HP ProBook 4730s Best Mountain Lion USB Installer Guide

[mistoffolees]

Mostly working. Two remaining problems:
1. WiFi doesn't work. Since this system has the Realtek WiFi card, I'm assuming that's the problem and ordered an Atheros card from eBay.

2. Still can't get Chimera to work. I tried the instructions for 4k systems (copying with dd) in this forum and it didn't work. Still no boot menu (I am able to get around it by leaving the Flash drive installed and using that boot menu. System has 512 GB SSD card which is probably part of the problem.

Any ideas?

 

[RehabMan]

Mostly working. Two remaining problems:
1. WiFi doesn't work. Since this system has the Realtek WiFi card, I'm assuming that's the problem and ordered an Atheros card from eBay.

Correct. Make sure you get one that is HP-branded -- BIOS only allows whitelisted cards. And although, there is a workaround in place, it is not optimal.

2. Still can't get Chimera to work. I tried the instructions for 4k systems (copying with dd) in this forum and it didn't work. Still no boot menu (I am able to get around it by leaving the Flash drive installed and using that boot menu. System has 512 GB SSD card which is probably part of the problem.

Any ideas?

What happens when you try to boot from your SSD? Have you verified you have 4k sectors? Are you getting the boot0 error, or is it some other problem?

 

[mistoffolees]

Yes, the WiFi card is HP branded, so that should solve that problem.

On the booting, when I try to boot from the SSD (with the flash drive disconnected), it gives me an error message that says "no operating system found". I don't know for sure if I have 4k sectors, but it's a fairly new Crucial M4 512 GB SSD and was formatted with Disk Utilities. Does that tell you what you need to know?

 

[RehabMan]

Yes, the WiFi card is HP branded, so that should solve that problem.

On the booting, when I try to boot from the SSD (with the flash drive disconnected), it gives me an error message that says "no operating system found". I don't know for sure if I have 4k sectors, but it's a fairly new Crucial M4 512 GB SSD and was formatted with Disk Utilities. Does that tell you what you need to know?

I know that my Crucial M4 256 is not 4k, so I doubt the 512 is...

Some things to check:
- re-install Chimera
- if you have a single partition, then make sure the partition is marked active
- if you have multiple partitions (for multi-boot), run gptsync under Linux to be sure you have valid hybrid MBR
- if you have had other than Windows or OS X on this drive, then you might have a boot record that Chimera will not overwrite. In that case, you will have to install the boot record by hand:

#in terminal
sudo /usr/sbin/fdisk440 -f /usr/standalone/i386/boot0md -u -y /dev/rdisk0

 

[mistoffolees]

I've reinstalled Chimera several times, so that's out.

I completely reformatted the drive and only have Windows an Mac partitions, so the last suggestion is out.

I'll try gptsync when I get a chance. I can understand why that would prevent Windows from booting, but don't quite see how it would prevent Mountain Lion from booting, but that's undoubtedly due to my ignorance. I've never messed with boot loaders and guess I'll have to learn something about them.

Thanks, again.

 

[RehabMan]

I've reinstalled Chimera several times, so that's out.

I completely reformatted the drive and only have Windows an Mac partitions, so the last suggestion is out.

I'll try gptsync when I get a chance. I can understand why that would prevent Windows from booting, but don't quite see how it would prevent Mountain Lion from booting, but that's undoubtedly due to my ignorance. I've never messed with boot loaders and guess I'll have to learn something about them.

Thanks, again.

It matters because here you are trying to satisfy the BIOS and make it realize there is something there to boot.

Also, forcing boot0md to the boot record can do no harm, so that is also recommended. For some strange reason, the Chimera install script is really picky about what boot record data it will overwrite.

 

[mistoffolees]

OK. I ran gptsync.

I'm pretty sure it worked because in the bootloader from my USB stick, it now has "Windows NTFS" whereas previously it only had "untitled" or something like that. Plus, when I tried to run it again, it said that it was synchronized.

Unfortunately, it still doesn't work. When I boot without the USB stick installed, I get a "hard disk does not contain OS" message. I tried reinstalling Chimera, but that didn't help either. I tried using the Chamelon wizard to install a new boot0, but that didn't work.

What next?

 

[RehabMan]

OK. I ran gptsync.

I'm pretty sure it worked because in the bootloader from my USB stick, it now has "Windows NTFS" whereas previously it only had "untitled" or something like that. Plus, when I tried to run it again, it said that it was synchronized.

Unfortunately, it still doesn't work. When I boot without the USB stick installed, I get a "hard disk does not contain OS" message. I tried reinstalling Chimera, but that didn't help either. I tried using the Chamelon wizard to install a new boot0, but that didn't work.

What next?

It doesn't sound like you tried the fdisk440 command I gave you to force boot0md to the boot record...
I don't know about Chameleon Wizard's boot0 writing capabilities (never used it for that). And I also know you want boot0md, not boot0.
Also, what BIOS version?
And have you checked your BIOS boot options for correct boot priority order?
What happens if you force boot to your harddisk (ie. F9 at boot, then select main HDD).

If all else fails, start from scratch and follow the stickied guide... You might have done something wrong that I can't figure out remotely...

 

[mistoffolees]

I tried fdisk440 and it still isn't fixed, but there's something different.

Before, when I pressed F9, I got the expansion bay (CD), hard disk, and the USB stick if it was inserted. Now, I'm also getting "OS Boot manager" (listed twice) and "boot from EFI"

If I trie either of the OS boot manager buttons, I get an error message saying that there's a problem with the boot media. If I try the hard disk, it goes back to the "OS not found" BIOS message.

I thought I followed your instructions exactly, but it's entirely possible I left something out and I can go back and start from scratch, but since I'm now seeing the OS Boot manager, maybe there's something else I can try before starting over?

 

[RehabMan]

I tried fdisk440 and it still isn't fixed, but there's something different.

Before, when I pressed F9, I got the expansion bay (CD), hard disk, and the USB stick if it was inserted. Now, I'm also getting "OS Boot manager" (listed twice) and "boot from EFI"

If I trie either of the OS boot manager buttons, I get an error message saying that there's a problem with the boot media. If I try the hard disk, it goes back to the "OS not found" BIOS message.

I thought I followed your instructions exactly, but it's entirely possible I left something out and I can go back and start from scratch, but since I'm now seeing the OS Boot manager, maybe there's something else I can try before starting over?

Try to disable EFI. You don't need it and it might be adding unnecessary complexity with the boot situation.