Exploring Alternate Bootloaders

[tonymacx86]

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The first phase when booting OS X is the bootloader which takes over from the BIOS/UEFI to load the operating system. There have been various open-source bootloader projects over the years for OS X, with the Chameleon project being the most commonly used. Within the Chameleon project, which is based upon Apple's Boot-132 code, there are numerous branches including MacMan's Chimera. Because of the widespread adoption of UEFI on modern motherboards, alternate bootloaders such as Clover have shown wider appeal, having the capability of booting directly from the UEFI.

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There are pros and cons to any bootloader. We recommend Chameleon/Chimera because it's the most stable and universal for modern desktop systems. It's also relatively simple for non-techies to set up and configure. For those interested in experimenting with alternates to Chimera, we've created a new subforum called Alternate Bootloaders. Feel free to create your own guides and share your experiences in these areas. We've already added a few sticky posts with some general information.

NOTE: Experimentation can lead to irretrievable data loss. Please be careful!

 

[Pechente]

Nice! I‘m currently using Chimera to have a triple boot with OS X, Windows and Ubuntu. It really was easy to setup and I’m satisfied with the result but maybe there’s a bootloader that suits my needs even better.

 

[konjow]

BTW Is it possible/difficult incorporate something like "Truecrypt" or symilar into bootloader likely in Chameleon/Chimera Tohave password/crypt boot drive in better way then OSX login?

 

[gargamel778]

Chimera served me well for almost a year, when I started hackintoshing. I've used Chamelion for a bit back when it was the only option to enable iMessage but went back when the patch has been incorporated in newer versions of chimera.

 

[mab]

I like the boot icon

 

[duffs]

i'm using clover on non UEFI board and it's great. "on the fly" hex patching is what i need.

 

[Bijo]

I use XPC Bootloader for tow reasons :
1- it's more compatible with my Graphics card Radeon HD 6770 .. (chimera or chameleon injects it as HD 5000) ...
2- bootcamp run .....

 

[mjdempsey]

I'm a Chimera guy. The techie in me wants to investigate clover, but I also believe if it ain't broke don't fix it. But I'll definitely check out the subforum.

 

[sos86]

Article: Exploring Alternate Bootloaders

Nice! I‘m currently using Chimera to have a triple boot with OS X, Windows and Ubuntu. It really was easy to setup and I’m satisfied with the result but maybe there’s a bootloader that suits my needs even better.

Easy to setup, boots all three, and you're satisfied - how could something suit you even better?! Make a cup of tea whilst giving you a foot massage?

 

[tonyd]

Clover is totally open source and its is free - no donations requested at all, you are just asked to think about what you have and what you need - and the latest stable revisions can be found on sourceforge.net. Enjoy guys.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/cloverefiboot/