Multi Boot 4x30s + 10.8.x + windows 7/8 + ubuntu

[nguyenmac]

Here are my setup: GPT Hybrid MBR
EFI Partition (needed for GPT)
HFS+: Mountain Lion (Chimera + ML)
NTFS: Windows 8
HFS+: Data OSX
NTFS: Data Win

ML can recognize all partitions because it supports GPT. Windows is based on MBR, so it can only recognize up to 4 partitions:
Unrecognized partition (EFI plus HFS+)
NTFS: Windows 8
HFS+: Data OSX
NTFS: Data Win

So far it works fine. I wanted to have a shared data partition but ML sometimes corrupt data on NTFS + exFAT partition, while Windows can corrupt data on HFS+ partition. I set NTFS partition to be read-only on ML, and HFS+ partition to be read-only on Windows. It works fine so far.

 

[appleiscool]

Thanks for the help.

so just install chimera on one osx partition.

Here are my setup: GPT Hybrid MBR
EFI Partition (needed for GPT)
HFS+: Mountain Lion (Chimera + ML)
NTFS: Windows 8
HFS+: Data OSX
NTFS: Data Win

ML can recognize all partitions because it supports GPT. Windows is based on MBR, so it can only recognize up to 4 partitions:
Unrecognized partition (EFI plus HFS+)
NTFS: Windows 8
HFS+: Data OSX
NTFS: Data Win

So far it works fine. I wanted to have a shared data partition but ML sometimes corrupt data on NTFS + exFAT partition, while Windows can corrupt data on HFS+ partition. I set NTFS partition to be read-only on ML, and HFS+ partition to be read-only on Windows. It works fine so far.

 

[appleiscool]

RESIZE MAC PARTITION, ON A HYBRID GPT/MBR DISK

hey Rehabman,

thanks for all the help. and i've done a cursory search on the topic on your blog and on these forums but nothing quite answered my question.

i've setup my multiboot as per your other guide on your blog, and now my osx install is now telling me i'm low on space. Is it easy (simple, stupid) to resize the hybrid gpt mbr partitions?

I can only think of using gparted on the ubuntu live cd, and not sure if this is will cause a mess, or what method to go use.

Its a multi boot system :

w7
mac
transfer space
ubuntu

and if i do a backup - clonezilla disk image, not partition image - will i be able to restore to ssd? since i dont have trim enabled

thanks

 

[RehabMan]

RESIZE MAC PARTITION, ON A HYBRID GPT/MBR DISK

hey Rehabman,

thanks for all the help. and i've done a cursory search on the topic on your blog and on these forums but nothing quite answered my question.

i've setup my multiboot as per your other guide on your blog, and now my osx install is now telling me i'm low on space. Is it easy (simple, stupid) to resize the hybrid gpt mbr partitions?

I can only think of using gparted on the ubuntu live cd, and not sure if this is will cause a mess, or what method to go use.

Its a multi boot system :

w7
mac
transfer space
ubuntu

Are you thinking of removing 'transfer space' to make more room for 'mac'? Then perhaps re-adding 'transfer space'?

If so, probably best way is to do it from Disk Utility from Utilities menu in OS X installer (boot the installer via Unibeast USB).

and if i do a backup - clonezilla disk image, not partition image - will i be able to restore to ssd? since i dont have trim enabled

thanks

I've never tried doing a disk backup via clonezilla... only partition backups. And you would have to have a disk that is exactly the same size as the source, I think. TRIM has nothing to do with creating clones.

 

[appleiscool]

Are you thinking of removing 'transfer space' to make more room for 'mac'? Then perhaps re-adding 'transfer space'?

If so, probably best way is to do it from Disk Utility from Utilities menu in OS X installer (boot the installer via Unibeast USB).



I've never tried doing a disk backup via clonezilla... only partition backups. And you would have to have a disk that is exactly the same size as the source, I think. TRIM has nothing to do with creating clones.

hi, thanks for the reply. yes, the resize of the mac part would take a few gb from the transfer space. will this mess things up for any of the systems at any level? does the gptsync tool have to be used after resizing?


on the other note, i was thinking of a partition backup, though looking ahead i may have a ssd drive in place, so if i do restore the backup, maybe the osx partition wont boot up because trim wasnt enabled?

 

[lunar7]

I have Win8 in a dual boot on a Samsung 840 SSD and its quite snappy. Had it on a HDD before that on the ProBook, and it went south quickly. However, this could have been because it was in the optical bay and might have been getting banged around a bit too much. After 6 months working "ok" (was never really "snappy" on HDD) it suddenly became much slower, although was otherwise seemingly fine.

I'd recommend it only if you will be running on SSD.

 

[RehabMan]

hi, thanks for the reply. yes, the resize of the mac part would take a few gb from the transfer space. will this mess things up for any of the systems at any level? does the gptsync tool have to be used after resizing?

I would think not, but you never know. Always have a plan in place for the case that you have to re-install the whole works.

on the other note, i was thinking of a partition backup, though looking ahead i may have a ssd drive in place, so if i do restore the backup, maybe the osx partition wont boot up because trim wasnt enabled?

Trim doesn't have anything to do with being able to boot or not. TRIM is used by the OS (file system) to tell the SSD what blocks are in use and what blocks are not in use, so it can use it to optimize its wear leveling and garbage collection algorithms.

Getting a cloned OS X to boot is the easy compared to Windows and Linux. This is because the BIOS (in our case Chameleon/Chimera) provides the UUID of the root volume to the OS X kernel, whereas Linux and Windows keep the UUIDs in various configuration files.

 

[appleiscool]

I would think not, but you never know. Always have a plan in place for the case that you have to re-install the whole works.



Trim doesn't have anything to do with being able to boot or not. TRIM is used by the OS (file system) to tell the SSD what blocks are in use and what blocks are not in use, so it can use it to optimize its wear leveling and garbage collection algorithms.

Getting a cloned OS X to boot is the easy compared to Windows and Linux. This is because the BIOS (in our case Chameleon/Chimera) provides the UUID of the root volume to the OS X kernel, whereas Linux and Windows keep the UUIDs in various configuration files.

ok thanks for trim info. also just noticed the 10.8.4 update is now out, might reschedule plans much later to do the hdd resize task, and maybe complete re-install if things mess up, will download the fresh 10.8.4 osx ml installer from app store too

 

[pu3ril]

Hello Rehabman

I followed your guide to install Win 7, ML and Ubuntu on the same SSD.

In my case, I chose the partitions have been these:

Win 7 - 90GB
Mac OS Mountain Lion - 90 Gb
Ubuntu - 50Gb (8Gb swap / 42GB ext4)

Everything worked to Perfection:

Section B - Partitioning
Section C - Install Win 7
Section E - Install Mountain Lion
Section G - Cleanup the Chimera menuAt this point it has reached the first question, since I have connected another 1TB hard drive to store and to use Time Machine copies.

I managed to make the menu disappear Chimera partition 1TB drive.

My problem is that when you install Ubuntu, much as follow the steps in Section H and I, I get the Grub menu and I can not do boot any OS other than Ubuntu.

I have tried reinstalling Chimera so I would not appear Grub. I tried modifying the Grub with the command sudo gedit / etc / default / grub.

I added a # in front of the chain GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT = 0 and I changed the value GRUB_TIMEOUT GRUB_TIMEOUT = 10 = 0.

Then I saved the document and I have updated the grub as you indicate.

My question is, how I can prevent grub is the bootloader and remain as main bootloader Chimera?

Right now I can only boot Windows 7 and Mountain Lion from Unibeast pendrive created.

I hope I explained well.

A greeting and thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.

Edit: I decided to start over from scratch. Return to start installing Windows 7, but I want to try to do it right this time.

 

[BigDonkey]

When creating ext4 partition in Ubuntu, make sure boot record gets installed into /dev/sda3 or whatever your Linux is, not MBR /dev/sda