Mac OS X on x86 Hardware 2008–2024 Technical Archive
InfiniteMac OSx86 › Leopard 10.5 › blinking cursor - no efi? or why i cant boot
6,236 reads · 2008-01-30 – 2008-01-31
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blinking cursor - no efi? or why i cant boot

i installed my rev1 amd version dvd to a internal sata connected through sb600 chip from ati. i tried it already with mbr and now i'm on guid. after reboot the system shows a blinking cursor and do nothing. i can access my system only from…

Primary Author
@xan Published 2008-01-30
Collection
Leopard 10.5
Archival Footprint
6,236 historical reads · 11 curated field notes (from 28 dispatches) · 2008-01-30 – 2008-01-31
Credited Voices (6)
@xan (16)@Puttabong (7)@naquaada (2)@R0GUE@roisoft@Acidrain9

i installed my rev1 amd version dvd to a internal sata connected through sb600 chip from ati.
i tried it already with mbr and now i'm on guid.

after reboot the system shows a blinking cursor and do nothing. i can access my system only from booting with dvd and rd=diskXsY .
what is it? i tried to install efi but it didnt work. 2 weeks ago i successfully installed the same rev1 dvd on a external usb2.0 hdd on the same machine!
and after intallation i could successfully install and config efi ! and everything worked.

whats the problem with efi now? can someone help me please. and to zeph: best mac release ever! keep up the perfect work with your team.

specs:

amd x2 am2 3800+
msi k9a platinum with sb600 southbridge
4GB ram
3 satas internal
ati x1900XT

Author Updates & Technical Revisions

Follow-up dispatches by @xan

Author Update #1 @xan 2008-01-30

my sb600 drivers are injected in the iso! they installs fine so i can see and use the sata at installation. but AFTER installation i cant boot without the DVD and rd=… command

and as i said, mbr is not working either on the sata. same problem.

the curious about it: on the external usb2.0 hdd everything works fine with mbr & efi & sb600 drivers

Author Update #2 @xan 2008-01-30

which point would help me? cant see a booting fix

Author Update #3 @xan 2008-01-30
[cite] Puttabong:you have to boot DVD install routine to access terminal and diskutil! no -s or something like this! This is how to fix booting for GUID + EFI! <----- not working with guid! fdisk said that it cant finde MBR bla bla... so i decided to reinstall the whole sys with MBR! (remeber: now i'm on MBR!) mount -uw /
diskutil list fdisk -e /dev/rdiskX p f X (x = 1 ? for active?) w y q
diskutil unmount /dev/diskXsY cd /usr/i386/standalone/ (you mean /usr/standalone/i386) umount -f /dev/diskXsY ./startupfiletool /dev/rdiskXsY ./boot_v8 (hat to use this command from USB flash drive, have no boot_v8 in the /usr/standalone/i386/ ! ) dd if=boot1h of=/dev/rdiskXsY bs=512 count=1 diskutil unmount /dev/diskX dd if=boot0…

reboot

after this procedere i have a darwin loader (YES! first success)
but then i have a still waiting for rootdevice!

what do i miss? is my step by step wrong? Puttabong can u give a step by step for MBR? thnx in advance

Author Update #4 @xan 2008-01-30

what is better? make the system on GUID or MBR? a lot of say that MBR is less pain in config / install. is that right? as i said, some of the commands with fdisk don't work with guid system.

Author Update #5 @xan 2008-01-30

my hdd is a sata and there is no master/slave anymore

Author Update #6 @xan 2008-01-30

i will try the MBR fix now, before i reinstall to GUID again. just to know if its work. BUT: MBR without EFI... hmmm EFI is a must in the MAC world or isnt it? for smooth internet updates etc. or am i wrong?
(AFAIK i installed MBR WITH efi on my hdd usb2.0 ide 2 weeks before.)

Author Update #7 @xan 2008-01-30

5 ->
mount -uw /
mount -t hfs /dev/diskXsX /Volumes

device busy

skipped step 5 and rebootet after everything now i have "still waiting for root device"

Author Update #8 @xan 2008-01-30

i have sata! no master / slave anymore. everything should be master
as i did the step by step, my leopard was the disk1s1
i have also a 2 other satas. the other one is disk0 and disk2

Author Update #9 @xan 2008-01-30

now i will install leo with GUID - then i will do the first step by step for GUID+efi

Author Update #10 @xan 2008-01-30

is it normal, that after GUID installation that i have 2 partitions on the hdd?
1 200MB EFI partition
2 40GB Leopard partition ?

Author Update #11 @xan 2008-01-30
Puttabong's step by step for GUID+EFI boot with the dvd open a terminal and type diskutil list diskutil unmount /dev/diskXsY cd /volumes/"YourVolumeNameHere"/pc_efi_v80 umount -f /dev/diskXsY ./startupfiletool /dev/rdiskXsY ./boot_v8 dd if=./guid/boot1h of=/dev/rdiskXsY bs=512 count=1 diskutil unmount /dev/diskX dd if=./guid/boot0…
Here's another tutorial for EFI, which works for amd AND intel: forum.osx86 scene.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2520 diskutil list diskutil unmount diskXsY cd /Volumes/bootloader/pc_efi_v80 ./startupfiletool /dev/diskXsY ./boot_v8 dd if=./guid/boot1h of=/dev/diskXsY bs=512 count=1 dd if=./guid/boot0 of=/dev/diskX bs=400 count=1

there is a difference between Puttabong and the other guid: the one make rdisk the other one only disk
whats right now?

@Puttabong: u were right, there is a difference between Master and Slave on Sata! the board is looking for the right connectivity and switch between master/slave. i'm definitely on master now!

Author Update #12 @xan 2008-01-30

Puttabong, any comments to my previous post, the difference between the 2 guides?

Author Update #13 @xan 2008-01-30

so the guy made a mistake with disk and rdisk ? forum.osx86 scene.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2520
on line: ./startupfile…

Author Update #14 @xan 2008-01-30

need rev2 asap to many problems playing around with rev1 ! ! !
zeph go for it! (maybe someone give a more or less date-tipp when it will be released? or the status what u all working on or plan to release with rev2)

Synthesized Community Field Notes

11 technical responses curated from 28 original dispatches

Field Note #1 @naquaada 2008-01-30

Use MBR at first, GUID isn't working. You have to install the SB600 drivers somehow.

Field Note #3 @Puttabong 2008-01-30

xan, boot the DVD and use the Terminal to perform these steps:

This is how to fix booting for GUID + EFI!

## Replace X and Y according to your system.
## You can also check the diskXsX Id in Disk Utility, by selecting a Disk and pressing the Info Button.

## Explanation: p -> print; f -> flag; w -> write

mount -uw /
diskutil list fdisk -e /dev/rdiskX p f X w y
diskutil unmount /dev/diskXsY cd /usr/i386/standalone/ umount -f /dev/diskXsY ./startupfiletool /dev/rdiskXsY ./boot_v8 dd if=./guid/boot1h of=/dev/rdiskXsY bs=512 count=1 diskutil unmount /dev/diskX dd if=./guid/boot0 of=/dev/diskX bs=400 count=1

Reboot, enjoy

Field Note #4 @Puttabong 2008-01-30

Do you have MBR? This Tutorial was for GUID. I'll give the MBR commands in a second as well.

However, regarding "still waiting for root device": is your leopard hdd mounted as Master?

Field Note #5 @Puttabong 2008-01-30

I personally have use with GUID + EFI.

GUID is more improved than MBR, for example one can make & edit partitions without loosing / having to delete data!

Here's how to fix MBR boot without EFI:

[cite] Puttabong: // rdiskXsX: you have to know the proper partition names and replace them with X. In my case, it would be rdisk0s1, first HDD, and first partition, on which leopard has been installed, which you need to make bootable. You can also check this in the Disk Utility. Hit enter after each terminal line to execute the…
Field Note #6 @Puttabong 2008-01-30

Revision 1 doesn't have EFI included, so you most likely haven't installed it, unless you followed a Guide to do so!

Rev.2, which is not yet released to public, is meant to be installed as GUID + EFI, I guess.

EFI is not a must, but it's an improvement for the system.

Better Performance and stability because of apple stock kexts, everything runs very smooth, working system updater etc.

Actually without EFI I had nice system performance, but with EFI it's just as smooth as a real Mac.

Field Note #7 @Puttabong 2008-01-30

Is your Leopard Harddrive mounted as Master? What does your BIOS tell you when booting?

Field Note #8 @Puttabong 2008-01-30

xan, am I wrong? Sorry, is EFI actually already included in rev.1, as well?
I don't think it is. I thought if you use RC1 then you will have to install EFI manually!

This is how to install EFI to use it with GUID for RC1/Rev.1!

Get a copy of pc_efi_v80 and save it to a FAT external harddrive / pendrive

boot with the dvd open a terminal and type diskutil list diskutil unmount /dev/diskXsY cd /volumes/"YourVolumeNameHere"/pc_efi_v80 umount -f /dev/diskXsY ./startupfiletool /dev/rdiskXsY ./boot_v8 dd if=./guid/boot1h of=/dev/rdiskXsY bs=512 count=1 diskutil unmount /dev/diskX dd if=./guid/boot0 of=/dev/diskX bs=400 count=1

Here's another tutorial for EFI, which works for amd AND intel:
forum.osx86 scene.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2520

I suggest that you use MBR with Rev.1, until the second Release is available! It's a lot easier.

It won't take very long until it is released to public, and it has EFI and many fixes included for an easy installation!

Field Note #9 @R0GUE 2008-01-30

Puttabong;
Will EFI be installed automatically with Rev 2, or will it be an optional install at boot time? Also, does it really make a big difference to smoothness and stability? I personally feel that Leopard doesn't quite seem as 'solid' on my x86 hardware as it does with my other, lower powered PPC Macs.

Field Note #10 @Puttabong 2008-01-30

R0GUE, it's optional, you can choose EFI during the install process, but I'd recommend it.
I have experienced much better system performance with EFI. I know the reason why.

With the use of EFI, RC2 is able to use the apple stock kernel and kexts, and they work very well
together, as they are concerted. Selecting GUID + EFI and the proper chipset and graphic
settings, will give many systems a perfect out of the box install.

Also, read some other posts about EFI that I posted into the Discussions, I think I was talking about
improvements compared to PCBIOS.

Field Note #11 @Acidrain9 2008-01-31

Xan: if you are still getting just the flashing cursor on boot this worked for me

download gparted live cd and boot it
changed osx drive to Boot

Corroborated & Participated: @roisoft
Sources & Contributor Provenance (6 credited usernames · Thread #133)
UsernameDossier ContributionDispatchesActive Window
@xanPrimary Author162008-01-30
@PuttabongCore Contributor72008-01-30
@naquaadaContributor22008-01-30
@R0GUEContributor12008-01-30
@roisoftContributor12008-01-30
@Acidrain9Contributor12008-01-31