Booting into CD-on-disk

My laptop is unable to boot from a CD and I had a great deal of trouble getting Arch installed (Arch floppies do not support PCMCIA cd-roms, my pcmcia LAN card, etc.). Just in case, I made an ~800Mb partition and dd-ed the arch instalation CD there. What I would like to do now is to try to set up Grub so I would have an option to boot into the "rescue partition".
I came up with this, however, it does not work.
title Rescue Partition
root (hd0,2)
kernel /isolinux/vmlinuz root=/dev/rd/0 BOOTMEDIA=cd
initrd /isolinux/initrd.img
The partition should be fine since I can easily mount it with:
mount /dev/hda3 /mnt/cd
[/code]

Does the hard drive install wiki help?
I couldn't get grub to read an iso file system so I mounted the CD iso on loopback and copied the entire CD filesystem to a reiserfs formatted partition. It sounds like you missed that step? "dd"ing the iso would work with Lilo.

Similar Messages

IMac G5 screen smashed badly. Is it unsafe to boot into Firewire TDM?

I'm advising a small business owner on the fastest and cheapest way to recover data from an iMac G5 that was vandalized. The screen was struck hard with an object of some sort. I'm not sure what other trauma the machine might have experienced.
Before taking it in for expensive data recovery work, I'd like to try booting into Firewire Target Disk Mode. Is this a risky thing to do with the screen smashed in? Is there a way to safely disconnect the display to reduce the risk of a short?

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Depending on the iMac G5 model, it is probably safer to remove the hard drive and see if it will mount on another Mac with an external hard drive case that supports SATA and Firewire. If it won't mount, chances are the machine was struck so hard that the hard drive needle jammed into the drive, and only a data recovery firm can salvage data off of it.
This is why it is so important to backup your data as my FAQ says:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

Can't boot into Windows after splitting Mac partition with Disk Utility

Hi everyone,
I installed Windows 8 with BOOTCAMP, creating a large 871 GB partition with a smaller 127 GB partition for Windows. After installing Windows, I then went back to Disk Utility to shrink the Mac partition and add two new partitions, one for storage and another blank, hoping to use it to install Linux into one day.
I did that, and now Windows doesn't boot. A Windows blue screen tells me I need to use the Windows DVD to repair it.
I tried to use Disk Utility to delete the two new partitions I made and grow the Mac partition back to the max size of 871 GB. But it doesn't let me do this. The Disk Utility log doesn't report an error and thinks it worked but the partition stays the same size. However if I make the partition a little smaller, like 870 GB then it works. I'm wondering if the Recovery partition is hiding there and preventing me from fully expanding the Mac partition.
What can I do?
Here's what I get if I type in sudo gpt -r -vv show disk0:
Code:
gpt show: disk0: mediasize=1000204886016; sectorsize=512; blocks=1953525168 gpt show: disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0 gpt show: disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1 gpt show: disk0: Sec GPT at sector 1953525167 start        size index contents 0           1         MBR 1           1         Pri GPT header 2          32         Pri GPT table 34           6 40      409600      1 GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B 409640 1701278816      2 GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC 1701688456     1269536      3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC 1702957992     1846360 1704804352   248002560      4 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7 1952806912      718223 1953525135          32         Sec GPT table 1953525167           1         Sec GPT header
Here's what I get if I type sudo fdisk /dev/rdisk0:
Code:
Disk: /dev/rdisk0     geometry: 121601/255/63 [1953525168 sectors] Signature: 0xAA55 Starting       Ending #: id cyl hd sec - cyl hd sec [     start -       size] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1: EE 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [         1 -     409639] <Unknown ID> 2: AF 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [    409640 - 1701278816] HFS+ 3: AB 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [1701688456 -    1269536] Darwin Boot *4: 07 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [1704804352 - 248002560] HPFS/QNX/AUX
Here's what I get with gdisk:
Code:
Disk /dev/rdisk0: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB Logical sector size: 512 bytes Disk identifier (GUID): 6075110F-7CEF-4604-85EE-6231B850E2AE Partition table holds up to 128 entries First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134 Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries Total free space is 2564589 sectors (1.2 GiB) Number Start (sector)    End (sector) Size       Code Name 1              40          409639   200.0 MiB   EF00 EFI System Partition 2          409640      1701688455   811.2 GiB   AF00 1 TB APPLE HDD HTS54101 3      1701688456      1702957991   619.9 MiB   AB00 Recovery HD 4      1704804352      1952806911   118.3 GiB   0700 BOOTCAMP

Okay, the code I typed didn't display properly in the forum. Let me try again.
Here's what I get when I type
sudo gpt -r -vv show disk0:
gpt show: disk0: mediasize=1000204886016; sectorsize=512; blocks=1953525168
gpt show: disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0
gpt show: disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1
gpt show: disk0: Sec GPT at sector 1953525167
       start        size index contents
           0           1         MBR
           1           1         Pri GPT header
           2          32         Pri GPT table
          34           6
          40      409600      1 GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
      409640 1701278816      2 GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
1701688456     1269536      3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
1702957992     1846360
1704804352   248002560      4 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
1952806912      718223
1953525135          32         Sec GPT table
1953525167           1         Sec GPT header
And when I type fdisk /dev/rdisk0 I get:
Disk: /dev/rdisk0          geometry: 121601/255/63 [1953525168 sectors]
Signature: 0xAA55
         Starting       Ending
#: id cyl hd sec - cyl hd sec [     start -       size]
1: EE 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [         1 -     409639] <Unknown ID>
2: AF 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [    409640 - 1701278816] HFS+
3: AB 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [1701688456 -    1269536] Darwin Boot
*4: 07 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [1704804352 - 248002560] HPFS/QNX/AUX
Kappy,
I can boot into OS X just fine so if possible, I'd like to avoid reformatting everything. If you know of a way I can add more than 2 partitions with OS X and Boot Camp, please let me know. As far as I know, rEFInd can recognize more than two partitions, but I don't think it can edit partitions on a GPT / hybrid MBR system. Or am I wrong?

Mac mini won't boot into target disk mode

Hi
I just bought a Mac mini on eBay. I'm not sure of the spec but I think its a G4.
When it arrived I plugged it in and switched on to find the question mark folder appear.
I put in a 10.5 disk but it would not boot from it. [this was a disk I got with another s/h machine though so may not be bootable]
As I could not install from the disk I figured my best bet would be to target disk in and install osx from a powerbook I have here.
However I can't get target disk to work.
The keyboard is definitely working as it allows me to boot into OF and zap the PRAM
I've also tried pressing what I believe to be the SMU button just behind the connector board to the HD and DVD drive but no luck.
Anybody got any ideas as to whats going on?
Cheers

Ok, I can probably get a copy of OSX
The problem is I think the DVD drive is faulty as it wouldn't give me my disk back I tried "eject cd" in OF but it didn't work and I had to open it up with a screw driver and take it out.
If the disk is corrupted is there a way to erase it without putting it in another machine. ie can it be done from OF?
Thanks for your help btw

Can't boot into bios due to SMART Hard Disk Error

My hard drive failed and now im getting constant pop ups to replace it
I'm thinking about transfering windows to an external drive until I can replace the internal one but I need access to the bios to set the boot priorty options anytime I use f10 to boot into the bios it's like it's skipped over and gives me the smart hard disk error screen where my only options are to boot into windows or run diagnostics.
I tried running diagnostics but each test resulted in an instant failure.

Yes take out hard drive and connect it to another PC. Get help from your service manual for procedure for taking it out:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02659236
Adapter, something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Anker®-Converter-Adapter-Cable-included/dp/B005B3VO24
For configuring boot order, try this:
http://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c00364979
Tap f9 key soon after powering on notebook, if the above don't work.
Regards
Visruth
++Please click KUDOS / White thumb to say thanks
++Please click ACCEPT AS SOLUTION to help others, find this solution faster
**I'm a Volunteer, I do not work for HP**

I reinstalled osx 10.8.2 from recovery disk, now verify disk says my hard drive is there but wont boot into it regardless which partition i select to boot into , everytime it boots me into the recovery, i need help!

Mb pro running like garbage with 10.8.2 tried a reinstall of osx from recovery utility now the utility says my hard drive is ok but wont boot into it keeps booting me back into recovery tried restart option to select disk tried using the select startup disk from recovery, gives a message asking if i really want to boot to it and in that message is the only rime it shows a question mark on the drive dont know what to do cant find similar issue

Your rushing and not making much sense.
Your machine was running like garbage, so you tried to reinstall 10.8---did you do this or not?
Disk Utility says your drive is ok, that's good.
But when you boot it keeps booting Recovery HD, so perhaps the firmware has made a mistake, it can forget.
You held the option key down to boot into Startup Manager, why didn't you select OS X for the boot volume?
When you get into OS X you change the Startup Disk in System Preferences, that should take care of the Flashing Question mark issue.
attemtping to ireinstall osx from recovery partition bar is full on install screen, but im now at -6hours remaining
So now your reinstalling OS X like you set out to do before, it does take some time as it has to download from Apple's servers.
If your Internet connection is slow and/or Wifi is slow then it will take awhile.
So you should have the Flashing Question Mark and Reinstall Only OS X covered.
You should be able to boot the machine, but your performance issues may be something else and still remain.
Why is my computer slow?
Step by Step to fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents#/?p er_page=50

PowerBook G4 17" Boots into Open Firmware; Won't boot from HD or Disk

This PBG417 (1GHz/512MB/60GB) has an complex recent history directly related to this problem. It was thought to have a dead logic board, and was given to me for a very insignificant amount of money. I discovered today (at an Authorized Apple Repair center) it merely had a ribbon cable disconnected from the logic board which kept it from powering on, which, when rge cable was reconnected it did on the spot, fully booting (imagine my satisfaction). However, upon getting home, it booted into Open Firmware instead, and offedrs a choice of typing mac-boot or shut-down. Mac-boot takes it to the grey screen where the question mark/Finder guy blink and nothing happens. I put a grey PowerBook G4 17" system disk in, but not the one that shipped with it, hoping it would do. When I try to boot from disk, it goes to Open Firmware, I enter mac-boot, it goes to happy Finder with no question folder, but stays there with the optical drive occasionally making movememts and sounds. If you enter any command besides shut down or mac-boot, iot says unknown word; the command prompt itself is 0> .
I'm not sure the hard drive is seated correctly. When I got the computer, the drive was removed; I put it in an enclosure and installed Tiger on it and put it back in, but apart from connecting the ribbon cable, it just sat in its bay not fixed down. However, it booted correctly the first time it was successfully started.
Finally, the previous owner removed all 23 bottom case screws when he took out the drive and lost them; the Apple repair tech mustered up about 9 and put them in the crucial locations but it's still not screwed down everywhere, although the one time it booted correctly, it had no screws in it.
It seems the computer doesn't read the hard drive or the disk, but the hard drive mau be installed wrong and the disk, while for a 17" was not the one that shipped with this PowerBook 17". The computer is missing many case screws, bnutg booted properly only when there were none it place. I also tried resetting the PMU but am not sure I did reset it because the Apple article isn't clear about which models have which processes. I tied Target Disk Mode but it woujldn't mount/boot.
How can I get the disk out and how to make it boot to the desktop?

You can try to reset NVRAM here is KBase from apple site:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42642
and after that reset PRAM in your unit, here is the kbase:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
If needed you can also tried to reset PMU, here is the kbase:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
Make sure you choose the correct step for your unit.
If after all the steps your unit still booting up to open firmware then there is possibility that you have corrupt NVRAM which could not be fixed by doing reset except replacing logic board.
Good luck. Hope this help
Flippo

Can't see OS X disk while booted into OS 9

There are a couple of apps I really need to use, that won't run in Classic; they won't go past 9.0.4. I have OS X and the OS 9 stuff on separate physical drives.
The OS X "Startup Disk" pref will let me select the OS 9 system OK, but once there, the OS 9 "Startup Disk" CP doesn't offer the OS X disk as an option.
Only way I've figured out to get back is to physically disconnect the OS 9 disk and power up, but that's a pain.
what do I need to do to get OS 9 to recognize the OS X disk?
Isaac
Blue & White Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Blue & White Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Well, thanks for the advice, at least it confirmed that I wasn't overlooking something stupid.
I gave the problem some more thought, and recalled something I'd been doing with Macs for years, but never tried with OS X.
From time to time, I've needed to have more than one system folder on a given Mac; sometimes it's just being "stored" there, or sometimes for other reasons. Often, I do not want the Mac to know about those system folders. I discovered that I could just move the System file into the Control Panel folder, and the Mac wouldn't recognize it as bootable. Move the System back out, and it's bootable again.
So that's the (awkward) solution. From OS 9.0.4, when I'm ready to boot back into X, I move the OS 9 System file into the CP folder and restart. I get a warning that the Mac may not be bootable, and click OK.
After the reboot, there's a loooong wait while the Mac looks around for something bootable, but eventually it finds the OS X system, and boots to it just fine.
IF YOU TRY THIS, USE CAUTION: I have OS 9 and OS X installed on separate physical disks, so I can always disconnect one if I can't make the Mac stop booting from it. I haven't tried this stunt with a partitioned drive, and I have no idea whether it would work.
Also, next time you want to boot into OS 9, you have to remember to move the System file back out of the CP folder before you select OS 9 and restart.
Isaac
Blue & White Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Help when i boot into the windows 7 instal disk it freezes at windows loading files

Help when i boot into the windows 7 instal disk it freezes at windows loading files.

1. Have you tried both Alt keys - maybe your Alt key is dead.
2. Do you have wireless keyboard? Have you tried to change batteries? USB Keyboard?
3. If your Win is installed correctly then you have also installed all windows support software.
There should be Startup manager like on the Mac (next to the clock little bootcamp app or in control pannel) to restart your Mac into the Mac partition.

IPod 5g, sad face BUT boots into disk mode

Hey everybody, I have a iPod that my uncle brought me, he says it's his sons, but he doesn't need it. This ipod boots with apple logo, hdd making clicky sound, and then a sad face appears for about 4 seconds and shuts down. If I try holding center and play buttons, it does boot into disk mode, but before that it says that I have to connect it to the computer to restore it, but itunes doesn't recognize it. But computer does. is there any way to fix it?

The Sad face icon is usually a very good indication of a hardware malfunction or failure usually with the iPod's Hard Drive, which would also explain the loud clicking noise you are hearing.
Have you seen this article yet?
iPod display's a sad iPod icon
If you are up for the challenge, you can also try all of the troubleshooting mentioned described by another forum member Mitch 751.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1193481?start=0&tstart=0
B-rock

Hello to you all, my Macbook Air won's boot up and upon diagnosis, i realized my startup disk is full to 99% even with 2GB Hard Disk space. It wont also enable me boot into safe mode too. Please help as all my work documents and project files are on HD

Hello to you all,
My Macbook Air won's boot up and upon diagnosis, i realized my startup disk is full to 99% even with 2GB Hard Disk space. It wont also enable me boot into safe mode too.
when i power up, i get this prolong gray screen which wont change screen but remain so. Infact i am handicapped.
Please help as all my work documents and project files are on this machine and i can't afford to loose them all...
Please, should you have any solution please send me the details to [email protected]
Thanks you a millionh times.
Al.

The MBA seems to cause several problems to several users on boot ups
On start up my MBA would not boot up the apple logo came on but only a blank screen appeared no fan i followed several start up recommendations but to no avail so I took the MBA to the nearest Apple repair centre again the same symptoms on start up ......very sorry sir you need a new mother board that will be $500 not feeling confidant in the product declined and was going to put it on ebay for spares.
On return home I pressed the start up button and it started normally everything was working fine i decided to reinstall all the software what has caused the problem I have no idea but it is after several attempted reboots it finally started on its own so don't give up if you have this problem it may come to life

How do I boot into recovery mode with wireless keyboard

I am unable to boot into recovery mode using either cmd-R or holding down the alt key. How is it supposed to work?
Message was edited by: Niklas Brunberg (better title)

I understand your concerns - I'm glad both of my machines are dual bootable (just in case) and I have my Snow Leopard install disks..... However, this is what Apple has decided, so we need to find the best way to deal with it. Personally, I've tested the recovery mode several times and, at least on my machine, it was not reliable (i.e. it wouldn't work - I tried it again and it did, but it spent more than an hour downloading the entire 4 GB installer again and then another 30 minutes installing it), and on a third try, I found that it had vanished because I had cloned by drive. When you clone, only your system is cloned, not the extra partition.
So, I've decided to rely on a) my bootable clones and b) a copy of the installer (.dmg) in case my clones fail. I don't feel comfortable relying on something that requires an internet connection and a full download to work. But, that works for me; you may want to take a different approach.

Can only boot into Windows 7. Can't even boot from Snow Leopard DVD.

I have no idea what prompted this. I don't recall installing any OS updates recently, other than some Windows Live apps in Windows 7.
I have an early 2009 Mac Mini with Snow Leopard, and have Windows 7 64-bit installed in a Boot Camp partition. When I installed Windows 7, I couldn't get the Boot Camp utility to install within Windows (I guess because it's 64-bit) so to switch back and forth between OSes, I just shut down the Mac and restart it with the Option key pressed, and select Mac OS X when I want to return to Mac. This has worked for about a month and a half now (ever since I got Windows 7). Suddenly I have problems.
I first had problems booting into Windows or Mac. I got to the grey screen with the Apple logo, with that spinning "progress" thing going for a while, then it would freeze up and get stuck on the grey screen with the Apple logo. I zapped the PRAM. No help. Then, after disconnecting all external drives (I have several) and extra USB devices, I was able to boot from the DVD install disk and reinstall Snow Leopard on my internal drive. Joy, or so I thought. Then I booted into Windows 7, and after some weirdness getting it to start, it did successfully start and ran just peachy.
Then I turned off the Mac and held down the option key (as usual) to return to Mac OS. But now all that happens is that I get a grey screen for a few seconds, then the Mac boots back into Windows 7, which seems to work fine. (I'm in Windows 7 right now.) I turned on one my external drives (Snow Leopard installed, connected via Firewire 800) in hopes that the Mac would boot into that, but same thing. Ignored and back to Windows 7.
Then I thought I'd boot from the install DVD again by putting it in the drive and holding down the C key as I restart, but the same thing--a grey screen for a few seconds, and then booting right into Windows 7. I can't seem to escape Windows 7! It's a bit disturbing when it won't even recognize the install DVD.
I tried to call Apple Care since I'm within my 90 day support window, but of course they are closed. I'm figuring that I'm going to have to take this into an Apple Store, but thought I'd see if anyone has any ideas. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

According to Apple, Win 7 64bit is supported with Bootcamp 3.0. If bootcamp 3.0 is available; I could not find it anywhere on Apple's website. It appears the most recent version is 2.2. The only place I could find 3.0 is not on Apples website and it's a questionable source so I won't post it here.
It may just be a matter of time before Apple makes it available. I'm not suggesting you wait, however if the install disk can't be used, I'm not too sure where u could go from there. Calling Applecare might work.
If you do a simple google search using the terms 'download bootcamp drivers windows 7' u will see what I was referring too.
Here's what I found from Apple (It doesn't specifically mention 64bit however just win7): http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3920
This is not from Apple, but specifically addresses whether they support win7 64bit: http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/08/31/boot.camp.win.7.64.support/
Here is more info about bootcamp 3.0 and win7: http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/

Cannot boot either from install disk or hard drive

I have done a number of searches, and I have not found a problem precisely like the one I am encountering.
Earlier today, my MacBook (running Leopard 10.5.3) failed to wake properly from sleep. After I attempted to reboot the machine using the power button, I encountered a black box with the following message: "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button."
I have tried all of the usual fixes (e.g., zapping PRAM, removing all power sources, holding down the shift key), and nothing has worked. What puzzles me most of all is that, although the DVD drive is clearly working, I am unable to boot from the install disk.
I would add that, when I old down the option (Alt) key while booting, I am able to see all three of the available options for rebooting. This seems to suggest that the computer is still able to detect my hard drive as well as my DVD drive. Why, then, does nothing allow me to get past the black box with its cryptic (and rather unhelpful) message?
Out of desperation, I unsuccessfully tried to use the option of rebooting from my boot camp partition. I then received a message that might provide a clue. "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: system 32\hal.dll" Does this suggest anything to anyone?
If I continue to be unable to get past the black screen over the course of the weekend, I will take my computer in for service on Monday. But it would be nice to come up with some sort of solution before then.

Let me add a quick update to my original posting.
I finally managed to run Apple's hardware tests on my machine. According to the tests, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my hardware. But the fact remains that I still cannot manage to boot into OSX--even using my original installation disk.
As I mentioned in my original post, I am able to get part way into the version of Windows XP that is installed on my boot camp partition. However, I am a little nervous about pursuing the possibility of repairing my XP installation. I am afraid that, by doing this, I may inadvertently damage my OSX partition.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. In particular, I would like to know whether there is perhaps some secret way of forcing a MacBook to boot from the installation disk. Is there anything that one can do when holding down the "C" key does not work?

Michael C stopped my MacBook booting into Darwin/BSD, but it is now sloooow

I am testing a MacBook 2.16 GHz for possible use at work. Upgraded to 3GB RAM and Hitachi 200GB HD. Performance was great after a week, but one day I got a dark screen at bootup with the Darwin/BSD-login-password message that a lot of people seem to get. I followed Michael Conniff's advice (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4550428) and got the system to boot into the GUI properly. But ever since then performance has been very slow: e.g. selecting the Date and Time takes 5 seconds to launch and clicking on the AirPort icon takes the same amount of time to produce the drop-down menu. It's like the MacBook is running in slow-motion. The exception is the Dock: it pops up quickly and the Apps scroll by quickly. Launching the Apps is another matter, though.
NO OTHER APPS INSTALLED. Really. No MS programs or even freeware. Just iLife '08. All the current updates have been installed. Zapped the PRAM, ran Disk Utility to check the disk and verify permissions--even booted into single-user mode and ran fsck (disk was okay). Tonight I reinstalled the OS in a clean install, installed all the updates, and afterwards the MacBook is just as slow. What is going on? If it's this slow, I guess I won't be using Parallels anytime soon to replace my Dell!

Well, this has been frustrating. The original hard disk also will occasionally boot into Darwin and menu selection is still very sluggish. The local Apple Store won't touch an Apple recertified MacBook--even one that was just delivered a couple of days ago from the Apple Store Online. I then spent several hours on the phone, mostly on hold, but sometimes transferred in a closed loop from Customer Support to Tech Support and back to Customer Support. Sadly, the case number I was given by a rep (the third one I spoke to) isn't showing up as valid either. At this point I just want to return the MacBook (which I think I still can), but I can't reach anyone to arrange for this!

Booting into CD-on-disk

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