Big Floppy Donkey Disk

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Triple Boot Windows 7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard & Ubuntu 10.04


Hey Floppers and welcome back to Big Floppy Donkey Disk!

Today I'm going to share with you all my most recent adventure into the realms of multi-booting operation systems.

Why would I want to triple boot Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu?

Well...

Windows
Windows has been my OS of choice for most of my life; it's flexibility, compatibility and gaming capabilities are excellent. Whether you like Microsoft or not, it is the dominant OS so you're probably going to need to use it.

Ubuntu
Ubuntu is the up-and-coming giant-killer of the Linux world. Being Linux, it is free, incredibly fast (loads instantly), secure and open to customization. Ubuntu itself has an incredibly helpful online community (see http://ubuntuforums.org/), dream-like package management (every application on your computer can be upgraded with the click of a button) and a user interface that I personally find easier to navigate than Mac OS X (although I am still at early stages with both OSes). And seriously, compared to other Linux distros I've tried, everything just seems to work in Ubuntu.

OS X
I've never been a Mac fanboy, in fact I've spent a lot of my uni life paying out on them. However, with the arrival of the iPhone/iPad, and the draconian restrictions on the Apple Developer Program, I've realised I'm going to have to suck it up and learn how to code Steve Jobs-style if I want to make some money on the smartphone market. Hence, I'm finally installing Mac OS X and am ready to be blown away by its style, user friendliness, security, Steve Jobs' sexy turtle-neck, etc. etc.

Why not just use wubi?
Two reasons: because wubi loads Ubuntu directly from the Windows partition, instead of its own filesystem, Ubuntu will run slower through wubi than via a side-by-side installation. Furthermore, I was unable to get wubi to install Ubuntu successfully on my dual-booted Windows 7/Snow Leopard machine. I believe it may have been to do with 64-bit Windows 7.

Okay, down to business...




Notes before we start
  • This guide is for Intel-based multi core processors, specifically I'm using a HP dv5 laptop Core2Duo, but it should work with i3/5/7 (see comments below this post). The operating systems we're installing are Windows 7 Professional (64-bit), Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop Edition.
  • I can't garuantee that this will work with anything else, but you can always try and post your results. More results = better guides = less heartache and pain for other fledgling developers.
Guides that I used
My hardware specs

Modelhp dv5-1138tx
CPU2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8400
Memory2gb
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512mb
Hard Drive250 GB (5400 rpm)
NetworkIntegrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
WirelessIntel WiFi Link 5100

Things you'll need
  • Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) Install DVD
  • Mac OS X Snow Leopard Boot Camp DVD, only $39 from the Apple Store
  • Ubuntu 10.04 (amd64) Desktop Edition + blank CD to burn it to, only $0 from all the generous developers around the world
  • In order to boot the Mac OS X Retail DVD, you'll need to download and burn one of the 3 versions of iBoot.  The most universal solution is iBoot NVIDIA. iBoot ATI adds drivers to support more ATI graphics cards. Or if you have a supported processor, such as the Core/Core2, or a new i3/i5 dual core, try iBoot Supported- with Vanilla kernel. For more info (and some experimental iBoot versions, such as support for Intel GMA HD) go to tonymacx86's iBoot Wiki page.

     
  • MultiBeast (download) - Used to install additional kexts after Snow Leopard installation
  • Mac OS X 10.6.4 Combo Update (download) - Used to upgrade Snow Leopard to latest version
  • Put MultiBeast and the Combo Update onto a USB drive or a blank CD so you can load them later, as you may not have an internet connection.
  • This process takes 3-5 hours, depending on whether you encounter any hiccups along the way. Be Patient!

Phase One: Partitioning & Formatting

  1. BACK UP ALL IMPORTANT DATA ON YOUR COMPUTER! You will have to erase your hard drive completely in this process.
  2. Turn your computer on and put the iBoot CD in. Make sure your computer is booting from the CD/DVD drive before the hard drive (if it isn't, go into the BIOS settings at start up, by pressing ESC or whatever is prompted, and edit the Boot Order so that the CD/DVD drive is above the hard drive). When loading from iBoot, the Chameleon boot screen should load:
  3. Note: There may be more icons on the screen than this, indicating existing OSes. However this CD icon is the one we are interested in.
  4. Remove the iBoot CD from your drive and put in the Snow Leopard Boot Camp DVD, then hit f5. If any errors pop up, don't worry; just wait for the DVD to load. The screen should eventually refresh with the following:
  5. Choose the Mac OS X Install DVD and hit enter.
  6. The Snow Leopard install screen should appear. Alternatively, you may get a screen asking you to turn your computer off then on again. If this occurs, repeat steps 2 - 4 until you get the Snow Leopard install screen. If it repeatedly doesn't work, try typing -x  and hitting enter when you get the Mac OS X Install DVD icon; this will start the install in safe mode. Alternatively, if this still doesn't work, type -v at the Mac OS X Install DVD icon screen and hit enter, to load verbose mode, and paste your details in a comment below so that I (or someone) can help you.









  7. Select your language and click the next arrow.
  8. When the OS is loaded, select Utilities -> Disk Utility.

  9. Select the hard drive you want to install your triple boot on from the left-hand menu, then select the Partition tab on the right panel.

  10. Note: Under the Volume Scheme heading, there should be one partition at the moment (assuming you haven't partitioned the drive already). For my purposes, I wish to create a separate logical partition for shared storage, which we will use in a later guide, so I will create four partitions all up; one for each OS, and one for storage. If you do not wish to create a partition for shared storage, you only need three partitions all up. My hard drive was 250GB, so I split the partitions like so: Snow Leopard - 40GB, Windows 7 - 80GB, Ubuntu - 30GB, Storage - 99.72GB (a bit of space is used up by gaps between partitions). You can choose your own sizes, but I would not recommend OS X or Windows having less than 20GB each, or Ubuntu less than 10GB.
    10th Aug 2010, Update: If you want the Storage partition to be accessible in Windows, you must make sure it is adjacent to the Windows partition (since Windows is MBR and that only allows four visible partitions). So the partitions should go 1. Snow Leopard 2. Windows 3. Storage 4. Linux. Note that the screenshots below are in the wrong order; ie. they list the partitions in order 1. Snow Leopard 2. Windows 3. Ubuntu 4. Storage. My apologies for the confusion!
  11. Select the first partition and press the '+' symbol down the bottom left to split this partition into two.
  12. Select the new partition and press the '+' again, select the new partition and (if you want a logical storage drive) press the '+' once more. You should now have four separate partitions.
  13. Re-select the first partition, name it Snow Leopard, and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) under Format, and type 40 (or whatever size you choose) for Size.

  14. Select the second partition, name: Windows 7, format: MSDOS(FAT), size: 80.

  15. Select the third partition, name: Storage, format: MSDOS(FAT), size: variable (whatever you don't want to use for Ubuntu).
  16. Select the fourth partition, name: Ubuntu, format: MSDOS(FAT), size: 30.

  17. Click the Options button and select GUID Partition Table, then click OK.
  18. Click Apply, then Partition.
  19. When the partition has finished, close the Disk Utility window.

Phase Two: Installing Snow Leopard
  1. When the Snow Leopard install screen reappears, select Continue.
  2. Agree to the Terms and Conditions.
  3. When asked which partition you wish to install to, select Snow Leopard.

  4. Select Customize.
  5. In the Customize window, de-select everything except the Printers Used by This Mac option. This will speed up the install process.

  6. Select OK, then select Install. The install took about 19 minutes for me.
  7. When the installation finishes, select Restart, or let the computer restart automatically.
  8. As soon as the computer starts loading up again, put the iBoot CD into the disc drive.
  9. The Chameleon boot screen should now appear with the iBoot CD, the Snow Leopard installation and the other three partitions you created.

  10. Select Snow Leopard and hit enter. The funky Mac OS X Welcome Video will pop up and show just how hip and with-it Steve Jobs is.
  11. Select your country, keyboard layout, internet connection options, contact details, password, time & date, etc.

    Note: At this point in time, there doesn't appear to be any wifi drivers for a hp dv5 hackintosh, so you'll need an ethernet connection (network cable) to connect directly to your router.

  12. After you've been through all the set-up steps, the desktop should load. It may ask you to set up Time Machine with one of your other partitions. Select Decide Later.
  13. Now we will update the operating system and install relevant drivers. Insert the CD or USB with the Combo Upgrade and MultiBeast on it.

    Note: In OS X, you eject CDs by pressing the little eject icon up the top right of the desktop.

  14. A CD/USB icon should appear on your desktop, double-click it to open up its contents and drag the MultiBeast and Combo Upgrade files to the desktop for easier use.
  15. Open MultiBeast. Don't start installing it yet, just leave the screen open. If it closes unexpectedly, just keep reopening it until it stays open.
  16. Double-click MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.4.dmg to mount the disc image and double-click MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.4.pkg to install the update.

  17. Follow the installation steps, however do not restart your computer when it finishes.
  18. Switch to the MultiBeast installation and select Continue. Follow the prompts.

    Note: When it comes to choosing packages for the custom install of MultiBeast, it varies depending on your machine. You can read about MultiBeast setups on tonymacx86's blog, as he is the author of this software. Personally, I used the exact configuration from the screen shots of Step 5 - Upgrading and Multibeast on Kyle's guide Dual Booting Windows 7 and Snow Leopard on a HP dv5 Laptop.

  19. a) Once MultiBeast is finished installing, restart your computer with the iBoot CD in the disc drive. Confirm that Snow Leopard still loads successfully.
    b) Alternatively, you can also install Chameleon, the bootloader we have been using, to your Snow Leopard partition so that you don't need to use the iBoot CD any more. If you wish to do this, refer to Step 6 - Installing Chameleon of Kyle's guide for instructions on how to install Chameleon onto your OS X drive manually. Personally I didn't do this step, as later we will be installing the Grub bootloader over it anyway.

    Note: If you have any problems with the installation, you can follow tonymacx86's guide iBoot + MultiBeast: Install Mac OS X on any Intel-based PC from Step 2: Install Mac OS X, number 14. onwards. Alternatively, you can post in the InsanelyMac forums for help, or post a comment here and I'll try and help.

Phase Three: Installing Windows 7
  1. Restart your computer with the Windows 7 Install DVD in the disc drive. If you get a screen like the one below, type the number 0, then press any key to boot from the DVD.
  2. When the installation screen loads, follow the prompts, selecting language, keyboard, etc.
  3. At Which type of installation do you want?, choose Custom (advanced).
  4. At Where do you want to install Windows?, select the Windows 7 partition (it should be Partition 3.
  5. Select Drive options (advanced).
  6. Select Format.
  7. Select OK.
  8. Select Next.

  9. After the initial install process, the computer will reboot. Remove the Windows Install DVD from the disc drive and when the installation loads again, follow the prompts (name, password, product key, etc.).

  10. Note: The Windows installation will take a while and may restart the computer a few times, just wait it out and when the desktop finally loads you'll know it's done.

Phase Four: Installing Ubuntu


This is where things get interesting. If you restart the computer, you'll notice that Windows loads up but completely ignores your Mac OS X installation. This is because Windows has overwritten Chameleon with its own, rather self-centred bootloader that ignores all other OSes. It will also ignore all other logical partitions, except the Storage partition. This is why we install Ubuntu last, because Grub, its bootloader, is far more considerate, acknowledging other operating systems on your computer.

However, because Windows installs using an MBR partition table, and Ubuntu uses a GPT partition table, Grub will not be able to load Windows; instead, when you attempt to load Windows, you'll get the following error message (which plagued me for hours!!):


To fix this, you must install gptsync, a Linux tool that synchronizes MBR partition tables with GPT partition tables, and hence allows Windows to load from the Grub bootloader.

For more information regarding gptsync, see its man page, or the author's main project page rEFIt.

On to the steps...
  1. Put the Ubuntu Install DVD in the disc drive and restart the computer.
  2. After the Ubuntu installation screen appears, select Install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

  3. Follow the prompts until you reach the Prepare disk space step. Select Specify partitions manually (advanced).
















  4. Select the Ubuntu partition. It should have /dev/sda4 under the Device heading, fat32 under the Type heading and 29999MB under the Size heading (assuming you allocated 30GB for this partition).

  5. Select Delete. Under Device, it should now read free space.










    Note: Now we want to partition the drive into three parts: a swap area, which should roughly be double your memory (however 2GB is usually fine), a root drive /, from which the Ubuntu OS and applications load, and a home drive /home, where all personal data is stored. For this guide, I chose to make my swap area 2GB, my root drive 16GB and my home drive 12GB. You can select any sizes you want, however I wouldn't recommend making the root drive less than 10GB (although technically it can go down to 5GB).

    For more information on how to manually allocate Ubuntu partitions, see Manual disk partitioning guide for Linux Mint 9 and Ubuntu 10.04 on LinuxBSDos.com.

  6. Still selecting this free space partition, select Add.
  7. For New partition size in megabytes, type 2000. For Use as:, select swap area.










  8. Click OK. Notice the new drive of type swap has been created.
  9. Select the free space partition and select Add again.
  10. This time, Size: 16000, Use as: Ext4 journaling file system and for Mount point: select /










  11. Click OK.
  12. Again, select the free space partition and select Add.
  13. Make this one Size: 11999, Use as: Ext4 journaling file system, Mount point: /home.

  14. Click OK. Now the whole 30GB should be used up and there should be three new partitions for your Ubuntu install (plus a little free space to separate the partitions).

  15. Select Forward.
  16. Enter your name, login, password, etc. and select Forward.
  17. Don't bother migrating any settings, as you just installed Windows anyway. Just select Forward.
  18. Select Install. Now Ubuntu will explain why it is so amazing to you as it installs itself. This should take roughly 15 minutes.
  19. Once the Ubuntu installation is complete, it will automatically remove the Ubuntu Install DVD from the disc drive and restart the computer. If it doesn't, just do it manually (ie. remove the disc and hold down the power button).
  20. The computer should now load the Grub bootloader.

    Note: The Grub bootloader will load Ubuntu automatically after about 8 seconds if no other OS is selected. If you want to change this, I suggest you google the grub command in Linux.

  21. Now we are going to download gptsync using Linux's Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT. If you're unfamiliar with this process, I'll go through it step by step. For those familiar with Ubuntu or Linux OSes, or those seeking further information on downloading the package, go to the gptsync download page.
  22. Load Ubuntu and make sure you are connected to the internet. You can connect to WiFi by clicking on the icon on the top right of the desktop.

  23. Once you are connected, go to Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal.

  24. Type sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list and hit enter. You will be asked for your administrator (login) password to continue. This will load the list of sources for the package updater in the text editor vi so that we can add a new source.
  25. Scroll down to the bottom of the file using page down or simply by pressing the down arrow. When you reach the end of the file, press the letter o. This will open the edit mode on a new line.
  26. Type deb http://ftp.iinet.net.au/debian/debian sid main

  27. Note: If you are not in Australia, you are better off replacing the ftp.iinet.net.au/debian/debian part with one of the sources listed on the download page.
  28. Press ESC. This will exit edit mode.
  29. Type :wq and hit enter. This will save the file and exit the text editor. If you make a mistake, you can exit without saving by typing :q!.
  30. Now we want to actually install gptsync. Type sudo apt-get install gptsync and hit enter. Install commands should pop up and (hopefully) it should install successfully.

  31. Type sudo gptsync /dev/sda and hit enter. You will receive a message to update partitions from MBR to GPT. Type y and hit enter.

  32. Restart the computer with no disc in the disc drive. Confirm that both Windows 7 and Mac OS X successfully load. If they don't, post a comment on here and I'll try and help.

Conclusion


I hope this helps you to achieve that elusive goal of triple happiness.

Good Luck and remember the key P's of a programmer:
  1. Pursue all possible solutions to your problem. Google is the developer's best friend.
  2. Post in forums, or here, if you can't find a solution.
  3. Don't Panic. Patience and persistence will triumph in the end.
How's that for some funkyzeit alliteration?

Floppy Fran out.

177 comments:

  1. Awesome guide. Thanks for all the detailed info and links to further detail.

    I'm looking to do something similar myself soon but had a couple of questions:

    1. I can't find this model for sale in the UK; What chipset is used in it so that I can try and match it (and the other components) as closely as possible.

    2. You say your guide is for Intel Core i3/5/7 but list your CPU as a Core2Duo. Should your guide work just as well for the Core-i* based laptops?

    Thanks again for all the info.

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  2. hey, nice post. I have been trying this since one week. I could install but I have to use safe mode all the time and it wasn't stable and crashed. Reasons unknown. But, I have an important question. At the chameleon prompt, I always use -v -x (verbose and safe mode). You said if it says to turn off the power and turn it on, I have to repeat steps 2-4 until I get the Snow Leopard install screen. are you sure it works like that because it doesn't make sense !!

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  3. Need help! I have below configuration:
    intel core i7 875k
    H55-USB3
    DDR3 1600 8 GB Mem
    I can boot with Chameleon. But when I load Mac OS retail DVD, after couple min or two, the monitor screen goes black and the CD stops spinning. I tried -v -x option as well. No dice. Any help apprciated. Thx.

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  4. @ruby: RAM should be 4 GB only. When insalling it has to 4GB. After installed you can change back to 8GB

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  5. Thanks, Harmas. I tried with 4 GB Ram. I tried booting with iBoot ATI and iBoot Supported. No dice with both. To give you more info, I already have win 7 on my system. I am trying to dual boot.

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  6. Hi Ruby, Do u mean to say, you didn't go to Snow Leopard install screen?? If didn't, try to install using -v -x option and write where exactly the error is. Also, As you have i7 processor, you have to use iboot supported.
    PS: I had win 7 too before installing mac.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. I have a problem with GPTsync.
    The only message is : No GPT partition table, no need to sync.

    I surely missed an important step but my pc is working and I have a triple boot windows 7/Mac OS X 10.6.4/Ubuntu 10.04

    How I can fix it ?

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  9. I love your instructions, they're clear and easy to follow. I just have one question.

    I already have windows 7 64bit installed on my first 500gb hdd. I'd rather not wipe it and do a fresh install.

    (2 separate hard drives, not partitions)

    I have a second HDD that I'd like to install OSX on. Can I do this and still be able to have the dual boot?

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  10. @Bearcave: yep, you can install mac osx on the other hdd for sure. The dual boot works too as it has nothing to do with partitions and all

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  11. I can't boot mac os x anymore after i install everything
    i select it from grub and it goes to a black screen, then reboots my comp back into grub

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  12. Using a downloaded copy of Snow Leopard I got to the chameleon screen and replaced the Iboot cd with the snow leopard dvd, hit F5, the text under the cd image went distorted so I hit enter thinking it was just an error, the system rebooted and nothing happened, didn't even post. Any Ideas.

    My computer is the following:
    Intel Core i7 860 2.8Ghz
    Asus P7P55D Pro Mother board
    8Gb DDR3 ram
    Radeon 5850 Video Card

    Another quick question, all of the 30$ versions of snow leopard that I've found say that they are upgrades and require leopard to install, and to do a fresh install you need the Mac Box Set version

    Is this true?

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  13. @bearcave: dude, use only 4GB when installing. Remove 4 GB if you can and install. After installing you can simply add back the 4 GB card. If you have a 8GB RAM but not 2 4GB RAMs, then borrow from your friend.

    I donno anything about Mac Box Set

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  14. Hello, I currently already have my triple boot up and running with Snow Leopard 10.5, Windows 7 professional and Ubuntu 10.04. However I did my setup a little differently and this is how I boot.

    I basically installed EasyBCD on Windows 7, which detected the OSX and Ubuntu partitions.When I select Ubuntu, it goes to the grub boot menu which also displays all the OS choices, though I am unable to boot into any other OS from the grub. So I essentially hid the grub menu by setting the timeout to 0 seconds.

    So in a nutshell, EasyBCD is somehow handling all the windows and OSX end then passes the torch to grub to handle Ubuntu.

    My question is this, I saw some really cool ways of customizing the grub boot screen to show icons of the various OS so that it looks so awesome instead of a white text on black ugly boot screen. I believe this program is BURG in linux.

    I would like to instead use grub/burg to boot all my OS'es and I have no idea where to begin without breaking everything. I'd like to avoid reinstalling Windows 7. The others I can do over.

    Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks
    Seon

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  15. @Harmas, I just tried using 4GB of ram. Still no Joy. I even tried a copy of 10.5.6 that I had. Without using Iboot I was able to get to a loading screen but all i saw for 10min was the apple logo and a loading circle.

    When I used Iboot and select the dvd all it does is cause my fans to spin really loud, it looks like its would be rebooting but nothing happens.

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  16. @Bearcave: I had the same problem too. I installed it by going into safe mode(i.e. -v -x). I think the problem is with the sound drivers because when I tried booting in mac OS not using safe mode, I got an error message. After installing the audio drivers, it booted well. May be its just with my laptop but I suggest you to use -v -x to install.

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  17. @Harmas,

    Thanks I'll give that a try. Did you just use the 30$ version of Snow Leopard that you can get in the stores?

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  18. I'll have to go pick one up tomorrow. The copy I downloaded is junk. I asked in the store for it and all they said they had was an "upgrade" version for that price.

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  19. @bearcave: I downloaded it too. I first tried with my frnd's DVD which he got it by buying a macbook pro. I thought you were asking between these two. I downloaded it. So, I guess you shouldn't buy it too.

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  20. any chance you still have the link for the torrent? If so could you e-mail the torrent to me?

    vinico_mm@hotmail.com

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  21. So I tried with the Image link you provided me, and no joy :(. All that happens, even in safe mode is that it seems to be working for a few minutes, the screen is full of files loading and then the fans go really loud, and the monitors shut off.

    I'm thinking that maybe my hardware is incompatible. I'm running a P7P55D Pro board, an ATI 5850 Vid Card and an Intel Core I7 860 processor.

    Any thoughts?

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  22. @bearcave: As far as I know, the board is not a problem because a simple search in google tells me that someone with the same board installed mac. i7 and ATI are not a problem either. The reason for -v is that we can see the errors during installation. So, paste the errors u see on the screen.

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  23. Yeah I was reading similar posts as well. I tried a couple more times looking for errors during install and didn't see anything that looked like errors or failures. There were about 4 lines at the end before it went stupid that I was unable to see even using the pause/break key. Is there a way to get it to save a log somewhere? cause otherwise I'm not sure how I'd spot any errors or see those last 4 lines.

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  24. @bearcave: there's a log file but it is available only after coming to the install screen. Btw, did u make the necessary changes in the bios settings. May be that might be a problem too.

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  25. Yeah I'm pretty sure it's in the Bios. I thought I changed the HDD to AHCI but its was the ESata that I changed.

    I'm trying to get the AHCI settings to work with my windows 7 install but it's not liking me. I've tried the regedit where you set the Msachi to zero, but it was already set at zero. So that didn't help.

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  26. @bearcave: No dude, why use regedit?? Cant you see that in bios? I hope you know how to go to the bios settings!

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  27. I did change it in bios. But then my windows 7 won't load, it just continually reboots. So I've had to change it back to IDE

    I'm trying to figure out how to change the settings in Windows 7 to make it recognize the ACHI drivers upon loading.

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  28. I have no idea how to fix that. Tell me what you did if you fixed it.

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  29. once i figure it out you'll be the first to know.

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  30. So it took doing a fresh install of windows 7 to get my system to boot happily in AHCI mode. The stupid work around didn't like me :(

    I tried it again, and no joy. I put in Iboot and then the snow leopard dvd and do the safe mode and once that ends my fans spin really loud and my monitors go blank.

    Not sure what the problem is this time. I have an Intel P55 chipset and noticed that one of the guides that you cite talks about needing to do something different with P55.

    Maybe that's the issue. Any thoughts?

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  31. nope, not a clue. The only thing I can think of is, check the bios settings again. Did u change all the bios settings as he said?

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  32. I'm already dual-booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu Lucid, do you know of a way to install OS X without starting from scratch?

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  33. Hello,
    Great guide!
    Is there anyway to access the "Storage" partition in WIndows 7? It doesn't show up.I believe it's because the MBR Partition Table has a limit of 4 primary partitions (EFI, OSX, WIN7, LINUX) so this "5th" one is not supported? Anyway to make this storage partition logical?

    Thanks!

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  34. Finally got it to work, turns out the trouble was the Iboot I was using. I downloaded the one in this guide but the one I needed was the Ati-5xxx one that supports my video card. Once I got that thing went smoothly.

    Now I just have to get the sound working, the dual displays recognized and my resolution at more than 1024x768 :)

    but at least it works

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  35. haha, finally and the problem is ATI-5xxx. I didn't know of this option at all!!

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  36. yeah, i was looking on Tonymac forums and they mentioned it there for anyone with the ATI 5xxx cards

    anyone here run dual monitors?

    In snow leopard I can see both monitors in the display properties, fiddle with the arrangements, even move stuff over to the 2nd monitor; however; the monitor itself stays black like its on sleep mode.

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  37. edit the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist file and add this in the Kernel Flags string :

    ...
    Kernel Flags
    "Graphics Mode"="1280x1024x32"
    ...

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  38. I ran into the same problem as kennot described. My solution was partitioning the drive differently (first Storage, then Ubuntu) because of the 4 primary partitions limitation, so my drive is now partitioned like this:

    Snow Leopard
    Windows 7
    Storage
    Ubuntu

    If anyone else knows of a different solution to have fixed it, I would like to know for next time. ;)

    Besides that one, 2 steps I also did differently:
    1) At step 5, type -x for safe boot. The installation wouldn't load for me otherwise (black screen). You can also add -v if you want the loading verbose.
    2) I had to find a whitelist bios hack for my HP Pavilion dv6700 notebook to get Snow Leopard to work properly. But be careful if you don't know what you're doing, since you can brick your system when the bios update goes wrong. I had to unbrick my notebook one time with a USB floppy drive, which was no fun. So be careful!

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  39. @data,

    If that's for me, I'm not sure how adding that line will make my 2nd monitor active? And if I do that could I adjust that to be whatever resolution I want?

    ReplyDelete
  40. hey thanx for this encouraging details

    but still getting some errors......... with mac

    just stuck at second step of first phase "installing mac os x"
    1. i have DELL XPS M1330 & APPLE MAC BOOK PRO 13"
    2. so i got a dvd of mac os x 10.6.1 with my mac, not and issue with mac dvd
    3. i downloaded and burn iboot cd..... and downloaded ubuntu 10.04 64 bit from website ...
    4. when i boot with iboot and replace dvd with mac i got an option of install mac os x dvd as instructed but after that i m getting problem that "please press power button and restart your machine again" i have tried 28 times but getting hicups.. so please let me know
    wat shoud i do

    thanx regards
    tj....

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  41. @T.J

    Maybe try a different version of Iboot. If you go to the tonymac guide you can find one more specific for nvidia and ati cards.

    ReplyDelete
  42. T.J. does it give that error on the first boot after the installation or does it do it immediately on the CD-ROM iboot? What I did is type -x (safe mode) at the boot selection screen after the installation or it wouldn't work for me otherwise. So I installed OSX in safe mode, did first HDD boot in safe mode as well to install the proper drivers and after that I could boot just fine without safe mode.

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  43. Hey, getting error message
    EBIOS read error: Error 0x09
    Block 0x18be00 Sectors 0

    iboot worked and changed CD to Mac OS, hit F5 and return
    .

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  44. Hey all, sorry for the late replies:

    @Shiv:
    1. I believe the chipset is Mobile Intel® PM45 Express Chipset. For the official specs see the HP website:
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01586183&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=za&lang=en&product=3832030
    or the Whirlpool forum discussion:
    http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1184026.html

    2. You're right, mine is Core2Duo, but the guide I based it on was for i3/5/7, so I think it should be compatible for those.

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  45. @Yamss5:
    What do you need fixing if the triple boot works already?

    I can't tell you exactly why you didn't need GPTsync without knowing more about your setup/specs, but at a guess I'd say you have a different HDD type to mine and are possibly using MBR table instead of GPT partition table.

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  46. @IronWorks Entertainment:
    I can't really help you without knowing more about your setup/specs.
    Are you sure you followed every step to the letter? Did you already have an OS installed?

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  47. @Seon:
    Good to hear you managed to get a triple boot going. I attempted a few Windows-based triple boots before I did this one and decided not to go for them for the precise reason you noted (having an annoying second boot screen). I couldn't find a decent Windows-based solution.

    Hence I'd suggest biting the bullet and going for a Chameleon or grub-based boot if you have the free time and have everything backed-up. Otherwise, all I can say is try tonymacx86 forums or get googling.

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  48. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  49. @Bearcave:
    Hey, looks like you must have had a pretty frustrating time with this!

    Sorry, I may have misled you a bit with the download link for the iBoot, I'll make a note of it in the guide for other ATI 5xxx users.

    ReplyDelete
  50. @Ogmuk:
    Thanks for the tips, I'll update the guide with your additions!

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  51. @kennot:
    I've been working on the shared storage drive for my next post, however you're right about the MBR issues; Windows simply refuses to play nice with the other drives.

    At the moment I've simply deleted the Storage partition and resized the Ubuntu /home partition to use up the extra space (because I am finding myself increasingly using Ubuntu and think I will only end up using Windows for games and Mac for iPhone dev).

    However, Ogmuk pointed out that you can make Windows see the Storage drive if it is adjacent to the the Windows partition (or at least one of the first four partitions).

    I've updated the guide to reflect this (although the screenshots are now a little misleading). However, if I come up with a more elegant solution, I'll post about it.

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  52. @floppyfran:
    You're welcome. I've also done some testing the last 2 days because step 18 of Phase 2 (where you refer to Step 5 - Upgrading and Multibeast on Kyle's guide "Dual Booting Windows 7 and Snow Leopard on a HP dv5 Laptop"), the options that need to be selected in MultiBeast didn't work well for me (no sound and 1 USB port not working, which caused shutdown problems "still waiting on AppleUSBEHCI"). I've used Clonezilla to do various rollbacks to a vanilla installation and these are the only options that need to be selected for a HP Pavilion dv6700:

    1) After installing the latest Mac OS Update Combo, backup and delete System/Library/Extentions/AppleHDA.kext
    2) Select ONLY these options in MultiBeast: Rebuild Caches + latest experimental VoodooHDA + fakesmc + EvOreBoot + LegacyAppleRTC + Voodoo PS/2 Controller
    3) Don't forget to turn off sleep: System Preferences > Energy Saver > Turn off Computer Sleep for both Power Adapter and Battery

    That's it. Reboot and the system works like a charm. Video, audio, USB and network all work fine. Wireless doesn't, and onboard wireless network devices are known to be an issue with OSx86. If VoodooHDA doesn't work for you, load up MultiBeast, select ONLY a different VoodooHDA version and select Rebuild Caches and you're done.

    HP Pavilion dv6700 Notebook hardware info:
    CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T5850
    Chipset: Intel PM965 + ICH8M
    Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8400M GS
    Sound: Intel 82801HB ICH8
    Network: Realtek RTL8101E

    Known issues:
    All of this was tested with the 32-bit boot option. When selecting the 64-bit option in GRUB not all of the kext work well. Audio problems (crackling/popping noises), CMOS reset on boot and 1 USB port not working.

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  53. @floopyfran

    It works now, for the most part at least so I'm happy. Yeah it would be a good idea to put a note about the Iboot for ati users. there's also one for nvidia users so maybe make a mention of both for the future.

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  54. @Bearcave:
    As nVidia user I first tried the nVidia iBoot which didn't work at all for me, even with -x, so I think the Supported version with -x is the safest bet, at least for nVidia.

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  55. Hill Ya.......

    You'r the man....You'r the man an IT-MAN

    Thank You very much for good technician.....OS

    ReplyDelete
  56. if you format the drives in that order, can all 3 of the operating systems use that common storage drive?

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  57. @Noah:
    I haven't tested it myself; I just have three partitions at the moment, as I am mainly just using the Windows and Mac OSX drives for specific development purposes, not general use.

    However I don't see why it wouldn't work, and I believe Ogmuk managed to get it working, so give it a shot and let me know how it goes.

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  58. @Noah:
    The STORAGE partition should be accessible in all 3 OS's this way. You can skip step 14 of Phase One, go from 13 to 15 as then Drive Utility will automatically calculate the remaining partition size for you for STORAGE.

    When I picked FAT32 it worked fine but on the last run I decided to go with NTFS because FAT32 is rather limited when it comes to things like file size (4GB limit), fragmentation and so forth. If you want NTFS instead I recommend doing this at Phase Four (installation of Ubuntu, between step 3 and 4), format the STORAGE drive to NTFS there.

    If you already have your system formatted and running now and you want to change your STORAGE partition from FAT32 to NTFS, I recommend doing it in Ubuntu as well (System > Administration > Disk Utility). Afterward open up a Terminal and run "sudo gptsync /dev/sda". If the star (*) isn't showing at the first NTFS partition (Windows, 3rd partition of the drive) then run:

    sudo parted /dev/sda
    toggle 3 boot
    quit

    And run "sudo gptsync /dev/sda" again. NTFS is writable in Ubuntu by default. For Mac OS you can use software like "Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X".

    ATTENTION: When you're going to start over this tutorial completely I recommend picking a "Zero Out Data" in Mac OS's Disk Utility (Disk Utility > select drive > Erase > Security Options...). Without the Zero Out Data I had problems getting my disk bootable again.

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  59. hey guys i have tried all distros of os x but failed to installed my dell xps 1330
    i have tried iatkos v7, v5i , s3 v2
    kalways, hazard, leo , xxx universal dvd, jas,
    and many
    but cant able to installed ,, everytime new error and new panics, just tried all startup commands , updated bios , but failed

    dont know wat to do now

    loosing hope for installed osx inmy dell xps 1330

    anyways thanx for replies

    suggest me if any possible ways left out

    thanx
    tj detwieler

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  60. Which precise error(s) do you get if you boot up with the iBoot-Supported CD-ROM and use -x -v to load up the Snow Leopard DVD?

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  61. now by this latest try i got error from original snow leopard dvd....
    you cant able to insall from this dvd install from backups and searching for time machine backups


    but let me try with -x -v as u told

    anyways thanx i m trying this commands alone

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  62. nopes didnt find any sucess
    tried new dellboot iso v0.5

    still the same
    guys just let me know which dvd i need to try

    ReplyDelete
  63. Can you type the exact error you get when you boot up using iBoot Supported CD-ROM, and then put in the Leopard DVD at the selection screen (hit F5) and use -x -v to boot up the installation DVD?

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  64. yes i have done exactly wat you have written here
    but now i m facing new error

    snow leopard cant able to install on this computer...............

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  65. You get that error at the installation screen of Snow Leopard, the start of Phase Two of this tutorial, right? Means you do not format your drive properly, as far as I can tell. Make sure to format your drive using a GUID Partition Table and your first partition is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). So, once you're getting that error, go to Utilities > Disk Utility and format your drive.

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  66. Can this tutorial work for windows xp sp2 instead of windows 7? I only have the oem version of windows 7 that's already been used.

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  67. FIRST OF ALL THANX OGMUK FOR ALL THIS COORDINATION...........

    BEFORE THAT AS PER THIS TUTORIAL I MAKE 4 PARTITION OF 250GB
    1. FORMATED AS MAC OS X JOURNALED
    2. WINDOWS 7 FAT 32
    3. -D0- FOR UBUNTU
    4. -DO- FOR BACKUP

    AFTER GETTING THIS MSG I ALREADY MAKE WHOLE 250GB AS MAC OS X EXTENDED
    NOW ASPER UR LATEST MSG I HAVE TO CHECK WHERE IT IS GUID OR MBR......

    THANX FOR SUPPORT

    ReplyDelete
  68. @T.J.:
    Try this after loading up the Snow Leopard DVD:

    1) Disk Utility > Select your disk > Security Options... > Zero Out Data > OK > Erase (this takes about an hour and a half on my notebook)
    2) Select your disk > Partition > make the 4 partitions in this order:
    Snow Leopard (Mac OS X Journaled)
    WINDOWS (Fat 32)
    STORAGE (Fat 32)
    UBUNTU (Fat 32)
    3) Follow the tutorial closely! Especially this step:

    16) Click the Options button and select GUID Partition Table, then click OK.

    And then the rest:
    17) Click Apply, then Partition.
    18) When the partition has finished, close the Disk Utility window.

    Then you should be able to install Mac OS.

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  69. yup dude let me try again,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

    thanx

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  70. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  71. Hey, when I try to go boot the mac os x install dvd from iBoot(I tried Nvidia and Supported), after pressing f5 to refresh, the screen gets messed up and distorted, and when I hit enter, it loads the first apple screen, but then it gives me errors saying it cannot boot because of some unsupported hardware and states something about kernel panic. My hardware is as follows:

    ASUS P5LD2-VM motherboard
    Intel Core 2 6600
    BFG Nvidia GTX 295(dual-PCB)
    Creative X-fi Soundcard

    I did try it with -x, but the only difference it made was that it didnt ask me to reboot in safemode, but it did without, however, the errors were the same.

    Thanks to anyone willing to help me

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  72. HEY OG. SUP..
    I HAVE TRIED EXACTLY AS U WRITTEN
    BUT STILL FACING SAME PROBS..
    MAC OS X CANT INSTALL ON THIS COMPUTER..

    I ALREADY CHANGED HARD DRIVE BUT NOT GETTING ANY SUCESS.. CAN U GIVE ME UR INSTANT MESSENGER ID SO THAT WE CAN CHAT DIRECTLY


    THANX
    TJ DETWIELER

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  73. Using iBoot-Supported, and the retail Mac OS X Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD (version 10.6, 2Z691-6430-A), I get a lot of corrupted video after swapping to the Snow Leopard disk and pressing F5... Although the screen is largely garbled, I add -x -v and boot begins... Previous attempts have resulted in a kernel panic at the grey Apple screen, we'll see what happens this time. Many kexts are currently being listed on the garbled screen.

    Ok, panic. This time it doesn't show debug symbols, only values:

    panic(cpu 0 caller 0x2a8ab2): Kernel trap at 0x00295f21, type 0=divie error, registers:
    CR0: 0x80010011, CR2: 0x00000000, CR3: 0x00100000, CR4: 0x000002e0
    EAX: 0x00000001, EBX: 0x00000001, EXCX: )x00000001, EDX: 0x00000000
    CR2: 0x00000000, EBP: )x0010be88, ESI: 0x00000000, EDI: 0x00000028
    EFL: 0x00010046, EIP: 0x00295f21, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x00000010
    Error code: 0x00000000

    Debugger called:
    Backgrace (CPU 0), Frame: Return Addresss (4 potential args on stack)
    0x10bc28 : 0x21b455 (0x5cf328 0x10bc5c 0x2238b1 0x0)

    ....

    BSD process name corresponding to current thread; Unknown

    Mac OS version:
    Not yet set

    Kernel version:
    Darwin Kernel Version 10.4.0: Fri Apr 23 18:28:53 PDT 2010; root:xnu-1504.7.4~1/RELEASE_I386

    System uptime in nanoseconds: 0

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  74. I'm installing on a Dell Precision Workstation T3500 (X58 southbridge) nVidia Quadro FX 580.

    I took out all but 2GB of ram before trying to install. I also tried disabling multicore / hyperthreading, and a few other things, dunno if that was necessary or not.

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  75. Hi guys. Because of all the different hardware and different issues this difference in hardware can result in I recommend using forums where people may have had the same experiences and can help you along:

    http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ (excellent resource for OSx86)
    http://www.tonymacx86.com/ (maker of iBoot)
    http://www.hackint0sh.org/
    http://www.kexts.com/ (kexts are drivers for Mac OS)

    @T.J.:
    I don't know what else to do. If you're seeing your drive in the installation screen but it says you can't install Snow Leopard on the drive it means it's not formatted properly. If you don't see the drive then it's a different issue but since you say you can partition it, I gather from that information that Snow Leopard can see the drive, but not use it to install Snow Leopard on.

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  76. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  77. good morning og....
    finally i instaled and running mac os x 10.6 without any problems

    actually in non apple lappies
    you need retail dvd ... inthat case oem bundled dvd will not work....
    and specially its my opinion please use dell iboot cd if people want to install os x distro in dell laptops

    thanx ogmuk with your support it cant be possible..

    ReplyDelete
  78. hello everyone,
    first off great guide, seems straight forward and easy to follow. i'll be doing this later this week but first a few questions.

    hardware:
    An old dell optiplex 330
    1.8 ghz dual core
    2 gb ram
    evga e-geforce 7600 gs 256 mb
    1.5 Tb hard drive 7200 rpms

    this will be the first dual boot attempt for me and was wondering if i should be prepared for anything truly unexpected. i completely cleared the hard drive so i'm starting with a clean slate. i figure i should be good following this guide with a few alterations to meet my accommodations. So what do you think?
    Should i be pretty good to go?

    ReplyDelete
  79. @T.J:
    Great to hear you finally got the OS X installation working, and cheers to Ogmuk for all your help!

    @Nick:
    There's a wiki page for successful iBoot configurations. (that's just iBoot, not this whole tutorial)
    For Desktops: http://www.tonymacx86.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBoot_%2B_MultiBeast_Confirmed_Desktops
    For Laptops:
    http://www.tonymacx86.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBoot_%2B_MultiBeast_Confirmed_Laptops

    There's a few Dell ones there, but most of them are newer laptops, and there's only a couple with an evga graphics card, so I'm not 100% sure about your setup.

    But give it a try and let us know how it goes (and maybe update the tonymacx86 wiki page with your successful iBoot config if it works).

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  80. Hey! First off, thanks for the great tutorial. I got all three installed on my system, almost without a hitch. There's just one problem that I'm hoping you can help me with: OS X refuses to boot from GRUB. Windows and Ubuntu do just fine, and OS X *will* load from iBoot, but OS X will not load from GRUB. Instead, it spits out a verbose-style boot report (no Apple logo), finally stopping on something like "System uptime: xxxxx nanoseconds." Here's my system:

    Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
    Core 2 Duo E7500 OC'd to 3.19 GHz
    3GB Corsair & Kingston RAM
    HIS Radeon HD4890 1GB
    1TB WD Hard Disk.

    Thanks in advance for any help you can provide, and thanks again for the tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
  81. Is it possible to install OSX and Ubuntu After windows? I have a windows running currently and don't want to format it.

    ReplyDelete
  82. Multibeast download link is no longer working. Help!

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  83. yes micheal you can install in last
    but make it before ubuntu..
    cause ubuntu writing its own boot order so it will disturb your windows ..
    first of all dont make change in windows..
    boot os x dvd and install it.. its very clear
    but pay attention in installing ubuntu.. cause partition making is quite complicated in ubuntu.. but make a print of upper guide this will help u in tribooting as well now i have quad boot system.....this guide helped me lot..

    do it and share ur experience.. with us,...
    thanx
    tj detwieler

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  84. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  85. @T.J:

    Thanks for your reply. But according to this guide, windows is installed after Mac. I don't have a good knowledge of OSs, so I don't know the installation order can be changed to anyway I like. Could you clarify again? Because I am using windows 7 pro 64bit with some programs installed. I don't really want to format and reinstall everything again.

    Thanks
    Mike

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  86. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  87. so as soon as OS X installer starts, i choose a language and directly after that i get a message saying "Mac OS X can't be installed on this computer." Could i be getting this because instead of the retail install dvd im using an install dvd that came with an iMac? this is really really aggravating.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Yes, you need the *retail* Snow Leopard DVD. No other kind will work.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Could anyone reply to my previous comment?

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  90. Can I install Windows XP instead of Windows7 or is there some wonkyness with EFI and the boot loaders and all that?

    I'm not a fan of Win7 (or Vista). It's too "dumbed down" for my taste. I prefer to have XP where I have more control over my OS. Plus I find it to be quicker and more responsive. Anyways I digress...

    Can XP SP3 be used instead of Windows 7?

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  91. so i got the initial mac os install. i installed MacOSXUpdCombo. however the restart screen came up and the mouse and keyboard were locked (as best as i can tell). so i had to power down. now when i restart with iboot and select the mac os it enters a screen where it show the apple logo and a swirling fan (loading icon). this goes on forever. i've tried safe mode. no luck.

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  92. i was able to install everything successfully!
    the only problems i am having are:

    a. trying to get my on board ethernet running on os x (easy fix was a usb dongle but its so slow that i could leave safari open all day and it wont load a single page.)

    b. and getting os x to run out of grub.

    right now to run os x i have left in the iboot disc an can start up from there. honestly id have no problems always starting from iboot but ubuntu doesnt show up on chameleon.

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  93. @Micheal
    you can do it just make sure you install ubuntu last. and when creating the partitions use os x. just follow the steps as is an skip the installing windows section as you'd already have it installed. and like t.j. said earlier just watch when installing ubuntu because creating the partition for install gets complicated and if you choose the wrong partition you will destroy your windows.

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  94. Floppy Fran, my hat is off to you! Thank you so much - you obviously spent some time and effort on this and have succeeded in creating simply the best guide out there! I recently purchased an Acer Aspire 5334 for $349 USD to temporarily replace my MacBook Pro while it is away being serviced - had always wanted to try a "hackentosh" sort of thing (forgive me if that is not the correct term). As I am now working on Windows software again :( I need to have a Windows laptop and wanted the triple boot setup that you wanted. The laptop is not the most powerful but at $349 its a no brainer for a backup machine (also replaced the 250gb drive with a 500 gb drive).

    Thanks to your awesome efforts I now have a triple boot setup; Ubuntu and Win7 work fine (Win7 is updating now) and I'll boot into OSX here in a bit and start playing with it (fingers crossed). I was happy and impressed that I could load a vanilla OSX from a DVD that I already had sitting around the house! It looks like I'll have to do some work around sleeping (currently turned off) and my network drivers. The preferred resolution of this laptop does not quite match what OSX wants so things are a bit warped. A non OSX user would probably not notice but I spend a lot of time on all three and do notice - but its not bad.

    I am ecstatic and thrilled beyond belief with your guide and the results. My jaw literally dropped open earlier in the morning when I saw that I was able to boot and install OSX.

    If you are ever in the Seattle WA USA area look me up (http://slacklab.org) and I will buy you dinner and drinks.

    Greg

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  95. Meh, Win7 and Ubuntu work great ;) However Mac OSX (64 & 32) boot/run great from iBoot but not from GRUB. When booting from GRUB Mac OSX boots and runs but there is no mouse/keyboard. It seems to be running because when I hit the power button I get the OS's power down dialog. Another difference is when booting from iBoot I get the grey screen with the apple and spinny thing, when booting from GRUB I get text spew and no grey screen (but I do eventually get into the UI).

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  96. A little progress; installed a bunch "applicable looking" kexts from MultiBeast 2.1.4 and now have keyboard (but no mouse) when booting from GRUB! Booted into Windows to get exact hardware specs to allow me to search out more kexts. Also noticed my Intel graphics (mobile 4500M) are somewhat recognized but the only mode shown is 1024x768.

    Goin on a kext hunt...

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  97. @Nick

    Thanks for the reply Nick. Sorry for flooding here with so many questions. But I gotta make sure that I don't spoil my Thinkpad T410. ;)

    So in my case, I have windows 7 (64bit pro) at very first partition and after the partition I have free spaces (unformatted raw). So should I use Mac to create the partitions for Mac and Ubuntu on the remain free spaces? And follow the rest of the steps of the instructions?

    Thanks for taking time to answer my questions.

    Mike

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  98. Update - Mac OS is running "great" (as far as I can tell) in both 32 and 64 bit modes. The mouse is working - although not through the built in trackpad - but a USB mouse works!

    So now I need to get networking up, more video modes and the trackpad working. It is totally useful as a non networked machine - getting WiFi working (fingers crossed) will make it great!

    Been too busy to play with it much...

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  99. Michael - from my _very_ limited experience that should work. Just be careful to to muck with your Win partition when playing with the Mac's Disk Utility (partitioner).

    ReplyDelete
  100. So, I'm getting a laptop /exactly/ like this one. http://is.gd/ezJs0 I've got an external DVD drive, so a drive is not a problem. The only questions I have are as follows: which version of iboot do I need? Will I be able to have wireless network on it using Mac OS X? Will the installation go correctly? Thanks. PS I know how I want to partition it, as well, so other than those questions, I am pretty much good to go.

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  101. I already have Ubuntu and win7 on my machine. I'd rather install MacOS X without reformatting my whole drive. Can I just make a new partition and install OSX and then just boot with a liveUSB and re-install grub?
    I've always done this when having to reinstall Windows or have had a problem with the mbr?
    What do you guys think?

    What's your experience installing after Ubuntu/Windows?

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  102. @KD7UBJ:
    Thanks for the thanks, Greg; I'm glad people are getting some use out of the blog. It's actually my first decent post ever; figured I should start giving back to the online community I have leeched off for so many years.

    I'd like to take you up on the free meal, unfortunately might cost a few grand for me to fly over from Melbourne, Australia :-P

    I also have issues with the touchpad with Snow Leopard, apparently it's a common hackintosh problem and USB mouses are best. Frankly, I've barely used either Mac OS X or Windows 7 since I installed Ubuntu... it's just the frickin' bomb!

    Also, I tried to check out your site but just got "Error establishing a database connection". I hope it's alright, thought I'd give you a heads-up.

    Francis

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  103. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  104. @Drake Allegrini:
    "which version of iboot do I need?"
    I don't think you can use any of the three above.
    Try the (experimental) Intel GMA one from tonymacx86's iBoot Wiki page:
    http://www.tonymacx86.com/wiki/index.php?title=IBoot

    "Will I be able to have wireless network on it using Mac OS X?"
    Unfortunately, I don't think so (you'll have to use wired connection). As far as my research goes, I haven't found a fix for the WiFi not working on my Snow Leopard install. If you do, please post it.

    "Will the installation go correctly?"
    Can't tell you that with any confidence, all you can do is give it a try and post your results.

    I hope some of that helps.

    Francis

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  105. Hello, I have:
    Pentium Dual Core E2140
    nvida geforce 8800 gt
    2 GB RAM

    I tried iBoot using both Supported and then Nvidia. Both times I got a bunch of text and then after it loads up the RAM drive all I get is a black screen and it stops reading the CD. Numlock still works, so I don't think it's frozen. Wtf is going on?

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  106. Hi Friends,

    This method only works with empty hard disks. If a windows is pre-installed with MBR partition, snow leopard won't install as the installer demands GUID partition. I'm now stuck at the partition stage, and still looking for a way which will not require formatting of existing windows.

    I hope this helps others from wasting their time who wants to retain windows while installing Mac.

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  107. @Micheal
    Not true necessarily. If you have Windows installed and want to keep its data you can use clonezilla to make a partition (not disk) image. At the Windows installation step you simply put the partition back on the newly created Windows partition. It's a bit complicated though as you may need to make a copy of the MBR and place it back after restoring the image. So unless you have experience with, and a lot of time on your hands, it may not be worth the hassle.

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  108. FloppyFran, the touchpad is kind of touch and go; works about 70% of the time (booting from GRUB, always when booting from iBoot). Also noticed that I have audio when booting from iBoot but not from GRUB - no big deal, sure its an easy fix. Whats getting me is the lack of WiFi from the built in Broadcom adapter. Have tried a bunch of fixes from the interwebs but nothing brings it to life.

    And I noticed the web site error today; a quick reboot fixed it. Go figure...

    Thanks!
    Greg

    ReplyDelete
  109. Just got sound going via MultiBeast and VoodooHDA ;) And I agree, the latest Ubuntu desktop is really nice!

    Now I need to get out of 1024x768 graphics mode and more importantly get the WiFi up and running!

    ReplyDelete
  110. Installed Triple boot successfully but something went wrong after ubuntu and keyboard and touchpad of my dell studio 1558 dont work anymore. and Wifi isnt working also. also may be ethernet issue also ? Can somebody tell me abt this.
    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  111. I can't get passed this when installing. I think the problem is with my BIOS. It's pretty lean compared to that shown the installation guide. I have no options to change to ACHI or anything. Any suggestions?

    Patched DMi table
    Found SMBIOS System information 1
    Using SMBIOS UUID='c0ce2600-93d7-3b41-843a-4d7c8e2c12e2' as system-id
    [WARNING] /Extra/DSDT.aml not found
    Using PCI-root-UID value 0
    nVidia GeForce GTX 512MB NV92 [10de:060c] :: PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)
    UHCI controller [8086:2834] at 00:1a.0 base c0(1801)
    UHCI controller [8086:2835] at 00:1a.1 base c1(1821)
    EHCI controller [8086:283a] at 00:1a.7 DMA @f1004800

    Sager NP5793 notebook
    T9300 (2.5GHz)
    4gb ram
    nvidia 8800gtx card

    ReplyDelete
  112. It can't go on. It stuck on this message when booting.

    DSMOS has arrived
    ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin::start - waitForService(resourceMatching(AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement) timed out

    ASUS U30jc notebook
    i3-350M (2.26GHz)
    4GB DDR3
    NV G310M 512MB DDR3 VRAM

    Thanks for your help

    ReplyDelete
  113. Help!! Windows 7 pro 64bit installer says "Cannot install windows on GPT partition disk."

    ReplyDelete
  114. Sorry guys. I really need help from someone. When I tried to install Windows it says the same thing as the screen shot in this blog post like "Widnows cannot be installed to Disk x Partition y. (Show details)" at the step 8. The author seems to be able to install without any hurdles. But in may case even though I formatted the partition, it keeps saying "Cannot install windows on GPT partition disk". Please help!

    ReplyDelete
  115. Great tutorial!
    However...
    I have tried to use the iBoot ATI 5XXX because I have an ATI 5770 Graphics Card, but when I run the install disc it keeps showing "Still waiting for root device".

    My specs are:
    Asus P6X58D-E
    Core i7 930
    750GB hard drive for Snow Leopard
    500GB for Windows 7
    I want to do a dual boot with Snow Leopard and Windows 7

    I have managed to get Snow Leopard to install using the Empire EFI but when it finishes (fails) and I boot from the disc and go on the Snow Leopard hard drive, it does the same error ("still waiting for root device") on the FireWire.
    Please help!
    If I can't get it to work then I will have to get a Mac :P I'm only really seeing if it can be done on my hardware and for bragging rights :)

    ReplyDelete
  116. @Michael:
    Did you follow the instructions to the letter? I think you may have either attempted to install Windows onto the wrong partition, or not formatted the partition before you attempted to install.
    The GPT is the partitioning table, which is used for Mac OSX and Ubuntu. Windows uses MBR (Master Boot Record), which means you have to sync the two boot records at a later stage of the installation.
    Try and reformat, start from the beginning of the tutorial again and follow every step. If that doesn't work, I'll search for a better answer.

    ReplyDelete
  117. @floppyfran

    I followed almost exactly the same as your guide mentioned except for the areas like partition sizes.

    I deleted all the partitions and re-created partitions using Snow Leopard Installer. Created the partitions as the same order as your guide. And I did formatted (I can) the partition that will hold the windows from the windows installer. But still, windows will not install to the partition.

    I don't understand the "you have to sync the two boot records at a later stage of the installation" part from your comment.

    And now, although the Max OS can be used it does not know the built-in devices like keyboard, track-pad, ethernet card, and audio devices except the external USB mouse. It was working fine at the a few boots. I really hope you could help me here.

    Thanks.
    Mike.

    ReplyDelete
  118. I had the "Still waiting for root device" issue and this solved it: http://www.ihackintosh.com/2009/05/still-waiting-for-root-device/

    I think you should just make -v and possibly even -x on by default. Is there any downside to this? It would save people at least one reboot and anyone making a Hackintosh surely doesn't mind some verbose text (at least you know stuff is happening/working).

    ReplyDelete
  119. I tried again, but failed. Here is what I did.
    I wiped everything out from the harddisk, re-partitioned the disk with Mac Disk Utility. But I skipped the MacOS installation part. I boot the windows installer from the CD. At the step 8 from "Phase three: Installing Windows" from your guide, I get the same error as yours, with the warning yellow exclamation triangle, saying "Widnows cannot be installed to Disk x Partition y. (Show details)", and the "Next" button is disabled.

    I don't know how you got passed this step. But in my case, I can't do anything. :(

    ReplyDelete
  120. I got everything installed, and it's not updated, but it boots up in Mac OS X (iBoot only, no GRUB) and Linux. Windows 7, however, doesn't boot, even after I used gptsync. Can you throw me a bone? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  121. my laptop configuration are
    core i3 350m
    3 gb ram
    intel hd graphics
    320 gb hdd
    i have mac os x iso named sse2 sse3 intel amd
    tell me how can i make my laptop dual boot with win 7

    ReplyDelete
  122. @DAE51D Thanks, will try that out :)

    ReplyDelete
  123. Thanks for the good guide , I have a weird problem here , everything goes fine until MAC OS starts to installing its self ( after unchecked language packs,printers and ..) , so it goes like 25% then stops and an error msg appears(Installation Error) , it says Failed to copy essential files and there is a reboot button .
    What's the problem guys ?!

    ReplyDelete
  124. ok, so this is not starting very well for me. First the cd/dvd burner in my dell vostro 420 is in need of a blow from a large hammer. (burns cds, then fails to read them properly. Installed older sata burner, now reads perfect.)
    So my issue is, I can boot the iboot disk, insert OS X disk, run with the -x -v (or I get a neet coloured display) I can select english, but I can not access the disk utility, because my mouse does not work. (and I can not find a keyboard shortcut to get into the menu) I have tried with the mouse in ps2/ with adapter, and straight usb no adapter. I have only done this as a trial run, since I wanted to find any issues before wiping my drive.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank You
    Black Wolf

    ReplyDelete
  125. My laptop specs:
    Intel Core 2 Duo
    4gb Ram
    Nvidia geforce graphics
    300 gb hard drive

    my problem is, when i load iboot and replace my dvd, the mac disk doesnt show up. (i've downloaded snow leopard and burned to an ISO and i've used the installation disk that has came with a macbook pro) none of them show up the disk. is it mandatory that i buy an upgrade disk from apple?

    ReplyDelete
  126. Update:
    have installed os x 10.6.3. Does not work well. I have to boot -x to safe mode, or the video is messed up. Can not find drivers for ati radeon HD 4350 for Mac. Can not run the multi beast software. So I did the unthinkable and let mac update itself. So now that the software is fubar, I have to start again. Windows 7 is running fine, as I am on it now. I have not done the linux part, since mac is not up and running yet. So I need help:
    running a Dell Vostro 420
    Intel Q8300
    One HDD partitioned to 100GB, 150GB, 150GB, 100GB (other drives removed)
    Board=0N185P A02
    Bios Dell 1.2.0
    4GB RAM
    ATI Radeon HD 4350

    So if anyone knows where to get drivers for my video card, that would be great.
    currently using:
    iBoot - supported
    OS X 10.6.3
    Windows 7
    Multibeast / osxupdombo 10.6.4 dmg (can not use)

    Please help. I would love to get the OS X up and running.

    ReplyDelete
  127. I'm having the same problem as Sochi, install disc gets stuck at:
    DSMOS has arrived
    ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin::start - waitForService(resourceMatching(AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement) timed ou

    Asus UL80JT
    nvidia 310M
    i3 330 UM
    4gb ram

    ReplyDelete
  128. Fatal - Did you remember to hit F5 to refresh the screen?
    After booting the iboot disk, remove it, and place the mac disk in. Wait about 1 minute, then press F5. The iboot disk should disappear and the OS X disk should be in the list.

    Hope this helps

    ReplyDelete
  129. I'm getting the same problem as Jason. I am forced to restart the machine after using the combo update. There is no option to cancel restart when installing the combo update, and I'm guessing because I did not install multiboot it just hangs at an apple logo and forces me to reset the machine.

    ReplyDelete
  130. will it work with AMD CPU notebook and ati graphics?

    ReplyDelete
  131. i have installed os 10.6.2 on vmware player 1gb ram.
    i have made 3 vm, each shows up a new problem to me.
    tried booting using darwin and iboot.
    No DSDT found
    NO DSDT replacement found. Leaving ACPI data as is

    and a kernel panic in the other one, saying
    "version mismatch between kernel and cpu"

    ReplyDelete
  132. I have tried to boot but it stuck at
    DSMOS has arrived
    FakeSMC: key not found BEMB, length - 1

    My computer spec:
    Model: ASUS U30JC
    CPU: i3-350M (2.26GHz)
    RAM: 4GB DDR3
    Graphic: NV G310M 512MB DDR3 VRAM

    ReplyDelete
  133. I have two hard drives, one with windows 7 and a partition for storage, and one blank.

    Will I be able to partition the blank hard drive into 3, one for Mac OS X, one for Ubuntu, and one for backup?
    Sorry if this is a stupid question :(

    ReplyDelete
  134. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  135. Hi guys!

    The guide looks very neat however I've got a bit of a problem here. When I got iBoot up and running, switch the Mac OS disc in and I hit enter it asks me to restart my pc, when I use -x it tells me to restart the pc too. I tried using iBoot Supported and iBoot ATI but both do not work.

    [b]Pc specs:[/b]
    i-7 Core processor
    asus p6t se motherboard
    6gb RAM (yes I took 2gb and even 4gb out)
    ati hd4980 graphics card
    Windows 7 x64 (already installed)

    ---
    I have pictures of my screen atm of crashing:
    using iBoot supported: http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4456/img0798l.jpg
    Using iBoot ATI: http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/6586/img0797l.jpg

    Thanks in advance!
    Stibbz

    ReplyDelete
  136. Hey,
    I just wanted to ask you one simple question - would your guide work with Windows 7 x86?

    ReplyDelete
  137. My Triple boot works great except that I get a "Not Supported" message on my monitor when I start OS 10.6.4 from GRUB. I am pretty sure this means GRUB is asking the monitor to display a setting it doesn't have.
    UBUNTU and Win 7 both will display fine.

    Can anyone help??

    Gigabyte h55-2hs
    i3-530
    using onboard vga

    ReplyDelete
  138. 10th Aug 2010, Update: If you want the Storage partition to be accessible in Windows, you must make sure it is adjacent to the Windows partition (since Windows is MBR and that only allows four visible partitions). So the partitions should go 1. Snow Leopard 2. Windows 3. Storage 4. Linux.

    Windows 7 should recognize GPT partitions after boot.

    1. EFI system
    2. Linux swap partition
    3. OSX partition (hfs+)
    4. Windows 7 partition (ntfs).
    5. Linux partition (ext4).
    6. Linux /home partition (ext4).
    7. Data exchange partition (ntfs).

    Is it possible to created partitions like that?

    ReplyDelete
  139. I followed this guide but i have problems booting MAC OS X from grub.

    Ubuntu and Windows 7 works perfectly.

    Snow Leopard boots perfectly only from iBoot cd.

    When i select MAX OS X 32 or 64 on grub, i get a black screen and then a reboot.

    I'm trying to install it on a Compaq Presario C737EL.

    How can i investigate?

    I used several options on MultiBeast, but i can't say what options i already tried :P

    Thank you i.a.

    ReplyDelete
  140. I've HP Pavilion dv5,I already run win7 x64 and want to follow your tutorial to have a dual boot with osX.(I'll make a fresh win7 setup too). Now the problem is I have downloaded the exact 6.13GB .dmg format Image file of 'snow leopard 10.6 retail DVD' and I want to burn it in a DL-DVD that will perfectly act as a Retail DVD(bootable).how can I do that on win7 and what software is needed?can PowerISO make it?
    plz help!
    thanks

    NB. I cant proceed to burn the iBOOT ISO file also as I'm not sure how to keep it unchanged and bootable?

    ReplyDelete
  141. I reached the iBoot menu, but I'm stuck with "ACPI table not found: DSDT.aml
    No DSDT found, using 0 as uid value.
    Using PCI-Root-UID value: 0"

    Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  142. Great tutorial! I managed to install the three os on my Lenovo y530 (Core2duo, PM45 chipset, gforce 9600MGS). After the upgrade to 10.6.4 sound(ACL888) and touchpad stopped working, but somehow after many unsuccessful kext reinstalations they are working with voodooHDA beta kext from multibeast. Ethernet (broadcom 5906m) and wifi(intel 5100) are not working and I havent found kexts for them, so I bought cheep USB wifi to have any access to internet from maxos =]

    Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  143. Hey all,

    When I attempt to use gptsync to sync /dev/sda to gpt i receive a "no medium found" error. My hdd is labeled sde according to Ubuntu's disk utility (not sda). Should I still be trying to sync sda, or should I be attempting to sync a particular partition of sde?

    Thank you in advance

    ReplyDelete
  144. I did this exact same thing before I found this site; however, I chose Master Boot Record instead of GUID. There was no need to use the Linux utility you used. It boots up fine.
    Pentium M 1.6 GHz
    1 GB DDR

    ReplyDelete
  145. hello. i did all the points of this fantastic guide but at the startup i have some problems to load mac osx. Windows e ubuntu load with no problems but mac os don't start (even if appears in the list of os installed) and the resolution of bootscreen jump to 1600x1200 (this resolution is non supported by my monitor). Is there a explanation? Help me and sorry for my bad english

    ReplyDelete
  146. Hello all,

    First: great tutorial, worked pretty well for me. I am able to triple boot into Windows 7 Enterprise, Snow Leopard 10.6.5, and Ubuntu 10.10, using GRUB.

    However, I have a lingering issue now that it's all done. When I boot into OS X, I can't change the resolution of my screen (it is fixed at 1280x720, with no other options). I'm running this on an Asus N81Vg (Core2Duo, Nvidia 120M GT card). I've tried to google the issue; from what I understand, somehow the Nvidia driver/kext is not being "injected". Apparently Chameleon usually takes care of this. When I started out on this process (when I only had OS X installed, and no other OSes, and had Chameleon as the bootloader), the Nvidia graphics seemed to work just fine (I could change the resolution, and the menu bar up top even had nice semi-transparency effects). Since I no longer use Chameleon to boot into my OSes, I'm guessing this is affecting the whole "injecting" of the Nvidia driver. I'm not totally sure I understand this process, and I don't know how to fix this issue.

    Anyone have any ideas as to how to get the Nvidia kext loaded properly?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  147. sorry for the noob qn. but when you say "erase your hard drive completely in this process" in step 1, is there a proper way to do it?or do i simply use windows 7 cd to do a format?

    ReplyDelete
  148. Hi,
    I would like to install Windows 7 on a separate 150 GB WD Raptor, and MacOSX + Ubuntu on a 320GB Hitachi drives. In which order I should install the OSes? Thanks for any advice!

    ReplyDelete
  149. @2haven
    you can just do it when installing snow leopard. Just go to disk utility, click your hard drive and choose erase. Shouldn't be too hard

    ReplyDelete
  150. emmm will windows 7 ultimate or any other windows 7 work ?

    ReplyDelete
  151. guys i need help, I installed SL 10.6.3 no problemo, computer restarted, i put iboot in and booted into SL-then the problem came: I get this when trying to boot
    "ACPI table not found: DSDT.aml
    No DSDT found, using 0 as uid value.
    using PCI-root-UID value: 0"
    Please help, I can't even boot into my SL disc now! I get the same error

    ReplyDelete
  152. I need help in the beginning! when I replace the iboot with the Mac os DVD and press F5 I get this error:
    Unable to find driver for this platform :\"ACPI\"...
    My bios is so limited and it doesnt have anything to set it to ACHI mode!!!

    My specs: Sony Vaio VPCCW@RGX/B
    Intel Core-i5 540M 2.53Ghz
    NVIDIA GeForce 320M

    Really need help here. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  153. Francis - This looks remarkably similar to your blog post http://allabouthackintosh.blogspot.com/2010/08/triple-boot-windows-7-mac-os-x-snow.html

    ...oh and careful, he's copyrighted it! "Copyright © 2010 Hackintosh downloads ,Tutorials and Free Full Version Softwares"

    ReplyDelete
  154. Hi guys, maybe you could help me. I've used this great tutorial to install os x on my laptop.

    Everything was just OK until step 9 in OS X installation - there is no Snow Leopard option to boot in Chameleon Boot Loader.

    Could anybody help me with this?

    Thanks.
    Michal

    ReplyDelete
  155. Visit this tutorial to set up triple boot machine...
    Windows 7 + Mac OS X + Ubuntu
    http://triplebootwindows7macnubuntu.blogspot.com/

    Totally different than this one.. & A lot easier too.

    ReplyDelete
  156. I use a notebook HP ProBook 4421s, hm57 intel express chipset, how to install triple boot Snow Leopard 10.6, Windows 7, & Ubuntu 10.04 ?
    Reply please !!
    thx b4..

    ReplyDelete
  157. I plan on getting a new PC soon and I don't really want to buy windows 7 again after it is already installed on my pc. Is there anyway I can install Ubuntu and Snow Leopard onto my computer without uninstalling windows or wiping out my hard drive? I think I can partition the drive within windows before beginning the installation but I am unsure. Please help me? I am on a tight budget.

    ReplyDelete
  158. Another question... When you partition your hard drive and you have the storage partition adjacent to Windows.. is it accessible by all the operating systems or just windows? I REALLY don't want to split my HDD into Large chunks only to be accessed by one OS at a time.

    ReplyDelete
  159. Hey! I love your guide so much. It's exactly what I've been looking for to get the best of all three worlds.

    I've been able to follow your guide without a problem until it comes to the installation of Ubuntu.
    After installing it, I do the customary restart that's needed but then I get an error message which overall says 'Operating system not found' (Entire error message below).

    I would really appreciate it if you could help me out with this. I've been trying to get this triple boot to work for 4 months now and I haven't been able to get it to work on my own.

    Thanks in advance!

    Error message at boot:
    Intel UNDI, PXE-2.1 (build 083)
    Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation

    This Product is covered by one or more of the following patents: US5,307,459, US5,434,872, US5,732,094, US6,570,884, US6,115,776 and US6,327,625

    Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Series v2.29 (06/30/09)
    PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
    PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.

    Operating System not found.

    ReplyDelete
  160. Hi I have a DELL Studio 1558 Laptop with below configurations:
    Intel Core i5-520M 2.40GHz (2.93Ghz Turbo Mode, 3M cache)
    4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD
    500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Disk Drive
    Dell Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini Card

    I followed the steps to install Mac OS X, Windows 7 and Ubuntu. I am able to boot Ubuntu and Windows 7, but not my Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I am able to boot only using the iBoot disk. I did not update to 10.6.8, since after updating it just hangs on Apple screen. To some reason, Mac OS X is not booting from hard drive. Would appreciate if you can help me on this.

    ReplyDelete
  161. THANKS SO MUCH :)

    I needed mac os for my studies and i have almost the same configuration as you, it was so helpful!!

    ReplyDelete
  162. I have two friends with the Mac OS X retail DVD but one has OS X Snow Leopard and the other has OS X Lion. Will the new lion work? or should I just stick to Leopard?

    ReplyDelete
  163. @Manas: I am facing the same issue, no option in Grub for booting OSX. I'll do some research and if I find out what is going on, I'll post here.

    ReplyDelete
  164. hi!

    I installed the three op system but... I have a little problem. The Windows OK after gptsync but the Mac doesn't boot, except if I boot with iBoot.
    How can I make bootable the Mac from HDD?

    Acer Aspire One D255
    Intel Atom N450
    1 GB RAM
    Intel GMA 3150
    250 GB HDD

    I choose in BIOS AHCI. The OS X I installed was 10.6.3 IAtkos s3 v2 (maybe that's the problem...) then I upgrade to 10.6.8 with a legacy kernel(nawcom), and it's worked. Windows 7 Ultimate worked too. I install Ubuntu 11.04(maybe it is a problem too...) and installed and runned gptsync. After that -like I said before- everything is OK except the OSX.

    Thanks for the answer! :)

    ReplyDelete
  165. Help. I boot up my pc and select Mac os x 64/32-bit and it just shows a load of writting and codes. I see the occasional error but nothing to worrying. I cant boot to mac but can boot to Windows and Ubuntu.

    However I can boot Mac from the iBoot disk.

    Help!!

    ReplyDelete
  166. I can see mac but when I select it, the computer reboots.
    Now I can only boot with the unibeast USB.
    did somebody find the solution?

    ReplyDelete
  167. I hope, I am not too late for this fun, after 15 years of hard work, I finally owned a laptop, and finally I can join the fun :D. I like your Programmer's P's. That's very true...

    By the way, if I can find a shortcut to this problem, I'll come back here. Thanks for sharing Man...

    ReplyDelete
  168. HELLO SIR,
    m trying this with my hp dv5tt04tu.
    core 2 duo, t5800@2.00GHz
    3 gb ram.

    AFTER STEP 5> Choose the Mac OS X Install DVD and hit enter.
    i get following error :
    unable to initialize UIM
    Still waiting for boot device
    pls reply if u can.

    ReplyDelete
  169. Excellent read, I merely passed this onto a colleague who had been conducting a little research on that. And the man actually bought me lunch because I came across it for him smile So allow me to rephrase that: Many thanks lunch!
    usb drive recovery

    ReplyDelete
  170. HELP! :(



    I had this working great and then I needed to re-install my Windows7. This of course wrote over the MBR or something and now I can't boot into OSX or Ubuntu. How can I restore my triple boot again?

    I tried to re-do grub and also gptsync and both don't do anything...

    root@ubuntu:/mnt# mount /dev/sda6 /mnt/mylinux
    root@ubuntu:/mnt# grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/mylinux /dev/sda
    /usr/sbin/grub-bios-setup: warning: this GPT partition label contains no BIOS Boot Partition; embedding won't be possible.
    /usr/sbin/grub-bios-setup: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
    /usr/sbin/grub-bios-setup: error: will not proceed with blocklists.

    root@ubuntu:/mnt# gptsync /dev/sda
    Current GPT partition table:
    # Start LBA End LBA Type
    1 40 409639 EFI System (FAT)
    2 409640 78540375 Mac OS X HFS+
    3 78802944 235051007 Basic Data
    4 235051008 567218175 Basic Data
    5 623190016 625141759 Linux Swap
    6 567218176 623187967 Basic Data

    Current MBR partition table:
    # A Start LBA End LBA Type
    1 1 409639 ee EFI Protective
    2 409640 78540375 af Mac OS X HFS+
    3 * 78802944 235051007 07 NTFS/HPFS
    4 235051008 567218175 07 NTFS/HPFS

    Status: Tables are synchronized, no need to sync.

    ReplyDelete
  171. DAE51D reinstall the Chameleon Bootloader or Chimera Bootloader with the iBoot CD or MultiBeast and it will solve your problem.

    ReplyDelete
  172. Nice blog click this link and get a perfect solution .
    BOOTMGR Missing in Windows 7

    Thanks
    Aalia lyon

    ReplyDelete
  173. Thanks for your great article ! I would like to use that but I'd like to have 2 different topics for each posts which is created, not only one. Is it

    possible ? How ?

    Thanks you very much :) !

    Mac OS X Software

    ReplyDelete
  174. Admin , You are really amazing that no body can think about triple booting and you have done this...
    Download Free Software | Full Version

    ReplyDelete