[Guide] MultiBooting for the novice. Updated 3/12 see log

[abaco]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

One more question about drive recognition. Seems like I can see window SDD when I boot to OSX, but I don't see OSX HDD when I boot to Window7.

Please advise me if you had similar problem.

Thank you.

For Windows to be able to see OSX partitions you have to install MacDrive in Windows.
OSX can read Windows partitions but can't write unless you use something like Tuxera NTFS.

 

[abaco]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

Im a big noob and i understand everything except, what if i have my windows 7 on my current hard drive with my data and i want to OSx on my new HDD, can i multiboot still? or do i have to wipe all my info from main HDD?

I think so if you have installed Windows with AHCI selected in bios instead of IDE.
When you install Snow Leopard, you have to select AHCI in the BIOS, so you can already confirm if that was selected when you installed Windows. Anyway, when you install Snow Leopard, first unplug the SATA cable of Windows HDD.
After Snow Leopard installation, if you cannot boot in Windows, you have to reinstall Windows or alternatively (if you don't want to reinstall Windows), you have to enter the BIOS each time you turn on the computer and move to the top the HDD of the Operating System with which you want to boot and select IDE to boot in Windows or AHCI to boot in OSX.

 

[Stork]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

Im a big noob and i understand everything except, what if i have my windows 7 on my current hard drive with my data and i want to OSx on my new HDD, can i multiboot still? or do i have to wipe all my info from main HDD?

Welcome! You can have Win7 on one drive and Mac OS X Snow Leopard (SL) on another SSD or regular hard drive. This guide is only for putting them both on the same drive, different partitions.

To install on separate drives, disconnect the windows drive with only your optical drive and the drive to get SL. The preferred SATA connection assignment is:

• SATA0 = Sony Optical DVD/CD drive
  SATA1 = Mac OS X SL drive
  SATA2 = Win7 drive (disconnected while installing SL)

Then follow the Installation Guide (link in my signature block). The Guide explains how to setup your BIOS and provides a step by step process on installing SL. You might want to print it out and check off each step.

After getting SL installed and working, reconnect your Win7 drive. Then, upon boot up, when you see the tonymacx86 icon and a moving (time) bar, tap the Space Bar to select which OS you want to boot into. Not tapping the Space Bar will cause the boot loader (Chimera) to choose the 1st bootable disk which will be SL if you connect your hard drives as above.

Good luck!

 

[Colossusbird]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

Im a big noob and i understand everything except, what if i have my windows 7 on my current hard drive with my data and i want to OSx on my new HDD, can i multiboot still? or do i have to wipe all my info from main HDD?

Welcome! You can have Win7 on one drive and Mac OS X Snow Leopard (SL) on another SSD or regular hard drive. This guide is only for putting them both on the same drive, different partitions.

To install on separate drives, disconnect the windows drive with only your optical drive and the drive to get SL. The preferred SATA connection assignment is:

• SATA0 = Sony Optical DVD/CD drive
  SATA1 = Mac OS X SL drive
  SATA2 = Win7 drive (disconnected while installing SL)

Then follow the Installation Guide (link in my signature block). The Guide explains how to setup your BIOS and provides a step by step process on installing SL. You might want to print it out and check off each step.

After getting SL installed and working, reconnect your Win7 drive. Then, upon boot up, when you see the tonymacx86 icon and a moving (time) bar, tap the Space Bar to select which OS you want to boot into. Not tapping the Space Bar will cause the boot loader (Chimera) to choose the 1st bootable disk which will be SL if you connect your hard drives as above.

Good luck!

On the iBoot, if i have 6gb of ram on triple channel, will that mess it up at all?

 

[Stork]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

...
On the iBoot, if i have 6gb of ram on triple channel, will that mess it up at all?

Go a head and try it. IIRC, the newer version of iBoot make that requirement OBE (overcome by events). If you run into a problem, check out guides for the X58 motherboards.

 

[Colossusbird]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

Will i need to use kext utility or does multibeast or iBoot already have it in there?

 

[Stork]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

Will i need to use kext utility or does multibeast or iBoot already have it in there?

Briefly, no, you don't have to use the Kext Utilities after using MultiBeast if you check the Systems Utilities box in MultiBeast as it allows for rebuilding caches & repairing the appropriate permissions. Additionally, MultiBeast's OSx86 Software section can install the Kext Utility and other utilities applications into your Application folder when checked.

The Installation Guide in my signature block has instructions. I highly recommend reading the MultiBeast Features document as it will clear up a lot of the MulitBeast "mysteries."

 

[strike101]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

I can't install Windows 7... giving me the error.. Windows 7 cannot be installed on this disk.. cause it's using a GPT partition T T

 

[trozminster]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

All good... great guide, thank you... until I installed grub on the wrong partition - failing to follow step 3p.

It would be helpful if you could reorder 3p to be BEFORE 3m, when you ask to press install... maybe something's changed since you wrote the guide but it doesn't come back to the partition screen after asking to copy Windoze settings.

Here we go again from scratch

 

[grampositive]

Re: [Guide] MultiBooting for the novice.

GPTSync was what I needed to get my 3x boot to work, Thanks so much.