Nickmolt Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Hello everyone! first of all, i'd like to say that i've been looking a lot on this forum overall for a reply, but none of the solutions proposed would work. So, here is my problem: I've been trying to install OSX 86 in dual boot with xp on my acer travelmate 4210 laptop (dual core) with 1 hdd with 2 partitions on it. I've followed exactly the instuctions on this guide: http://www.profit42.com/index.php/2006/05/...ndows-computer/ which basically says to use diskpart to prepare the partition for max osx and set it active, and then acronis boot loader to make the dual boot. On my first try, the computer stayed hanged once this installation done, on the startup screen of Mac os, because i forgot to use the option "customize", but apart that, everything was ok, even the dual boot (with acronis). So i tried to reinstall it a couple of time, using the same method, except no to use acronis to boot. Then i got the hall.dll error message, and couldn't boot on any system, except on Mac os, using the install dvd. So i restored my windows install with the ghost image, but still got the hall.dll message. then, i fixed it editing the windows boot.ini file (changed the partition nbr). After that, i made several researches on google and tried to edit the mac os boot file, but without sucess. Then i realised that maybe the mac partition wasn't active. So, on win xp, with partition Magic i set the mac os partition to active. Then rebooting, i got the following message: ""error loading the operating system". After a couple of tries, i managed restoring my xp install, by first formating the drive with the windows xp install cd, and then restoring the image with ghost. I have to say that i could not reset the windows partition to active, because in (windows or dos) fdisk, i could ony see the usb's key drive, which i used as a boot disk, even though the xp install drive was formated in fat 32. So, after having restored xp, i tried to boot again on mac os, but at this time, even the boot through the dvd didn't work anymore. So, after a google search, i decided to try the chain0 method to create a boot loader. A this point, got both os to appear on dos, so i selected mac osx86, but then i got the message "Chain booting error". So i tried to fix it by checking that the HFS partition was primary, had no extended partition before, which was ok, and then i returned on windows to set it active (with partition magic), and then, when i rebooted, i got again the message ""error loading the operating system", and had to reformat with xp cd and restore my ghoste image and so on... So, as i got the dual boot to appear on dos, and managed to boot to mac os installed on the partition with the dvd, i thnk that i'm not too far from the goal, and that this problem might just be a booting matter. So, could anyone suggest me anything to would help me out? thanks very much in advance and greetings P.S. I have to mention that during the installation, i never archived to have a destination disk to appear automatically for the files of mac os, withous using the mac dvd disk utility to earase (format) the partition, even though the partition had been prepared AF, primary and active with diskpart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oracle67 Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Prepare the installation from Windows by fixing the partitions, start Os installation and when you are about to erase the second partiton from Disc Utility erase using "one pass" to secure erase your disc (it takes some time but it help). Acronis Os selector works great most of the time and you can prepare a boot disc with Acronis (just in case...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickmolt Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 Thks Oracle76, i tried your suggestion (erasing the data on osx drive (writing zeros) with the install DVD, and then reinstalling OSX). after that, i restored my ghost image of xp and tried the chain0 method. Now what i get is a dos dual boot menu with xp and mac osx 86 as option. When i choose mac osx, i get a black screen for half a second, just like if the os where booting, and then i get the boot menu back, and then it boots automaticaly to xp after a couple of seconds. For your info, here is my partitions pattern: Partition Type Size Mb Used Mb Unsed Mb Status Pri/log Disk 1 * Unallocated 3992.7 0.0 0.0 None Primary ACER © FAT 32 45'449.5 13'654.4 31'804.1 Active Primary Local disk (F) FAT 32 25'603.6 6.5 25'597.1 None Primary Local disk (*) type AF 20'348.0 20'348.0 0.0 None Primary * was kind of an Acer image recovery partition, which i can't get rid of. I know i should set the AF partition to active, but if i do it, then i can't boot anymore to any system. The only way to revert it is to reformat the xp drive and restore xp using the ghost image, as i can't see (dunno why) my xp partition in Fdisk, even though it's Fat 32... So the big question is. how can i set active my osx partition and at the same time be able to boot to xp or Mac os? As according to what i guess, the xp partition should be active, in order to boot to it, isn't it? i'm sure it's just a boot configuration question, but i just can't find the answer... If anyone would have an idea, i would really appreciate. Tks and greetings. I alerady almost found out the solution, making a search on this forum with chain0. I found out that I had to press F8 after having selected Mac OSx on the boot menu, and then select the partition on which was installed osx. No my question, how could i have the boot menu to direct me directly to mac os, without having to press F8 after i have selected mac os? tks and greetings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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