDE works ok though (but don't have any room in my case at the moment).

 

I'm guessing you must have the fat32 partition so grub can read the memdisk and sbm.bin file, correct?

I ask because with NTFS it is able to read the menu.lst but not memdisk which has me a bit confused.

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pogiboy
pogiboy
Posted
Posted

I have the same problem actually. Tried doing Katch's advice, though i always get lost at Step 3. It always says error 26.

 

"Hit ESC then C at the grub menu

 

then type;

 

CODEroot (hd0,0)"

 

How should I actually do this part?:S Help appreciated!

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  • 1 month later...
ldlx
ldlx
Posted
Posted

if you get error 26, grub doesn't where to search the memdisk file. you have to tell grub on which partition the files are located.

so you have to add the root command before the kernel command.

 

title CD/DVD Boot
root (hd0,0)
kernel /grub/memdisk
initrd /grub/sbm.bin

 

compatibility note:

you should use /boot/grub instead of /grub (for all grub files, just make a copy of the grub directory including memdisk and sbm.bin to /boot/grub), because /boot/grub is the first place where grub looks for its files on all partitions and drives including floppy. if you have a silly computer it might hang when accessing the floppy drive.

 

another problem:

some install dvds (e.g. JaS 10.4.8) boot, but mac.nub 10.4.9 and the XxX 10.4.10/11 don't. is there an explanation or even a solution for this? all of these have boot information.

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lijay1
lijay1
Posted
Posted

This is a lot of Help, and I really appreciate everyone's input on this matter. Can anyone help me out further? I've booted up through GRUB, got the disc read error, tried adding "root (hd0,0)", it didn't work... realized that my partition was the second one, tried adding "root(hd0,1), it just gave me another error and still won't allow me to boot up with the DVD.

 

If anyone out there has any suggestions for me, I'd really appreciate it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
SamanthaRaven
SamanthaRaven
Posted
Posted

When I got the can not find drive or boot device error, I just changed dvd drives, I had been trying to load it in the secondary drive (which works for other programs) not the primary. As soon as I put it in the main drive it loaded up to the install screen and installed away. :)

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