# Dual boot OS X 10.6 and Windows 7.



## Sai_Wolf (Jun 3, 2011)

So I have a Dell Mini 10v.

It's one of the most perfect netbooks to Hackintosh with (Hackintosh refers to a non-apple PC that has OS X installed on it.)

However, I am selling this Dell Mini 10v to a hopeful friend. He requested OS X and Windows 7 to be set up in tandem with easy selection between the two.

Windows 7...Y U NO INSTALL TO GPT???

But yet, all I had to do in diskpart was


```
select disk 0
clean
create partition EFI size=200
create partition primary size=250000MB
create partition primary
select partition 3
format fs=NTFS quick
assign letter c
```
Reboot, installed OS X, then got back into the 7 installer and 7 installs just fine without protest to the 3rd partition. (EFI -> OS X -> Windows 7)

If you do not follow the diskpart steps, the 7 installer will not let you install Windows 7 to a GPT drive. You have to assign the C drive to the third partition to force the setup to install.

(In case you're wondering, OS X Vanilla setup does not install to MBR disks. The drive must be in GPT format and the FS has to be HFS+. This is mainly due to, under ordinary circumstances, OS X being installed in an EFI 1.1 environment.)

I used meklort's Netbook Installer/Maker to prepare an external drive (that I had restored my genuine copy of Snow Leopard too using my mac mini and disk utility). This installs Chameleon boot loader to the drive and implements a software rendition of EFI to 'trick' the vanilla OS X.

Anyone else ever done a hackintosh before?


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## Runefox (Jun 3, 2011)

I've been doing it, but I did it a different way. At least, I did the second time. The reason? While Windows 7 installs nicely to GPT (IF and ONLY IF you boot the CD from UEFI), you can't use any Windows recovery tools if the boot environment invariably gets messed up. Not fun. So, I did it by first setting up the disk as GPT, then setting up the disk as a hybrid GPT/MBR disk using the OS X installer's command line. Then, install Win7 as MBR, then install Ubuntu (because I felt like it). Ubuntu will screw up the hybrid GPT, but a utility (gptsync) exists to fix that. At any rate, with that set up, actually installing OS X is a snap. I used the Andyboot P8P67 boot disk for it.

For some reason, it refuses to boot once I get the graphics running. I believe this is due to the fact that I flashed my video card's BIOS to idle at lower clock frequencies... So, I may try reflashing the old BIOS and try again. Actually... I should do that now. (EDIT: Wasn't the problem. Hmm. Perhaps if I mount the drive in the installer, I can kill some graphics kexts.)

For reference, the steps I followed to set up the triple boot are over here.

Should be noted that Apple calls this illegal. I disagree, but still.

EDIT: Turns out Chameleon needed to be reinstalled. Works fine now. Though the NTFS driver I downloaded isn't working out very well... I'll keep fiddling with it either way. Too bad my X-Fi doesn't work under OS X, though... Means I need to switch to the onboard while under OS X and then switch back to the X-Fi under Linux and Windows.


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## Sai_Wolf (Jun 4, 2011)

Runefox said:


> I've been doing it, but I did it a different way. At least, I did the second time. The reason? While Windows 7 installs nicely to GPT (IF and ONLY IF you boot the CD from UEFI), you can't use any Windows recovery tools if the boot environment invariably gets messed up. Not fun. So, I did it by first setting up the disk as GPT, then setting up the disk as a hybrid GPT/MBR disk using the OS X installer's command line. Then, install Win7 as MBR, then install Ubuntu (because I felt like it). Ubuntu will screw up the hybrid GPT, but a utility (gptsync) exists to fix that. At any rate, with that set up, actually installing OS X is a snap. I used the Andyboot P8P67 boot disk for it.
> 
> For some reason, it refuses to boot once I get the graphics running. I believe this is due to the fact that I flashed my video card's BIOS to idle at lower clock frequencies... So, I may try reflashing the old BIOS and try again. Actually... I should do that now. (EDIT: Wasn't the problem. Hmm. Perhaps if I mount the drive in the installer, I can kill some graphics kexts.)
> 
> ...


 
If you use my trick up above, you can get Windows 7 to install to GPT in a non EFI environment (Well, PC-EFI). I haven't tested the recovery tools yet though. 

And I sincerely do NOT want to go down the hybrid GPT/MBR route, especially for a laptop that I have a high chance of selling.

If you've got about $35, I'd highly recommend Tuxera NTFS. It's the paid evolution of NTFS-3G for Mac.


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## Runefox (Jun 4, 2011)

Sai_Wolf said:


> And I sincerely do NOT want to go down the hybrid GPT/MBR route, especially for a laptop that I have a high chance of selling.


Why not? You can just create a new partition table later on when you flatten the thing prior to sale anyway. Partition layouts aren't permanent.



> If you've got about $35, I'd highly recommend Tuxera NTFS. It's the paid evolution of NTFS-3G for Mac.


 Yeah, I'm actually using the trial version of that right now. Sometimes, disks 'unmount' at random (as in, inaccessible, must unmount/mount to regain access), and certain folders of one of my discs are 100% unwriteable, even by root.


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## Sai_Wolf (Jun 5, 2011)

Runefox said:


> Why not? You can just create a new partition table later on when you flatten the thing prior to sale anyway. Partition layouts aren't permanent.



Yes, but let him shrink a partition and NOT know about how to sync up changes. 

It is unnecessarily complex, when I can get away with a pure GPT style. Just not practical.



Runefox said:


> Yeah, I'm actually using the trial version of that right now. Sometimes, disks 'unmount' at random (as in, inaccessible, must unmount/mount to regain access), and certain folders of one of my discs are 100% unwriteable, even by root.


 
Weird. NTFS-3G and Tuxera have never done that to me.


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## Runefox (Jun 5, 2011)

Sai_Wolf said:


> Yes, but let him shrink a partition and NOT know about how to sync up changes.


Guessing you're planning to sell it with OS X intact, then? Because you can totally re-partition the drive as pure GPT after the fact.



> Weird. NTFS-3G and Tuxera have never done that to me.


 Might be a filesystem issue, but as far as I'm aware, the permissions are fine. I'll run a chkdsk over it, but it perplexed me when I found I couldn't write to my main downloads folder.


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## Sai_Wolf (Jun 5, 2011)

Runefox said:


> Guessing you're planning to sell it with OS X intact, then? Because you can totally re-partition the drive as pure GPT after the fact.



Wouldn't be a dual boot OS X / Win 7 system without OS X! 



Runefox said:


> Might be a filesystem issue, but as far as I'm aware, the permissions are fine. I'll run a chkdsk over it, but it perplexed me when I found I couldn't write to my main downloads folder.



Any NTFS-3G implementation (Linux/Unix/Darwin) is very *picky* about the NTFS file system attributes. The volume must be mounted clean and without any 'dirty' flags in the MFT or the FS in general. Could just be a fluke and a chkdsk /f will fix it.


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