G15 and Switching OS

[Deerhunter04]

I just got my mac pro today and i installed the latest bootcamp. To my surprise, everything is working quite well (except for the obvious SATA performance). I was doing ok until i tried to switch back to OSX. I own a logitech G15 keyboard and when i hit ALT to get to the boot menu, nothing happens. I just goes back into Windows. I actually have to tell it to boot OSX in control panel.

It looks like the keyboard isn't being initialized in time. They keyboard is backlit, so i know when it's on. Has anybody else had this problem? I hooked up my apple keyboard and everything worked fine. Is there a way to always have the boot menu load first instead of hitting a key? Do certain USB ports get turned on before others? Thanks for the help.

 

[After G]

You could use the Startup Disk control panel item in Windows to boot into OS X.

You could also try just holding down the Alt key after the chime until you reach the boot menu. Or use rEFIt, which is an alternate boot menu to the one Apple provides.

 

[balamw]

I just got my mac pro today and i installed the latest bootcamp. To my surprise, everything is working quite well (except for the obvious SATA performance). I was doing ok until i tried to switch back to OSX. I own a logitech G15 keyboard and when i hit ALT to get to the boot menu, nothing happens. I just goes back into Windows. I actually have to tell it to boot OSX in control panel.

It looks like the keyboard isn't being initialized in time. They keyboard is backlit, so i know when it's on. Has anybody else had this problem? I hooked up my apple keyboard and everything worked fine. Is there a way to always have the boot menu load first instead of hitting a key? Do certain USB ports get turned on before others? Thanks for the help.

You can always select which OS to boot next in "Startup Disk" in ControlPanel/System Preferences.

Note also that on my Logitech keyboard the "Option" key needed for boot is labeled "Start" (i.e. the Windows logo key) on the Windows side and "Option" on the Mac side... The Windows Alt key is the command key.

B

 

[Deerhunter04]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've been using the option in control panel to switch startup disks and that is working just fine. My problem is that i can't hit ALT to bring up the boot menu. My guess is because my keyboard doesn't initialize in time for boot camp to recongnize the ALT key, or my ALT key is bound to a different key.

The G15 is a USB keyboard, so i would think it would initialize just like everything else. If somebody has a G15, can you let me know if it works for you?

 

[balamw]

or my ALT key is bound to a different key.

Again, have you tried the Windows/Start key? It's labeled Option/Alt for Mac on my Logitech USB KB.

B

 

[Deerhunter04]

yea, i've hit every single key on the keyboard. Nothing seems to work.

 

[balamw]

Do you have another KB you could try, just to make sure there's nothing wrong with your bootloader?

Seems kinda silly if the KB takes that long to initialize, how would you get into the BIOS on a regular PC? (Then again, my Logitech has a silly fn lock that can't default to F-keys working right...)

B

 

[Deerhunter04]

I tried my apple keyboard and it worked.

It's really not that big of a deal, but it is a pain to load up an OS and then make the switch (although, on the mac pro, it's really fast ). Is there a way to force the bootloader to load everytime?

 

[balamw]

I tried my apple keyboard and it worked.

It's really not that big of a deal, but it is a pain to load up an OS and then make the switch (although, on the mac pro, it's really fast ). Is there a way to force the bootloader to load everytime?

That definitely points at the G15.

Not that I'm aware of, but maybe you could use the XOM bootloader with a Boot Camp install?

B

 

[Deerhunter04]

After doing a little searching, i found this. It looks like it is a boot manager for EFI based computers. I'm going to try it out tonight and see if it works.

http://refit.sourceforge.net/

 

[mangz]

Looks like the option key is totally absent on the G15. If you have reversed alt/command. (as i have)
So in reality it's the windows button that is completely invisible to OS X.

I like the G15 and now it's making work a pain in the ass.