This bug was fixed in the package parted - 1.7.1-5.1ubuntu9.2

---------------
parted (1.7.1-5.1ubuntu9.2) hardy-proposed; urgency=low

  * gptsync.dpatch (update): Add "Apple Inc." as a possible Apple DMI vendor
    string (LP: #222126).

 -- Colin Watson <[email protected]>   Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:22:24 +0100

** Changed in: parted (Ubuntu Hardy)
       Status: Fix Committed => Fix Released

-- 
Partition Table is cleared during install on Intel Macs
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/222126
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Status in grub-installer: Invalid
Status in Mactel Support: Fix Released
Status in “parted” package in Ubuntu: Fix Released
Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu: Invalid
Status in parted in Ubuntu Hardy: Fix Released
Status in ubiquity in Ubuntu Hardy: Invalid
Status in parted in Ubuntu Intrepid: Fix Committed
Status in ubiquity in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
Status in parted in Ubuntu Jaunty: Fix Released
Status in ubiquity in Ubuntu Jaunty: Invalid

Bug description:
Binary package hint: ubiquity

Ubuntu 8.04 Final

Intel Macs have an EFI system and a GPT. The installer seems to handle the GPT 
correctly (as it has in the past), but it has recently come up that the 
installer is completely emptying the contents of the MBR partition table which 
is still required to boot Windows and Ubuntu (GRUB relies on the MBR partition 
table). The two tables are not synced automatically.

When users install Hardy, they are suprised to find that the system is 
unbootable (the EFI loader cannot "see" the partition as bootable). a tool such 
as rEFIt or gptsync can copy the information in the GPT into the MBR table thus 
fixing the issue (for most). 

This is even more serious for users with other working OS installs in addition 
to Ubuntu (such as other linux distros and Windows) since it completely dumps 
the information needed to boot these installs as well.

The expected procedure (and how the previous Ubuntu install seems to have 
handled it) is to 'update' both the GPT and the MBR table with changes instead 
of completely losing the information stored there.

gparted / parted seemed to update both tables properly previously as well.

I will be doing a full install on my iMac later and will be able to add 
additional information.


This bug was fixed in parted 1.8.8.git.2008.03.24-11.1ubuntu6 by adding "Apple 
Inc." as an additional system-manufacturer tag for which we do the special 
Apple GPT->MBR handling. Here are patches for hardy-proposed and 
intrepid-proposed:

  http://launchpadlibrarian.net/27503646/hardy.diff
  http://launchpadlibrarian.net/27504724/intrepid.diff

TEST CASE: You'll need a reasonably new Intel-based Mac system for which 'sudo 
dmidecode -s system-manufacturer' returns "Apple Inc." (not "Apple Computer, 
Inc."). Check that installations work, and that 'sudo fdisk -l' shows a 
reasonable MBR representation of the first four partitions on your disk 
(compare against 'sudo parted -s /dev/sda print').

REGRESSION POTENTIAL: The only other systems that really care about this kind 
of thing are ones for which 'sudo dmidecode -s system-manufacturer' returns 
"Apple Computer, Inc."; installations on those systems should keep working. 
Other than that I think we're basically taking a completely broken case and 
rendering it at least vaguely functional ...

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