Repairing Boot Camp after creating new partition

Good morning. I have white knuckles from expert menu use, but I think I am ready to go. New hybrid MBR in memory awaiting your approval. I think it is correct.

myuser$ diskutil list

/dev/disk1

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk1

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_HFS MtLion1 412.9 GB disk1s2

3: Apple_HFS SnoLeopard 40.3 GB disk1s3

4: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP 45.6 GB disk1s4

myuser$ sudo gdisk /dev/disk1

Password:

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.6

Partition table scan:

MBR: hybrid

BSD: not present

APM: not present

GPT: present

Found valid GPT with hybrid MBR; using GPT.

Command (? for help): ?

b back up GPT data to a file

c change a partition's name

d delete a partition

i show detailed information on a partition

l list known partition types

n add a new partition

o create a new empty GUID partition table (GPT)

p print the partition table

q quit without saving changes

r recovery and transformation options (experts only)

s sort partitions

t change a partition's type code

v verify disk

w write table to disk and exit

x extra functionality (experts only)

? print this menu

Command (? for help): r

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): ?

b use backup GPT header (rebuilding main)

c load backup partition table from disk (rebuilding main)

d use main GPT header (rebuilding backup)

e load main partition table from disk (rebuilding backup)

f load MBR and build fresh GPT from it

g convert GPT into MBR and exit

h make hybrid MBR

i show detailed information on a partition

l load partition data from a backup file

m return to main menu

o print protective MBR data

p print the partition table

q quit without saving changes

t transform BSD disklabel partition

v verify disk

w write table to disk and exit

x extra functionality (experts only)

? print this menu

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): h

WARNING! Hybrid MBRs are flaky and dangerous! If you decide not to use one,

just hit the Enter key at the below prompt and your MBR partition table will

be untouched.

Type from one to three GPT partition numbers, separated by spaces, to be

added to the hybrid MBR, in sequence: 2 3 4

Place EFI GPT (0xEE) partition first in MBR (good for GRUB)? (Y/N): y

Creating entry for GPT partition #2 (MBR partition #2)

Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): AF

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): n

Creating entry for GPT partition #3 (MBR partition #3)

Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): AF

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): n

Creating entry for GPT partition #4 (MBR partition #4)

Enter an MBR hex code (default 07): 07

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): y

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): p

Disk /dev/disk1: 976773168 sectors, 465.8 GiB

Logical sector size: 512 bytes

Disk identifier (GUID): 8BA679D7-517C-470D-91B9-912CEB5EC9AC

Partition table holds up to 128 entries

First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 976773134

Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries

Total free space is 2246493 sectors (1.1 GiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name

1 40 409639 200.0 MiB EF00 EFI System Partition

2 409640 806895823 384.6 GiB AF00 Deltitnu

3 807157968 885784759 37.5 GiB AF00 Untitled

4 887769088 976773119 42.4 GiB 0700 BOOTCAMP

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): o

Disk size is 976773168 sectors (465.8 GiB)

MBR disk identifier: 0xF65974E1

MBR partitions:

Number Boot Start Sector End Sector Status Code

1 1 409639 primary 0xEE

2 409640 806895823 primary 0xAF

3 807157968 885784759 primary 0xAF

4 * 887769088 976773119 primary 0x07

Recovery/transformation command (? for help):

Are we in the same boat? GOODLUCK! 😉

Looks good, write it out.

Yes, there's your step by step.

After being instructed by the neurosurgeon on the radio, I have done the surgery on the arteries at the base of the brain of the patient. The patient is awake now and claims to feel just fine.

Grateful am I for minimal sunspot activity and good radio reception. It has booted directly into Win7 32b via Startup Manager, and also via System Preferences>Startup Disk.

Add this thread to your curriculum vitae.

<celebratory utterance of choice!!>

Terribly sorry if this seems inept of me, but how do I apply a green checkmark and award Christopher Murphy points? Is Scotch Brawth the only one who can do that because the post by that individual was the original post?

I looked around at or near the root(s) of the discussions and could not find the answer.➕

You have to start your own thread in order to award points.

Yeah obviously if I cared about points, I'd tell everyone to start a new post and then post the URL for it in this thread so I'd be notified about it. In a way it'd make things easier, because sometime I get three or four people simultaneously asking related but different questions, and the forum formatting is really unfriendly to avoiding confusion in such cases. I'd probably have 2000 points by now if I did this!

I would give you points if I could, you bring an extra dimension for the BC users to play in and (hopefully) deal with the horrible mess that is Windows on a Mac 🙂

Nothing lasts forever! The long time advanced users on the forum should endeavor to understand this better!

And it is a mess. And that's because of the hybrid MBR, which happens because OS X is EFI which uses GPT, and Windows on Macs use CSM-BIOS which depend on MBR. And Apple chose to do Windows with CSM-BIOS instead of (U)EFI because of reasonable historical reasons. It was all 32-bit Windows when Boot Camp came out, and 32-bit Windows doesn't do UEFI at all. Vista 64-bit was the first to support UEFI booting, which was a while ago but at a relatively low adoption rate. And shortly thereafter with Windows 7, Apple basically went Windows 7 only with no transition period. It was actually somewhat abrupt.

How long was it after Windows 7 shipped that Boot Camp supported it, and went Windows 7 only? I don't recall, maybe six months?

So I'm curious how this will play out with Windows 8. If they'll just keep things the same and go with a Windows 7/8 duopoly like with XP and Vista. Or if they can support for 7. If I had to guess, they'll probably support 7/8 and at some later point go either all 8 or 8/9 depending on if/when 9 is due, and at the same time move to Secure Boot for both Windows and OS X. Just a guess. At that time, it will be UEFI only, they won't want the mess of supporting both CSM-BIOS and UEFI. And UEFI is required for Secure Boot anyway.

I use a different method for Windows, I run it on a PC! (and if needed a VM). My experince of Boot Camp usually has me reminding the OP that a backup would have been a very good idea, and showing them how to erase the mess and start again.

$ diskutil list

/dev/disk0

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk0

1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_HFS MAC_OSX_ML 499.0 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

4: Microsoft Basic Data WIN8_PROx64 500.3 GB disk0s4

$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 121601/255/63 [1953525168 sectors]

Signature: 0xAA55

Starting Ending

#: id cyl hd sec - cyl hd sec [ start - size]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1: EE 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 1 - 409639] <Unknown ID>

2: AF 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 409640 - 974609344] HFS+

3: AB 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 975018984 - 1269536] Darwin Boot

*4: 07 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 976289792 - 977233920] HPFS/QNX/AUX

$ sudo gdisk /dev/disk0

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.6

Partition table scan:

MBR: hybrid

BSD: not present

APM: not present

GPT: present

Found valid GPT with hybrid MBR; using GPT.

Command (? for help): ?

b back up GPT data to a file

c change a partition's name

d delete a partition

i show detailed information on a partition

l list known partition types

n add a new partition

o create a new empty GUID partition table (GPT)

p print the partition table

q quit without saving changes

r recovery and transformation options (experts only)

s sort partitions

t change a partition's type code

v verify disk

w write table to disk and exit

x extra functionality (experts only)

? print this menu

Command (? for help): p

Disk /dev/disk0: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB

Logical sector size: 512 bytes

Disk identifier (GUID): DF74661F-A6DE-466B-B637-8D81F396CD3E

Partition table holds up to 128 entries

First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134

Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries

Total free space is 2701 sectors (1.3 MiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name

1 40 409639 200.0 MiB EF00 EFI System Partition

2 409640 975018983 464.7 GiB AF00 Apple_HFS_Untitled_5

3 975018984 976288519 619.9 MiB AB00 Apple_HFS_Untitled_2

4 976289792 1953523711 466.0 GiB 0700 BOOTCAMP

Command (? for help): r

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): ?

b use backup GPT header (rebuilding main)

c load backup partition table from disk (rebuilding main)

d use main GPT header (rebuilding backup)

e load main partition table from disk (rebuilding backup)

f load MBR and build fresh GPT from it

g convert GPT into MBR and exit

h make hybrid MBR

i show detailed information on a partition

l load partition data from a backup file

m return to main menu

o print protective MBR data

p print the partition table

q quit without saving changes

t transform BSD disklabel partition

v verify disk

w write table to disk and exit

x extra functionality (experts only)

? print this menu

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): h

WARNING! Hybrid MBRs are flaky and dangerous! If you decide not to use one,

just hit the Enter key at the below prompt and your MBR partition table will

be untouched.

Type from one to three GPT partition numbers, separated by spaces, to be

added to the hybrid MBR, in sequence: 2 3 4

Place EFI GPT (0xEE) partition first in MBR (good for GRUB)? (Y/N): y

Creating entry for GPT partition #2 (MBR partition #2)

Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): AF

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): n

Creating entry for GPT partition #3 (MBR partition #3)

Enter an MBR hex code (default AB): AF

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): n

Creating entry for GPT partition #4 (MBR partition #4)

Enter an MBR hex code (default 07): 07

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): y

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): p

Disk /dev/disk0: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB

Logical sector size: 512 bytes

Disk identifier (GUID): DF74661F-A6DE-466B-B637-8D81F396CD3E

Partition table holds up to 128 entries

First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134

Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries

Total free space is 2701 sectors (1.3 MiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name

1 40 409639 200.0 MiB EF00 EFI System Partition

2 409640 975018983 464.7 GiB AF00 Apple_HFS_Untitled_5

3 975018984 976288519 619.9 MiB AB00 Apple_HFS_Untitled_2

4 976289792 1953523711 466.0 GiB 0700 BOOTCAMP

Recovery/transformation command (? for help):

Hi Christopher,

Seems that my bootflag(*) at #4 BOOTCAMP has gone now! It puzzles me, but surely you can give me the call: ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO!--> WRITE IT OUT / or no go?

Can't thank you enough for your patience with me ;-)

Hi autnagrag, CONGRATS on your new output!

p <enter> shows the GPT, which does not have a boot flag (there is a legacy BIOS bootable attribute for GPT partitions but that's not applicable here).

o <enter> shows the MBR, which will show you partitions that do/don't have a boot flag set.

So yeah, what you'll do is do o <enter> you'll see that the boot flag is set for partition 4, because you did correctly set it earlier when you made the new hybrid MBR. And you'll be ready to write out the partition tables with w <enter>.