wtcnbrwndo4u Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 So I boot it up in my Dell laptop (3.06GHz 533MHz w/HT) and it opens fine. I accept the license and asks what partition to install to. Nothing shows up. The AF partition is set as the active partition. I used PowerQuest Partition Magic 8 by the way. I used these guides: http://www.profit42.com/guides.php?id=1 Any ideas? I'm just finding out about SSE2 and SSE3. My laptop has SSE2. Does that mean my CD is now a bum? Do I need to reburn? I mean... it booted, but couldn't find the partition. Do I need to repartition or something? Would be thankful if I got a response quick... Thanks... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefsalami Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Could be very simple. Do you have a SATA hard drive? What model Dell exactly do you have? If so, that could be it. I have that problem on my laptop (a Gateway CX-200X), and I have not been able to successfully boot OS X. I can install it through VMWare, but then it doesn't boot. Or, I can boot the DVD, and it doesn't even see the hard drive. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51942 Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtcnbrwndo4u Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 Thanks for replying. I have a Dell Inspiron 5150. No, there is no SATA HD. It runs on the 852GME chipset if I am not mistaken. SSE2 is the CPU support (if you need that). BTW, I installed the Jas patch only. No others. That might help. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51943 Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefsalami Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Then what you might have to do it boot the DVD, and go to Tools -> Disk Utility once the Installer is up. You might have to re-format the partition you created. Format it as an HFS+ (journaled) partition, then exit Disk Utility and continue with the OS X installation. It should then see your partition and you should be able to install there. Keep in mind, that will screw your MBR record, so you may not be able to boot Windows after that. Make sure you have Acronis or some other bootloader to be able to recover the boot sector and be able to get back into Windows. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51946 Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtcnbrwndo4u Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 MBR record? I have Acronis installed in Windows... Currently, I am using SPFDisk to change the active partitions. Does that help? Do you have an AIM screenname or Yahoo s/n? That would be easier and fast. PM me if you do. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51948 Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefsalami Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 I don't use any chat programs, so no. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51950 Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtcnbrwndo4u Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 Ok... But about the MBR Record thingy... Could you clarify your post? Are you saying to be able to change the active partition so you can get back into Windows? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51951 Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefsalami Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 The MBR is the Master Boot Record. It is what specifies what the active partition is, and has some OS-specific data there. When you do the format through Disk Utility, it re-writes the MBR, partly to tell the disk that there is now an HFS+ formatted partition there. So you need something like Acronis, which can look at the various partitions on your drive, and recognize the correct format of them, to re-write the MBR so you can now boot Windows again. Otherwise, only Mac OS X will be bootable, and you will get an error if you try to specify the startup volume through OS X as the Windows one. But you need to essentially have the "restore" Acronis media made, because you won't be able to get back into Windows yet in order to use Acronis. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51970 Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtcnbrwndo4u Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 {censored}... did I do something wrong? I erased the drive using Disk Utility. It saw the drive. It's checking the DVD right now? Do I have to have Acronis installed??? And does it need to be installed for Mac or XP? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51972 Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefsalami Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Well, if you wanted to erase the entire drive, you're OK. If you wanted to dual-boot Windows also, then you won't be able to now. You'll need to create another partition on the drive, and install Windows again there. Then you can install Acronis and be able to dual-boot. Although, the best way to leave yourself a partition to install Windows onto is to use Disk Utility in the OS X install and create the other partition there. Then install. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-51973 Share on other sites More sharing options...
skater Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 My opinion is : always be very careful . They wanted you to format the partition , not to erase the disk . The "format" word does not appear in Disk Utility . You have to select a disk ( hard drive ) or one of its volumes ( a partition ) . Now you can choose "erase" , and by "erase" the Disk utility means "formatting" . By doing so you can "erase" ( format ) a partition on a disk without erasing the entire disk . http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?ho...663entry51663 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-52038 Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtcnbrwndo4u Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 My opinion is : always be very careful . They wanted you to format the partition , not to erase the disk . The "format" word does not appear in Disk Utility . You have to select a disk ( hard drive ) or one of its volumes ( a partition ) . Now you can choose "erase" , and by "erase" the Disk utility means "formatting" . By doing so you can "erase" ( format ) a partition on a disk without erasing the entire disk . http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?ho...663entry51663 Well, that's what I did. I chose my AF partition and clicked erase... I have a 40GB HD by the way. I made a 6.5GB partition for Mac (going to extend it) and left the Windows one as 31.5ish GB. Well, if you wanted to erase the entire drive, you're OK. If you wanted to dual-boot Windows also, then you won't be able to now. You'll need to create another partition on the drive, and install Windows again there. Then you can install Acronis and be able to dual-boot. Although, the best way to leave yourself a partition to install Windows onto is to use Disk Utility in the OS X install and create the other partition there. Then install. So, my Windows partition still exists. I didn't kill the entire drive... Do I now use SPFDisk to change the active partition to Windows? Then I would use Acronis and set up the dual-boot menu? I'll try it when I get home. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-52193 Share on other sites More sharing options...
skater Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 If OSX installed correctly, its partition is now active and if you restart your computer it will boot OSX . If you want a dual boot menu you need to execute spfdisk ( i suggest you download UBCD ) , set the XP partition as active, reboot on it and install something to present you with an OS choice at start up . I do it with Acronis boot selector , other people seem to do it with a slight change in XP boot ini file . I didn't try the latter . Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-52205 Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtcnbrwndo4u Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 If OSX installed correctly, its partition is now active and if you restart your computer it will boot OSX . If you want a dual boot menu you need to execute spfdisk ( i suggest you download UBCD ) , set the XP partition as active, reboot on it and install something to present you with an OS choice at start up . I do it with Acronis boot selector , other people seem to do it with a slight change in XP boot ini file . I didn't try the latter . Thank you skater. You gave me the info I was looking for! However, when I tried booting the CD (it's a laptop), it kept trying to boot, but got stuck when it was looking for FAT32 drives (my external is FAT32). Hmm... maybe I should disconnect it... One more thing. Drivers... Is there a driver for Creative's Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook edition (aka PCMCIA). The other driver I need is the Dell TrueMobile 1470 driver (wireless card). I found one for 1450, so I'll try that out. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-52219 Share on other sites More sharing options...
skater Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 My Desktop sound card is a Creative too , and I have no sound . As for my laptop, much older , and equipped with simple AC97 , it works perfectly . I checked the Creative site yesteday and as far as I could see they don't provide drivers for Mac Intel yet , but I could be wrong . Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-52222 Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousi Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Well, that's what I did. I chose my AF partition and clicked erase... I have a 40GB HD by the way. I made a 6.5GB partition for Mac (going to extend it) and left the Windows one as 31.5ish GB. So, my Windows partition still exists. I didn't kill the entire drive... Do I now use SPFDisk to change the active partition to Windows? Then I would use Acronis and set up the dual-boot menu? I'll try it when I get home. Get this: It's free http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ Burn it, boot with it, select the F3 tools, select GRUB and it will give you the choice to boot back in windows. It will also reset the active partition to XP. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/8379-1043-dvd-boots-but-cant-find-the-af-partition/#findComment-52267 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts