"Boot OS X" and "EFI" mounted on desktop - why?

Hi there,
I've just rebooted my MBP (10.10.1) and have these new additions to my desktop. Any idea how I get rid of them?
Many thanks

Turns out this was down to the fact that I re-booted with my external USB connected drive plugged in.
It's an HDD that I took out of my MBP when I upgraded to and SSD and now use as a T.Machine drive. I guess the partitions are still on there

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First generation Mac pro booted into utilities and HD recovery, any idea why?

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My first generation Mac pro booted into utilities and HD recovery when I restared after installing Autodesk sketchbook pro. This isnt the first time this has happened but last time I was not trying to install any software. Fortunatly, I have time machine backups and therefore have managed to recover the HD to a recent date and I intend to do a complete system check when it has finished. The first time this happened I didnt think much of it but now it has happened a second time i'm becoming a little concerned, any idea why this has happened?

I did this the first time it happened so I know that its not that i have the wrong startup disk selected. However, after the recovery had completed I tried the installation again and this time everything went smootly. so as of right now I dont have a problem. Thank you very much for your time and help.

Questions on dual booting with win8 and efi

Hello folks,
I have windows 8.1 set up on /dev/sdb in efi mode and would like to install arch linux on /dev/sda
Fast startup on win8 is disabled aswell as secure boot.
Now, my questions:
1) Do I create an efi system partition on /dev/sda or do I use the one windows created on /dev/sdb?
2) Just to make sure, I still need a /boot partition outside of LUKS even when using an efi system partition, don"t I?
cheers,
StR@ng3r

For question #2 I believe the answer is yes. See here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm … Partitions

[Solved] installation and setup question - gummiboot and EFI

Hi,
This is the first time i'm installing arch. i hit the below issues. hope someone can help me out. my understanding of uefi is just about an hour worth of reading or less..
(the wiki didn't mention the kernel requirement when I started installing it... now it does and i updated the beginner's guide wiki post.)
Problem
Gummiboot#Installing says that "If you are still running kernel 3.7 or have not booted in EFI mode, creating the boot entry will fail. You should however still be able to boot gummiboot as it copies the binary to the default EFI binary location on your ESP (/boot/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI on x64 systems). "
the gummiboot part fails. gummiboot gives this error at install saying file system is not FAT EFI, so first I got gummiboot and gummiboot-efi both using pacman. then, I provided the --path to install and now it coughs up because the latest iso isn't 3.8 yet.
Failed to access EFI variables. Is the "efivarfs" filesystem mounted?
I can see efivars but this is asking for efivarfs.
so instead I did,
# cp /usr/lib/gummiboot/gummibootx64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/gummiboot/gummiboot.efi
# efibootmgr -c -d /dev/sda -p 1 -w -L "Gummiboot" -l '\EFI\gummiboot\gummiboot.efi'
how do I set this up? I'm afraid if I overwrite /boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI windows might not boot.
after the installation (of course without gummiboot stuff) now when I reboot, I don't see any gummiboot menu at all because i didn't copy it to EFI/BOOT. it goes straight to windows 8 boot. during boot if I press F12 and see the menu option on thinkpad, I see gummiboot as the first entry(must be because of efibootmgr) followed by windows boot manager. When I select the gummiboot and enter, it just circles back to the same menu. I have setup the loader.conf and arch.conf as described in the wiki.
how do I set gummiboot to work? i dont mind pressing F12 and then going to gumiboot-> arch until 3.8 is out.
If this isn't possible, can I install rEFInd without messing gummiboot? looking at the dir structure of FAT EFI I think it should be possible but not 100% sure until i try it out. Also, to get rid of gummiboot, i should delete the directories, uninstall using pacman and get rid of the efibootmgr change I made, right?
Last edited by lobo2 (2013-03-15 04:07:47)

srs5694 wrote:
sidneyk wrote:Maybe not, I use rEFInd and mount ESP on /boot/efi and copy over updated kernels and initramfs. Maybe if you are mounting ESP at /boot the kernel and initramfs get written to both places at once, I don't know. I also don't know if /boot is where gummiboot expects them to be.
I realize this has been at least partially addressed by others, but I want to make two points very explicit:
In Linux, partitions (or more precisely, the filesystems that most of them contain) are accessed by mounting them at a mount point (a directory). Thus, when you mount the ESP at /boot, the contents of /boot are the ESP. Put another way, mounting the ESP at /boot means that to read or write the ESP, you read or write files and directories under /boot. You can test this yourself by mounting and unmounting a partition that's not basic to the minute-to-minute functioning of the computer. The ESP will actually work fine for this. Unmount it from /boot or /boot/efi and then issue a mount command to mount it elsewhere (say, "mount /dev/sda1 /mnt"). Then check the files under your temporary mount point, and even copy a file there. You can then unmount it and mount it back where you normally do and look for the file you copied -- it should be there. Play with this until you fully grok it.
Gummiboot runs before Linux, and it has no conception of Linux mount points. Thus, whether you mount the ESP at /boot, at /boot/efi, at /home/fred/abadmountpointforanesp is irrelevant, so long as the files on the ESP are laid out in the way that gummiboot expects. The trickiest aspect of this for those unfamiliar with the Linux mount system is that you do not include the Linux mount point in filename references for pre-boot programs like gummiboot. That is, if you mount the ESP at /boot and place the kernel at /boot/vmlinuz, then in gummiboot, the kernel would be \vmlinuz.
Yeah, I figured this out based on the OP's response to that and thinking it through, I just never really thought about it much before now. But I will argue that the mount point /boot and the EFI partition are indeed 2 different locations. I know that once the ESP is mounted at /boot that this distinction disappears until it is umounted and something written to /boot, but while mounted as such, /boot and ESP are virtually the same, at least to the Linux system. I realize the EFI programs are ran before any OS and therefore don't really care about any OS specifics.
I wonder if the OP has confused the info between gummiboot and rEFInd (possibly from the Beginners Guide) because to me, after reading the gummiboot wiki, it just seems that it would be much simpler to just give gummiboot what it wants, i.e. ESP mounted at /boot, whether it's a separate partion or not. I'll have to take a look again at the Beginners Guide to see again the order of things there, but if it isn't, maybe it should be having the user ensure that pacman has completely updated the new system and then go on to the boot loader specifics. I was just thinking though, that the way the install medium is now, that it was automatically pulling the latest stuff down as part of the install process. I know it's not pulling testing or multilib without user intervention, but the core, stable stuff it is. That seems to be part of the confusion here maybe, 2 different versions of gummiboot with gummiboot changing some things between the 2 and maybe the kernels, too.
[EDIT] I took another look at the Beginner's Guide and it says that most users will probably want to use the [core], [extra], and [community] repos, which are enabled by default. It goes on to recommend that [multilib] be enabled for users wanting to run 32 bit programs and then reminds you to run #pacman -Sy to update the package lists, but not #pacman -Syu which would apply any changes from the repos since starting the install. Shouldn't matter much, even if the [multilib] repo was enabled because at that point no 32 bit libs have been installed, but it would matter if a user decided to enable the testing repos.
I wouldn't ordinarily recommend it, but in this case, if the OP is comfortable with the risk, then it might be useful to, at least temporarily, enable the [testing] repo and do #pacman -Syu to pull in the 3.8 kernel. Note that this is likely to also pull in other packages from [testing], but if you haven't installed X yet or any desktop environment, then what is pulled in shouldn't be too overwhelming. He can then immediately go back and disable [testing] if desired. I'm currently using testing without any issues, but there are risks to doing so.
Last edited by sidneyk (2013-03-14 18:13:43)

Tutorial - How to triple boot OSX, Linux and Windows 8.1 with a shared Data Partition without any third party Win / OSX softwares

This is not a question, but rather a personal guide that has proved to be running successfully.
I would like to thank numerous sources, including Christopher Murphy's suggestions at:
Re: Repairing Boot Camp after creating new partition
Before proceeding, there are certain concepts needs to know:
Why Boot Camp does NOT allow further partitioning of drives after Windows has installed?
Answer: Because the way Apple configures the Mac to be recognized as non UEFI capable system on Windows.
Quote from Christopher Murphy based on the above line:
However, Windows on Macs right now use CSM-BIOS mode in Mac firmware that presents BIOS to Windows rather than EFI. Windows thinks it's on a BIOS computer, and therefore mandates the use of MBR for boot disks, rather than GPT. So that's why we have this hybrid MBR+GPT approach on Mac with Windows on it. You inherit the limitations of MBR, which is four primary partitions.
So what does it means?
It means that OSX + EFI + Recovery HD + Boot Camp partition = 4 primary partitions and thus any attempt to modify the disk will render booting issues of either system.
For more info on GPT (GUID Partition Table disks VS Master Boot Record or MBR in short, you may visit: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn640535%28v=vs.85%29.a spx)
So, how to overcome it?
The general guideline is to install ALL GPT ready OS first then create a Data partition, before installing Windows (Which is again, NOT supported GPT due to EFI configuration by Apple where end-users are not able to modify it).
Interestingly, since Mac Pro 2013 Late supports only Windows 8 and above, thus it is not known if this CSM-BIOS applies to it or not.
Do take note that GPT disks in Windows can only be booted when the system meets the 2 requirements:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn640535%28v=vs.85%29.a spx#gpt_faq_win7_boot
1) Windows x64 version (Which is a must for newer Macs. If you cannot go to Boot Camp 5, then you need Windows 7 x86 or 32bit version)
2) UEFI system. However, Windows sees all Macs (With the possibility of Mac Pro 2013 Late is an exception. To be determined) as BIOS, or rather NON-UEFI system.
In short, booting on GPT disks is not possible for Mac in Windows.
Summary,
It is tested that a combination of the following will not work:
- OSX + Windows + Linux
- Windows + OSX + Linux
- Windows + Linux + OSX
Usually it can create the system un-bootable or OSX refused to install due to the system does not recognize such partitions and / or Disk Utility refused to format a free space. An example screen-shot is provided below:
The error message is shown as
Title: "Failed to erase volume" Message: "Failed to wipe volume, as an error occurred: MediaKit has reported that the device does not have enough free space to execute the requested operations."
The second thing is about the preparations we need.
1) 1X Windows 7 or 8 DVD or USB thumbdrive
1A) If you uses a DVD to install, you will need another thumbdrive to load the BootCamp drivers for Windows as well as may requires an external DVD drive for newer Macs
2) 1X Linux DVD of your choice. Personally I choose Fedora 20.
So ready? Let's go.
1. Using Disk Utility, shrink the OSX's partition size to what is needed. For me, I give OSX 150GB. Do NOT create any new partition.
Disk Utility should see something like below whereby only OSX partition is left with desired disk space. The remaining space are to be unused disk space for the moment.
Note: Click on the top most item that should start with the size of your HDD / SSD. Then clicked on "Partition" and specify the desired OSX size. Hit "Apply" after that.
2: Download Boot Camp drivers only via Boot Camp Assistant. The USB thumbdrive shall be used later after Linux's installation.
Boot Camp Assistant should see this:
I have only selected "Download latest Windows Support Files from Apple"
3. Insert Linux DVD, reboot Mac into EFI mode (The left most first "EFI mode").
Note 1: Before rebooting, please plugged in an Ethernet adapter because Wi-Fi drivers is not installed.
Note 2: For Thunderbolt adapters, it must be plugged in before reboot as hot-swapping is not supported under Linux. More on the tips at the end of this article.
Note 3: Press and hold "Option" after the screen turns black. Release Option key after you see the image as below:

For the unfortunate part that did not make it on time to edit the images:
9. Install the Windows Support software from your CD/USB drive to gain full functionality of your computer. Reboot and go to Windows again.
Note 1: You may choose to eject disc at this point of time. For Apple SuperDrive users, you will need to wait until the drivers (i.e. Boot Camp support files) is installed and rebooted before ejecting is reasonably possible (As I failed to figured out how to right click without the drivers)
Note 2: Unlike Windows 7 on KBase article TS4599 Keyboard/trackpad inoperative, black screen, or alert messages when installing Windows 7, USB stick can be plugged in after the Windows installation is done. This is because Windows 7 (And probably Windows 7 with SP1 DVD) does not have a built in USB 3 drivers when it was released back in 2009 where USB3 has not arrived then.
Note 3: Due to TPM, Bitlocker is not supported without the use of thumbdrives.
10. Using Disk Management to determine the given drive letter for the DATA partition (DO NOT DELETE and RECREATE partition or else you can goodbye to booting Linux and OSX). Disk Management will not allow you to format it as exFAT / FAT32 in graphical way.
Note: You may remove or modify some of the disk letters in Disk Management. However, do NOT remove / modfify the drive letter for the partition with 200MB size in HFS. This is because it will disallow booting of Linux and neither could Windows nor OSX can do anything EXCEPT to reinstall Linux only.
11. Open Command Prompt in Administrator Mode (Important!!), and key in the following command:
format F: /FS:exFAT
Give this volume a label after it has successfully formatted before hitting "Enter" again.
Note: Mine Data partition was assigned as F drive. Please make necessary adjustment to "F:" should your Data partition is assigned to other letters.
12. After that, Setup your Data partition structure as you like.
Tip: Minimally create the important folders such as:
- Music
- Documents
- Movie (Videos)
- Downloads
- Pictures
All these folders are commonly used by the 3 OSes. I do NOT recommend changing of /home (OSX and / or Linux) and / or user home directory (Windows) either partially or as a whole.
This is because of compatibility issue.
On a side note, iTunes Media Library used in OSX and Windows are NOT able to be use interchangably due to hard-coded path used.
13. Useful troubleshooting in Fedora / Linux:
With references to these:
http://chaidarun.com/fedora-mbp
http://anderson.the-silvas.com/2014/02/14/fedora-20-on-a-macbook-pro-13-late-201 3-retina-display/
http://unencumberedbyfacts.com/2013/08/16/linux-on-a-macbook-pro-101/
I would like to highlight a few important points:
1) Wi-Fi driver:
http://rpmfusion.org/Configuration
Note 1: The sound driver should be installed at Out of Box Experience. However, the Wi-Fi is not.
Note 2: Install both free and non-free repository. By the way, some other software like VLC can only be found after the Free Repository is installed.
Search for "akmod-wl" in Gnome-Package-Installer in order to install Wi-Fi drivers
Note 3: For those who do not have Ethernet adapters and their Mac does NOT have a built-in Ethernet port, it is recommended to get one. This is because Fedora 20 does not have a good support for iPhone USB tethering. Unsure for Andriod / Blackberry / Windows Phone users.
2) Grub Menu:
It will show several options to boot into OSX, even of the capability to boot into x86 or x64 mode. However, neither of them is bootable except Linux and the rescue.
Hence, it is recommended to remove the items by hand in this file:
/boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg
Command to be used:
"sudo gedit /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg"
Parts to be removed:
- For any extra kernels, delete the target entry by locating the line "menuentry" under "/etc/grub.d/10_linux" sector to one line above the next "menuentry".
It is recommended to keep one main kernel, and one recovery at the minimal.
- For other OS, delete all the entry (Since neither it can works) under "/etc/grub.d/30_os-prober" sector without removing the lines starts with ###.
Auto Mount exFAT partition:
- After installing extra packages for exFAT support (Since it is not supported by Fedora 20 from a default installation), you may wish to edit "/etc/fstab" in order to mount the exFAT partition during boot time.
Command to be used:
"sudo gedit /etc/fstab"
Add the following line in gedit:
UUID=702D-912D /run/media/Samuel/DATA exfat defaults 1 2
Note 1: For DATA partition, OSX & Boot Camp partition, Fedora defaults mounts under: "/run/medua/<Username with case sensitive>/<Partition Label Name>"
Note 2: UUID is unique ID. You can find out the UUID by:
Step 1: First determine the DATA partition number:
"sudo gdisk /dev/sda"
Step 2: Determine the UUID of this partition number:
"sudo blkid /dev/sda8"
Reference 1: http://manpages.courier-mta.org/htmlman5/fstab.5.html
Reference 2: http://liquidat.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/short-tip-get-uuid-of-hard-disks/
3) Overheating CPU
Solution is to issue the following command in Linux terminal: su -c "echo -n 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo"
4) System resumes immediately after suspend
Solution is to issue the following command in Linux terminal: su -c "echo XHC1 > /proc/acpi/wakeup"
5) What does not works well out of box:
- Both GNOME and KDE's fonts are too small to be readable for out of box experience. Additional configuration is a need. (Some of the info can be found on "More Tips" later)
- Thunderbolt hotplugging is NOT supported under Windows and Linux so far. Neither FaceTime HD camera works as well.
- The red light in Headphone jack is always on. I do not have luck in switching off the light without losing the sound.
Note 1: It is determined that the module "snd_hda_intel" is used by both cards (HDMI and normal output)
Note 2: It is also known that blacklisting it can switch off the redlight at the price of muting the system.
Note: Based on this article, http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1574
A Mac (Except Mac Pro) needs servicing when there is a red light while the system fails to detect internal speakers. However, this article does NOT applies to this issue.
5A) More Tips:
Install gnome-tweak-tool for more customization
Search for: "gnome-package" to install:
Install Gnome Package Installer for advanced package repository
Install Gnome Package Updater for advanced updates to be install (Whereby Fedora's App Store alike might not show the relevant updates)
14. Verify if disk is still GPT:
Use Gdisk to determine if the disk is pure GPT:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1742682
Command: sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda (The entire hard drive)
You should see the MBR is "Protective" instead of anything else.
15. Congrats, the system is ready for triple boot. (I forgot to eject my Windows DVD when the photo was taken)
Note 1: You cannot set the default startup disk in Linux due to the lack of Boot Camp Control Panel in Linux.
Neither is changing startup disk recommended in Windows due to the inability to display correctly.
For me, I click "Cancel" whenever I am on this tab (Feel free to make other Boot Camp adjustments in other tabs).
Only OSX I know that can show the startup disk options correctly.
Note 2: For some reason, OSX likes to auto mount the EFI partition everytime it boots up. It is not known to have any issue for ejecting other disks or mounting disks via Disk Utility.
Note 3: It is not determined if any Firmware or System upgrades will cause issues. It is only known that all 3 OS's regular updates should not be an issue.
System Updates excludes Mac OSX 10.9.3 updates to OSX 10.9.4 type as I had done it on a OSX 10.9.4 Mac or Windows 8.1 to Windows 8.1 Update 1 since my Windows DVD comes with Update 1.
System Upgrades refers to OSX Mavericks to Yosemite, Fedora 20 to Fedora 21, Windows 8.1 Update 1 to Windows 8.2 / Windows 9 for that matter.
Note 4: Reset SMC and / or PRAM will NOT affect your ability to boot any of the OS (OSX, Recovery HD, Fedora & Windows 8)
Yup, that is it!

Dual boot Windows 7 and Arch from 2 seperate drives (UEFI)

Hello everyone, I've been working on installing Arch to a secondary hard drive for the past few hours, but I am trying to make sure I won't mess up my Windows 7 install. I have found several topics talking about dual booting Windows 7 and Arch, but not a whole lot on booting them from separate drives. My drives are currently setup as follows.
sda (120GB SSD for Windows 7)
sda1 (100MB System Reserved NTFS partition)
sda2 (Windows 7 install)
sdb (1TB HDD for Windows programs, files, etc)
sdb1 (1TB NTFS partition)
sdc (1TB HDD)
sdc1 (boot 512MB FAT32)
sdc2 (root 500MB ext4)
sdc3 (home 300GB ext4)
sdc4 (swap 10GB)
rest unallocated "free space"
I used Gparted to create the partitions. I ended up getting hung up on the "Create Filesystems" sections, specifically this line"
# mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdXY
Now that I am looking at it, I'm thinking the "Create Filesystems" section maybe isn't necessary because I've used Gparted?
If it isn't necessary, when I get to the "mount the EFI System Partition to /boot" section, would I simply use
# mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/boot
instead of
# mount /dev/sdXY /mnt/boot ?
The way I had this setup with Ubuntu was 3 partitions on sdc (/, home, swap) and I set my PC to boot to the sdc drive on startup. The boot loader would then give me the option to boot into Ubuntu or Windows 7, and I never had to alter the sda or sdb drives at all. Is this possible through Arch? My thinking is that even if it isn't, I should still be able to enter the BIOS boot menu and select which drive to boot manually correct? That wouldn't be too big of a deal for me because I spend 90% of my time in Linux, and only use Windows for Photoshop and gaming occasionally.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I would have just tested this out, but I am afraid of messing up my Windows install.

After several sleepless hours I had to give up and go to bed about 5 hours ago. The installation process went smoothly (or so I thought). I followed the tutorial closely and upon rebooting I was met with a blinking cursor. After some googling I found others who said I should press TAB, but nothing seemed to work.
I rebooted to the iso disk and found the "boot installed OS" option and noticed it said "Press TAB to edit". I then found the boot parameters and tried everything from hd0 0 to hd4 4. I believe I have Grub setup correctly because every option besides hd0 0 either says "Booting..." and then gets stuck, or says "That disk and partition combination does not exist". So yea, I think hd0 0 is the correct boot path, it just gets stuck with the blinking cursor.
silverhammermba wrote:
You have the right idea. You want to install a bootloader on sdc1 which will be able to boot both Arch and Windows.
Your best bet would be to use something like rEFInd. It has a "scanfor" option that should automatically detect your BIOS-configured Windows installation and add a boot option for it. Note that depending on your motherboard, you may have to switch to UEFI-only mode and Windows will be unbootable without the assistance of a UEFI program which is backwards compatible with BIOS (like rEFInd).
Thank you for the link. Considering I can't get into my install and the actual install only took about 30 minutes, I think I am going to just start from the beginning again with REFIndr. It seems much simpler. I only used Grub because I've used it before with Ubuntu, but my very limited knowledge is telling me Grub is probably the problem.
MoonSwan wrote:Just an idea: My bios has a "Boot-up Prompt" which I can invoke when it's POSTing by hitting F11. This brings me to a menu that allows me to choose which drive I want to boot up that day. I use it when Syslinux isn't working properly (Which is right now as a matter of fact ...) in order to boot Windows so I can do some SCII, for example. I, too, dual-boot but I have both OSes on different SSDs. So my 120GB Crucial SSD has Arch on it and the 240GB Kingston has Windows, SCII, Portable Apps, etc and nary the two shall meet. It makes dual-booting easier in the case of a corrupt OS or MBR or what-have-you. You may want to give your Bios a better look to see if you can do the F11 trick. It probably can and will usually tell you so at POST by printing that information on-screen along with your drives-detected and other messages (I hit Pause sometimes to read all the POST messages).
This is exactly what I was talking about doing when I mentioned:
My thinking is that even if it isn't, I should still be able to enter the BIOS boot menu and select which drive to boot manually correct?
That's good to know, because even if this next install doesn't work I think if I pull the other drives I should be able to get it working fairly easily.
Thanks again everyone.

DUAL BOOT windows 7 and linux HELP with Current info on BIOS, MBR vs GPT, etc

I have a feeling this should be easier than what I'm making it. Please educate me on Lenovo's BIOS Setup menus, etc.
I have installed easyBCD in Windows 7, and plan to use it to set up my new boot menu with Linux Mint (and possibly other distros).
I am using a live DVD. I inserted the DVD and went into SETUP and selected to boot off the DVD drive. It started to boot into Linux and all was going well.
However, I realized that I had not checked on the Secure features (Secure Boot, EFI). So I shutdown again and went into BIOS. I went to the SECURITY menu and Disabled UEFI. Then I disabled Secure boot.
Tried to boot off the DVD and couldn't get anywhere. Kept putting me back into the window to select the boot device over and over again. THought I'd ruined my machine
Anyway, finally stumbled upon STARTUP menu, and put it into EFI Legacy, and I was able to get back into Windows 7.
Obviously before I pursue this further, I need some educaiton on your MENUS, Lenovo and EFI/Secure Boot.
I have a feeling that I can probably now install the Linux but want to make sure my settings are correct before I pursue.
Thanks, Kim
Moderator note: this thread gets more Linux-flavored with each post Moved from the "T" board to the Linux board.

Hi, thanks for ans. Your specs are almost identical to my T530 ,which I should have listed. The only diff is
I have an i7 35something processor. Same intel card, RAM and HDD, not that that should matter I'm guessing.
I purposely avoided the Nvidia card because of all the heaadaches with Nvidia.
I have to teach a class tomorrow and I need to clean up my notes. (Definitely not computer related...LOL.) I don't want to be stressed out about this during class, so I plan to wait to attempt a new install tomorrow afternoon.
What I have done is find out some more info about dual booting with windows 7. I went in to windows 7 to shrink the C: partiition and it said I'd have to reserve at least 220 GB for MS! Not what I wanted; I don't really care a thing for MS. I was born and raised on Unix and Linux; I never really fiddled with MS after the demise of MS-DOS during my college days.
Given that, and the fact that I'd lose half my 500 GB HDD to the Borg, I may just chuck the entire dual boot thing and just load Linux on it.
If you say you're running Linux on it just fine, that would be a great encouragement. No HW problems at all? Everything working fine? Which distro are you using?
I plan to test Mint, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, Mageira (sp?), saybahon (sp again?), Debian Wheezy, and even Pear, LOL. I'll keep trying till I find a distro to run on my Lenovo T530, but I'm guessing all of 'em should do okay.
I have Lubuntu I could give a spin, as well and Crunchbang and Bodhi, but they're all 32 bit. (I have an antique Dell desktop that I still use down in my woman cave.)

Changing Boot Order on Dual Boot Windows 8 and Ubuntu

Hi there,
Recently got a HP Pavilion g6 2213sa which came with Windows 8 (spit!) and this disgusting UEFI BIOS replacement (double spit!).
Anyway, I need to dual boot Ubuntu on my system, so I installed Ubuntu. Normally, on a non UEFI system, a "Grub" bootloader installed by Linux would take over the startup process, and allow you to choose between either Windows 8 or Ubuntu on startup.
However, on this computer, startup is just booting straight to Windows 8 despite the fact that Ubuntu and Grub IS installed.
Now, upon startup, if I press F9, then I get to change the boot-device on a one-time basis. I can either select "OS Boot Manager", which loads Windows 8, or "Ubuntu" which loads the Grub bootloader which allows me to select Windows 8 or Ubuntu.
However, when I press F10 to enter the Bios Setup with the intention of changing the boot order permanently, the Ubuntu option isn't there. Instead it has OS Manager, USB Disk, CD Rom, USB CD Rom and Network Card.
Thanks, HP for, the crappily designed BIOS.
Anyway, can anyone PLEASE provide me a way of changing the boot order so that GRUB is loaded first and NOT this crap Windows 8 rubbish (that I would happily bin if I didn't need it for work).

There is the same problem in HP 2000 laptops (in my case specifically, HP 2000-2D22DX). I did some investigation using trial and error, and this is what I found out:
There is some sort of a "recovery feature" or so that on every boot sets the very first UEFI load option to point to one of the two locations, in this order:
\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
\EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi
This option is displayed as "OS boot Manager" (for the first path) and something akin to "UEFI partition" for the second path, completely ignoring the actual name given to it (when you look at the EFI variables through efibootmgr, you can see that what is displayed as "OS boot Manager" actually is set to the name "Windows Boot Manager"; why anyone would do such renaming is beyond me). If you try to change the boot order so that this slot isn't the first, the UEFI will overwrite the BootOrder variable on next boot and reset it to point to "OS boot Manager" anyway.
By default, both of the paths above contain the same Microsoft bootloader (if you check the md5sum of both, you'll see they match).
So, until HP releases an updated UEFI that allows turning this "feature" off or rearranging boot options through the F10 UEFI setup, this is what you can do to get dual boot with the least amount of hackiness:
In Windows, mount the UEFI partition (mountvol S: /S mounts it as the S: drive) and copy the file \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi to use some other name (for example, I copied it to "\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi~", but you can change the name to anything else).
In the Windows command prompt, update the Windows UEFI entry to point to the new name: bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi~ (adapt to your set name accordingly).
Optionally, change the name of the Windows boot loader so that you would be certain that it points to the new file location: bcdedit /set {bootmgr} description "Fixed Windows path"
Install the other OS. In my case the bootloader was installed into \EFI\opensuse\grubx64.efi.
Delete the two files, \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi and \EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi.
Use efibootmgr to delete the "OS boot Manager" entry: sudo efibootmgr -b 0000 -B
Set the new OS bootloader to be the default bootloader by using efibootmgr with the -o option. In my case, I had an entry called "opensuse" in slot Boot0001 and the updated path Windows entry in slot Boot0002, so I had to do sudo efibootmgr -o 0001,0002
Update GRUB to point the Windows entry to your renamed file (you'll have to create a new file in /etc/grub.d and rerun grub-mkconfig).
And that's it, now the UEFI will boot GRUB by default (it won't regenerate the "OS boot Manager" entry since it won't be able to find either of the two hardcoded paths and will "fall back" to properly reading the BootOrder variable), and the F9 menu will still allow choosing to boot Windows directly.

Circle with a Slash Through it and Non-Mounting Hard Drive

Hello,
So I have a Macbook Pro (Early 2011) and the other day it was installing some update. It turned off, so I went upstairs to plug it in but once I powered it on and logged in it just shows a circle with a slash on it. The guest user account works fine. After researching on Google, I found out that the circle with slash means its missing boot files and I should try reinstalling the os with an archive and install. It wouldn't show up as a valid partition to recover from. In disk utility, the main hard drive shows up, the Macintosh HD shows up as well but is greyed out and will not mount. I just need to copy the files off it, and then I can do a clean install of the OS.
This is what I get when I try to repair the main hard drive from disk utility:
Verifying and repairing partition map for “Seagate FreeAgent Media”
Checking prerequisites
Checking the partition list
Checking for an EFI system partition
Checking the EFI system partition’s size
Checking the EFI system partition’s file system
Checking all HFS data partition loader spaces
Reviewing boot support loaders
Checking Core Storage Physical Volume partitions
Checking storage system
Checking volume.
disk3s2: Scan for Volume Headers
disk3s2: Scan for Disk Labels
Logical Volume Group C948DC54-AFC3-4E89-81C5-518FEBD8E2AB spans 1 device
Logical Volume Group has a 16 MB Metadata Volume with double redundancy
Start scanning metadata for a valid checkpoint
Load and verify Segment Headers
Load and verify Checkpoint Payload
Load and verify Transaction Segment
Load and verify Transaction Segment
Incorporate 1 newer non-checkpoint transactions
Load and verify Virtual Address Table
Load and verify Segment Usage Table
Unable to bootstrap transaction group 3803: inconsistent crosscheck
Continue scanning metadata for an older checkpoint
Load and verify Segment Headers
Load and verify Checkpoint Payload
Load and verify Transaction Segment
Incorporate 0 newer non-checkpoint transactions
Load and verify Virtual Address Table
Load and verify Segment Usage Table
Unable to bootstrap transaction group 3802: inconsistent crosscheck
Continue scanning metadata for an older checkpoint
Load and verify Segment Headers
Load and verify Checkpoint Payload
Load and verify Transaction Segment
Incorporate 0 newer non-checkpoint transactions
Load and verify Virtual Address Table
Load and verify Segment Usage Table
Unable to bootstrap transaction group 3801: inconsistent crosscheck
Continue scanning metadata for an older checkpoint
Load and verify Segment Headers
Load and verify Checkpoint Payload
Load and verify Transaction Segment
Incorporate 0 newer non-checkpoint transactions
Load and verify Virtual Address Table
Load and verify Segment Usage Table
Unable to bootstrap transaction group 3800: inconsistent crosscheck
No valid commit checkpoint found
The volume C948DC54-AFC3-4E89-81C5-518FEBD8E2AB was found corrupt and can not be repaired.
Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map
Error: Storage system verify or repair failed.
Also, I tried disk warrior but it doesn't show up as one of the drives available to repair. I'm running Lion on my machine.
Any ideas?? Thanks in advance.

SokrMan wrote:
The volume C948DC54-AFC3-4E89-81C5-518FEBD8E2AB was found corrupt and can not be repaired.
Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map
First off, thanks for being so detailed it saves a lot of trouble.
What has occured is your GUID partition map has become corrupted, this small hidden section on the drive is responsible for telling the hardware what and sizes of the partitions are on that drive. (OS X Lion, Lion Recovery and EFI)
The only way to rebuild the partition map is to erase and reformat the ENTIRE drive, including the hidden Lion Recovery Partition (which you booted into (Command R) to use Disk Utility to try to repair the drive.) Obviously this can't be done from the same drive booted from.
Unfortunatly with OS X 10.7 Apple didn't provide OS X install disks to install OS X onto a external drive or to boot from to perform the complete erase and reformat of the entire drive.
However if you have a blank powered external drive and a fast, reliable Internet connection (AppleID and password), you can Command R boot into Lion Recovery, format the external drive (Disk Utility: Partition: Options: GUID, Format: OS X Ext. J) and then install Lion from Apple's servers onto the external drive.
Once you have that, reboot holding the Option key down (wired keyboard) and select the external drive to boot from. Once you go through setup, try to grab your files off the internal drive.
(DataRescue can be used to recover deleted or corrupt file structure files directly from the 1's and 0's on the drive itself, it's $99, but a option if for some reason you can't do it manually via drag and drop)
Once you have all your files off the machine (make another copy to another drive and disconnect that drive), use Disk Utility (booted on the external drive, it's in the Utilities folder) to select the entire internal drive (drive makers name and size) and perform a Erase with Security Option Zero All Data. This will take a few hours so wait it out. What this will do is force 0's to every bit on the drive, if the hardware detects a bad sector it will map that bad sector off. (I suspect you have a failed sector in your GUID parititon map.)
Once that's complete, check the Partition tab: that Options is GUID and Format is OS X Extended (j)
Now if you have a newer Mac, if you reboot normally (no external drive connected) the Mac itself should install either the Lion Recovery Partition or combined with OS X all by itself over the Internet, I haven't seen or done this yet, so you'll be poineering this aspect. If you get Lion Recovery, then simply boot into it (Command R) and install Lion onto the Lion Partition.
Then go about installing all your apps first, then create a same named user as the old one (different password is fine) if you didn't use the same name as before, and then connect the external drive and transfer your contents of your User file folders (Music, Pictures, Movies etc) into their same name folders on the new setup, don't change anything, just select all and drag and drop, replace. By using the same user name, it preserves your itunes playlists and other data that depends upon correct user pathnames to the secondary files. If you start moving things around you'll lose the pathnames to your secondary files (songs). If your permissions are off, Finder: Get Info to set all (including down inside folders) to your new username.
If Internet Recovery doesn't work, option boot from the external drive and download Carbon Copy Cloner (free to use, donations accepted) and learn how to clone both your Lion Recovery Partition and OS X Lion Partition back onto your internal drive.
http://www.bombich.com/
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
If by some chance you don't have a fast, relaible Internet connection your going to have ot take your machine to someplace that does, or have Apple fix the mess they caused by not supplying boot disks.
You can opt to buy the $69 Lion USB thumb drive, you can option boot off of that and perform the same functions above onto a external drive to boot from and recover your files.

Drives are not mounting to desktop on macbook pro.

External USB drives, SD cards and even DVD media is not mounting to desktop when connected.
This is a new problem for me and have not had this issue previously. I have successfully connected the same devices in the past.
They all show up in the disc utility as connected. I am unable to mount them from disc utility (this button is disabled) and they are not showing up in Finder either.
Please help!

Hi Paul,
Sorry for the late answer. I live in Europe, so that's why I was asleep ;-)
Basically the command tells your computer to unhide everything on your Desktop, so if you don't have a Desktop, something is definitely wrong.
My guess is that there's something wrong with your account on that computer. You can check that by creating a new account in System Preferences (click on Accounts, click the lock in the bottom-left corner and then click the "+" button just above).
Then try mounting "some" media and see if it appears on the new user's Desktop. If not, I would highly recommend to reinstall Mac OS X.
HTH,
Jasper.

External hard drives won't mount on desktop

I've had a Western Digital My Passport HD attached to my iMac computer for a few weeks now. Today however I disconnected it and when I went to plug it back in it failed to mount on the desktop. The light was on, but it was a steady light and it usually blinks when its communicating with the computer. I put my hand on top of it and could feel the drive turning. I also noticed that my SanDisk Memory Card Reader wasn't powering on either. I plugged in other devices to sort out what was having the issue. I plugged in my Wacom tablet to each of the ports that the HD and MMCR had been plugged in and it powered on and worked with no issue.
I then plugged in the HD and MMCR and checked them on Disk Utility, and neither one showed up there. Finally I plugged in a different WD MyPassport HD that I owned and it mounted on my desktop. That's when I started to get panicky. I did one final test to confirm whether my drive was kaput. I plugged the HD into my Time Capsule. I entered TC and there was the drive, mounting within TC and completely accessible.
Whaddya make of that?
iMac 21.5 Late 2012
2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
Western Digital My Passport 1TB

This can happen with any USB BUS powered drive. For some reason the USB ports on Mac computers do not always put out enogh power to fully power up these USB BUS powered drives. You should try using a Y USB cable that connects to 2 USB ports at the same time to supply more power to the drive.

How can i format and finaly mount??

Hi guys,
i'm trying to create an image bootable from scratch, but i fell in error right at the beginning .
I've created an image filled by zero with
dd if=/dev/zero of=deb.iso bs=1M count=2048
after that i've partitioning this file with
cfdisk deb.iso
and the resultant partition table is
Disk ../deb.iso: 2 GiB, 2147483648 bytes, 4194304 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x114cf359
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
../deb.iso1 * 2048 718847 716800 350M 83 Linux
../deb.iso2 718848 4194303 3475456 1,7G 83 Linux
At this point i've create a block devices for each partition, so
losetup -o $((2048*512)) /dev/loop0 ../deb.iso
losetup -o $((718848*512)) /dev/loop1 ../deb.iso
then i formatted it in ext4
mkfs.ext4 /dev/loop0
mkfs.ext4 /dev/loop1
and until here everything goes right.
Now i decided to mount my formatted loop devices, so
mkdir root
mount /dev/loop1 root
cd root
mkdir boot
but when i give the command for mount the /dev/loop0, this give me back an error
mount /dev/loop0 boot
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/loop0,
missing codepage or helper program, or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so.
The permission of directory and the privilege for mount devices it's ok.
I also tried mount the partition without use losetup, directly from
mount -o loop,offset=$((2048*512)) -t ext4 ../deb.iso boot/
or format directly the partition with
mkfs.ext4 -E offset=$((2048*512)) deb.iso
but always is the same.
My dmesg said:
[ 3123.395788] JBD2: no valid journal superblock found
[ 3123.395796] EXT4-fs (loop0): error loading journal
Can someone help me with this damn trouble?? Thanks you very much
Last edited by Gianlucode (2014-12-01 12:17:26)

How we are used to hear in computer science, Divide et impera!
I divided my deb.iso in 3 pices using dd. Remebering the partitions table
Gianlucode wrote:Disk ../deb.iso: 2 GiB, 2147483648 bytes, 4194304 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x114cf359
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
../deb.iso1 * 2048 718847 716800 350M 83 Linux
../deb.iso2 718848 4194303 3475456 1,7G 83 Linux
I use dd in this way
dd if=deb.img of=deb.img.mbr bs=512 skip=0 count=2048
dd if=deb.img of=deb.img.0 bs=512 skip=2048 count=716800
dd if=deb.img of=deb.img.1 bs=512 skip=718848
To be sure that i haven't corrupted something i've calculeted the md5 hash of this file and the original
cat deb.img.mbr deb.img.0 deb.img.1 | md5sum
f33fed42eb63666d325e4fff796bfef9
md5sum deb.img
f33fed42eb63666d325e4fff796bfef9
So i was able to format my partitions and then mount them
mkfs.ext4 deb.iso.0
mkfs.ext4 deb.iso.1
mkdir root
mount deb.iso.1 root
cd root
mkdir boot
mount ../deb.iso.0 boot
touch boot/test
cd ..
umount root/boot
umount root
I've reassembled the image
cat deb.img.mbr deb.img.0 deb.img.1 > deb_final.img
and obviously if i recalculate the md5 is different then the initaly deb.img because i formatted and wrote some file in these partitions.
md5sum deb.img
f33fed42eb63666d325e4fff796bfef9
md5sum deb_final.img
b1b5656781b28803759d46ee67c428d5
To be sure, i've done the ultimately proof
sudo mount -o loop,offset=$((2048*512)) deb_final.img root
ls root
test lost+found
Et voilà there is the file test as i aspected.
Now do not forget to umont the partition
sudo umount root
I hope that this post will be useful for someone in future. If you have other solution to the initial problem, write it below.
Last edited by Gianlucode (2014-12-02 14:48:39)

Can not boot into OSX after boot camp installation and resizing of Macintosh HD

So from the beginning what I was trying to do was set up my iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) with boot camp so that I could play some old windows based games that can not be played in Parallels.
I went through the Boot camp process and everything set up just fine.
I had both OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 and Windows 8 Professional running but as I was installing games on to boot camp I discovered I did not allocate enough space and needed to extend the Boot Camp partition.
I used boot camp utility to set OS X as the default start up disk and had it restart
I launched into OS X and used Disk Utility to shrink Macintosh HD another 120GB
Restarted again holding option and launched into Windows
Used the disk management in windows to try and extend the boot camp partition into the unallocated space.
It was not an option to extend it so I tried to create a new simple volume from the unallocated space then delete it and try to extend it again.
It still was not an option.
From there I went to restart again while holding option and the only options I had were 10.10 Recovery and Windows
I tried using disk utility in recovery and Macintosh hd now only showed disk0s2
I tried to verify and it could not verify
I tried to repair and it could not repair.
I put the iMac in target disk mode and using a thunderbolt cable I tried using disk utility from my MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012)
Verifying volume “disk2s2”Verifying file system.** /dev/rdisk2s2
Invalid BS_jmpBoot in boot block: 000000
File system check exit code is 8.Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “disk2s2”Repairing file system.** /dev/rdisk2s2
Invalid BS_jmpBoot in boot block: 000000
File system check exit code is 8.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
This is the same error I got on my iMac
I used terminal diskutil list and got:
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk2
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:       Microsoft Basic Data                         799.3 GB   disk2s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk2s3
   4:       Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP                70.3 GB    disk2s4
I can see that Macintosh HD was disk2s2 but it now shows its Microsoft Basic Data.
I did not format this partition and it was working fine till I restarted the computer after resizing Macintosh HD.
I am not sure what I can do to fix this.
I've found multiple articles about similar issues, but the issue thet they have was that they could not boot to Windows instead of my issue not booting to OS X

****************    Update    *****************
From the Windows Partition using Disk Management I can see that the drive is still labeled Macintosh HD and that all of my data is there.
I have a complete backup so i'm not worried so much about the data.
What I'm most interested in is trying to solve this issue because I'd like to continue using boot camp and I actually work with mac computers and would like to be able to help others if this issue arrises again.

Boot from floppy and install arch from flash stick - NO CDR - USB 1.1

MY PREVIOUS POST BELOW BECAME A HARD DRIVE INSTALL POST WHICH HAS HELPED THOUGH ISN'T ON SUBJECT CURRENTLY AND I STILL NEED SOLUTION - Now at day 3 :-) - sorry!
I have old laptop with a very broken CDR... so just a floppy and a hard drive and 2 USB 1.1 ports.
[Need commands and which floppy is best]
The USB install WIKI
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ins … _USB_stick
says to write the .img file to flash stick...
--- that I can do!
Though trying a similar process:
I've had no luck with a hard drive install (also on wiki) as I believe that once I write the .img file to the hard drive it WILL boot though can't create mount points as the drive's in use!
Anyways...
IF I have the flash stick with the .img file on it as per the wiki instructions
what commands would I use and what boot floppy would work for:
- booting from floppy
- mounting? the flash stick with arch core on it
- then installing from there to single hard drive partition.
thing is I'm just barely ok with using
dd fdisk and mke2fs
So: I need to know what command to mount USB stick... then HOW do I get arch installer on the img file to boot up??
Any guru tips really needed ....thank you!
Last edited by yvonney (2009-01-28 08:44:59)

nice Kirurgs
doesn't boot from usb... and CDR very broken... good though as I've learned a lot....
dell inspiron 2500 1 ghz pentium III
method 1) used puppy after booting off wakepup2 floppy ....very handy that wakepup flopppy though be advised there's several versions of wakpup2 and try the second boot option on the aug or sept 2008 version it WILL find your USB device even if like me I had an old 128 meg one. also, Crash, a guy at the puppy forums has a 3 floppy set that's specific to whatever puppy version you're running... try that as a last resort
UN-NECESSARY BLATHER COMMENT: The way those puppys are created weird me out., the more I looked around, Yes, I've read a wee bit about Aufs, and what goes into the whole persistent thing.... seems like lotsa almost impossible to ever 'really' know stuff is going on it there.... Consider the source of that comment of course... I have huge blank spots in my knowledge and skill and am actually only a relentless year one linux'r... [not counting 6 years of hum and haw] though I'd wanna build my own live arch usb with tips from here before I ever tried to REALLY figure out what goes into creating puppy. I'm saying that at one or two points I thought.. hmnmm... perhaps puppy on this old laptop.... though concluded that ARCH for ALL things is really the only option. puppy's a great boot and hunt around thing though (for me, and in my current opinion).
method 2) eldamar and eldamar's guide which started me towards success .. which I basically now just do the dd command to an empty partition after booting from puppy .... THEN thrown in a supergrub floppy .... have it 'bring alive' the partition I've just dd'd the arch .img to.... and reboot.... oh, and from puppy I can create partitions as well.. gparted I think.
method 3) untested also can use plop floppy it's a boot loader... you may be able to get slitaz distro to create one for you through the 'bootfloppybox' terminal command... not sure if it uses the old floppy linux version of PloP or the win version or what.... dunnno dunno!!! gotta go! :--)
crazy busy so writing to say... pretty much all fine! :--)
for me this move was 3-4 days of lots of WONDERFUL bad luck... with everything from puppy hell, my partial-dumbness and back..
thing is.... I'm real good at it now.... hehehehe
gotta love problems!
Last edited by yvonney (2009-02-03 17:27:56)

Dual booting Windows 8 and Arch Linux with UEFI

Hi all!
I'm trying to install Arch Linux on my computer where I already have Windows 8, and I'm getting a little stuck when it comes to the partitioning.
Following the beginner's guide and the method here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Un … n_in_Linux for setting up the partitions properly, regarding UEFI. My problem is that when using cgdisk to set up a new EFI system partition (ef00), I get an error message when trying to write the partition table (just saying that something went wrong). I figure the problem is that I already have a partition like this (correct me if I'm wrong), but it really looks like it succeded (see info below). So my question is: How do I preceed to keep my Windows 8 installation happy, but installing Arch? Do I remove the old EFI system partition and create a new one, or is there some method that allows me to edit the already existing one, to allow me to dual boot Windows 8 and Arch?
My partition table now looks like this:
Part. # Size Partition Type Partition Name
1007KB free space
1 500MB Windows RE Basic data partition
2 300MB EFI System EFI system partition (this one was already present on my system)
3 128MB Microsoft reserved Microsoft reserved partition
4 63.5GB Microsoft basic data Basic data partition
8 512MB EFI System EFI System partition (this is the one I tried to create when I got the error message)
5 29.5GB Linux filesystem Arch (this is where I was going to put my Arch installation)
6 22GB Windows RE Basic data partition
7 1024MB Windows RE Basic data partition
615KB free space
Just for the record; I only created partition #8 and #5.
Any help is appreciated! And sorry for beeing a total noob, but I really suck at this.

sudo make sandwich wrote:If it is possible to share ESP between OSes, how do I do this (would it be sufficent to follow this section: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners'_Guide#For_UEFI_motherboards)?
There's really very little to do to share an ESP between OSes. Most OS installers will auto-detect the ESP and use it. Problem solved. For Arch it may be a bit more effort just because Arch uses a more hands-on installation process, but I've only done a couple of Arch installations, and the last one was several months ago, so I don't recall the details clearly enough to comment.
And how big will the partition need to be? The beginner's guide says 512MB or higher.
I don't know what was in the mind of the author, but my guess is that's because that's roughly the cutoff point where mkdosfs starts creating FAT32 by default rather than FAT16. The ESP is officially supposed to be FAT32, not FAT16, although FAT16 usually works OK. It's also possible to create FAT32 on smaller partitions by using an explicit option to mkdosfs ("-F 32").
The optimal size of the ESP depends on the files stored on it. If you don't store your Linux kernels, something as small as 100MiB is usually adequate; but a few Linux kernels and their initrd files can consume twice that amount. My own recommendation is for the ESP to be 200-500MiB.
The only error message I got from cgdisk is "Problem saving data! Your partition table may be damaged!", however booting Windows again works fine. Parted did not complain about antything.
Use the "verify" function in cgdisk. That will reveal any problems with the data structures. If a verify turns up OK, then that means that cgdisk ran into some sort of disk problem. Running gdisk rather than cgdisk and using the gdisk "w" option (without making any changes) may produce a more helpful error message.

"Boot OS X" and "EFI" mounted on desktop - why?

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