Contribute
Register

Clover efi BIOS boot - no bootable device solution

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Nov 19, 2012
Messages
59
Motherboard
GA-Z77X-UP5 TH
CPU
i7-3770K
Graphics
GTX 660 Ti
If following the instructions in the link below for clover install and clover does not boot, i have a tip for you.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-desktop-guides/144426-how-install-os-x-yosemite-using-clover.html
If you get a black screen or no bootable device found error keep reading.

This is for BIOS only motherboards with no uefi supported and installing Clover in ESP for boot0af.

After much searching and finding nothing and trying many different settings like boot0ss instead of boot0af, reinstalling clover, lots of editing the config.plist (clover is not loading so editing config would not help anyways, much head banging. )

Older bios motherboards do not see the efi partition.
And I was thinking that clover was taking care of setting the efi as the boot partition, but it does not.

So to get clover to work, we have to use old methods to flag the active partition.

in terminal:
find what the disk number is: ie. disk0, disk1, etc.
Code:
diskutil list

cd to the folder fdisk440 is in.
flag the partition active:
Code:
sudo fdisk440 -e /dev/rdisk0
>f 1
>w
>q

if you don't have fdisk440, a copy is included on the clover boot cd's inside /usr/standalone/.

Reboot, and clover boots, yay!

Also as another tip, make sure your boot drive has a custom entry in the GUI part of the config.plist
 
Thank you so much, this solved my problem, here is more of the output for anyone else having this problem. This seems like something that should be fixed in Unibeast 6.0.1.

Code:
User$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *250.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Seagate 250GB           249.7 GB   disk0s2
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *60.0 GB    disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh SSD           59.7 GB    disk1s2
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *31.4 GB    disk2
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS ElCapInstallerSandisk   31.0 GB    disk2s2
User$ sudo fdisk440 -e /dev/rdisk2
Password:
Enter 'help' for information
fdisk: 1> 
fdisk: 1> f 1
Partition 1 marked active.
fdisk:*1> w
Device could not be accessed exclusively.
A reboot will be needed for changes to take effect. OK? [n] y
Writing MBR at offset 0.
fdisk: 1> q
 
Last edited:
Doh! My whole disk disappeared. o_O
 
I also use this method and it works perfect with a single OS X boot.

The problem appears when I had Windows 10 installed on the same GPT drive - after setting EFI partition as active Windows does not boot and I could not even reinstall it. If no active flag is set to EFI partition then HDD doesn't boot at all; the only walkaround is to use MBR partitioned Clover USB stick.

It has been few weeks I am trying to find the solution. I also used gdisk and Gparted to set 'bootable' flag with no success. I still cannot figure out whether it is the result of using fdisk or the actual 'active' flag.

EDIT:
Finally I figured out that setting a Windows partition as active (#4 in my case) using the same method solves all boot issues.




Current build: Acer Aspire 7720G - Legacy BIOS - Clover
 
Last edited:
sudo: fdisk440: command not found

now what? where do I place the fdisk440 app? I have it, but in what directory do I put it for it to work?
 
replying on my own post... seems in El Capitan you cannot edit the /usr/sbin/ directory. So screwed here as the fdisk440 needs to go there.
 
Not sure why you're having this issue, I just did a fresh install of 10.11.5 and it was able to find fdisk440 no problem :/ But, i don't think it has to be at that path in order to be run.
Wish i could help more.
 
I followed the instructions and after rebooting I got missing operating system.
I can only boot to El Capitan by using USB but no booting to Windows 10 with USB or without.
Missing Operating System is what I got
 
I also use this method and it works perfect with a single OS X boot.

The problem appears when I had Windows 10 installed on the same GPT drive - after setting EFI partition as active Windows does not boot and I could not even reinstall it. If no active flag is set to EFI partition then HDD doesn't boot at all; the only walkaround is to use MBR partitioned Clover USB stick.

It has been few weeks I am trying to find the solution. I also used gdisk and Gparted to set 'bootable' flag with no success. I still cannot figure out whether it is the result of using fdisk or the actual 'active' flag.

EDIT:
Finally I figured out that setting a Windows partition as active (#4 in my case) using the same method solves all boot issues.




Current build: Acer Aspire 7720G - Legacy BIOS - Clover

Thanks saved me a lot of hassle,


sonicman66
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top