Dual boot windows mac mini

I got a Mac mini and in general I'm happy with it but found out that there's some software I use regularly that is just much better on Windows. They barely support OS X although technically they do. So I would like to dual boot Windows as it seems like this is supported and not crazy.
I followed the bootcamp and some guides I found via Google. I have the mac mini 2014 with 8 gig ram and 1 terabyte of space. I have dual monitors setup and a logitech mouse and a logitech gaming keyboard G110 - both USB. (I also own a wireless apple keyboard which I occasionally use with my iPad). My first problem was a DOS screen telling me I can't boot up on the specified disk but I did get some help off Google telling me to hold down option while booting (this should be in the guides ;p) but it was easy to fix.. however I'm stumped on what's happening now.
When I click the Windows partition, it starts booting up Windows 7 Premium 64 bit setup and all looks good. Then a screen pops up asking me what language/region I am. The default is United states (perfect). On this screen my keyboard and mouse are useless. Or it's frozen. I think the former. I think the computer just can't recognize them. And I cannot figure out a way around this. If anyone can - please help I will be very thankful.
I've tried booting up using the Windows 7 DVD I own and an ISO installed on a USB flash drive per the Bootcamp installer. Results are the same.

Use Boot Camp!! Sounds like you have the install disc. Make sure you completely erase a USB 2.0 Thumb Drive format it as one MS DOS Master Boot Record partition. Download Drivers to it. I checked this box in boot camp only.
Having install disc and driver thumb drive ready. Insert Windows install disc and plug in Thumb drive.
Open Boot Camp uncheck first 2 boxes. Continue
Size the BOOTCAMP partion you want it to be by sliding the bar. Or split your HD is an option.
After that is complete. You will be asked where to install. Select BOOTCAMP partition
Click Drive Options (advanced). Click Format. Click OK. All goes well you click Next and it will format as NTFS
Follow instructions to to install, set up and configure Windows.
GO TO APPLE SUPPORT no where else. PRINT BOOT CAMP Installation & Setup Guide. It is in my binder with my Windows 7 Professional Disc. You'll need this, I'm afraid, to have on hand. When Windows is up and going, Antivirus 1st, Install Windows express updates only. Do not update Apple drivers for Windows. Running Windows 7 Pro on my Mac Mini since I bought it in August. Use it for those outdated programs I can't run on Mac or Windows 8. Love it.
GET THE MANUAL Please. Have fun with it.
Oh, try left clicking your USB Mouse to make it work. If not use keyboard strokes. i.e. I a ccept the license agreement (note that the a is underlined. hit "a" on the keyboard to check box.

Similar Messages

Dual booting /w mac mini and shared partition

I bought a mac mini a few months ago, I wanted to replace an old macbook which died.
It had osx 10.4 on it, probably a beta or early bootcamp. I had a tri-boot system with
a "shared partition", but when I've tried on my mini I get into problems.
I'd like to have at least a windows 7, and osx partition and a larger, shared partition on same drive.
On my last attempt I left the drive as single osx. Let boot camp partition it, booted to cd, installed..
After installing, and updating, windows I partitioned the drive for the "shared partition" and rebooted.
I could reboot into windows but osx would hang while booting. I had to download and re-install the system.
BTW I am using a usb cd/dvd-rw drive to boot into my windows cd
Can someone help me figure out what I did wrong or provide a howto, guide or link to get me through this?
Thanks for visiting
Geo

What year/model Mac mini, new, used? What Mac OS are you using?
Pre 10.7 you could add two OS's and an extra partition without too much problem (running rEFIt, BootLoader, etc) but 10.7 added a wrinkle to that.
With Lion and any other OS (10.7 and Windows, etc.) you actually already have a "triple boot" system with the invisible "Repair Partition" added and Apple doesn't support any more.
Here's an older post but basically the same answer except with Lion and W7 adding an exception to the rule.
People have added more partitions but you would have to do a search here or do a Yahoo/Google to find the directions for doing it on one HD.
(I've only used rEFIt and it worked fine for me, not doing it on one HD, I have a MacPro so it's easier to just use another HD)
Other options,
You can always install the Mac OS on an external HD or even have the external as your Data drive or depending on how large or how many files you want to transfer there's also the Thumb drives.
And there's also Parallels/VMWare that you can use to transfer stuff until you need to boot into Windows natively.

Can I dual boot with MAC OS/X and Windows

What is the best way to configure a dual boot on my MAC Bookpro laptop? Also, can I dual boot Windows 8 and MAC OS?

The first alternative is a dual-boot arrangement between OS X and Windows provided with OS X.
Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
   1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows
         XP w/Service Pak2, Vista, or Windows 7. For Boot Camp
         4.0 and above you can only use Windows 7 or later. Follow
         instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on
         installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and
         installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the
         computer into OS X or Windows.
     2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business,
         Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. Parallels is software
         virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently
         with OS X.
     3. VM Fusion and Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate,
         or Windows 7. VM Fusion is software virtualization that
         enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
     4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows
         applications without having to install Windows. The
         Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
     5. VirtualBox is an Open Source freeware virtual machine such
         as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris.
         It is not as fully developed for the Mac as Parallels and VM
         Fusion.
Note that VirtualBox, Parallels, and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. See MacTech Labs- Virtualization Benchmarks, January 2013 | MacTech for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion. Boot Camp is only available with Leopard or Snow Leopard. Except for Crossover and a couple of similar alternatives like DarWine you must have a valid installer disc for Windows.
You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive.

Ho to install windows 7 duall boot in mac mini

hot to install windows 7 duall boot in mac mini
and how to check operating system in mac mini
and how to install ms office in mack mini

Not much for complete sentences, are we?
Read these:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1461
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3986
And this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1633
And this:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac

Can you dual boot Windows XP on the current Mac Pro?

I'm currently interested in purchasing a new Mac Pro but want to dual boot Windows XP to play older games. Is this possible with the current Mac Pro's software and hardware?

The current version of OS X only allows bootcamp to be used with Windows 7 and above. You would have to have a version of Snowleopard to install XP in bootcamp.
You "could" use a 3rd party program like VMWare Fusion, or Parallels desktop to install an XP virtual machine. There was also a free Virtual Machine program for Mac, but the name escapes me.
HTH

Is there any possible way I can dual boot Windows with OSX 10.7.2 on a MacBook Pro 15' from 2006?

Hello,
I am new to this forums.
I have searched about dual boot win/mac, but couldn't find a clear answer, so I decided to post this now.
I run a MacBook Pro 15' from 2006 (Intel based) and have upgraded it to OSX 10.7.2 Lion.
I have tried to install windows 7 on a small (20GB) partition by using Bootcamp, but then I've received a notice saying that there was no windows support software available. However, I did install Windows 7 Professional by unchecking that box. After the installation I have downloaded the windows support software and tried to install it but then I've received a notice saying that I can't install it on this machine.
Could you please give me any suggestions on how to dual boot win/mac, if it is possible at all using this machine? And how to safely go back to where I was before (with a single mac OSX 10.7.2 partition)?
Thanks.

This problem has been solved as I just needed to download Boot Camp 4.
Can I delete this post?

Dual Boot Windows 7

Hey guys, I was just wondering what exactly I need in order to successfully dual-boot my Mac into Windows 7. I've got the software for Boot Camp all down and ready, but my only question is finding the right copy of Windows 7 that'll install as a first time. Also, can I install Windows 7, or would I need Windows Vista/XP already installed and then just upgrade the Windows? Thanks, and could you tell me if this Windows 7 product is correct/eligible for Dual-Boot: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/windows-7-home-premium-with-service-pack-1-64-bit-li cense-and-media-1-pc-pc/5130359.p;jsessionid=B5FB2641437C993E1EAE2430E84DAB00.bb olsp-app03-156?id=1219111161659&skuId=5130359&st=categoryid$abcat0508002&lp=4&cp =1
I guess when it says PC disc, it'll work with dual-boot.
Again, thanks!

How old is your Macbook? The majority of them can directly install Windows 7.
Yes, the product you linked to from BestBuy is what you'd need to install Windows 7.
The only additional thing you'd need is a 4gb flash drive to store the Boot Camp drivers on after you first install Windows.
Setting up a Boot Camp partition is pretty straightforward, just start Boot Camp Assistant and follow the instructions. But feel free to post anymore questions if you have any, because there's always a chance of breaking something if you're doing it for the first time

Dual boot Windows 8.1 with Yosemite

I'm attempting to dual boot Windows 8.1 on my parents iMac. I downloaded and successfully used Boot Camp 5 to partition the drive, giving the new section 50GB. I successfully installed Windows 8.1. Unfortunate now I cannot access the Yosemite partition. Boot Camp is not available in the Windows 8.1 I just installed, so the obvious option to use Boot Camp to reboot into OS X is not available. I tried downloading Boot Camp in Windows, but it won't install - error message indicates there is no location to install it to. I tried to restarting and holding the option key 12 separate times, it always boots into Windows without bringing up the any other option. I tried booting into safe mode and resting the PRAM several times, same outcome of booting into Windows; although Windows did not always boot it froze half the time. The idea was just be able to run some Windows games without purchasing another computer. Any ideas on what went wrong and how to fix it?

You do not need the Boot Camp drivers on Windows in order to start up in OS X. However, note that the option to start up with the Option (Alt) key is more tricky in those computers with a Bluetooth keyboard, such as the iMac.
In order to start up in OS X, you have to press the Option key since the startup sound has finished (if you do it before, your Mac will not recognize it) and hold it until you see all bootable partitions in the screen. Then, choose your OS X volume.
If you could not install the Boot Camp drivers in Windows, open Boot Camp Assistant after starting up in OS X and follow its steps (you will need a USB drive to save your drivers). Finally, start up in Windows, access to your USB drive through Windows Explorer and run the installer.

Need to boot broken Mac-Mini using retail Snow Leopard 10.6 DVD

Hi,
In Summary:
==========
I have Mac Mini (late 2009) which does not boot anymore and I need to install Snow Leopard using retail DVD (version 10.6). The OS/installer from the DVD does not seem to boot either. I always very much appreciate the efforts of true geeks. So please, any casual beginner, please do not demoralize with something like "cannot be done" etc.
The complete story:
==================
The start of the problem:
1. All of a sudden, one fine day, on start up, my Mac Mini strated to shut itself down without no apparent reason to me. When trying to boot, it would show a progress bar for about 5 minutes - I am assuming that was disk-consistency check being performed. My best guess is that right after the use of Carbon-Copy Cloner (but I am not 100% sure) it all strated to happen.
2. Performed Mac's Disk-Util check and [Verify Volume] used to display "invalid directory item count, should be 31 instead of 29". Surface scan said disk hardware is 100% fine. Volume Repair never worked, since OS X was installed on the primary disk. I lost the DVDs that came with this Mac Mini, so the option to boot from that DVD and launch Disk Util etc. was not possible.
TechTool Pro - No Help:
3. Started googling and had to choose between [TechTool Pro] and [Disk Warrior], opted for TechTool Pro. Tried its bootable DVD only to learn that TechTool Pro cannot fix it. Again, it's surface scan suggested disk hardware is 100% fine. Sent the details to TechTool Pro support team, they couldn't help either after a couple of e-mails+data exchange. (How do I claim my lost money with TechTool Pro - suggestions appreciated as well).
Googling / Mac Forums:
4. Started looking into forums, learnt that someone had successfully repaired this problem using Ubuntu 11.04 install DVD (i.e., without installing the Ubuntu, but just using its 'try from DVD' feature). I had that handy, but forgot to disable HFS+ journaling before attempting to fix the problem. Anyway, attempting volume repair that way couldn't fix the problem as well. However this step took away my ability to boot from Mac.
5. However using Ubuntu's bootable disk, I could access Mac-HDDs contents - and was able to successfully back-up *all* my important data.
6. Googled and learnt that just attempting to boot using Ubuntu DVD can take away ability to boot using Mac bootable media - possibly due to EFI internals. Suspecting EFI is now corrupt, I tried other 'hacks' like:
6.1 eEFIt Boot Disk - which does not work at all,
6.2 Empire EFI w/ Chameleon - not sure how to proceed with options presented - trying either does not work,
6.3 Super GRUB2 - boots fine, but attempting to boot from Mac-HDD fails after a couple of seconds,
6.4 Boot-132 - boots fine, prompt asks for input, but then I cannot eject/replace the DVD due to Mac-Mini (lack of) design,
6.5 Ubuntu 11.04 / 11.10 - still boots fine - just that I cannot go into Mac-OS-X from here,
6.6 TechTool Pro bootable DVD - which used to boot fine earlier stopped to boot.
As you can see, none worked successfully. So I didn't yet try other popular rescue media - as I suspect that is not the direction I need to go into.
>> Looks like most of my problems are due to the fact that I have Mac-Mini which does not allow eject/replace of DVD from command prompt / out side of Mac-OS-X.
7. Tried emptying EFI partition, playing with EFI/Mac-OS partitions boot flags, Zapping the PRAM, nothing still allows me to boot either from Mac-HDD or any Mac-Bootable-DVD.
Current State:
8. Now while boot time, Mac displays a gray screen for a few seconds, and then a blinking prompt on black background. That's it!
Snow Leopard 10.6 Retail Install DVD:
9. Went to Mac store and bought this DVD only to witness that I can't boot from it as well. (This is a huge shocker, how is Apple able to sell these DVDs if these don't work on genuine MacMini itself. After all we are able to boot from and install Windows/Linux on a variety of Machines).
I am hoping for a very small step/fix that I am missing, since I can still see and access all Mac-HDD contents after booting from Ubuntu bootable DVD. However I am prepared for a good amount of exercise as well - assuming someone posts a valid/verified fix.
Things available right now:
==========================
A. Genuine Mac-Mini (Late 2009) who lost it's ability to boot either from its HDD or Mac-bootable DVDs (TechTools Pro, Mac OS X retail DVD)
B. Mac OS X 10.6 Retail DVD
C. NOT AVAILABLE - DVD that came with this Mac-Mini
D. Variety of rescue DVDs, listed in section 6 above
E. Another machine/PC with Ubuntu 11.04 - giving me ability to access internet
Thanks for reading.
Zita

I had a similar discussion recently with another user.
Your Mac mini (late 2009) originally came with Mac OS X 10.6.2 build 10A432 or build 10C2234 see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1159 it would have come with an original install disc specific to your model of Mac which you could use to run Disk Utility from or to do a complete reinstall.
The retail boxed copy of Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) was originally intended for older Macs which had previously come with Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.4. It would have on it a version of Mac OS X 10.6 or 10.6.1 which would be able to boot these older Macs, but had no need to boot newer Macs which were released after the launch of Mac OS X 10.6 since all those newer Macs already shipped with their own discs.
So it is normal that the retail boxed Snow Leopard installer does not work on your model Mac mini. You should be using the one that shipped with your Mac mini instead. I am guessing you have lost it.
Assuming you have lost the Mac mini original disc, I can suggest the following options to try and workaround this.
If you have another Mac, an older Mac, one that will be bootable using the retail Snow Leopard install disc you have, you could do either of the following.
Connect an empty external GUID partitioned hard disk to this other Mac
Boot from the retail Snow Leopard installer
Install on to the external disk
Once the install is complete, update it using the combo update not the one via Software Update to Mac OS X 10.6.8. This will add all the newer drivers needed to allow it to work on your newer Mac mini. You can download this combo update from here http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
You can now disconnect the external drive and connect it to your Mac mini and boot from it by holding down the Option key when you turn the Mac mini on
or a similar process if you want to wipe the Mac mini and reinstall directly on to it
Boot the Mac mini in FireWire Target Disk Mode (see http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661 )
Connect the Mac mini as an external hard disk to the other older Mac
Boot from the retail Snow Leopard installer
Install on to the external disk
Once the install is complete, update it using the combo update not the one via Software Update to Mac OS X 10.6.8. This will add all the newer drivers needed to allow it to work on your newer Mac mini. You can download this combo update from here http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
You can now disconnect the Mac mini and boot from it as normal
Note: While the Mac mini is connected in FireWire Target Disk mode to the second Mac, you could backup (if you don't already have a backup) any files you need to retrieve.
If you don't have a suitable second Mac you may have to either borrow someone else's, or get the help of an Apple Store if one is in your area.

Dual Boot, Windows doesn't boot.

Hi there,
Firstly, I'd like to apologize in advance if this has already been answered somewhere, but I couldn't seem to find it anywhere.
Yesterday, I tried to dual boot Windows 7 on my iMac with the latest version of Lion. I used Bootcamp and everything went according to plan untill I had to install Windows. My Mac restarted and began to install Windows, but after a while of installing, the disc stopped running and everytime I heard it trying to get back running, it was stopped by a weird noise, as if something was grinding onto it.
This kept going for a minute or two, when I decided to turn it off, since nothing was happening. After that, I started my Mac again and after a white screen, the only thing it shows is a black screen with a little type cursor in the upper left corner. I've tried to reboot it many times but I can't do anything, if I take the disc out, the only thing I get is a white screen, it doesn't go back to the normal Apple logo.
If anyone has some tips on where i should go with this, it'd be greatly appreciated!

You need to delete the boot camp partition and start over. Use Book Camp Utility or Disk Utility to remove the partition.
What happened is when you installed Windows and it did not finish installing the OS and will keep trying to boot to that partition and finish. Until the OS install is finished the Mac is flagged to boot automatically to that partition. This is why you are seeing the black screen.

Dual Boot Windows 7 and Arch with Shared NTFS partition.

Hi everyone,
I want to dual boot windows 7 and Arch Linux.
Here's the problem... my hard drive isn't the biggest. I want to store all my music, movies, pictures, and documents on partition that both linux and windows can access seamlessly.
I want the partition to be NTFS. -- (the programs that map an ext4 drive to Windows are trash).
Here's what I think I need.
30GB NTFS to Windows.
30GB ext4 to Arch Linux
The remainder (190ish GB) to Shared Data.
I don't want the swap partition because I have a SSD and 4GB of RAM.
What is the best way to setup my partitions? And is this even possible?
Thanks!

Not a problem. I would create:
First of four primary partitions for windows.
Second of four primary partitions for /boot
Third of four partitions is an extended partition encompassing all the space not used by the first two partitions.
Put everything else inside the extended partition.
Mine is a bit more complicated, but this should give you an idea:
ewaller@odin:~ 1005 %sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda
Password:
Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x87b33479
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 121778159 60888056 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 597366784 625135615 13884416 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 121778160 597366783 237794312 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 * 121778223 123770219 995998+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 123770283 131770589 4000153+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 193213818 597360959 202073571 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 131781258 193213754 30716248+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 131770591 131781194 5302 1 FAT12
Partition table entries are not in disk order
ewaller@odin:~ 1006 %
Partitions 1 and 2 are Primary partitions. Partition 3 is an extended partition. All the others live in partition 3

[SOLVED] MacbookPro 8,1 13" - Dual boot with Mac OS X #rEFIt

Hi everyone, I want to share my experience and request for help regarding my attempt to install Arch on my MBP 8,1. I can't count the times I've tried to install it this week.
What have I done?
So I followed the Beginner's Guide to aid me in the installation, with some exceptions:
* I used Linux Mint 14 to use GParted. The reason I used it is because rEFIt won't sync the GPT and MBR tables properly when I try and use `mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdaX` inside the Archiso. With Archiso, the filesystem types are considered to be "Unknown" (#wtf no. 1), whereas with Mint that doesn't happen.
* In fstab I had something like:
# /dev/sda4
UUID=c35d9121-a3f1-4cd6-ab53-61fe0f474eee / ext4 rw,noatime 0 1
# /dev/sda5
UUID=390185f6-6d55-430c-a9ba-d3d0b4c7798b /home ext4 rw,relatime,codepage=437 0 2
The wiki mentioned the noatime and codepage flags for the respective partitions and so I complied.
One thing to notice is I have no /boot mount because syslinux apparently doesn't like that.
* Installing syslinux (along with gptfdisk), I issued:
syslinux-install_update -iam
, and reviewed /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg like this:
LABEL arch
MENU LABEL Arch Linux
LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
----APPEND root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/c35d9121-a3f1-4cd6-ab53-61fe0f474eee ro----
APPEND root=/dev/disk/by-partuuid/c35d9121-a3f1-4cd6-ab53-61fe0f474eee ro **still doesn't work, it's not found**
INITRD ../initramfs-linux.img
LABEL archfallback
MENU LABEL Arch Linux Fallback
LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
----APPEND root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/c35bod9121-a3f1-4cd6-ab53-61fe0f474eee ro----
APPEND root=/dev/disk/by-partuuid/c35d9121-a3f1-4cd6-ab53-61fe0f474eee ro **still doesn't work, it's not found**
INITRD ../initramfs-linux-fallback.img
I used UUID's to avoid the mess on sdaX discrepancies.
Results
* rEFIt correctly shows Arch as a boot option. It boots correctly to Syslinux.
* The kernel load fails due to something like:
Unknown filesystem 'vfat'
... and/or ...
Waiting 10 seconds for /dev/sdaX ...
This stroke me as #wtf no.2. VFAT?? Has anyone experienced this before?
For now this is all I have. I was hoping the community could give me helpful pointers on solving this as I intend to contribute with documentation on this setup in the wiki.
I'll be updating this post with newer information. Thanks for helping!
Last edited by josemota (2012-12-31 18:05:09)

I don't have much experience with SYSLINUX or booting a Mac in BIOS mode, but I can help answer a couple of your questions and offer some alternative approaches....
josemota wrote:
Hi everyone, I want to share my experience and request for help regarding my attempt to install Arch on my MBP 8,1. I can't count the times I've tried to install it this week.
What have I done?
So I followed the Beginner's Guide to aid me in the installation, with some exceptions:
* I used Linux Mint 14 to use GParted. The reason I used it is because rEFIt won't sync the GPT and MBR tables properly when I try and use `mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdaX` inside the Archiso. With Archiso, the filesystem types are considered to be "Unknown" (#wtf no. 1), whereas with Mint that doesn't happen.
This issue is a limitation of the "gptsync" program that's included with rEFIt, not with rEFIt itself. It's also not caused by mkfs; gptsync doesn't even look inside the partitions, AFAIK. Instead, it looks at partition type codes. It understands just a few of them, including the one that all but the very latest versions of libparted use on Linux filesystem partitions. The trouble is that the libparted developers long ago "borrowed" that code from Windows, but they shouldn't have done so. That's being corrected, and gdisk can use the correct code for Linux ("8300" in gdisk). In the future, libparted will use this code, too; the support is already present but isn't yet widely distributed. You could have set the type code to "0700" in gdisk from Arch and gptsync would have worked.
You may be interested to know that gdisk can do the same job that gptsync does, and gdisk can do so much more flexibly. You can read more in the gdisk hybrid MBR documentation. Be aware that hybrid MBRs (which is what gptsync creates) are ugly and dangerous hacks. Sadly, they're necessary to dual-boot Windows and OS X on Macs, but you may be able to dual-boot OS X and Linux without a hybrid MBR. The trick here is to install an EFI boot loader for Linux rather than a BIOS boot loader for Linux. Macs use EFI natively, so this is the superior way to get started, at least theoretically.
The Arch wiki has a number of pages on EFI issues, such as:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Un … _Interface
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UEFI_Bootloaders
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB_EFI_Examples
The main problem with booting a Mac in EFI mode is that some systems won't activate all their hardware in this way, so with some models you can end up with a network adapter or video display or sound that doesn't work. Other models are fine, though; you'll just have to give it a try and see if it works.
Personally, I think the best way to do it is to use the kernel's EFI stub loader in conjunction with an EFI boot manager like rEFInd or gummiboot. Both are available as Arch packages, but it's better to install from OS X, and that process is much better documented for rEFInd than for gummiboot (although you could adapt the rEFInd documentation for gummiboot, if you liked). rEFIt can work, too, but only if the kernel includes built-in command-line options and is renamed with a ".efi" extension. These are awkward requirements, and since rEFInd is a continuation of rEFIt development, there's not much point in trying to get rEFIt to do the job.

Dual-booting Windows XP without Bootcamp

Is it possible to dual-boot Windows XP without Bootcamp, using another boot loader like LILO or Grub, or some other? Is it possible to do this assuming I do NOT want to install linux anywhere? Can anyone point me in the right direction with a HOWTO or something? Again, I do NOT want to install Linux, only OSX and Windows XP (no "triple boot"). Thanks.

Yes, just find a distro that supports macintel or intel mac. I think ubuntu has one, also keep in mind bootcamp has nothing to do with your macs firmware nore is it any type of bootloader. It partitions the HD, and allows you to create a CD with drivers on it. Might also consider parallels given the limited amount of space available on the macbooks. Having your linux install as a single document on the hd can be handy if you start to run out of room on the macbook.

Dual boot Windows 7 partition help

I want to dual boot Windows 7 & arch but I need help with figuring out what partitions to make and where to put them because it seems the automatic partition-er won't do the trick for me.
I have two drives that I want to completely format for a fresh, clean install: a 60GB SSD & a 750GB hard drive. I want the end result to be that the SSD only has Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1 installed to it and I will point the 'My Documents', 'My Pictures', etc. to a NTFS partition on the hard disk drive ( I know how to do this folder pointing ). I don't want arch to touch the SSD if possible so I can reformat the SSD separately if I ever just want to reformat Windows. I only want arch to be on the hard disk for that reason. I don't think I care which one handles the OS switching at boot ( should I favor Windows MBR or syslinux? Please give advice. ) And I would assume I make the NTFS partition on the hard disk a primary partition so how do I split up arch for the 3 other primary partitions left since the auto partition from the arch boot CD uses 4?

I'm no expert, but the way I would do it would be like this:
1. Create partitions on the HDD for /, /boot, /home and swap, along with one (or more) for your Windows personal files
2. Set the BIOS to boot from the SSD.
3. Install Windows on the SSD.
4. Right-click the "My Documents" folder, select "properties", then the "Location" tab and choose the new location for the folder.
5. Install Arch on the HDD partitions, and allow the boot manager to install itself in the MBR of the SSD.
Then the whole boot process will be on the SSD... If you ever need to get rid of the Linux bootloader, you can overwrite it with a "clean" Windows one using bootrec.exe (see here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392).
Last edited by esuhl (2012-03-26 04:52:12)

T440P Dual Boot Windows 8 with Centos 7

So I have a T440p with Windows 8 installed. I have been trying to dual boot Centos 7 and also have attempted Centos 6.5. I have been using a bottable USB to perform the installation for both Centos 7 and 6.5.
When I try the Centos 7 install, I set the boot priority to USB first on startup, and it goes to a screen that lists options to install, verify Centos 7 or troubleshoot. Upon selecting any of these options, everytime I get the error message:
"alua: not attached"
When attempting the Centos 6.5 Live DVD install, I try to boot into the Live mode, but it freezes in the process each time.
I have heard about there being issues dual booting Windows 8 in UEFI mode with another Linux Distrobution.
Has anyone here sucessfully dual-booted Centos or any other Linux Distrobution on a T440P?
Any help/advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks

It's been many, many years since I don't do dual boot anymore. Don't find the reason to do it, either. Different kinds of virtualization should be enough. Anyway...
dfw1417 wrote:
It took over 2 days to figure out how to adjust the bios to get my win 7 pro DVD to boot and install dual boot on this GREAT MACHINE!!
ENJOY! This is the BEST machine I ever had!
WHICH machine?
Cheers.
If I helped you, please give me some kudos! ^^

Dual boot windows mac mini

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