Forums
New posts
Articles
Product Reviews
Policies
FAQ
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Apple Computing Products:
Running Windows on your Mac
Help! Failure to recognize internal HD after installing Ubuntu 9.10 on external drive
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="chscag" data-source="post: 1027459" data-attributes="member: 46727"><p>First off, I don't know where you got 10.6.4 from because Apple just issued the 10.6.3 update like two days ago.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As far as your problem is concerned.... You've probably overwritten your OS X boot sector with GRUB as you indicate above. It seems to be a common mishap when trying to install Ubuntu. The Ubuntu installer is not for the feint of heart in the first place, even when installing a dual boot Windows system where it's easier to control.</p><p></p><p>As far as repairing it, you can give this method a try (it has worked for others. This was copied from the OS X Hints forum)</p><p></p><p>*************************************************************</p><p></p><p>Restore default bootloader without harming partitions </p><p></p><p>Fri, Nov 20 2009 at 7:30AM PST • Contributed by: tofergregg</p><p></p><p>If your bootloader gets changed or corrupted, this fix will restore it without damage to your disk partitions. </p><p></p><p>This hint may be a bit esoteric, but I thought I was up for a long night of reinstallation pain before stumbling upon this fix. I made the mistake of trying to use an Ubuntu 9.04 boot CD to install Ubuntu to an external (USB) drive on my Mac. </p><p></p><p>Don't do this, unless you know the following: Regardless of the fact that you chose the external drive upon which to install Ubuntu, you won't be able to boot back into your Mac without changing the bootloader. I ended up with the dreaded question mark folder when I tried to reboot my Mac, and nothing worked to boot into my OS X partition. </p><p></p><p>Luckily, I have a bootable external drive with OS X on it, and I was able to boot into it by holding down the Option key (the primary partition still did not show up).</p><p></p><p>I started searching online for the fix, and it seems that Ubuntu changes the Darwin (default) bootloader to Grub on your internal disk, and OS X won't use it (at least not by default). The fixes listed were kludgy, and amounted to either installing another third party bootloader (called "rEFIt") or completely wiping your internal drive and reinstalling OS X (even a standard install won't work). </p><p></p><p>Anyway, the fix turned out to be easy with Disk Utility (and probably possible from the OS X boot disc). Run Disk Utility and click on your internal hard disk (the disk itself, not the partition under it). Then click on the Partition tab. If you move the triangular slider that adjusts the partition up and then back to where it was, the "Apply" button becomes active (it starts greyed out). You can now click "Apply," and the partition will be left alone, but the bootloader will be recreated. </p><p></p><p>When I did this, a window popped up that said, "Are you sure you want to partition the disk? Partitioning this disk will change some of the partitions. No partitions will be erased." If you get a message that partitions will be erased, I'd look into it more before going ahead! </p><p></p><p>I was surprised that this worked, but when I rebooted, the computer booted straight into OS X from the internal drive.</p><p></p><p>***********************************************************</p><p></p><p>Let us know if this works for you. By the way, the next time you decide to install Ubuntu, use "rEFIt". I'll let you do the research on that.</p><p></p><p>Regards.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="chscag, post: 1027459, member: 46727"] First off, I don't know where you got 10.6.4 from because Apple just issued the 10.6.3 update like two days ago. As far as your problem is concerned.... You've probably overwritten your OS X boot sector with GRUB as you indicate above. It seems to be a common mishap when trying to install Ubuntu. The Ubuntu installer is not for the feint of heart in the first place, even when installing a dual boot Windows system where it's easier to control. As far as repairing it, you can give this method a try (it has worked for others. This was copied from the OS X Hints forum) ************************************************************* Restore default bootloader without harming partitions Fri, Nov 20 2009 at 7:30AM PST • Contributed by: tofergregg If your bootloader gets changed or corrupted, this fix will restore it without damage to your disk partitions. This hint may be a bit esoteric, but I thought I was up for a long night of reinstallation pain before stumbling upon this fix. I made the mistake of trying to use an Ubuntu 9.04 boot CD to install Ubuntu to an external (USB) drive on my Mac. Don't do this, unless you know the following: Regardless of the fact that you chose the external drive upon which to install Ubuntu, you won't be able to boot back into your Mac without changing the bootloader. I ended up with the dreaded question mark folder when I tried to reboot my Mac, and nothing worked to boot into my OS X partition. Luckily, I have a bootable external drive with OS X on it, and I was able to boot into it by holding down the Option key (the primary partition still did not show up). I started searching online for the fix, and it seems that Ubuntu changes the Darwin (default) bootloader to Grub on your internal disk, and OS X won't use it (at least not by default). The fixes listed were kludgy, and amounted to either installing another third party bootloader (called "rEFIt") or completely wiping your internal drive and reinstalling OS X (even a standard install won't work). Anyway, the fix turned out to be easy with Disk Utility (and probably possible from the OS X boot disc). Run Disk Utility and click on your internal hard disk (the disk itself, not the partition under it). Then click on the Partition tab. If you move the triangular slider that adjusts the partition up and then back to where it was, the "Apply" button becomes active (it starts greyed out). You can now click "Apply," and the partition will be left alone, but the bootloader will be recreated. When I did this, a window popped up that said, "Are you sure you want to partition the disk? Partitioning this disk will change some of the partitions. No partitions will be erased." If you get a message that partitions will be erased, I'd look into it more before going ahead! I was surprised that this worked, but when I rebooted, the computer booted straight into OS X from the internal drive. *********************************************************** Let us know if this works for you. By the way, the next time you decide to install Ubuntu, use "rEFIt". I'll let you do the research on that. Regards. [/QUOTE]
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Apple Computing Products:
Running Windows on your Mac
Help! Failure to recognize internal HD after installing Ubuntu 9.10 on external drive
Top