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-   -   Testers for EFI Partition Tool needed... (http://infinitemac.com/showthread.php?t=2042)

pcwiz 02-01-2009 12:52 AM

Testers for EFI Partition Tool needed...
 
Testers need to have made sure that they know how the EFI partition boot method works, and that the manual method works for them, so they know what to do in the case of a problem. I also require that testers, if the tool does not work, can tell me what it has done wrong so that I know what to fix.

OK, so I got around to finishing up the EFI Partition Tool I had promised earlier. Now I need testers to make sure it works before polishing it

IF YOU ARE TESTING MAKE SURE YOU ARE TESTING ON A SPARE DISK BECAUSE THE TOOL DOES FORMAT PARTITIONS AND CHOOSING THE WRONG PARTITION WILL LEAD TO COMPLETE AND UTTER DISASTER

Warning said, if you are interested, post in this topic.

Bit Shoveler 02-01-2009 05:30 PM

I'm interested but unfortunately too busy to do a proper job of testing.

nfoav8or 02-01-2009 07:12 PM

I have yet to see this tool but I'd be interested since I wasn't able to deliver in time. ;) a few questions though...

does this tool assume you already have your HD partitioned with the GUID partition scheme?
when selecting the drives, does it look at the disks (i.e. /dev/diskX) or partitions/volumes (i.e. /dev/diskXsY)? differences in this could cause problems.
which version of the EFI partition mod does this include?

send me a PM with more info on how I can help out. :)

Ianxxx 02-01-2009 07:30 PM

Hiya
could we have some more info on what exactly the tool does? Is this to automate putting kexts on to efi partition etc?

pcwiz 02-01-2009 10:29 PM

To answer nfoav8or's questions:

Yes it assumes that you have it partitioned as GUID, the drives are in the diskXsY format (the app uses 'diskutil list' to grab a list of the drives, finds the ones that are 1st partition with the EFI label and size 200MB then displays them in the drop down menu), and this is based on efi_boot_v6.1.

lanxxx,

This tool completely automates the EFI partition procedure including formatting EFI partition, installing the bootloader, setting partition as active, setting up directory tree, installing kexts/kernel/plist, These functions are available separately as well through the app's menu. I have JaS testing this for me right now, but meanwhile here's a screenshot that should explain a lot:

http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/8818/picture1ts5.png

nfoav8or 02-01-2009 10:40 PM

wow. I love how simple it looks. so basically you have to separate the files into different folders based on whether they are kexts, kernel, and boot.plist or does the app look at the file extension and determine what files are appropriate for each section (such as if I placed all my extensions, kernel, and boot.plist file into the same folder and pointed to there)?

[edit] BTW I would love to test this out. Also, I wonder how easy it is to update this app when new versions for munky's Boot-EFI come out?

Ianxxx 02-01-2009 10:59 PM

I'll test if you like have a spare usb drive I can muck around with.

cmdshft 02-01-2009 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfoav8or (Post 21698)
wow. I love how simple it looks. so basically you have to separate the files into different folders based on whether they are kexts, kernel, and boot.plist or does the app look at the file extension and determine what files are appropriate for each section (such as if I placed all my extensions, kernel, and boot.plist file into the same folder and pointed to there)?

[edit] BTW I would love to test this out. Also, I wonder how easy it is to update this app when new versions for munky's Boot-EFI come out?

You wont be able to store all the stuff you need into one folder. It's better to keep them separate, plus this way you'll know exactly what you are and are not installing.

I've tested and sent my results to pcwiz so far, the only bug that I had was with the fdisk part where the bootloader gets written to the MBR, if you follow munky's script, when you start fdisk and get to the "w" part, it asks you to confirm and alerts you to needing to reboot to take effect, and it selects [n] when it should be [y]. Other than that, from my test, it worked perfectly. I just needed to install the right kexts, which cause me not to boot but that was my fault, not the app.

pcwiz 02-02-2009 03:06 AM

Thanks for all the interest guys :) I will let any interested testers test after JaS has given me his results (sometime soon). And nfoav8or, you have to keep things separate and select Kexts folder, kernel, and plist. This way keeps it more organized, and it would be difficult to auto detect in a folder based only on the fact that mach_kernel has no recognizable file type, making it very hard to autodetect unless the very name of the file is mach_kernel, which is not always the case.

As for updating the app when new versions of munky's boot comes out, I will release updates whenever possible, but its easy to update yourself just by going into the Resources folder of the app and replacing the contents with a new version.

nfoav8or 02-03-2009 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hara Taiki (Post 21707)
You wont be able to store all the stuff you need into one folder. It's better to keep them separate, plus this way you'll know exactly what you are and are not installing.

I've tested and sent my results to pcwiz so far, the only bug that I had was with the fdisk part where the bootloader gets written to the MBR, if you follow munky's script, when you start fdisk and get to the "w" part, it asks you to confirm and alerts you to needing to reboot to take effect, and it selects [n] when it should be [y]. Other than that, from my test, it worked perfectly. I just needed to install the right kexts, which cause me not to boot but that was my fault, not the app.

I've been running munky's EFI partition mod since the voodoo kernel came online so I've been around the block a bit with it. :) I'm just asking for clarification with his app and how the scripts work through their process and what is required when running the app... plain and simple. :)

I have been here waiting to help him out with this app in whatever way was needed and so by asking questions and seeing the reply, I'm simply making it known to everyone how it works... thats it. The question you answered wasn't meant to be for me (since I don't store the backups for this type of boot method install in the same sub-directory anyways) but rather for the benefit of those who will use it later. :cool:

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcwiz (Post 21715)
...nfoav8or, you have to keep things separate and select Kexts folder, kernel, and plist. This way keeps it more organized, and it would be difficult to auto detect in a folder based only on the fact that mach_kernel has no recognizable file type, making it very hard to autodetect unless the very name of the file is mach_kernel, which is not always the case.

As for updating the app when new versions of munky's boot comes out, I will release updates whenever possible, but its easy to update yourself just by going into the Resources folder of the app and replacing the contents with a new version.


Good to know, just thought it would be a good thing to double-check and to throw out there for testing. Thanks.