MacBook Pro 2011 - Successful COS installation - Triple boot system

[FruityChews]

Hi everyone,

Just in case anyone is interested, I have successfully installed COS on a MacBook Pro 2011.

The laptop is a 13-inch, late 2011, 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB memory, 1 TB SATA3 SSD hard drive.

It has four partitions:

1. macOS High Sierra v. 10.13.6 (32-bit)
2. Windows 11 (64-bit) bootcamp
3. Commodore OS
4. Swap for COS

I already had macOS and Windows BootCamp.

In macOS, I used Disk Utility to create two FAT 32 partitions. 250 Gb for COS and 8 Gb for the COS Swap.

Using the COS instructions, I created a bootable USB using RUFUS and the Commodore OS ISO image. I made sure that I selected DD when asked as the final step of the RUFUS process. RUFUS recommends another option (I forget what it was), but I found that it did not work if I took RUFUS' advice!

I followed the following process:

• Restarted the MacBook and held down the alt key to bring up the startup disk options.

• Selected the EFI drive (the USB that I'd just created).

• In the COS startup menu, select Advanced Options > Failsafe options > failsafe > Back to main menu . Commodore OS-Vision x64

• When the desktop appears, click through the welcome screen and t's and c's screens. It will do an installation media check. Change the keyboard settings if you wish and then click Next.

• You are on the Select type of installation screen.

• Select Customize the disk layout and click Next.

• You will see all the partitions and in the Use For column, you will need to select the drop-down box for the drive you have set up for COS and choose 'root'. For the SWAP drive, choose 'swap' from the drop-down. Do not change the other boxes–leave them alone! I had to run a complete reinstall because I messed those up.

• Click Next and click through the other steps.

You should have a computer that will dual boot, or in my case, triple boot. To select the different drives, restart the computer and hold the alt button to see the startup drive selection screen.

I hope that this helps anyone who wants to do the same thing.

[LeoNigro]

Congratulations!!!
Let me get this straight......
It's not the grub bootloader with the C64 theme then (well at least not initially), but a launcher that Apple provides.
Cool!
Imagine an Apple users face when they see Commodore OS. Like WTH is going on!!!

I've got an ASUS Taichi which has a screen on the front and back....I could freak people out with a spinning Commodore logo(movie) on the face screen where you would expect to see the brand logo. It's a C= logo spinning on a black background. I might include that file in COS3 actually.

[FruityChews]

Thank you. I'm not technical, so I don't know what a Grub bootloader is.

Holding down the alt key while powering up the MacBook brings up a plain screen with icons for any bootable partitions, so for me, that is the Mac (High Sierra), Windows 11, and an EFI boot icon. I just select the one I want and it boots up.

Yes, I am sure Apple would be very happy to see Commodore OS running. It works beautifully, thank you! I have loaded up ROMs for the Commodore and MAME emulators, but need to link everything up and tinker with it when I'm not working.

I'm going to try to video capture the screen, or just film it and send it to a friend of mine who lives for emulators!

This is a dream come true. Thank you!!!

UPDATE: I meant to add to this post. I can confirm that the Commodore 64-themed bootloader does appear after the EFI boot is selected.

[LeoNigro]

Oh...If you live for emulators the best is yet to come.
In fact the emulator set up is the part I am least happy about with COS2. I want everything to work seamlessly.
COS3 will handle things a bit better, but I can't get everything I want in without the time blowing out.

[FruityChews]

Personally, I am blown away by the emulator list and thought you have put into that, and every other area of the OS. Even the installation notes were so well explained. I was really surprised.

I've been tinkering with emulators for years, more from a nostalgia perspective. My friend is on a whole different level. He is a serious emulator pro. There are some emulators that I didn't been know existed - computers that I saw in the early 1980s that most people wouldn't even recognise the names for nowadays. I can't wait to hear his reaction when he sees Commodore OS!!