The Official Dual Booting Thread

[laszen03]

i want to tripple boot Windows XP home/Vista (newest build)/OSX on my DV1000 series laptop. Is it going to be okay with 512 ram?

 

I know you said you have it done, can you give me some pointers? There are a million guides, and since what you have done is pretty much identical to what i want to do, I want to use your process identically.

 

Ill find the files wherever i can, im not asking for the software, i just want the process spelled out exactly how you did it because like i said, you seem to know your s**t and although ive read like 8 different threads and 4 different ways to dual/multi boot these different OS's, yours works!

 

Can i possibly do this with out losing all my windows xp stuff or should i just do a clean install and start over. Ill back up data on my 300gb XBOX hard drive.

 

P.S. Th emain reason im doing this is because i was going to buy a MACBOOK PRO but with all the issues and the MERON coming out in a few months, i have decided to wait for it, and educate myself better with the Apple OS so when i actually have an apple, i know all the little tricks that ive come to master over the years in windows..im only 21 by the way, so by no means do i want anyone to think im some sort of windows pro, just a kid with lots of time...(not really but i can wich)

 

 

THANKS IN ADVANCE, THIS SHOULD BE AWSOME!!!!!!!

[grentz]

Im using Acronis 10 to select my OS on my laptop.

 

I have a 40gb harddrive partitioned into:

 

Around 25gb for XP SP2

Around 15gb for Mac OSX 10.4.3

 

I used the disk utility in the Mac OSX installer to partition, i just set the windows Partition to MS-Dos format, and then the windows installer formated to NTFS.

 

Acronis was installed via the Windows XP gui, it detected the second partition (as unknown), I renamed it OSX.

 

Now whenever i boot i can hit F6 to skip Acronis and boot to XP right away, or what a second for Acronis to start and click on OSX to start OSX

[laszen03]

if anyone knows where ot get the .iso any faster than these torrents, please send me an email at laszen03@uwosh.edu. Ive been at this for 4 days and havent broke 20%. Im on a cable connection too! After people get this, the burn it, and format, and by by seed! ANYONE....PLEASE HELP ME!

[zidane]

if anyone knows where ot get the .iso any faster than these torrents, please send me an email at laszen03@uwosh.edu. Ive been at this for 4 days and havent broke 20%. Im on a cable connection too! After people get this, the burn it, and format, and by by seed! ANYONE....PLEASE HELP ME!

 

Ok, #1 Wrong forum! #2 Im pretty sure what you are asking for is against forum rules and #3 stop wingeing about speed! you are lucky you are getting it at all!

[esc2]

My bios allows me to set the boot drive order and to choose any IDE or SATA drive to boot from. So I can boot 6 different OSes without any software loader.

[marcrem]

Hi,

Here's my problem:

 

1) I made a partition of 10 GO with partition magic.

2) I ran Ubuntu, cfdisk, then changed the type to AF

3) I got a 10.4.5 install dvd and installed succefully.

4) I went to windows, put a chain0 file found on 360hack

5) I added "C:\chain0="MAC OS X" to the boot.ini file.

 

Now, When I try to boot in osx, it says "Chain booting error"

 

A-) I booted with the mac install dvd, then tried to reinstall, but it was saying mac os x was already installed.

B-) I changed my OSX partition bootable, but it said another error , something like "bad system blabla"

C-) I kept this partition bootable, then inserted my mac os x install dvd, and IT WORKED!

 

The problem is that i have to go to linux everytime to change my bootable partition, and i have to let the OSX dvd in...

 

What can I do?

 

Thanks!

[DrJägermeister]

Hi,

Here's my problem:

 

1) I made a partition of 10 GO with partition magic.

2) I ran Ubuntu, cfdisk, then changed the type to AF

3) I got a 10.4.5 install dvd and installed succefully.

4) I went to windows, put a chain0 file found on 360hack

5) I added "C:\chain0="MAC OS X" to the boot.ini file.

 

Now, When I try to boot in osx, it says "Chain booting error"

 

A-) I booted with the mac install dvd, then tried to reinstall, but it was saying mac os x was already installed.

B-) I changed my OSX partition bootable, but it said another error , something like "bad system blabla"

C-) I kept this partition bootable, then inserted my mac os x install dvd, and IT WORKED!

 

The problem is that i have to go to linux everytime to change my bootable partition, and i have to let the OSX dvd in...

 

What can I do?

 

Thanks!

 

If your partition a logical until a primary or located after the extented with the logical drives?

I had a similar problem one time (only boot with the DVD), I had to repartition to fix it.

Make a fdisk -l with Linux and post it here.

[marcrem]

i didnt made a fdisk yet, but my partitions are:

 

Primary partition (windows)

Extended

- My data partition

- My mac Partition (primary)

[marcrem]

Ok here's my fdisk -l

---------------------------

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/hda1 * 1 2699 20404408+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

/dev/hda2 2700 3785 8207325 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)

/dev/hda3 3785 2699 10458315 af unknown

/dev/hda1 2700 3785 82101287 7 HPFS/NTFS

[DrJägermeister]

Ok here's my fdisk -l

---------------------------

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/hda1 * 1 2699 20404408+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

/dev/hda2 2700 3785 8207325 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)

/dev/hda3 3785 2699 10458315 af unknown

/dev/hda1 2700 3785 82101287 7 HPFS/NTFS

Your af partition is a logical located in the extented. You should delete everything except /dev/hda1. Then create /dev/hda2 as primary partition with id af. After that you can recreate a extented partition with your logical drives.

[marcrem]

Ok i'll try that. But i think my hda3 is primary, but located in the extended. Possible?

[marcrem]

How can I delete a partition? PartitionMagic is saying "error 117, cannot "?" the partition letter"

 

In linux, QTparted is saying that there is an error in partition 5, and crash.

[Franzy]

How can I delete a partition? PartitionMagic is saying "error 117, cannot "?" the partition letter"

 

In linux, QTparted is saying that there is an error in partition 5, and crash.

 

1) Try erasing using Windows.

- Open control panel

- In classic view, select administrative tools, then computer management

- under storage, select disk management

- partitions are listed there

- select partition you would like to delete, right click and then select delete

 

2) Try erasing in pqmagic w/ a boot floppy or cd.

[marcrem]

Hi, Everything works now, I deleted the partitions with "diskpart" and used my boot cd "Ultimate boot cd" to fdisk and recreate the partitions. I reinstalled Mac, and now everything works well Thanks!

[bluejeansonfire]

i'm sure there's been discussion on this, but i just can't seem to find it. This seems like the right place. BOOT CAMP!? has anyone successfully installed bootcamp on a non-apple intel/AMD machine? I really must know... Is it even possible or does it conflict with the traditional BIOS, thus requiring the BIOS of the intel mac?

[lennyb]

I'm getting the "HFS+ Partition Error" message that is theoretically covered in the FAQ under: "I have booted OSX many times before. "

 

I've read most of the standard advice on this and tried it: reset the active partition from the Ubuntu Live CD, run Disk Repair, run Fdisk from OSX Terminal, etc. The only thing I haven't attempted is installation of the Acronis Boot Manager.

 

I believe what may have happened is that the hard disk lost the Darwin Bootloader in the boot sector while I was experimenting with NP's various builds of the NVidia Beta driver.

 

Previously, the system was dual-booting successfully between Windows XP and 10.4.3 through the BootIT NT boot manager (this is similar to Acronis and available at http://www.bootitng.com/).

 

After one "black screen" experiment with the beta NVIDIA drivers, I had to restore the BootIT NG boot manager, and from that point on, any attempt to boot the OS X partition produces the error: "HFS+ Partition Error."

 

I can still boot successfully into 10.4.3 by starting from the Installation DVD, provided that the HFS+ partition is marked active on the hard drive. (I know the HFS+ partition can be set active in a number of different ways.) But the "HFS+ Partition Error" appears in any attempt to boot from the hard disk, itself, including attempts to use the C:\Chain0 method from the Windows XP boot loader.

 

The HFS+ partition is the second primary partition on the drive, the Windows NTFS partition is the first primary partition. When installed, BootIT NG is a third primary partition. One of the features of BootIT NG permits it to rearrange the partition order seen by the boot loader in any order that you like. This worked perfectly before the system crashed. (It's also useful for avoiding the red "cannot boot from this volume" message in the Installer program. BootIt NG allows the HFS+ partition to be seen as the first partition on the disk, no matter where it's physically positioned, which tricks the Mac Installer into giving it a green arrow, at install time.)

 

I've additionally experimented with removing BootIT NG, entirely, restoring the NTFS boot loader from the Windows Recovery Console, and attempting to boot through the C:\Chain0 method. All these attempts produce the "HFS+ Partition Error" startup message, although the system boots flawlessly into the HFS+ partition from the Installation CD. (And the newest NP drivers now work fine with the NVidia video card.)

 

I've concluded that the Darwin Bootloader must have somehow been erased from the hard drive, and am uncertain about how to put it back. I experimented with using dd to capture the first 512 bytes of the CD and transfering it to the hard disk, but that didn't work. There are also some reference threads about copying the /usr/standalone/i386/boot file to a floppy disk, booting into single user mode and using a utility called Startupfiletool to copy the boot file back to the hard disk. (See http://forum.osx86project.org/lofiversion/...php/t2839.html)

 

Unfortunately, neither the OSX installation disk or OS X in single-user mode seem to support mounting a USB floppy drive, so I haven't been able to try that.

 

I'm wondering if anyone knows precise syntax that can be used with the dd command (without using the startupfiletool utility) that might be able to restore the Darwin boot loader without overwriting the partition information in the boot sector.

 

I also have a hunch that simply running an "Upgrade OS" installation from the DVD would refresh the Darwin bootloader and allow the system to boot from the hard disk, again. But after all the tweaking I've done, I'm reluctant to risk starting all over again.

[emarelem]

I have a similar query regarding dual booting XP and OSX on the same HDD different partitions.

I want to set the active partition as the XP one for safety and speed of booting into Windows.

 

The way I had planned to do this was the old NT method of loading Linux by putting an option for it in the NTLDR menu. eg.

Copy Linux boot data to a file with:- dd if=/dev/hda2 of=boot.lnx bs=512 count=1

Copy this to the C:\boot.lnx

Edit (append) boot.ini with the line:- C:\boot.lnx="Linux"

 

I dont see why this wouldn't work for OSX - does anyone know more about it?

 

So far what I have done is I installed OSX on a second partition on my Laptop, a new Sony VAIO VGN SZ1VP/C. Apart from sound all was working ok - I assume this is because of it's similarity to the new powerbooks including the Infineon TPM module.

 

When I changed the active partition back to XP I got the MBR Bootloader error "Error Loading Operating System". Now this was strange as I had done nothing that I haven't done before dual booting Linux and Windows. The only difference is that I used Acronis instead of Partition Magic. MS knowledgebase gave me some useless information http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=326676 that basically says they don't know what it is, although to be honest they were refering to errors during setup.

 

I tried everything to get it back but the only thing that worked was the last resort of:-

 

Removing all partitions.

Recreated partitions 1 & 2 for XP and OSX with the XP setup.

Use Acronis to set partition 2 to Primary Active type=AF making sure partition 1 is not hidden.

Reinstall OSX on partition 2 - this time just repaing the file system in Disk Utility & not messing around.

Use Acronis to set partition 1 active and make sure non are hidden.

Restore Windows to from recovery disk to partition 1.

 

And this is where I am now XP working and OSX bootable with the DVD or partition set active.

 

In OSX Terminal using df I established that the command I need assuming 512 is enough would be something like:- dd if=/dev/disk0s2 of=bootsect.osx bs=512 count=1

at first I got a permission denied error so I "su root" and the got device busy.

 

Does anyone know a way to do this from DOS or XP?

Any idea why the device is busy when you can do it in linux?

And is bs=512 is correct for the osx bootloader or is it bigger?

 

Any help appreciated.

[Acid_Burn]

I need the apple keybord driver for win xp(from the bootcamp driver cd). under this driver works the eject button on apple pro keyboard.

 

please give me the driver

[lennyb]

I have a similar query regarding dual booting XP and OSX on the same HDD different partitions.

I want to set the active partition as the XP one for safety and speed of booting into Windows.

 

The way I had planned to do this was the old NT method of loading Linux by putting an option for it in the NTLDR menu. eg.

Copy Linux boot data to a file with:- dd if=/dev/hda2 of=boot.lnx bs=512 count=1

Copy this to the C:\boot.lnx

Edit (append) boot.ini with the line:- C:\boot.lnx="Linux"

 

I dont see why this wouldn't work for OSX - does anyone know more about it?

 

So far what I have done is I installed OSX on a second partition on my Laptop, a new Sony VAIO VGN SZ1VP/C. Apart from sound all was working ok - I assume this is because of it's similarity to the new powerbooks including the Infineon TPM module.

 

When I changed the active partition back to XP I got the MBR Bootloader error "Error Loading Operating System". Now this was strange as I had done nothing that I haven't done before dual booting Linux and Windows. The only difference is that I used Acronis instead of Partition Magic. MS knowledgebase gave me some useless information http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=326676 that basically says they don't know what it is, although to be honest they were refering to errors during setup.

 

I tried everything to get it back but the only thing that worked was the last resort of:-

 

Removing all partitions.

Recreated partitions 1 & 2 for XP and OSX with the XP setup.

Use Acronis to set partition 2 to Primary Active type=AF making sure partition 1 is not hidden.

Reinstall OSX on partition 2 - this time just repaing the file system in Disk Utility & not messing around.

Use Acronis to set partition 1 active and make sure non are hidden.

Restore Windows to from recovery disk to partition 1.

 

And this is where I am now XP working and OSX bootable with the DVD or partition set active.

 

In OSX Terminal using df I established that the command I need assuming 512 is enough would be something like:- dd if=/dev/disk0s2 of=bootsect.osx bs=512 count=1

at first I got a permission denied error so I "su root" and the got device busy.

 

Does anyone know a way to do this from DOS or XP?

Any idea why the device is busy when you can do it in linux?

And is bs=512 is correct for the osx bootloader or is it bigger?

 

Any help appreciated.

 

This, I know how to answer. If you do have an active Darwin bootloader on the hard disk (it can boot into OSX without the DVD when the HFS+ partition is set active), -- then what you need to do is copy the Chain0 boot file from the \usr\standalone\i386 folder on the OSX partition to the root directory of the Windows partition. Assuming that XP boots when the Windows partition is active, modify the BOOT.INI file to include C:\Chain0 = "OSX" in the boot menu. Don't try to create the file for the Boot.ini entry with the dd command. You should be able to uninstall the Acronis boot manager and boot between XP and OSX using the Windows boot menu.

 

I think this doesn't work for me, because the Darwin bootloader has been removed from Sector 0 of the hard disk. But if you can now boot OSX from the hard disk without the DVD, it should work for you.

[emarelem]

* {Sound of head being slapped with hand!!!!}

 

Thats what I get for believing forum post rather than reading the instructions.......According to the post I read, chain0 was only for installs on different HDDs...... But in fact it does exactly what I was trying to do with the dd command.

 

Off to try this now.

 

Acronis bootmanager is not being used because I have had bad experiences with them before. In my opinion all OS installs should be completly self sufficient & contained within their partition. Removal of one should not affect the running of another more than requiring the setting of a partition active.

[emarelem]

Didn't work.

 

I select "Mac OS x86" in the boot.ini menu - I get 1 sec of the rotating / and then it starts the boot.ini menu again. It is obvoiusly working but misconfigured by MBR code Active partition ect causing it to boot windows.

 

Current setup is.

HDD1 MBR set by Windows XP setup after the install of OSX

Part1 = NTFS Pri Active "Windows XP"

Part2 = AF, HFS+ Pri "Mac OS X 86"

Part3 = Ext NTFS "Data"

 

 

Need better documentation on how the chain0 works.

[emarelem]

Didn't work but I figured it out.

 

The Darwin boot loader that Chain0 runs just defaults to the active partition which of course just reloads XPs boot.ini menu.....

You can interupt it if you press F8 on when the / is rotating, this gives you a menu and from there I can select the non active OSX partition.

 

All works fine now apart from sound Network Wireless Camera......

[lennyb]

I'm still hoping someone can tell me how to recopy the Darwin bootloader to a hard disk without reinstalling the operating system.

[gnomes]

I need some real help at the moment..

 

I had XP and OSX duel-booting using the built in Windows bootloader. Then I made a larger AF partition, restored the small 6gig deadmoo partition to it, repaired the permissions and what not. Then after booting into Windows and merging the original 6gig back into a Windows drive and rebooting, if I try and boot up the new, larger OSX drive I get "chain booting error"

 

I tried using BootMagic as well and it just gives me a blank screen.

[Dark Mist X]

It seems like I'm having my own special little problem (Note: I'm reformatting right now but awnser just incase I have the same problem):

 

I had Win XP Pro installed... I have everything prepared... I install OSX Successfully... Not getting dual boot screen and without DVD it comes up and says "Please insert correct media in the drive" well thats not possible since my hard drive is the only boot drive I have listed! I can get OSX to boot with the DVD but when I try to change the startup disc I get an error that says something like "Unexpected close"! I didn't know what to do so I'm reinstalling windows right now... I did everything before hand with chain 0 and boot.ini. I had installed 10.4.5 and everything worked up to this point... Please help it is causing me to waste many words! :-P Thank you!