Create a triple boot system on a MacBook Pro 10,1 without Bootcampt and without rEFInd.
Order:
- Clean Install of macOS Sierra (http://osxdaily.com/2016/09/26/clean-install-macos-sierra/)
- Windows 10
- Ubuntu 16.04
After completeing a clean install of macOS, it is important to revert CoreStorage and use the plain HFS+ filesystem type. This can be done using diskutil cs revert <UUID>, as shown here.
Next, open Disk Utility and create a partition for windows. I created a 50GB partition called WIN10. Note that it is important to just leave it as a HFS+ type drive so that a Hybrid MSR does not get created. Note the size -- it helps if it is significantly different than other partitions as we will have to delete it and reformat during the Windows installation and Volume Labels will not be present. I find that it is also helpful to take note of the output of diskutil list, as shown below. The disk number will match up across operating systems.
Use the Boot Camp Assistant to download Windows Support Software (under the Action menu). This may take a while to download. Put this folder on the USB drive that already has a Windows installer on it.
Use the bootable Windows 10 USB drive to boot into the Windows Installer. Plug in the USB drive, restart the computer, and hold down the option key. Follow this guide for more information.
Note: If you get errors from Disk Utility when trying to remove partitions, most of the time it's Windows' fault. To fix it, boot using the Windows USB installer and delete the 16MB MSR partitions (these are usually the ones Mac doesn't know how to handle). You may also need to boot into Single-User Mode by restarting your mac and holding down CMD+S during boot.
Note: Make sure that you boot off of a live Linux USB drive and test out Ubuntu before installing. I have had good success on a MBP 10,1 but other models may struggle.
On your macOS side, open Disk Utility and create another partition. I created a size 100GB partition right next to the WIN10 partition. Again, just leave as HFS+ and take note of the size and disk number from diskutil list.
Bootup using a Linux USB drive by holding down option during a boot. Install Linux as ususal. This guide was helpful with regards to the correct bcmwl-kernel-source WiFi drivers.
After installing Linux, I noticed that Windows would not boot and seemed to not be able to read the GPT table. See the first output of diskutil list below. I believe there was a problem with Windows and the GPT table because the partitions were: Linux Swap, MSR, NTFS, Linux (i.e., windows was in between Linux partitions). The fix I found for this involved creating a new partition (called wall) in macOS that I called wall. A reboot and attempt to run Windows shows that it can read the GPT table again. After creating the wall partition, I deleted it and could still boot into all three OSes.
This SO answer also has some good information about splitting up the EFI so that you don't have to go through GRUB to get to Windows, but note that I didn't create a second EFI partition -- instead I just used the existing one.
Really slow Ubuntu boot: https://askubuntu.com/questions/760694/really-slow-boot-on-16-04. For some reason I had to reformat my swap partition in linux using gparted. I'm not sure if I messed up my swap or if my mac did.
