Reinstalling OS X on OS X/Linux dual-boot system

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Reinstalling OS X on OS X/Linux dual-boot system

My setup: I have a MacBook Pro 5,5 with a Mac OS X Snow Leopard partition and a Linux partition. I use rEFIt to boot into Linux. I didn't use Boot Camp when I originally installed Linux; instead, I manually created the partition (with either Disk Utility in OS X or Gparted on a Linux live CD--I don't recall which one) and then installed Linux on it from a live CD.

The problem: My OS X partition is corrupt, and I need to reinstall Snow Leopard. Since I installed rEFIt from within OS X, I'm concerned that wiping the OS X partition will prevent me from booting into my Linux partition. How can I do this without losing access to my Linux partition? Is it possible to install Snow Leopard on the partition I reserved for it, or will it automatically overwrite the entire drive? And if I do the fresh OS X install and then install rEFIt again, will it automatically recognize my Linux partition?

Thanks for any tips!

Specs: MacBook Pro 5,5 (Mid-2009); Snow Leopard 10.6.7

Posted on Jun 24, 2011 9:59 PM

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ds store

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Jun 25, 2011 12:57 AM in response to toiletresin

Use a working computer to burn a ISO of PartedMagic to a cd using Win 7 right click, the free ImgBurn for Windows, or OS X's Disk Utility.

Connect a blank FAT32 or exFAT formatted external drive to the problem Mac. (exFAT if you have larger than 4GB sized files, needsWin7/Vista/OSX 10.6.5+ or XP with a extra exFAT download from Microsoft)

Once the cd is burned, stick it into the problem Mac and reboot holding option and c, choose the first option to load into RAM, the disk will spit out.

On the left is MountDevices, double click it twice to get two file transfer windows, use the third window to mount drives and transfer a copy of your files.

Unmount the drives and use the lower left corner to quit and reboot.

http://partedmagic.com/doku.php?id=screenshots

Once you got a copy of your data off both partitions.

Hold c and boot off the 10.6 and simply reinstall OS X, your files shouldn't be touched. See if that works.

If not your going to have to c boot again off the disk, select your root drive and this time use Disk Utility to Erase > format HFS+ journaled, GUID, with Security option > zero the drive, quit and reinstall OS X, rEFIt and your Linux partition.

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