lgb-wien

Q: Cannot boot OS X, only Windows, no recovery.

I have a brand new MacBook Air 11 with Yosemite, and with BootCamp 5 we have installed Windows 7 (on a partition with some 320 GB). Our IT has managed to install Windows 7 Enterprise 64 and has installed a lot of company software. It is the same setting as with my previous MacBook Air, which did work properly for years with bootcamp.

 

The actual problem: When starting with Option key, I only can see Windows, no OS X and not even the recovery OS.

 

In Windows computer management I can see partitions with 200 MB (GPT), 150 GB (primary partition, no name), 100 MB NTFS (active, primary partition) and finally 320 GB NTFS (start partition) for Windows.

 

I have zapped PRAM, have tried to start with S key, X and many more.

When I start with Option R and boot the online recovery system, with disk utility I can see the MacBook SSD (500 GB), therein is a volume (an active logical partition) with 160 GB, a mount point, format "Logical partition", 19 GB in use (which might be Mac OS X and some files) as well as a disk0s4 with 340 GB (not active)

I have repaired access rights and checked volume, no errors.

 

For me it looks if all partitions are here and even OS X is still installed, but boot manager only provides Windows to start with.

I really would like to avoid installing from scratch again since this will last for days again.

 

What can I do? Should I try to reinstall OS X on that partition, hoping that the (company) Windows still will work?

Many thanks!

Posted on Jan 15, 2015 9:23 PM

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Q: Cannot boot OS X, only Windows, no recovery.

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  • by lgb-wien,

    lgb-wien lgb-wien Jan 20, 2015 7:24 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2015 7:24 AM in response to Loner T

    unexpected reaction: no MBR see below.

     

    Klauss-MacBook-Air:~ Klaus$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 60821/255/63 [977105060 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: AC 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [    409640 -  311363320] <Unknown ID>

    3: AB 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 311772960 -    1269536] Darwin Boot

    4: 0C 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 313042944 -  664061952] Win95 FAT32L

    Klauss-MacBook-Air:~ Klaus$ sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk0

    fdisk: could not open MBR file /usr/standalone/i386/boot0: No such file or directory

    Enter 'help' for information

     

    Thanks

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 20, 2015 7:39 AM in response to lgb-wien
    Level 7 (24,596 points)
    Safari
    Jan 20, 2015 7:39 AM in response to lgb-wien

    Please ignore the following message and continue.

    fdisk: could not open MBR file /usr/standalone/i386/boot0: No such file or directory

  • by lgb-wien,

    lgb-wien lgb-wien Jan 20, 2015 8:04 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2015 8:04 AM in response to Loner T

    Klauss-MacBook-Air:~ Klaus$ sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk0

    fdisk: could not open MBR file /usr/standalone/i386/boot0: No such file or directory

    Enter 'help' for information

    fdisk: 1> p  

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 60821/255/63 [977105060 sectors]

    Offset: 0 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: AC 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [    409640 -  311363320] <Unknown ID>

    3: AB 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 311772960 -    1269536] Darwin Boot

    4: 0C 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 313042944 -  664061952] Win95 FAT32L

    fdisk: 1> setpid 4

             Starting       Ending

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

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

    4: 0C 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 313042944 -  664061952] Win95 FAT32L

    Partition id ('0' to disable)  [0 - FF]: [C] (? for help) 07

    fdisk:*1> flag 4

    Partition 4 marked active.

    fdisk:*1> p

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 60821/255/63 [977105060 sectors]

    Offset: 0 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: AC 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [    409640 -  311363320] <Unknown ID>

    3: AB 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 311772960 -    1269536] Darwin Boot

    *4: 07 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 313042944 -  664061952] HPFS/QNX/AUX

    fdisk:*1> w

    Device could not be accessed exclusively.

    A reboot will be needed for changes to take effect. OK? [n] y

    Writing MBR at offset 0.

     

    I make restart now

  • by lgb-wien,

    lgb-wien lgb-wien Jan 20, 2015 8:16 AM in response to lgb-wien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2015 8:16 AM in response to lgb-wien

    did it and we are getting closer:

     

    With Option at reboot I can select Mac OS X and Windows drive to boot from, but at Windows it only says "Missing operating system ...";

    OS X is running, disk utility does show disk0s4 in gray,

    mount point: not activated

    format: (MS-DOS) FAT

    owner activated:-

    number of folders: -

    capacity: 340 GB

    available: -

    used: -

    number of files: -

     

    It seems, windows is gone.

    I could try to restore from a Norton Backup (but maybe miss drivers) or first install Windows 7 there - with the risk that again MBR is changed and OS X is unavailable.

    Or better to make use of Boot Camp again for a fresh install?

     

    Many thanks!

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 20, 2015 8:45 AM in response to lgb-wien
    Level 7 (24,596 points)
    Safari
    Jan 20, 2015 8:45 AM in response to lgb-wien

    Can you post the output of

     

    sudo dd if=/dev/rdisk0s4 count=1 2>/dev/null | hexdump -C

  • by lgb-wien,

    lgb-wien lgb-wien Jan 20, 2015 8:53 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2015 8:53 AM in response to Loner T

    Klauss-Air:~ Klaus$ sudo dd if=/dev/rdisk0s4 count=1 2>/dev/null | hexdump -C

    Password:

    00000000  00 2f 00 00 00 14 00 00  00 30 00 00 00 15 00 00  |./.......0......|

    00000010  00 31 00 00 00 15 00 00  00 32 00 00 00 15 00 00  |.1.......2......|

    00000020  00 33 00 00 00 15 00 00  00 34 00 00 00 15 00 00  |.3.......4......|

    00000030  00 34 00 00 00 15 00 00  00 34 00 00 00 16 00 00  |.4.......4......|

    00000040  00 35 00 00 00 16 00 00  00 34 00 00 00 16 00 00  |.5.......4......|

    00000050  00 34 00 00 00 16 00 00  00 34 00 00 00 16 00 00  |.4.......4......|

    00000060  00 33 00 00 00 17 00 00  00 32 00 00 00 17 00 00  |.3.......2......|

    00000070  00 32 00 00 00 17 00 00  00 31 00 00 00 17 00 00  |.2.......1......|

    00000080  00 30 00 00 00 17 00 00  00 2f 00 00 00 18 00 00  |.0......./......|

    00000090  00 2f 00 00 00 18 00 00  00 2f 00 00 00 19 00 00  |./......./......|

    000000a0  00 2f 00 00 00 1a 00 00  00 2f 00 00 00 1a 00 00  |./......./......|

    000000b0  00 2f 00 00 00 1b 00 00  00 30 00 00 00 1c 00 00  |./.......0......|

    000000c0  00 30 00 00 00 1c 00 00  00 31 00 00 00 1d 00 00  |.0.......1......|

    000000d0  00 32 00 00 00 1d 00 00  00 33 00 00 00 1d 00 00  |.2.......3......|

    000000e0  00 34 00 00 00 1d 00 00  00 35 00 00 00 1c 00 00  |.4.......5......|

    000000f0  00 37 00 00 00 1b 00 00  00 37 00 00 00 1b 00 00  |.7.......7......|

    00000100  00 38 00 00 00 1a 00 00  00 39 00 00 00 1a 00 00  |.8.......9......|

    00000110  00 39 00 00 00 19 00 00  00 3a 00 00 00 19 00 00  |.9.......:......|

    00000120  00 3a 00 00 00 19 00 00  00 39 00 00 00 19 00 00  |.:.......9......|

    00000130  00 39 00 00 00 19 00 00  00 38 00 00 00 1a 00 00  |.9.......8......|

    00000140  00 38 00 00 00 1a 00 00  00 37 00 00 00 1b 00 00  |.8.......7......|

    00000150  00 36 00 00 00 1c 00 00  00 35 00 00 00 1d 00 00  |.6.......5......|

    00000160  00 34 00 00 00 1e 00 00  00 33 00 00 00 1f 00 00  |.4.......3......|

    00000170  00 32 00 00 00 20 00 00  00 32 00 00 00 22 00 00  |.2... ...2..."..|

    00000180  00 31 00 00 00 23 00 00  00 31 00 00 00 24 00 00  |.1...#...1...$..|

    00000190  00 30 00 00 00 26 00 00  00 30 00 00 00 27 00 00  |.0...&...0...'..|

    000001a0  00 30 00 00 00 27 00 00  00 31 00 00 00 28 00 00  |.0...'...1...(..|

    000001b0  00 31 00 00 00 29 00 00  00 31 00 00 00 29 00 00  |.1...)...1...)..|

    000001c0  00 32 00 00 00 29 00 00  00 32 00 00 00 2a 00 00  |.2...)...2...*..|

    000001d0  00 32 00 00 00 2a 00 00  00 32 00 00 00 2b 00 00  |.2...*...2...+..|

    000001e0  00 32 00 00 00 2b 00 00  00 32 00 00 00 2b 00 00  |.2...+...2...+..|

    000001f0  00 32 00 00 00 2c 00 00  00 32 00 00 00 2c 00 00  |.2...,...2...,..|

    00000200

  • by lgb-wien,

    lgb-wien lgb-wien Jan 20, 2015 8:58 AM in response to lgb-wien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2015 8:58 AM in response to lgb-wien

    Bildschirmfoto 2015-01-20 um 17.54.20.png

    I will try a better screenshot

  • by lgb-wien,

    lgb-wien lgb-wien Jan 20, 2015 8:59 AM in response to lgb-wien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2015 8:59 AM in response to lgb-wien

    screenshot jpg.jpg

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 20, 2015 9:19 AM in response to lgb-wien
    Level 7 (24,596 points)
    Safari
    Jan 20, 2015 9:19 AM in response to lgb-wien

    You do not have a NTFS header.

     

    Initially you mentioned

    In Windows computer management I can see partitions with 200 MB (GPT), 150 GB (primary partition, no name), 100 MB NTFS (active, primary partition) and finally 320 GB NTFS (start partition) for Windows.

    1. Was Windows installed using EFI Boot? The 100MB NTFS indicates such an installation.

    2. Where did the following Fdisk come from?

    -bash-3.2# fdisk /dev/disk0

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 60821/255/63 [977105060 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: AC 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [    409640 -  311363320] <Unknown ID>

    *3: 07 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 311773184 -     204800] HPFS/QNX/AUX

    4: 07 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 311977984 -  665124864] HPFS/QNX/AUX

     

    3. Your current Fdisk output does not show the 100MB NTFS entry, but just EFI/OSX, OSX, Recovery HD and Windows.

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 60821/255/63 [977105060 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: AC 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [    409640 -  311363320] <Unknown ID>

    3: AB 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 311772960 -    1269536] Darwin Boot

    4: 0C 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 313042944 -  664061952] Win95 FAT32L

    4. Did these two Fdisk outputs come from the same disk?

  • by lgb-wien,

    lgb-wien lgb-wien Jan 20, 2015 9:44 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2015 9:44 AM in response to Loner T

    re 1: I have to check with IT guys from my company about details of EFI/boot (I am no expert at all),

    but what I know is: we had several failed attempts installing Windows 7 enterprise via Bootcamp ("best" result was working Windows, but in Windows the bootcamp control panel was missing, so I could not use right click..). Finally IT guys managed to install Windows 7 Pro via Bootcamp and afterwards somehow "migrated" to Win 7 Enterprise, which was working, but OS X was gone. Looks like a "wrong" way of installing.

    The hint about NTFS came from Windows with a right click on computer which started computer management app.

     

    re 2-4: all OS X disk answers came from the same 500 GB flash drive in my MacBook Air, but

    re 2: the first fdisk was done from online recovery system (command option R at restart), while

    3 and 4 were done from (now working) OS X directly. 

     

    In case I have to install Windows from scratch with bootcamp, is there any way to install Win 7 Enterprise (which we already did several times in the past, but not on my new MacBook Air)?

     

    Many thanks

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 20, 2015 10:11 AM in response to lgb-wien
    Level 7 (24,596 points)
    Safari
    Jan 20, 2015 10:11 AM in response to lgb-wien

    Windows Enterprise versions are not supported by Bootcamp. It may explain how Windows Enterprise was installed using an EFI boot.

  • by lgb-wien,

    lgb-wien lgb-wien Jan 20, 2015 11:36 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2015 11:36 AM in response to Loner T

    well, our IT guys have positively installed Win 7 Enterprise on a brand new MacBook Pro (which I am using right now) with bootcamp, where OS X, bootcamp and Windows are working and all 3 systems (OS X, Windows and recovery) can be selected at reboot with Option key. Same for my old MacBook Air with OS X and Win 7 Enterprise.

    I think I will return my new MacBook Air to IT to start a new attempt.

    Just to understand: EFI boot does mean installation not within bootcamp and this did cause my problems?

     

    Many thanks for all your answers, I really did appreciate and enjoy this support!

    Best regards

    Klaus

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 20, 2015 12:20 PM in response to lgb-wien
    Level 7 (24,596 points)
    Safari
    Jan 20, 2015 12:20 PM in response to lgb-wien

    Your first and second Fdisk outputs have conflicting information. The 100MB NTFS partition in the first one and marked bootable in MBR with a second NTFS is very confusing.

     

    The second Fdisk output looks like a standard BC Hybrid MBR.

     

     

    From Boot Camp 5.1: Frequently asked questions - Apple Support

     

    Which versions of Windows work with Boot Camp 5.1?


    Boot Camp 5.1 supports 64-bit, non-Enterprise versions of Windows 7, Windows 8.0, and Windows 8.1. This version of Boot Camp doesn't support Windows XP, Windows Vista, or any 32-bit version of Windows. Depending on your Mac, you may be able to use an earlier version of Boot Camp to work with other versions of Windows. For details, see the Boot Camp system requirements for Microsoft Windows.

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