# Macbook Pro EFI partition [Solved]

## b_koepke

Just curious to see if anyone out there knows whether 

deleting the EFI partition on a macbook pro is possible. 

(I know how (disk utility, format MBR)), but I have read 

conflicting posts about the reprocussions that could 

surface because of the partition removal. I found some

that openly advertize replacing EFI with MBR as an option

and I also found posts that said that removing the 

EFI partition results in a non-bootable computer 

period because the bios loads information about how to 

boot the system from the EFI partition and if it is not 

there then the system fails to boot entirely. 

Thank you in advance.Last edited by b_koepke on Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:22 am; edited 1 time in total

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## electronvolt

It's definitely possible on an Intel Mac-Mini. I did it on mine as I only use Gentoo on it and no OS X. I found that it would not boot if Grub was installed to the MBR of the disk, so I installed it to the /boot partition set the boot flag for that partition and it booted fine. If you intend dual booting Gentoo/OS X I think you do need the EFI partition for OS X to work.

HTH

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## b_koepke

Thank you for the reply. 

So I am completely safe to completely remove GPT and all data including the EFI partition, 

(dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sda) (firmware updates can be done with a bootable 

usb stick with tiger, have done this once already)

OSX is no big deal for me, so I have no problem with not being able to 

boot it whatsoever. Also, grub automatically took over, you didn't have to use the 

"bless" command for anything? I have removed OSX before; however, I always 

left GPT on the drive with the EFI partition because I was chicken to remove it. 

Thanks again.

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## electronvolt

That is correct, Grub takes care of the boot process. Like I say it didn't work when I installed grub to the MBR, I had to install it to the boot partition on my Mac Mini and then make set the 'boot' flag for that partition using parted. The only thing that I'd be wary of is whether the video BIOS is stored on the EFI partition and necessary to get full resolution for your display. I use my Mac Mini as a headless server so am not worried about anything like that. Maybe worth a quick Google if no one else here has any more info.

regards

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## b_koepke

Thanks for the help

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