OEM Windows Vista and OSx86 dualboot config, but with 2 internal hard drives (non-raid)...

[©öñFü5íóÑ]

I have a moderately "new" system that I aquired earlier this year that came with an OEM version of Windows Vista (home premium, 32-bit). It came with TWO internal hard drives, ~250GB EACH. Here's the current layout:

 

(C:) = master drive; Windows Vista (OEM)

-(D:) = logical partition; used for Windows Vista recovery (OEM); I am unwilling to do anything with this partition.

 

(E:) = secondary hard disk; currently mounted but UNused (NTFS)

 

 

I would like to make use of the secondary hard disk as the target for installing OSx86. I was originally considering installing OSx86 through VMware Server v1.0.3, but after reading through numerous sources that the performance is slow, I decided to go for a dual-boot configuration.

 

Please:

What is the best way to set up a dual-boot configuration with my current dual-drive setup?

 

If possible, I do not want to do any repartitioning nor any kind of resizing of my (C:) drive. Otherwise, I am willing to install a boot-loader or make a minor boot.ini alteration on it...

If you really, really want to know my system specs they are:

*Intel Core2 Duo (E6400 @ 2.13GHz)

*2GB RAM

*250GB (hard disk 1) + 250GB (hard disk 2)

*Windows Vista Home Premium

 

BTW: when I say "OEM", I mean "h3wlett-p4ckard"..... (just to be clear)

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance and advice!

[©öñFü5íóÑ]

I also want to add that despite the fact that I've had this new computer for about 6-7 months already, I am still relatively new to Vista and am NOT sure if the installation proceedure differs from that of a XP Home/XP Pro user who also wants to set up a dual boot config. Or does it differ at all?

[Swami the Jerk]

ahhh...

even i wanted to know whether there is any difference in the way we can install using XP...

coz, i prefer XP over vista

and the first person sed tht he dont want any performance issues, so he don't want to use VM..

but, cant ya use VM to install it to ur E: drive and boot from it?

[©öñFü5íóÑ]

ahhh...

even i wanted to know whether there is any difference in the way we can install using XP...

coz, i prefer XP over vista

and the first person sed tht he dont want any performance issues, so he don't want to use VM..

but, cant ya use VM to install it to ur E: drive and boot from it?

 

 

heheh... Swami... i -AM- the first and second guy!!! lol

 

Anyway, yeah... i suppose that I -could- install OSx86 on VMware and have the whole thing "installed on" and set to "run off of" the E: drive. But I really, REALLY would like to experience this great operating system in it's native speed (on my kind of system, anyways). lol

 

I mean, I use Virtual PC 2007 to boot XP and while I can run text programs just fine, games and other multimedia stuff just brings the whole dang thing to a crawl. And I've never used VMware before... you can call me a bit uh... 'prejudiced' about it, but if VPC is slow, I'd naturally believe any virtualization method (VMware) to be only marginally faster (not by much).

 

Bottom line, I want break-neck, break-back, zero-seconds to a concussion-type of speed!

[Swami the Jerk]

yea, but still i dont understand why u saying u want to do it with VM, but at the same time u want blazing speed

coz, if ya install in vm to a phjysical hdd, u can just boot from it, and u get a real good perfomance

[©öñFü5íóÑ]

Swami, i don't intend to be mean... but you misunderstood me.

I WANT TO AVOID VMWARE!!!!!!!

 

 

Anyway, I tried installing OSx86 10.4.9 (UpHuck's v1.4ix) on my HP Pavillion m7780n and it FAILED.

 

 

Again, here are my specs:

 

Computer model: HP Pavillion m7780n

OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

MoBo: ASUS P5BW-LA (according to HP's website)

Processors: Core2Duo (2.13 GHz and 2.13 GHz)

RAM: 2 GB

Hard Drive(s): 2 internal SATA; 250GB( C: holds Vista); 250GB( E: target for OSX installation)

 

 

I want to install OS X 10.4.9 (UPHUCK v1.4ix) on my E: drive (see above description).

 

I deleted my E: drive from the disk manager and so now it is unformated (it was being unused anyway).

 

The hard drives are NOT set to RAID. (THEY ARE NOT IN RAID MODE)

 

I can boot the OSx DVD disc (UPHUCK v1.4ix) just fine.

 

I already tried booting with the "-v" option and i still get this error:

 

"Still waiting for root device."

 

 

I'd appreciate any ideas. Thanks.

[©öñFü5íóÑ]

Ok, sorry... i got the installer to work, but I don't have time to install it just yet. I'll try installing it later tonight after I get back from some errands.

 

But what I can say right now is that for anyone who has the same or similar computer model as I do (HP Pavillion m7780n), here's what I did.

 

(I'm assuming that your 2nd internal hard drive is NOT BEING USED; most modern HP -DESKTOP- computers come with 2 hard drives)

 

{the 1st hard drive holds the Windows installation and a LOGICAL partition as a factory restore hard drive image; the 2nd hard drive is empty}

 

 

In Windows Vista Home Premium (the OEM version that came preinstalled with your computer), go to the "Disk Manager" and DELETE the (E:) drive.

 

Once it says that it is "unallocated", hit WINDOWS BUTTON + R and type 'diskpart' (without quotes)

 

Type in (press enter after typing each line):

 

list disk

select disk 1

create partition primary id=af

list partition

active

exit

NOTE: selecting 'disk 1' means that you're chosing the previously designated E: drive, which currently is unallocated to Windows Vista.

 

Now, put in the OSX install disk DVD.

Restart your computer.

 

Hold F10 to enter your BIOS setup.

Go to 'Advanced'.

 

Now, where it allows you to change a setting dealing with SATA, select that.

It should give you another set of options: {IDE, RAID, or ACPI (or something that started with the letter 'A')}

 

Select the third one.

Exit and save settings.

 

Now reboot and proceed to launch the OSX DVD (the OSX DVD is still in your disc drive). (no need for any boot options.)

 

 

BEFORE PROCEEDING:

Wait until the OSX dvd is finished loading itself up.

 

Now make sure you launch "Disk Utility".

 

Select the hard disk that has no name attached to it.

NOTE: The hard disk that has the default Windows Vista partition is named "HP" (if you have a Hewlett-Packard computer; the 2nd drive (D:) is the system restore drive... DO NOT TOUCH THAT EITHER!)

 

Format it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

 

Once that is done, you can now proceed to install OSx86 10.4.9 (uphuck v1.4ix).

 

.

.

.

NOTE: This is as far as I have proceeded. I have some errands to run before I can continue to install OS X.

 

However, I presume that once the OSX install is complete, all I have to do is the following:

 

Remove the DVD disc.

Reboot the computer.

Press F10 to enter the BIOS settings.

Change the SATA setting back to RAID (from AC** -> RAID)

Save and exit.

Reboot.

 

And then I can go back into Windows.

 

 

However, if I am to boot into the INSTALLED OSX, I would simply revert back to ACPI in the BIOS settings and make sure the boot order is changed so that the OSX hard disk is set to boot first BEFORE the Windows Vista hard disk.

 

Yes, it's a pain right now, but hopefully, one of you might find a better way to boot with two internal hard drives.

[guilliamo]

Take a look at <http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=63551&pid=449766&mode=threaded&start=#entry449766>.

 

That case was an HP laptop with two internal drives, and OSX installed first, but the basic issues are identical.

 

Once you have Vista on your first drive & OSX on your second, you can use the BIOS settings to change which drive/operating system boots (functional but inelegant).

 

EasyBCD allows you to use the built-in Vista bootloader to select which operating system to boot to AND which is the default (functional, elegant and free).

 

EasyBCD is your friend !!!!

 

By the way, "deleting" your E drive in Vista before you boot the OSX DVD and format/install OSX does not hurt anything, but is an unneeded extra step.

I personally like the technique of electrically disconnecting your Vista drive (while shut down, of course) and then installing OSX. It is soooo easy to format or delete the wrong drive/partition, especially when both hard drives are the same model !!!

 

G

 

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

HP Laptop DV9230US 1.66 GHz Core2Duo 2GB DDR2 RAM F27 BIOS w/Bluedragon1971 whitelist patch to allow booting with non-stock mini-PCIE wireless card

2X 250GB (2X 233GB Formatted) WD SATA WD2500BEVS Hard Drives (run quiet and cool)

Dell 1490 (Broadcom) mini-PCIE Wireless

Vista Ultimate on first HDD, formatted NTFS

OSX86 10.4.10 (Uphuck 10.4.9 1.4ir3 followed by KoolKal 10.4.10 updater) on second HDD, formatted HFS+ & MBR

Darwin Kernel 8.10.1: Wed May 23 16:33:00 PDT 2007; Sochi2014:VoteForUs/RELEASE_I386

EasyBCD BootLoader

 

XBench 1.3: 109.19

Working in OSX: Sleep; Dual widescreen monitors (Internal @ 1440 by 900 & external Dell 2405FPW 24" LCD DVI @ 1920 by 1200) both w/QE/CI/Rotation, iLife08, iWork08, Built-in speakers, Camera/PhotoBooth, Sonix WebCam Monitor, Wireless

Not working in OSX: Sound in/out other than built-in speakers (Conexant), card reader

 

Ok, sorry... i got the installer to work, but I don't have time to install it just yet. I'll try installing it later tonight after I get back from some errands.

 

But what I can say right now is that for anyone who has the same or similar computer model as I do (HP Pavillion m7780n), here's what I did.

 

(I'm assuming that your 2nd internal hard drive is NOT BEING USED; most modern HP -DESKTOP- computers come with 2 hard drives)

 

{the 1st hard drive holds the Windows installation and a LOGICAL partition as a factory restore hard drive image; the 2nd hard drive is empty}

In Windows Vista Home Premium (the OEM version that came preinstalled with your computer), go to the "Disk Manager" and DELETE the (E:) drive.

 

Once it says that it is "unallocated", hit WINDOWS BUTTON + R and type 'diskpart' (without quotes)

 

Type in (press enter after typing each line):

 

list disk

select disk 1

create partition primary id=af

list partition

active

exit

NOTE: selecting 'disk 1' means that you're chosing the previously designated E: drive, which currently is unallocated to Windows Vista.

 

Now, put in the OSX install disk DVD.

Restart your computer.

 

Hold F10 to enter your BIOS setup.

Go to 'Advanced'.

 

Now, where it allows you to change a setting dealing with SATA, select that.

It should give you another set of options: {IDE, RAID, or ACPI (or something that started with the letter 'A')}

 

Select the third one.

Exit and save settings.

 

Now reboot and proceed to launch the OSX DVD (the OSX DVD is still in your disc drive). (no need for any boot options.)

BEFORE PROCEEDING:

Wait until the OSX dvd is finished loading itself up.

 

Now make sure you launch "Disk Utility".

 

Select the hard disk that has no name attached to it.

NOTE: The hard disk that has the default Windows Vista partition is named "HP" (if you have a Hewlett-Packard computer; the 2nd drive (D:) is the system restore drive... DO NOT TOUCH THAT EITHER!)

 

Format it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

 

Once that is done, you can now proceed to install OSx86 10.4.9 (uphuck v1.4ix).

 

.

.

.

NOTE: This is as far as I have proceeded. I have some errands to run before I can continue to install OS X.

 

However, I presume that once the OSX install is complete, all I have to do is the following:

 

Remove the DVD disc.

Reboot the computer.

Press F10 to enter the BIOS settings.

Change the SATA setting back to RAID (from AC** -> RAID)

Save and exit.

Reboot.

 

And then I can go back into Windows.

However, if I am to boot into the INSTALLED OSX, I would simply revert back to ACPI in the BIOS settings and make sure the boot order is changed so that the OSX hard disk is set to boot first BEFORE the Windows Vista hard disk.

 

Yes, it's a pain right now, but hopefully, one of you might find a better way to boot with two internal hard drives.

[©öñFü5íóÑ]

By the way, "deleting" your E drive in Vista before you boot the OSX DVD and format/install OSX does not hurt anything, but is an unneeded extra step.

I personally like the technique of electrically disconnecting your Vista drive (while shut down, of course) and then installing OSX. It is soooo easy to format or delete the wrong drive/partition, especially when both hard drives are the same model !!!

 

 

Thank you, guilliamo! Actually, that's news for me... lol. But i'm the kind of person who, when I have to kill a colony of ants, I don't reach for raid... no... i reach for a flame thrower. (i just have to be quadruple sure it's gonna work the first time.)