GRUB now boots my MacBook without Bootcamp, rEFIt or lilo.

[Entity]

FYI, I've managed to install Ubuntu 6.06 LTS on my MacBook and it boots using GRUB without BootCamp, rEFIt, elilo or lilo. I have submitted a Howto here on this site that shows how I've proceed. I'm waiting for a moderator to accept it.

In short, I've converted the GUID Partition Table (GPT) of my hard drive to an ms-dos partition table using the Disk Utility of the Tiger's disk 1.

After I installed Ubuntu using the LiveCD. It installs without the GRUB error because it can now fully understand the partition table. I needed to set the active partition using parted.

When the installation was complete, I had to install a patched version of GRUB (I created the .deb already and it is attached to the howto) in order to boot the system without hanging at stage2.

Voilà! I boot Ubuntu using GRUB and I don't any other OS installed. I didn't need BootCamp, rEFIt, elilo or lilo.

[hajk]

Interesting! I have just one question: does the GRUB menu allow booting of OS X as well?

[Entity]

Here's the Howto.

[Entity]

Originally Posted by hajk Interesting! I have just one question: does the GRUB menu allow booting of OS X as well?

It would need to be tested I guess. But I think that you can not install OS X on a hard drive with an MS-DOS partition table. It needs the GUID Partition Table. In fact Tiger's installer didn't let me do so.

Maybe the best solution would be to use an external drive on which there would be a GPT. I will be able to test that when I'll be back from Greece on monday night.

[the_webers_inc]

It is true that you can not install Mac OS X to a hard drive with an MS-DOS partition table, but I was able to get it to boot from one. Here's what I did:

Made a disk image of my Current Mac OS X installation (.dmg) while I was booted off a seperate installation of Mac OS X that I have on my external HD.

Saved the image to the external HD.

Used Disk Utility in Mac OS X to partition the internal HD into 4 partitions: /, swap, fat32, HFS+.

restored the image that I had made previously to the HFS+ Partition I had just created.

Rebooted, held down the option key and sure enough the disk poped up as a boot option, selected it and was soon using my Main Mac OS X installation on my reformated MBR based HD. I installed Windows XP right afterwords and now have 3 boot options when I hold down my option key at boot. Windows, Macintosh HD(my Main installation), Recovery HD(My Backup installation on my external HD).

I still have to install Ubuntu. Hopefully your patch will make that a little easier. The way I think that It will work is that I will have to use grub to chose between Windows XP and Ubuntu. When I want to boot into Mac OS X, I just have to hold down the option key right after rebooting.

So heres how I think it will work:

Mac OS X

Turn on > Option Key > Pick Mac Partition > it boots.

Windows or Ubuntu

Turn on > Option Key > Pick Windows Partition > Loads Grub > Pick Windows XP or Unbuntu > it boots.

I will do some testing in regards to this subject to day if I have time. I may be off base with some of these theories, so don't take them as fact. I will post again when I know more.

T. J.

[the_webers_inc]

It worked!

I now have Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, Windows XP SP2, and Mac OS X 10.4.7 all installed on my internal HD (4 partitions, MBR) in my iMac. I will write more about my experience when I have time.

T. J.

[jedsen]

This is very cool, thanks!

[LostEvil]

Originally Posted by the_webers_inc It worked! I now have Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, Windows XP SP2, and Mac OS X 10.4.7 all installed on my internal HD (4 partitions, MBR) in my iMac. I will write more about my experience when I have time. T. J.

that's cool, but do u know if its possible to use more partitions as extended? (1 for win, 2 for mac and 3 for /home, ubuntu and swap), cause if not, thats the same as using boot camp & refit for triplebooting in GPT ...

[DrCR]

Originally Posted by LostEvil that's cool, but do u know if its possible to use more partitions as extended? (1 for win, 2 for mac and 3 for /home, ubuntu and swap), cause if not, thats the same as using boot camp & refit for triplebooting in GPT ...

Not quite -- it gains you an additional primary partition, the one the GPT table would be taking up otherwise.

My question -- do you guys have any problems with updates or firmware upgrades? Also, as previously asked, can extended/logicals be used?


I've been going through this guide and just when I think I've got it setup right something crazy happens again, and (since I don't have an external HD) I have to start from scratch all over again. Would be really nice to just go MBR if possible. Besides, then I could go quad-booting, which I what I would actually like to do OSX, WinXP, Vista, Linux, (plus a universal storage partition).

Note - it may be possible to gain some extra EFI-only partitions going with the hybrid setup- GPT, OSX, Storage (or Vista), WinXP. Then after syncing the GPT and MBR shrink down the WinXP partition and create more paritions *but don't sync again*. Then you should be able to install EFI-recognizable Linux in the newly created disk-space. -- This is what I'm shooing for now. Yes, it would be nice to just go MBR lol.

DrCR

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[benanzo]

Apple says they use the 200MB EFI partition at the beginning of the disk to store firmware updates when they need to be installed. However, I nuked that partition a long time ago and have never had problems with firmware updates, so who knows.

The only way to get OS X onto an MBR disk is to install it normally then clone it and restore it to a disk with an MBR. OS X will refuse to install to an MBR disk, but will run just fine if you just untar it onto one. GRUB will boot Ubuntu, OS X and Windows just fine. Therefore you can use just an MBR disk with 4 primary and as many logical partitions as you want.