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#1 2010-08-20 09:16:37

rwd
Member
Registered: 2009-02-08
Posts: 664

[SOLVED] Is Refit required for single-boot Arch on Macbook Pro?

I have a Macbook Pro 7.1, and now that the issue with a non-supported chipset has a workaround I am planning to create a single boot Arch system using the latest Archboot that comes with the 2.6.35 kernel.

If I understand well I need the non-efi grub combined with the firmware's bios compatibility mode if I want 2d/3d accelerated gfx, since that does not work currently with grub2-efi. One question I cannot find an answer to though is whether or not I need Refit and an EFI partition for this. The Arch wiki (nor the Debian/Gentoo/Refit docs) is not very clear about this. Is it only needed for multi-boot setups or for all setups that use bios compatibility?

Last edited by rwd (2010-09-06 15:44:00)

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#2 2010-08-20 09:21:04

Allan
Pacman
From: Brisbane, AU
Registered: 2007-06-09
Posts: 11,365
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Re: [SOLVED] Is Refit required for single-boot Arch on Macbook Pro?

You do not need refit.  Or at least I do not use it on the 5.5.

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#3 2010-08-20 10:39:18

rwd
Member
Registered: 2009-02-08
Posts: 664

Re: [SOLVED] Is Refit required for single-boot Arch on Macbook Pro?

Can settings you normally adjust in a 'bios menu' still be set when using using bios compatibility mode and no Refit?

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#4 2010-08-24 14:15:55

Veovis Muad'dib
Member
Registered: 2009-06-12
Posts: 43

Re: [SOLVED] Is Refit required for single-boot Arch on Macbook Pro?

Um...  No.  Sort of.

You need to bless the Arch partition from OS X, probably running from USB or something like that, and then make sure to never zap the PRAM.

As for if you can change BIOS settings, no.  You can change boot disk, but that's it.  What would you need to do in the BIOS anyway?


EDIT: You also don't need to be on GPT, MBR is fine if you're not booting OS X.

Last edited by Veovis Muad'dib (2010-08-24 14:17:55)

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#5 2010-08-24 14:48:36

litemotiv
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2008-08-01
Posts: 5,026

Re: [SOLVED] Is Refit required for single-boot Arch on Macbook Pro?

Also be sure to set your boot partition active if you plan to fdisk, EFI won't be able to see it otherwise.


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#6 2010-08-24 15:26:56

rwd
Member
Registered: 2009-02-08
Posts: 664

Re: [SOLVED] Is Refit required for single-boot Arch on Macbook Pro?

Veovis Muad'dib wrote:

You need to bless the Arch partition from OS X, probably running from USB or something like that

Do you mean that I need to install Arch besides the existing OSX and  'bless' that arch partition from OSX in order to be able to remove all non-Arch partitions?

Veovis Muad'dib wrote:

, and then make sure to never zap the PRAM..

Not that I was planning to do this, but does this remove the possibility to boot Arch?

Veovis Muad'dib wrote:

As for if you can change BIOS settings, no.  You can change boot disk, but that's it.  What would you need to do in the BIOS anyway?.

I just thought it might come in handy for tweaking powermanagement, wake-on-lan, bluetooth and stuff like that.

litemotiv wrote:

Also be sure to set your boot partition active if you plan to fdisk, EFI won't be able to see it otherwise.

Thanks all for the info!

Last edited by rwd (2010-08-24 16:13:27)

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#7 2010-08-24 15:34:19

litemotiv
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2008-08-01
Posts: 5,026

Re: [SOLVED] Is Refit required for single-boot Arch on Macbook Pro?

rwd wrote:
Veovis Muad'dib wrote:

You need to bless the Arch partition from OS X, probably running from USB or something like that, and then make sure to never zap the PRAM..

Do you mean that I need to install Arch besides the existing OSX and  'bless' that arch partition from OSX in order to be able to remove all non-osx partitions?

No that's not necessary. Just throw in an Arch boot cd (USB might not work), remove the existing partitions from (c)fdisk and you're good to go.


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