Cannot get OS X install in Fusion to boot from Live CD

[attc]

Hello,

I have VMware Fusion 4.1.1 installed on my Macbook Pro. I have a 10.7.3 guest installed in Vmware and it is working fine except that I would like to boot the VM from a Linux (Ubuntu) live cd. I found the directions to get to the EFI boot manager (holding down the Option key), and I have configured my CD drive to be the .iso file for the ubuntu installer, but when I tell the efi boot manager to boot from the CD drive it does not. So then I changed the boot order permanately from within the EFI manager, but it still boots directly into the Mac.

I have turned on Filevault 2 (full disk encryption) in the guest. I do not know if this affects the boot order process since the login screen for Mac loads first, but it would seem strange if it did.

An help would be appreciated!

[WoodyZ]

If you want to install Ubuntu then create a new Ubuntu Linux Virtual Machine and install it.

[attc]

I want to be able to view the OS X disk and environment from within Ubuntu.

[WoodyZ]

Are you just trying to boot the Mac OS X Virtual Machine from the Linux Live OS ISO Image or are you trying to install for a dual-boot scenario?

[attc]

Just trying to boot, I would be happy getting any Linux live environment working, but have tried Ubuntu so far and can't get it to work

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

If you can't get an Linux Live ISO Image to boot the Mac OS X Virtual Machine then I'd do the following.

Create a new Linux Virtual Machine (without installing Linux) that you can boot from the Linux Live ISO Image.

Then temporarily add the virtual disk of the Mac OS X Virtual Machine to the Linux Virtual Machine making sure you assign the right .vmdk.  In other words if the Mac OS X Virtual Machine has Snapshots make sure you assign the correct Snapshot .vmdk.

Once you boot the Linux Live ISO Image you'll probably have to run some Terminal commands (modprobe) to make the disk available to mount and it will only be able to be mounted Read-Only or you should only mount it Read-Only.  I've done this with Knoppix 5.1.1.

[WoodyZ]

I just tested mounting an HFS+ volume of a Mac OS X virtual disk from Knoppix 5.1.1 running live from ISO Image in a Linux Virtual Machine.

[dariusd]

Hi attc,

Are there any Linux distributions which will read Apple's CoreStorage volume descriptors and know how to decrypt Filevault 2 volumes?  Without that support, you will be able to see the boot partition (the bootloader, kernelcache and a bunch of resources used by the bootloader for the EFI login UI) and the Recovery HD, and you'll be able to see an encrypted blob that represents the Filevault partition, but nothing more.

The only way to get Ubuntu to boot on EFI is to use a very recent 64-bit Ubuntu, and to ensure that you have configured the VM for a "Ubuntu 64-bit" guest OS, but note that there is no official support for using Fusion's virtual EFI firmware for anything other than Mac OS guests.

We might be able to give better guidance if we knew what you were aiming to achieve...

Cheers,

--

Darius

[WoodyZ]

I guess I didn't read the entire OP as I didn't realize the disk was encrypted.  The image I posted was not of an encrypted disk.

[attc]

Thank you, I will try this way (and will back up the VM first).

[attc]

I want the encrypted blob and unfortunately can not read it from the running machine through /dev/disk* as it says the resource is busy. This is unlike Linux where you can read raw devices (/dev/sda, etc) even if they are mounted

[WoodyZ]

Yeah, sorry I missed the encrypted part in your OP.

[attc]

as long as I can get access to the raw disk through Linux I am good