Today I installed Mac OS X Lion alongside with Linux (mint) and Windows 7.
To be able to boot into Linux, i've downloaded rEFIt. It opens, I see the Mac and the Windows partition in it, but not the Linux partition. I've reinstalled Linux several times, but it just wont work.
I checked out the partition app from rEFIt, and got these results:
Current GPT partition table:
# Start LBA End LBA Type
1 40 409639 EFI System (FAT)
2 409640 854536479 Mac OS X HFS+
3 854536584 916425255 Basic Data
4 916425256 917694791 Mac OS X HFS+
5 968960634 976773118 Linux Swap
6 917694792 968960417 Basic Data
Current MBR partition table:
# A Start LBA End LBA Type
1 1 409639 ee EFI Protective
2 409640 854536479 af Mac OS X HFS+
3 * 854536584 916425255 07 NTFS/HPFS
4 916425256 917694791 af Mac OS X HFS+
MBR contents:
Boot Code: Unknown, but bootable
Partition at LBA 40:
Boot Code: None (Non-system disk message)
File System: FAT32
Listed in GPT as partition 1, type EFI System (FAT)
Partition at LBA 409640:
Boot Code: None
File System: HFS Extended (HFS+)
Listed in GPT as partition 2, type Mac OS X HFS+
Listed in MBR as partition 2, type af Mac OS X HFS+
Partition at LBA 854536584:
Boot Code: Windows BOOTMGR (Vista)
File System: NTFS
Listed in GPT as partition 3, type Basic Data
Listed in MBR as partition 3, type 07 NTFS/HPFS, active
Partition at LBA 916425256:
Boot Code: None
File System: HFS Extended (HFS+)
Listed in GPT as partition 4, type Mac OS X HFS+
Listed in MBR as partition 4, type af Mac OS X HFS+
Partition at LBA 968960634:
Boot Code: None
File System: Unknown
Listed in GPT as partition 5, type Linux Swap
Partition at LBA 917694792:
Boot Code: None
File System: ext4
Listed in GPT as partition 6, type Basic Data
I also learnt that MBR has a "capacity" of 3+1 (EFI) partitions. The Win/Mac partitions are on the MBR list, but the Mac recovery partition probably blocks the Linux partition?
How can I make the MBR contain the EFI, Mac, Win and Linux NOT the Recovery partition?
Also, doing google searches about this issue, I read a lot about "Grub", though I can't figure out what it is.
Best Answer
Here's what I've come across on my findings on doing something similar.
GRUB is a bootloader, it mainly accompanies Linux Distributions
In order to install Windows on the same drive you will need to make sure the partition mapping is MBR, as Windows can only be installed on that Partition Layout, this gives you a further problem, as Mac OS X can only be installed on a GUID Partition, Lion (10.7) checks for this upon Installation.
I would install Mac OS X, then BootCamp Windows 7, after this I would Install Linux with the Bootloader Installed on it's own partition.
You can then modify the Windows 7 bootloader to include GRUB detection on your partition so you can have a listing for Linux on your Windows Bootloader using EasyBCD. This will obviously create further work as you will need to boot your Mac then press the bootcamp boot key at the EFI boot screen, then choose Linux in the Windows Bootloader and then Linux in the Grub Bootloader. But this usually keeps everything separate, something I like.
I know you have already installed the other operating systems and are having trouble with Linux, but this is just my way to go around it.