Author Topic: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected  (Read 12930 times)

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sapele

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Hello all.

Not sure what is going on here.  All was working well in 10.6 but since the upgrade to 10.7 I get a blinking cursor at boot if my wd 2T Time Machine disk is connected.  I did notice that the first time into the updated OS that i had to change the default partition in the org.chameleon.Boot.plist.  I had to switch it to 1,2 to load my OSX install or I would get a mach kernel not found error at boot.  The odd thing is that the disk is disk2s2 so that strikes me as odd right off the bat.  It was as if the disk identifiers had been thrown out of their previous order.  For example Time Machine was not excluding the main disk. 

If I mount the time machine volume and reboot I get a blinking cursor at boot and nothing more right before the gui would show up.  If I unplug the disk and reboot it fires up perfectly.

Here is how I have my system set up. I have chameleon on its own partition and the main os on a separate hard drive.

From Disk Utility

Chameleon partition is disk0s2
Media 2 is disk 0s3

Test OSX install is disk1s2
Media 1 is disk1s3

MAc100 is disk2s2

any insight would be very helpful thanks so much for all of the hard work.

here is the installer file from chameleon

======================================================
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Mac1000                 999.9 GB   disk0s2
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *4.1 GB     disk1
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS ChameleonUSB            3.8 GB     disk1s2
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *750.2 GB   disk2
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Mac750OS                20.0 GB    disk2s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS Media 1                 729.7 GB   disk2s3
/dev/disk3
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk3
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk3s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Chameleon               939.5 MB   disk3s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS Media 2                 498.8 GB   disk3s3
======================================================
Backing up stage2 file /Volumes/Chameleon/boot to /Volumes/Chameleon/Chameleon.Backups/2012-01-28-17h16/boot
Moving /Volumes/Chameleon/Extra folder to /Volumes/Chameleon/Chameleon.Backups/2012-01-28-17h16/Extra
======================================================
Running Standard postinstall script
Target volume = /Volumes/Chameleon on /dev/disk3s2
Target disk already has existing Chameleon stage 0 loader - boot0hfs
======================================================
Stage 0 loader not written to /dev/disk3.
Written boot1h to /dev/rdisk3s2.
Written boot to /Volumes/Chameleon on /dev/disk3s2.
======================================================
Preparing to check target disk for previous installations.
Going to check the EFI system partition also.
Mounting /dev/disk3s1 as /Volumes/EFI.
Checking disk3.
Nothing found that could cause any problems.
======================================================
Disk: /dev/rdisk3   geometry: 60801/255/63 [976773168 sectors]
Signature: 0xAA55
         Starting       Ending
 #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 -  976773167] <Unknown ID>
 2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     
 3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     
 4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     
 
Setting /Volumes/Chameleon partition active.
======================================================
Standard script complete
======================================================
Running Post postinstall script
Target volume = /Volumes/Chameleon
Added boot option: GenerateCStates=Yes
Added boot option: GeneratePStates=Yes
Added boot option: Graphics Mode=1920x1200x32
Added boot option: GraphicsEnabler=Yes
Added boot option: Legacy Logo=Yes
User selected to do an upgrade install.
Merging existing /Volumes/Chameleon/Extra folder.
------
Merging new options into org.chameleon.Boot.plist.
NOTE: Please check the new merged org.chameleon.Boot.plist as
NOTE: any existing keys will NOT have been updated.
NOTE: For example: If you already had Wait=No as a boot option
NOTE: and chose Wait=Yes from the list, this will NOT be changed.
------
Writing new Extra folder to: /Volumes/Chameleon/
Volume named 'EFI' is mounted...
Unmounting /dev/disk3s1
Cleanup: ,2
======================================================
Post script complete

Blackosx

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2012, 02:47:53 PM »
Hi sapele

since the upgrade to 10.7 I get a blinking cursor at boot if my wd 2T Time Machine disk is connected.
So can you verify that you can boot fine perfectly well everytime when the WD 2T Time Machine disk is disconnected?

It was as if the disk identifiers had been thrown out of their previous order.
OS X can present the drives in a different order to how they are seen in the BIOS. Pressing TAB at Chameleon's GUI will show the numbering that Chameleon is using - you can then use those numbers for entering in the Default Partition boot option.

here is the installer file from chameleon
Thanks for posting the installer log. That looks fine, though you've cut the header from the top saying which Chameleon version you're using. Which version are you using?
10.10.5 / 10.11 GM1 | Asus Maximum IV Gene-Z | i7-2600 3.40GHz | 4GB | Radeon 5770 1GB

sapele

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2012, 03:10:52 PM »
Thanks for the super fast response!

Yes I can boot perfectly if the time machine disk is not connected.

I did not know about the tab option.  That will be very helpful going forward.

I had installed the following version of Chameleon.  r1785- I am not sure why?  I thought that i had stumbled upon a "nightly" or other sort of build so I downloaded r1394 which was reading as a stable version so I  ran the installer.  It looks like the header that I cut off is still showing the r1785 version?

Chameleon installer log - Sat Jan 28 17:16:31 EST 2012
Installer version: 2.1svn 1785
======================================================

Blackosx

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2012, 10:48:39 PM »
You're Welcome :)

Thanks for the confirmation.

Can you please try installing the debug version of Boot0md to see if that produces any feedback to help identify your issue?

Quick instructions:
• Boot in to OS X.
• Download the latest build of Chameleon from the buildbot (it's Chameleon-2.1svn-r1814.tgz right now).
• Download the boot0workDBG file (linked to above), and copy it to Chameleon-2.1svn-r1814/usr/standalone/i386
• In the Finder, move Chameleon-2.1svn-r1814/usr/fdisk440 to Chameleon-2.1svn-r1814/usr/standalone/i386
• Open Terminal and type diskutil list to Identify the exact disk number to write to.
cd to Chameleon-2.1svn-r1814/usr/standalone/i386
• Type sudo fdisk440 -f boot0workDBG -u -y /dev/rdiskX (replacing X with the number you identified for your disk).

Then reboot with your time machine disk connected.
If you see any verbose debug output then please post it here.

I had installed the following version of Chameleon.  r1785- I am not sure why?  I thought that i had stumbled upon a "nightly" or other sort of build so I downloaded r1394 which was reading as a stable version so I  ran the installer.  It looks like the header that I cut off is still showing the r1785 version?
Thanks for confirming the log was from r1785.
You may have installed r1394 after installing r1785 as r1394 didn't generate an install log so the previous one would have remained.

As pointed to above, all latest versions of Chameleon, both compiled binaries and the installer can be found at the builtbot.
10.10.5 / 10.11 GM1 | Asus Maximum IV Gene-Z | i7-2600 3.40GHz | 4GB | Radeon 5770 1GB

sapele

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2012, 02:01:24 AM »
I am out of town for a few days.  I will be in front of the machine on Monday night and i will follow your instructions and report back.  Thanks again

sapele

sapele

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2012, 04:39:39 AM »
I am having trouble getting got the buildbot from the links above.  Is the server down or do I need to go elsewhere?


Blackosx

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2012, 01:36:15 PM »
Hi Sapele

Yes, the buildbot is currently down.
I'll compile the latest Chameleon from source for you as soon as I can and post it here for you.  Can't do it right now as I'm in the middle of a big project.
10.10.5 / 10.11 GM1 | Asus Maximum IV Gene-Z | i7-2600 3.40GHz | 4GB | Radeon 5770 1GB

sapele

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #7 on: February 09, 2012, 02:52:31 PM »
No rush, I thought I was going mad!  Best of luck with the project

Sapele

Blackosx

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #8 on: February 09, 2012, 09:46:05 PM »
Thanks :)

Here's the compiled i386 folder from Chameleon r1814.
Hopefully you can still follow the above instructions with this.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2012, 09:49:22 PM by Blackosx »
10.10.5 / 10.11 GM1 | Asus Maximum IV Gene-Z | i7-2600 3.40GHz | 4GB | Radeon 5770 1GB

sapele

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2012, 02:13:39 AM »
Not sure that I followed the directions correctly.  I got the following error in terminal

Sorry for the trouble

Blackosx

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2012, 09:00:26 AM »
Ooops. Sorry.
Try this:

sudo ./fdisk440 -f boot0workDBG -u -y /dev/rdiskX

Note the ./ before fdisk440.
Also you don't need to add the slice number when writing to the MBR. So if the case above you'll be using rdisk0 and not rdisk0s2.
10.10.5 / 10.11 GM1 | Asus Maximum IV Gene-Z | i7-2600 3.40GHz | 4GB | Radeon 5770 1GB

sapele

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2012, 01:27:18 PM »
I am the one that should be sorry!

I just made a mess of things and got the waiting for root devise.

Can I get verification the the following procedure is the right way to go.

I installed chameleon via the installer version 1785

then i open terminal type

sudo -s [Enter]
password [Enter]
cd [space] drag the i386 folder to the window [Enter]
sudo ./fdisk440 -f boot0workDBG -u -y /dev/rdisk0 [Enter]
exit [Enter]

Again I apologize for asking for the hand holding.



Blackosx

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #12 on: February 10, 2012, 02:23:41 PM »
Those steps are good. Just make sure you write the boot0workDBG code to the same disk that you pointed the Chameleon installer to. If you're not sure then check with diskutil list before issuing the command.

You can do it in two steps if you prefer:
1) Run the Chameleon installer to your target drive and populate your /Extra folder with required file eg. DSDT. Then reboot to make sure the Chameleon installation is working fine.
2) Use diskutil list to identify your drive and issue the command to write the debug code to your MBR, then reboot and report what messages you see while booting.
10.10.5 / 10.11 GM1 | Asus Maximum IV Gene-Z | i7-2600 3.40GHz | 4GB | Radeon 5770 1GB

sapele

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #13 on: February 10, 2012, 02:49:53 PM »
I get the following error

fdisk440: could not open MBR file boot0workDBG: No such file or directory
bash-3.2#

Blackosx

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Re: Blinking cursor at boot when 2T WD Time Machine drive is connected
« Reply #14 on: February 10, 2012, 03:15:23 PM »
Did you download and add boot0workDBG to the i386 folder?
10.10.5 / 10.11 GM1 | Asus Maximum IV Gene-Z | i7-2600 3.40GHz | 4GB | Radeon 5770 1GB