Intel Macs with Hardy 'no bootable devices'

[Naturally]

Never mind. Just solved it, OS X, Ubuntu, and XP professional work fine together now.

I will record what I did, since maybe this will help someone having this problem in the future.


As stated above, I used FIXMBR from windows XP CD and this did not solve the problem.

I then tried to synchronise the partitions through rEFIt partition tool. That reported that all Boot tables were synchronised and that there was no need to do anything.

However, the rEFIt partition tool, showed me that windows is installed in partition 4.

I then checked the windows boot.ini to see what partition it is trying to load from. I found that boot.ini is trying to boot from partition 3 instead of 4. So, I changed the two lines that are referring to partition 3 to point at partition 4 instead.

This fixed everything. All work fine now. I can boot from all of them.

Sorry for the false alarm.

[ohyeah12321]

Okay, I seem to be running into obstacle after obstacle trying to get Ubuntu to work. First, I got it so that it freezes when selecting Ubuntu through rEFIt (grey screen, tux logo freeze). I followed the steps in the guide for how to get around that, and that is where my trouble lies. Instead of ending up with Ubuntu working, I now have 2 boot logos for Ubuntu (boot from HD and boot from partition 3) and both of them bring me to a command prompt screen and nothing else. Sorry for the broad question, but where do you think I went wrong and how do I fix it? Please forgive me for being a total noob, but I made my journey into the world of Ubuntu last night.

[cyberdork33]

Okay, I seem to be running into obstacle after obstacle trying to get Ubuntu to work. First, I got it so that it freezes when selecting Ubuntu through rEFIt (grey screen, tux logo freeze). I followed the steps in the guide for how to get around that, and that is where my trouble lies. Instead of ending up with Ubuntu working, I now have 2 boot logos for Ubuntu (boot from HD and boot from partition 3) and both of them bring me to a command prompt screen and nothing else. Sorry for the broad question, but where do you think I went wrong and how do I fix it? Please forgive me for being a total noob, but I made my journey into the world of Ubuntu last night.

Answer is in the original thread:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=854995

[iPodAddict181]

Thank you so much, I was about to start a new thread on this. I kept trying to put Ubuntu on my Mac but it kept giving me that message. Now I will finally be able to put Ubuntu on my Mac, I subscribed to this thread too, and I also hope it stays alive.

[MstrPBK]

I heard of Ubuntu this morning as a bridge OS for Windows environments (am I correct on this understanding). Has the discussion on this thread actually agreed on a solution?

I have no interest in loading Vista on my innocent Mac Mini; that in itself seems to be to much punishment for it.

Signed: Considering the bridge.
Peter Kelley
St. Paul, MN

[cyberdork33]

I heard of Ubuntu this morning as a bridge OS for Windows environments (am I correct on this understanding). Has the discussion on this thread actually agreed on a solution?

I have no interest in loading Vista on my innocent Mac Mini; that in itself seems to be to much punishment for it.

Signed: Considering the bridge.
Peter Kelley
St. Paul, MN

Um, you might have to explain what you mean, and maybe start a new thread as I don't think what you are asking has anything to do with this thread.

[Pederm]

I had Leopard and Vista working fine, but I installed Ubuntu and then got “No bootable device error” when trying to access both Vista and Ubuntu from the rEFIt screen. I then synced my partitions using the rEFIt tool; this got rid of the no bootable device error and let me boot into Ubuntu but now when I access Windows, the Windows Boot Manager screen comes up and says Windows Failed to start... winload.exe...missing or corrupt. This happens after I choose Windows from the screen where I can choose variants of Ubuntu or Windows.

Please help, thanks! - Eric

I have the exact similar problem with XP in stead of Vista. XP says that "<windows root>\system32\hal.dll" is missing.

[cyberdork33]

I have the exact similar problem with XP in stead of Vista. XP says that "<windows root>\system32\hal.dll" is missing.

You usually get this error because the partitions have changed on the disk after you have installed Windows. There is really no "fix" other than to try reinstalling. This has been happening to people for far longer than Hardy or even Gutsy has been out.

Some say this works, but nobody has had much luck with it recently:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=327386

[mac-wilson]

I'm getting those two problems mentioned in the first post of this topic. My external HD has 3 partitions: MacOS backup, Linux, Linux swap.

If I sync paritions will all of the information inside of each seperate partition stay undamaged? I don't want to have to re-backup my MacOS all over again.

[cyberdork33]

I'm getting those two problems mentioned in the first post of this topic. My external HD has 3 partitions: MacOS backup, Linux, Linux swap.

If I sync paritions will all of the information inside of each seperate partition stay undamaged? I don't want to have to re-backup my MacOS all over again.

Unfortunately, refit will only sync the partitions on your primary hard drive although I think that the gptsync command can be installed in Ubuntu and can sync partitions elsewhere.

You will not be able to boot your Ubuntu install off the external hard drive though still. There are many threads about this being an issue including a very long thread linked in the FAQ.