Trying to run Vanilla with Chameleon 2, need some help

Pyrokenesis_17 · #1 06-20-2009, 04:26 AM

Hello folks,

I am in need of some assistance regarding OS X Leopard with a Vanilla kernel and the use of Chameleon 2.0rc1. First off, I have a running Leopard Distro, 10.5.7 as a matter of fact, with almost everything working (sleep has troubles, 4gb RAM + dmg mount sometimes has problems) but this is only a "test" partition, something to work with untill im satisfied with what I build.

So im trying to quad boot on one harddrive, Mac OS X Leopard/Snow Leopard (Not sure yet), Windows 7, Windows XP, and Ubuntu 9.04. Honestly, I dont have a real purpose for all of this other than "I WANT IT!!!!" Im trying to at least get a valid vanilla install to at least boot. I have a original leopard dmg, or I can get access to an original leopard DVD. Currently, I am this guide (http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...howtopic=86167) but that only leaves me with a crappy bootloader (Not chameleon 2.0rc1) and an error message along these lines "There was an error during boot. Pause 5 seconds." Then black screen. Is there anything I can do to get a Vanilla kernel to run on my PC or should I dump the project and work with a patched kernel?

Also, what is the deal with PC_EFI and all this? Apparently, PC_EFI has features supported by Chameleon 2.0RC1, so whats the difference? Why is it that the Chameleon 2.0rc1 installer doesnt work for me at all? I hope im not asking too much, but a bit of clarification would be wonderful, as the folks at insanelymac... well lets say nobody seems to answer ANYTHING anymore over there, including their IRC channels.

Specs:
Asus Striker II Extreme (nVidia 790i Ultra SLI Board)
2 x 2 GB OCZ HPC DDR3 RAM
2 x PNY GeForce 9800 GTX 512mb (GE + QGL)
IDE HDD (Current 10.5.7 Leopard Installation)
Sata HDD (4 Partitions + 1 EFI Partition) (This is where I want the Leopard Vanilla)
Sata HDD (Storage)

InteliMacPro · #2 06-23-2009, 02:19 AM

I'm assuming you're using an MBR formatted disk since you're trying to use XP. I haven't looked in a while but you may have too many partitions for a single MBR disk. Isn't it limited to 4? I also think OS X installs an invisible EFI partition that would count towards this total, so that may be your problem. Honestly you'd be better off doing this on two drives. I don't think your inability to boot has anything to do with the vanilla kernel. I'm dual booting leopard and Win7 (on separate hd's, one GUID and one MBR) with no problem using chameleon. Well, triple boot if you count my test partition on the Leo drive. And a split partition on the windows drive for time machine. I think you may just be asking too much of an MBR formatted drive. Although I'm admittedly no expert and I could be WAAAAAY off here. If it IS possible, I know it's gonna be a huge pain in the ass. I was trying to install Win7 on a GUID but it would never let me so i just gave up on it and went MBR on the second drive.

Pyrokenesis_17 · #3 06-23-2009, 07:46 AM

Thank you for your reply!

You certainly are correct about the amount of partitions MBR disks can hold, but you see the drive I'm trying to run everything from is actually a GUID drive, I read somewhere it's the only way to actually run vanilla... quite honestly I'm on the verge of givin up, as no matter what I try or who I ask I can never figure out how to even boot into vanilla... so this play is honestly going downhill, let alone trying to install chameleon, that's even worse as the install doesn't do anything except mess up what I already have. I would try running vanilla trhough a distro, but the only one that allows me to boot into installer at all is kalyway 10.5.1, an boy is that a mess!

If you have any knowledge about vanilla you'd like to share, I'd really appreciate it!

thorazine74 · #4 06-23-2009, 08:14 AM

I think you are mixing using "vanilla" (the kernel from Apple) with installing "retail" (the original retail DVD instead of a distro) so I'm not sure what you are trying to achieve. As for the Quad Boot I think you are trying to do something too complicated without having the ideas really clear. You should have the concepts really clear for doing that and plan how are you going to install the OS.

You can install the Retail Leopard on a GPT or MBR (with a modded installer) partitioned drive. Any method you could use will NOT install any bootloader, you have to do it on your own, so you should have the choice of using PCEFI or whatever. I would not go with anything apart from Chameleon 2 right now but that will not let you boot Snow Leopard from what I know.

If you have a GPT style partition, you cant install Leopard on the EFI (System Partition), you have to install it in a primary (GPT) partition; you can however boot Leopard from EFI System Partition (thats munky method). Not sure if its really recommended, I think Windows 7 would like to boot from EFI System Partition by default but maybe it will boot from a primary too not sure.
In any case I think Windows XP will NOT install or boot from a GPT disc. Ubuntu got troubles booting from GPT on non-EFI system I think, but probably they fixed them already.

If I were you I would try this route:

- Install Windows 7 on a clean disk, making sure you leave enough partitions for the rest of the OSes.
- Install Retail Leopard on a primary and chameleon on the same place, should overwrite MBR and you'll have Chameleon as the main bootmanager.
- Install Ubuntu on another primary making sure GRUB goes only on the partition, NOT on the drive's MBR.

I havent tried that so I can assure how it will go.

Pyrokenesis_17 · #5 06-23-2009, 08:27 AM

So I should try to install windows 7 on a guid drive, or use A boot-123 to boot retail and install? In regards to my confusion, I associated a retail install with using a vanilla kernel, but I assume I am wrong?

InteliMacPro · #6 06-23-2009, 09:31 AM

Well a retail install can be done without the vanilla kernel, such as the voodoo kernel on AMD systems, but it kind of defeats the purpose IMO, so may as well use a distro. You need to boot into your install using a boot 132 cd and then once you're in install chameleon. At least then you'll be able to get into OS X.

All i can really do is point you to this thread for dual booting on the same hard drive. It's for Leopard and Vista, but I would think what would work for Vista would work for Win7. Worth a shot anyway. I'm pretty sure you can't install XP on GUID, and I have no idea about Ubuntu. Your best bet really is at least two hard drives. And you can install a vanilla system on a MBR drive i'm pretty sure.

I like your rig, btw. Nice. You should put it in your sig so you don't have to list all your components all the time when you ask questions. Anybody know if he'll have problems using an IDE and a SATA HDD together?

martin255 · #7 06-23-2009, 12:21 PM

What you are trying to achieve (triple boot on a single GUID drive) is not easy. There is a great tutorial to do that here: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...owtopic=165899

Also, just to clear a few things that were not mentioned yet in this thread (perhaps they seemed too obvious to the previous posters), and that can help you understand why this is difficult:
- Ubuntu comes with its own bootloader, called grub. That's probably the 'crappy bootloader' you saw. If you select the defaults when installing Ubuntu, grub will be installed to the MBR of your drive and overwrite Chameleon.
- Installing retail Leopard on an empty drive with the default options will create a guid partition table. Also, if you install Leopard on a MBR formatted drive, no EFI partition will be created.
- Windows (all versions, including Seven) does not support GPT drives at all and won't install unless you trick it. See the tutorial for how to do this. Moreover, installing Windows also overwrites the MBR.
- You can install a distro and use Vanilla kernel.
- I confirm that currently, only PC_EFI v9 can boot Snow Leopard.

Voyn1x · #8 06-23-2009, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InteliMacPro

I also think OS X installs an invisible EFI partition that would count towards this total, so that may be your problem. Honestly you'd be better off doing this on two drives.

OS X only creates the hidden EFI partition when formatting a disk as GUID.

Quote:

Originally Posted by InteliMacPro

Well a retail install can be done without the vanilla kernel, such as the voodoo kernel on AMD systems, but it kind of defeats the purpose IMO, so may as well use a distro.

I'm sorry but that is very bad advice. We should be encouraging people to move away from the 'old way' of prepatched distros. When I was running retail on my old AMD hack, being able to update using ASU was a dream come true. Common threads like 'How do I update to 10.5.7' and 'Which distro should I use' would become a thing of the past.

As kexts (and the voodoo kernel in this instance) are separated from the system, software update can safely be used, because they don't get overwritten unlike when using distros.

Pyrokenesis_17 · #9 06-25-2009, 01:00 AM

Precisely why I am trying to run it, it would make life so much easier! I am able to see the EFI partition on the GUID drive, but am unsure if everything is set up properly (Used munky-efi method). I shall try again, this time ill erase the AppleIntelCPUPowermanagement.kext and see if it boots.

Another problem I noticed i'm having is that im unsure what chipsets I have. Up untill now, I thought I had nForce Sata controller, but almost all the modern distros have the kext for that, yet they dont work... Kalyway 10.5.1 also has the kext, but that one actually works. Also, when running the Hardware update from OSX86 tools, apparently I have JMicron as well, but what is that for? I honestly have NO idea what I need anymore! Can anyone help me out?

InteliMacPro · #10 06-25-2009, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voyn1x

OS X only creates the hidden EFI partition when formatting a disk as GUID.

I'm sorry but that is very bad advice. We should be encouraging people to move away from the 'old way' of prepatched distros. When I was running retail on my old AMD hack, being able to update using ASU was a dream come true. Common threads like 'How do I update to 10.5.7' and 'Which distro should I use' would become a thing of the past.

As kexts (and the voodoo kernel in this instance) are separated from the system, software update can safely be used, because they don't get overwritten unlike when using distros.

For the EFI/GUID thing: that's good to know. I wasn't sure, thanks for clarifying.

I get what you're saying about retail installs and I totally agree with you. I was just saying... I tried for months to get the boot 132 cd method to work and only managed an install once, which promptly kp'd every time i tried to boot. I know I was missing something, but I really just got frustrated and gave up. Now I have an iPC install with chameleon 2 and i'm contemplating throwing all of my non-apple kexts in the extras folder. But i'd be willing to give the retail install another try if anybody could help me figure out what goes with my hardware, cuz i could never figure what i was missing. More than likely though i'll probably sell this rig with windows on it and do a build with a more OS X complaint motherboard. But, not to hijack this thread with my stuff. Carry on...