Macbook Pro and Grub

[kevpatts]

Okay all, I got it installed and working fine. The problem is both with the way openSUSE installer formats the partition and with the way it installs grub.

How I did it was to download the Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04) LiveCD and partitioned the drive with that (/dev/sda3 (ext3) as "/" root and /dev/sda4 as swap). I then booted using the openSUSE installation disk (Gnome LiveCD in my case) and installed but made sure not to reformat or modify the partitions and NOT to install a bootloader.

Once installed I rebooted into the Ubuntu LiveCD and from a terminal ran

# grub
grub> root (hd0,2)
grub> setup (hd0,2)
grub> quit
# mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
# vi /mnt/boot/grub/menu.lst

Into that I put:

default 0
timeout 10

title    openSUSE
root     (hd0,2)
kernel   /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda3
initrd   /boot/initrd

I then rebooted the machine and Sync'd the partition tables through rEFIt and booted openSUSE (fails to boot the first time, just reboot).

Now it's time for this.

Hope this helps others.

[kevpatts]

I noticed also that once you are booting successfully from the partition you can then use Boot Loader in YaST to install GRUB correctly (i.e. with normal boot options). Just make sure that you do not install it into the MBR (check disable "Install Generic boot code to the MBR" in Boot Loader Options) and only select "Boot from root partition" in the main screen.

Also, other hardware was installed according to this guide.

[Ubique]

Like the original poster, I also have a MacBookPro5,3 that now runs OpenSuse 11.2.
I took the advice from this thread to use a live CD (Ubuntu 9.10) from a different distro to format the partitions, and then installed OpenSuse including GRUB legacy on a ext3 partition. However, rEFIt still gave me the "Analysis inconclusive" error, so I went back to the Ubuntu live CD, and removed the boot label from the grub partition with GParted, after that rEFIt synced my partitions without errors.

So my conclusion is that that "Analysis inconclusive" error might come from the installation of the bootloader, adding a weird boot flag to the partition, not the actual process of formating the drive as previously suggested in this thread.

If anyone who reads this thread used the partition tool in the OpenSuse installer and get this rEFIt error, try removing the boot label from your linux boot partition with GParted, and let us know if it works

However, this wasn't enough to get everything working. I got a black screen instead of GRUB when trying to boot OpenSuse, untill I had booted from the installation DVD (boot from harddrive option), and unchecked _all_ of the boxes in the Bootloader section in YaST, including the "Boot from root partition" option.

[thisguyiknow]

I have spent the last month working on different ways of getting linux onto my macbook pro 1.1 ---- with different types of success--- I have never tried to install a linux OS on my internal -- I opt for using a USB drive ---I use Refit on my computer because I have an XP partition on my internal and many different external clones------ Ubuntu will install --You must choose the USB disk for both the installation of filesystem and the Bootloader (this is described in great detail many places ------Refit will display a Linux icon------ Grub 2 menu shows up quick but the boot into Ubuntu takes a while (though once there it is solid) ---

So I tried the same thing with OpenSUSE----- I pre-formated my drive with an MBR MSDOS Partition ---- then in the OpenSUSE installer I chose the USB drive for the install ---- and to Delete what it perceived as a 'Windows Partition' on the disk ---- Before install it was obviously key to change the settings on the bootloader --- choose to create a Grub based bootloader on the USB drive ---- DIsable booting from MBR, and Root----

OpenSuse boots very fast --- right after I choose Linux in the menu I see the Grub stage2 message and then right into the OpenSUSE splash ---

My curiosity now is whether I could install Fedora without installing the bootloader and se OpenSUSE to boot other linux OS's---- just some thoughts on the issue


This worked great for me on my MBP 1.1 --- I know our chipsets are very different in someways ---

[Kai1985]

So my conclusion is that that "Analysis inconclusive" error might come from the installation of the bootloader, adding a weird boot flag to the partition, not the actual process of formating the drive(...).

If anyone who reads this thread used the partition tool in the OpenSuse installer and get this rEFIt error, try removing the boot label from your linux boot partition with GParted, and let us know if it works

Wow, it worked for me - so far.
The "status: analysis inconclusive..."-message is gone,
the hybrid-partition-table is synchronized again, out of nothing! :-)

BUUUUUT! xD

However, this wasn't enough to get everything working. I got a black screen instead of GRUB when trying to boot OpenSuse, untill I had booted from the installation DVD (boot from harddrive option), and unchecked _all_ of the boxes in the Bootloader section in YaST, including the "Boot from root partition" option.

I also got no running system in first place.
So I started my (Triple-Boot!) - System and booted up with the SUSE DVD inside - what happened?
Windows started instead of Linux!
After one or two tries of Windows reparing itself failed it suddenly got working after three new reboots, everytime I chosed Windows again from rEFIt Bootmenue - finally Windows booted up!
Mac OS X also booted up as the first system, didn't get touched anyway it seems so.

I'll test booting in Linux later on - I'm curious if it all worked after one week and four days followed by four nights of trying and testing!