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7th November 2011, 11:02 PM
#1
F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
Hi everyone, I just tried to do pre-upgrade to F16 and it's bricked my system.
It says no bootable disk, and the installer crashed out with an exception about installing the boot loader.
I couldn't save the exception details from the installer or file a bug because the laptop wasn't on line.
It sounds a lot like this, are there work arounds? - https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=746885
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7th November 2011, 11:18 PM
#2
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
I recently got fedora working on my mac by following the workaround here: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=746901
It sounds like your issue may be slightly different, but you'll probably need the workaround later anyways.
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8th November 2011, 12:29 AM
#3
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
I'd suggest booting off the LiveCD and:
fdisk -l /dev/sda
To see if you have one protective MBR entry or if it's a sensible hybrid MBR. A sensible hybrid MBR contains more than one entry, with an entry other than the first partition (the protective MBR) with its boot/active flag set. If you have just a protective MBR then you should download gdisk and have it build you a new hybrid MBR. I personally suggest stuffing everything except your last partition (in the GPT) into the protective MBR partition, and then the last partition appearing in your GPT as the 2nd entry in the MBR and set its MBR boot flag. Gdisk has a specific hybrid MBR sequence that will do all of these things.
Next I'd fix the grub2 installation, which I know will produce errors if you're not properly chrooted first but I forget if they are fatal errors that prevent correct installation. The possibly overdone full sequence I did from the LiveCD to fix my installation:
mount /dev/vg_f16/lv_f16 /media/root
mount /dev/sda5 /media/root/boot
mount -o bind /dev /media/root/dev
mount -o bind /proc /media/root/proc
mount -o bind /sys /media/root/sys
mount -o bind /run /media/root/run (i think this one might be unnecessary)
chroot /media/root
grub2-install /dev/sda
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
exit
reboot
If you don't chroot then you need to use:
grub2-install --boot-directory=/media/root/boot /dev/sda
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8th November 2011, 03:53 AM
#4
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
Originally Posted by
earthwormgaz
Hi everyone, I just tried to do pre-upgrade to F16 and it's bricked my system.
Typically, the term "bricked" refers to a computer that's become useless because the firmware has been damaged. It's not clear to me if that's what's actually happened to you or if you're using the term to mean some lesser type of damage. I have seen reports that the efibootmgr utility, which is used to manage EFI boot loaders on EFI-based installations, can damage the firmware on Intel-based Macs, necessitating re-flashing the firmware. Apparently recovery from this problem is usually possible without taking the machine in for repair, but you'll need a firmware image from Apple. I'm afraid I don't have any URLs handy for learning more, but a Web search on keywords like "Apple efibootmgr brick" might turn something up.
If your system boots and operates normally, but you just can't get into Linux, then this probably isn't the cause of the problems. In such a case, mucking with boot loader configurations is likely to get the system up and running again, but it's hard to offer precise advice without more information. If you can boot an emergency system, run the Boot Info Script, and post the RESULTS.TXT file that it produces. That will provide a lot of diagnostic information that will help to determine possible corrective measures.
Originally Posted by
chrismurphy
To see if you have one protective MBR entry or if it's a sensible hybrid MBR. A sensible hybrid MBR contains more than one entry, with an entry other than the first partition (the protective MBR) with its boot/active flag set. If you have just a protective MBR then you should download gdisk and have it build you a new hybrid MBR.
I would argue that the term "sensible hybrid MBR" is an oxymoron. Hybrid MBRs violate the GPT specification, they're dangerous, and they cause a lot of problems. I've seen more than one report of partition tables trashed because of hybrid MBRs. I'm the author of the gdisk utility you recommend, and although it supports hybrid MBRs, that's a nod to necessity, not an endorsement of hybrid MBRs as a desirable feature.
Instead of using hybrid MBRs, IMHO it's best to use a legal protective MBR and an EFI-capable Linux boot loader, such as the EFI version of Fedora's GRUB Legacy. The drawback to this approach is that Linux has problems with some Mac models' hardware unless it's been initialized by the firmware's BIOS compatibility. If you've got such a problem, you may be forced to boot using BIOS mode, and the usual way to activate that mode is to use a hybrid MBR. This makes hybrid MBRs a sad necessity in some cases.
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8th November 2011, 04:03 AM
#5
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
Originally Posted by
srs5694
I would argue that the term "sensible hybrid MBR" is an oxymoron. Hybrid MBRs violate the GPT specification, they're dangerous, and they cause a lot of problems.
I agree. However, they're also effectively required on Apple hardware if you want to dual boot because of Apple's lack of UEFI support. In order to activate their CSM, the disk containing the "foreign" OS must contain three things: a.) bootloader code in the first 440 bytes of the disk; b.) an MBR that contains more than one entry, i.e. hybrid MBR; c.) one of the MBR entries which is also not type 0xEE must have it's boot/active flag set.
OR in lieu of b.) An MBR only disk, no GPT at all, which means an external disk on a laptop. This is for most people non-viable if they want dual-boot hardware which is also portable.
I'm the author of the gdisk utility you recommend, and although it supports hybrid MBRs, that's a nod to necessity,
not an endorsement of hybrid MBRs as a desirable feature.
Understood. I would prefer Apple fully support UEFI and supply all of their hardware three years old and younger with suitable firmware updates. Then that would be a significant percentage of hardware that wouldn't effectively require the perversion that is hybrid MBR.
Instead of using hybrid MBRs, IMHO it's best to use a legal protective MBR and an EFI-capable Linux boot loader, such as the EFI version of Fedora's GRUB Legacy. The drawback to this approach is that Linux has problems with some Mac models' hardware unless it's been initialized by the firmware's BIOS compatibility. If you've got such a problem, you may be forced to boot using BIOS mode, and the usual way to activate that mode is to use a hybrid MBR. This makes hybrid MBRs a sad necessity in some cases.
We are on the same page here. I have three different Apple models, two in immediate possession, and none of them are bootable in EFI mode. Use of the CSM is effectively required at this point.
For a while I was amused at the rumors that Windows 8 was going to drop BIOS support in its final release, thinking that Apple would either have to support UEFI finally or admit their hardware would not run Windows 8. But alas, it seems Microsoft may just have a preference for UEFI booting with Windows 8 rather than require it. But had they required it, it would have been ironic if it were Microsoft compelling Apple to implement standard UEFI rather than their present proprietary firmware which really only plays well with Mac OS.
Last edited by chrismurphy; 8th November 2011 at 04:06 AM.
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8th November 2011, 07:41 AM
#6
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
what did you preupgrade from - f14 or f15?
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8th November 2011, 09:44 AM
#7
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
Sorry, yes, bricked is a strong word. The Fedora install won't boot, I can still boot into OSX though. Fedora from the "refit" menu just brings up a black screen with "no bootable disk found" or similar.
The upgrade was from Fedora 15 to Fedora 16.
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8th November 2011, 02:28 PM
#8
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
moved to Mac Forum as F16 Development Forum will be archived shortly.
Linux & Beer - That TOTALLY Computes!
Registered Linux User #362651
Don't use any of my solutions on working computers or near small children.
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8th November 2011, 03:14 PM
#9
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
[re: hybrid MBRs]
Originally Posted by
chrismurphy
I agree. However, they're also effectively required on Apple hardware if you want to dual boot because of Apple's lack of UEFI support.
If by "dual boot" you mean "dual boot with Windows," you're at least mostly correct; however, Linux can boot fine on Mac hardware in EFI mode. My own Mac Mini (a first-generation Intel model) dual-boots just fine, using Fedora's GRUB Legacy to boot Linux on a GPT disk with a conventional protective MBR. This system is currently running Ubuntu, so it's conceivable there'd be some Fedora-specific problem on this hardware, but that seems unlikely to me.
It seems that cracks are starting to appear in the barrier that prevents Windows from running in EFI mode on at least some Macs, too. See, for instance, this blog post, but be sure to read the comments, some of which provide additional details and ways to get it to work where the original blogger failed.
Originally Posted by
chrismurphy
I have three different Apple models, two in immediate possession, and none of them are bootable in EFI mode. Use of the CSM is effectively required at this point.
I'm skeptical that none of them will boot Linux in EFI mode, although it's entirely possible that you'll lack some hardware features on at least some of them if you boot in that way. Such problems could make the computer effectively unusable -- say, if the video doesn't work at all. Still, the computer should boot.
Properly configuring a Mac to boot Linux in EFI mode can be tricky, though. The problem, in my experience, is mostly lack of understanding, both on the part of distribution vendors and users. I booted my Mac Mini to Linux using the Mac's BIOS support for a while before I finally figured out how to get EFI booting to work. It's easy once you know how, but most of the documentation on the Web about booting Linux on Macs assumes BIOS mode, and many distributions install that way by default.
Another caveat is that EFI boot loaders are poorly understood and are sometimes finicky. I've never had any luck with ELILO on my 1st-generation Intel Mac Mini, for instance, although ELILO is my preferred Linux EFI boot loader on UEFI PCs. GRUB 2 can usually boot my Mac Mini, but sometimes it flakes out. Fedora's patched GRUB Legacy is much more reliable on this computer. Check my Managing EFI Boot Loaders for Linux page for my detailed comments on all of these boot loaders. If you're already using rEFIt, you can safely test anything else just by dropping the appropriate files into your ESP. If what you test doesn't work, just delete the files.
---------- Post added at 09:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 AM ----------
Originally Posted by
earthwormgaz
Sorry, yes, bricked is a strong word. The Fedora install won't boot, I can still boot into OSX though. Fedora from the "refit" menu just brings up a black screen with "no bootable disk found" or similar.
The upgrade was from Fedora 15 to Fedora 16.
This sounds like a boot loader problem. If you can boot a Linux emergency system, try running the Boot Info Script and post the RESULTS.TXT file that it generates. This will tell us more about how your system is partitioned and configured to boot (although its EFI information will be limited at best).
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8th November 2011, 05:23 PM
#10
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
The typical and most compatible installation of Fedora on Apple hardware will depend on the CSM (BIOS "emulation"). It takes extra work to figure out how to get the installation to produce a pure EFI boot, and much of Apple's hardware doesn't have the necessary information in EFI to pass onto Fedora components for a successful boot.
The CSM based installation of Fedora is completely non-viable out of the box whether dual-boot or Fedora only boot of Apple hardware. It requires post-installation work to get the resulting installation bootable. You end up with either one or both of the following bugs:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=746885
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=746901
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8th November 2011, 05:39 PM
#11
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
Chrismurphy, I think we have a glass is half-full vs. half-empty thing here. My contention is that doing an EFI-mode boot on Apple hardware is possible, but with some major caveats (mainly that the installer might not set it up correctly and that some hardware doesn't work on some machines). Your focus seems to be on those caveats. Of course, that's fine, and if those problems make a BIOS-mode boot work better than an EFI-mode boot for you personally, you should stick with using a BIOS-mode boot; but that's very different from saying that an EFI-mode boot won't work at all, which is what you claimed earlier.
Getting back to earthwormgaz's problem, I'd like to reiterate my suggestion from post #9 that the Boot Info Script will produce useful diagnostic information. Without that information, any suggestions for what to do next will be shots in the dark.
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8th November 2011, 11:34 PM
#12
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
For the Macbook Pro 4,1 I haven't gotten EFI booting to work except text only.
This bug, comment 34 describes the problem with Apple's EFI implementation and Nouveau.
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=650949
Even with the proprietary driver, I have this same problem, and cannot get a graphical mode to function which means no X. So yeah it "works" if you're OK with text only. There are instructions I've found that claim it can be done but the instructions are missing critical information for a step by step and I was unable to get anything other than text mode booting to work using kernel parameter nomodeset. Otherwise the display freezes the moment Nouveau or the proprietary nvidia driver is activated.
For the Macbook Pro 8,2 again I haven't gotten EFI booting to work, either text or graphics modes. I'm pretty sure booting completes and the scrambled display is cosmetic, meaning booting "works" and I could possibly configure VNC or ssh and work with the computer that way. Ubuntu help documentation contains some recent instructions for the 8,1 8,2 and 8,3 models that require some kernel modifications and recompiling which may fix this problems. But this is presently beyond my level of knowledge and patience. So I consider this not working. Could someone else do this? Sure. Is it working by default? No. Does it work with minimal post install effort? Not in my opinion.
CSM boot isn't what I want. Apparently there is no ACPI mode supported with the CSM. And for hardware that has both Intel integrated graphics and discrete graphics, there isn't a way to shutoff the discrete GPU and so battery life (no power adapter) goes into the toilette: 2-3 hours vs 9+ hours on a Macbook Pro 8,2 while merely replying to emails (pretty minimal CPU usage).
The situation is pretty atrocious in my opinion, and I find Apple to at present be vastly more anti-right to dual-boot, than Microsoft with respect to the recent concerns surrounding Microsoft and UEFI Secure Boot.
I don't understand Apple's reluctance embracing UEFI. If their hardware were fully UEFI 2.3.x compliant it may mean their OS would also need to be UEFI compliant. And perhaps a UEFI aware Mac OS opens the door to making it easier to thwart Apple's EULA which requires Mac OS can only run either as host or (VM) guest on Apple hardware?
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9th November 2011, 01:41 AM
#13
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
Originally Posted by
chrismurphy
Even with the proprietary driver, I have this same problem, and cannot get a graphical mode to function which means no X. So yeah it "works" if you're OK with text only.
...
For the Macbook Pro 8,2 again I haven't gotten EFI booting to work, either text or graphics modes. I'm pretty sure booting completes and the scrambled display is cosmetic
IMHO, precision of expression is important. It sounds like the computer boots in both of those cases -- Linux is up and running. In the first case it's usable at the console in text mode, and as you said, in the second case you could probably log in remotely. Thus, the computer is bootable.
That's entirely different from saying that the computer is usable. Booting is a pre-requisite for using a computer, but many conditions can make a computer bootable but unusable -- too little RAM (hence a very slow computer), a blank display, a system that crashes every five minutes, etc.
I don't understand Apple's reluctance embracing UEFI. If their hardware were fully UEFI 2.3.x compliant it may mean their OS would also need to be UEFI compliant. And perhaps a UEFI aware Mac OS opens the door to making it easier to thwart Apple's EULA which requires Mac OS can only run either as host or (VM) guest on Apple hardware?
I've seen claims that the latest Macs do ship with (U)EFI 2.x firmware, but I don't have such a machine to check this.
As to running OS X on non-Apple hardware, that problem has long since been solved by the Hackintosh community, so if Apple is dragging its heels over upgrading its firmware, that's not the reason. Much bigger problems for Hackintoshing involve hardware support -- the variety of non-Apple hardware is broad enough that significant numbers of machines run OS X poorly if at all.
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9th November 2011, 09:20 AM
#14
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
Originally Posted by
srs5694
IMHO, precision of expression is important. It sounds like the computer boots in both of those cases -- Linux is up and running. In the first case it's usable at the console in text mode, and as you said, in the second case you could probably log in remotely. Thus, the computer is bootable.
It took days to figure out that it was booting. This wasn't immediately obvious at all. And once I found it it was booting it took hours to figure out 'nomodeset' as a kernel parameter would allow me to see the text boot. Before that, it was several days convinced there was some nasty kernel panic occurring. In fact I really didn't have a usable console in text mode, certainly not by default.
I've seen claims that the latest Macs do ship with (U)EFI 2.x firmware, but I don't have such a machine to check this.
I have one of the latest Macs and rEFIt says it's Intel EFI 1.10. The claims are confusing Apple's firmware versioning scheme with that of the UEFI standard, which of course are not related to each other.
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9th November 2011, 07:24 PM
#15
Re: F16 Bricked on Macbook Pro
Managed to get this script working off a USB stick, using the F16 netinstall disc. It's certainly detailed!
Pasted the output of it here ...
http://pastebin.ca/2093401
Last edited by earthwormgaz; 9th November 2011 at 07:30 PM.
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