[deviltaz]

Originally Posted by kentsin

Trying gparted : here is my finding.

set 1st partition to fat
set 2nd partition to unformat
set 3rd partition to fat32

if the first partiton is not fat (or fat32?) xp installation will not boot after copy cd.

Can anyone confirm this?

That's not true. My first partition is Mac OS Journaled. It should not matter how you format the first partition as it's not even used. The first partition was used with the old miniscript, not the newer DellEFI. You still need the partition but it doesn't contain any files.

I used the MAC OS Installation disc to partition my SSD during installation. Although Gparted should work just fine.

[deviltaz]

Originally Posted by mfruit

What was the trick? I re-installed XP and then dropped back into OSX to re-run DellEFI1.1 to re-install the PCEFIV9 bootloader. Made sure that the 2nd partition (OSX) had the boot flag using GParted but still am getting a "System config /com.apple.Boot.plist not found" error.

Perhaps I should wipe and start from scratch.

Couple of questions:

1. Should I be using DellMiniBoot123v8.02b1.iso?
2. Should I use DellEFI1.1 or DellEFI1.2b5?
3. As I'm booting off DellMiniBoot123v8.02b1.iso, I noticed that the "System config /com.apple.Boot.plist not found" error pops up as well. Is there a BIOS setting or something that I need to set? I'm running A04. Do I need to downgrade or upgrade?

Thanks!

1. Yes you should. The boot cd the OP mentioned can be used but is outdated.
2. Probably DellEFI1.1 as the other one is a beta and still in testing stages.
3. I have bios A04 and didn't change any settings. If you can't boot into OSX with the boot cd, you won't be able to boot into OSX at all. I noticed you said you were able to boot into OSX before with the boot cd so I would guess it's something you did with Gparted that caused OSX to stop booting with the boot cd?

In your earlier post, there's 2 things I want to note:

1. Use the Mac OS Installation DVD to create the partitions rather than Gparted. I don't see why Gparted shouldn't work, but it's worth a try. When you first boot the OSX Install DVD, you can use Disk Utility to partition your SSD.
2. The OSX installation shouldn't fail at the end. It should succeed. Are you using OSX 10.5.6?

[mfruit]

Originally Posted by deviltaz

In your earlier post, there's 2 things I want to note:

1. Use the Mac OS Installation DVD to create the partitions rather than Gparted. I don't see why Gparted shouldn't work, but it's worth a try. When you first boot the OSX Install DVD, you can use Disk Utility to partition your SSD.
2. The OSX installation shouldn't fail at the end. It should succeed. Are you using OSX 10.5.6?

I've wiped and am trying again. This time, I used Disk Utility to create the partition, making sure that they're MBR.

I also installed OSX first instead of XP just to see if I could get OSX to boot and even though the install failed at the very end (yes, this was a 10.5.6 install DVD), I was able to finish the installation by booting from DellMiniBoot123 and selecting the SSD partition. I then used GParted to ensure that Partition 2 was marked "boot" and then dropped back into OSX and ran DellEFI1.1. After DellEFI installed the bootloader, I was able to boot into OSX without using DellMiniBoot123 so that's farther than I got last time.

Well, on to the XP install. I imagine I will have to run DellEFI again to install the bootloader once XP is installed but there's some light at the end of the tunnel now.

Thanks for the tips.

[deviltaz]

Originally Posted by mfruit

I've wiped and am trying again. This time, I used Disk Utility to create the partition, making sure that they're MBR.

I also installed OSX first instead of XP just to see if I could get OSX to boot and even though the install failed at the very end (yes, this was a 10.5.6 install DVD), I was able to finish the installation by booting from DellMiniBoot123 and selecting the SSD partition. I then used GParted to ensure that Partition 2 was marked "boot" and then dropped back into OSX and ran DellEFI1.1. After DellEFI installed the bootloader, I was able to boot into OSX without using DellMiniBoot123 so that's farther than I got last time.

Well, on to the XP install. I imagine I will have to run DellEFI again to install the bootloader once XP is installed but there's some light at the end of the tunnel now.

Thanks for the tips.

Looks like you're on the right track. It doesn't matter the order of the OS installation. It's definitely a bit easier if you installed XP first but you can install it second and just reinstall the DellEFI bootloader. Also remember to make the OSX partiton the boot paritition or it will only boot into XP.

Good to hear things are finally working out for you.

[mfruit]

Originally Posted by deviltaz

Looks like you're on the right track. It doesn't matter the order of the OS installation. It's definitely a bit easier if you installed XP first but you can install it second and just reinstall the DellEFI bootloader. Also remember to make the OSX partiton the boot paritition or it will only boot into XP.

Good to hear things are finally working out for you.

Ok, things are looking up. Both OSX and XP now boot on the Mini 9 by themselves. I think the important steps might be using Disk Utility to partition and also ensuring that the OSX partition flag was set to "boot" before running DellEFI to install the bootloader.

I did have a couple of questions:

1. How can I check to ensure that all kexts have been installed? The reason that I ask is that I can't get BlueTooth working in OSX. I've ran DellEFI and installed all the extensions along with "fix bluetooth" but the system tells me that "you don't have a Bluetooth module installed or attached to your computer". I got the Bluetooth working in XP just fine so I know the hardware is fine. That's why I'm worried that there are some kexts or other things missing from my OSX install.

2. The XP partition shows up as "Untitled" in OSX. Can I change that using GParted or Disk Utility or should I just leave it alone?

Thanks.

[mfruit]

OK, I figured out what the issue with my BlueTooth module is. Apparently I had switched it off in XP so when I was in OSX, it couldn't find it. So I dropped into XP and turned it on so once I rebooted, OSX was able to see it and I was able to tether my phone.

[thopkins]

thopkins wrote:hey i'm using the 8.02b1 version too and made it to the point where the os x install on the ssd partition was supposed to not fail. it failed, but i could still boot into it using the 123 disk. but when i go to mount installer.dmg from within os x it isn't on the disk. there aren't any dmgs at all. any suggestions on where to go next? does any of that make sense?



The step with Installer.dmg is obsolete and was needed to install the old miniscript. DellEFI has replaced miniscript so that step is no longer needed.

Just use the boot132 cd to boot into OSX and then install Dell EFI and you should be done.

thanks deviltaz! but sadly, things still aren't working, mainly the installation still fails. at the end it says 'The Installer could not make the computer start up from the volume [i installed on]. You may need to select6 your disk using the Startup disk utility."

the disk isn't available in the startupdisk utility. is there a command i can use in the terminal either now or before i try to install to make sure the 2nd partition is available? or any suggestions on what to do?

[mfruit]

Originally Posted by thopkins

thanks deviltaz! but sadly, things still aren't working, mainly the installation still fails. at the end it says 'The Installer could not make the computer start up from the volume [i installed on]. You may need to select6 your disk using the Startup disk utility."

the disk isn't available in the startupdisk utility. is there a command i can use in the terminal either now or before i try to install to make sure the 2nd partition is available? or any suggestions on what to do?

My install fails at the end as well. But what I did was to boot into GParted, checking to see that my OSX partition flag was marked "boot". Then I booted from DellMiniBoot123 and selected the SSD as the boot device (either 80 or 81) and gave it the "-f" option (not sure if this is needed but the guide said to do it). This allowed me to boot into the SSD's install of OSX and complete the setup. Then I ran DellEFI using the default settings. This installed the bootloader so that it can boot into the SSD OSX install without using DellMiniBoot123.

[thopkins]

mfruit said

My install fails at the end as well. But what I did was to boot into GParted, checking to see that my OSX partition flag was marked "boot". Then I booted from DellMiniBoot123 and selected the SSD as the boot device (either 80 or 81) and gave it the "-f" option (not sure if this is needed but the guide said to do it). This allowed me to boot into the SSD's install of OSX and complete the setup. Then I ran DellEFI using the default settings. This installed the bootloader so that it can boot into the SSD OSX install without using DellMiniBoot123.

i love this forum. i'm going to try it out, thank you so much for the quick response. i was totally losing hope.

UPDATE: it worked! hurrah! thank u all, seriously. and if anyone's reading this and has similar issues feel free to contact me and maybe i can give u a hand.

[chaos2984]

im having problems with the install ive read everything here and found that the main guide is wrong where i dont have to mount the installer.dmg or type all that in the terminal. But when i install osx it fails im using a 10.5 dvd and i update it using the combo update to 10.5.6 and then install efi 1.1 but when i go to install says it doesnt appear that your installing on a mini 9. Whats up with that. And What were the files that were written to the efi partition from windows. I wiped them out thinking that those wernt needed. And i had to reformat that to a hfs partition. I cant get xp to load at all now. Im reinstalling.

but whats up with the error with the efi ?