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I'm new to linux and I have overstepped by abilities. I tried dual booting os x 10.5.8 with ubuntu 11.10 with rEFIt, but I been having problems with partitioning. Instead of enduring more headaches, I've made the decision to simply use ubuntu on VirtualBox. I've tried to return my HDD to normal, but I am looking for confirmation that my partitions are ok. Here is the report from partition inspector:

*** Report for internal hard disk ***

Current GPT partition table:
 #      Start LBA      End LBA  Type
 1         409640    233917359  Mac OS X HFS+

Current MBR partition table:
 # A    Start LBA      End LBA  Type
 1              1    234441647  ee  EFI Protective

MBR contents:
 Boot Code: GRUB

Partition at LBA 409640:
 Boot Code: None
 File System: HFS Extended (HFS+)
 Listed in GPT as partition 1, type Mac OS X HFS+

Also, my HDD directory has a bunch of extra folders in them and they appear to be ubuntu related, although it is no longer installed. folders like bin, sbin, cores, var, user, and so on. Those folders aren't supposed to be there, right? Thanks in advance.

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You may be missing an EFI System Partition (ESP), which is a partition used by the firmware to store boot loaders and drivers. An ESP isn't strictly required on Macs, but Apple does use it to help out with firmware updates, so it's probably best if you have one. Note, however, that I'm only passingly familiar with Partition Inspector; I'm not 100% certain that it even shows ESPs. If it's missing, you can create it with a tool like OS X's standard "gpt" command or my GPT fdisk (gdisk). You'll also need to create a new FAT filesystem on it with (IIRC) newfs_msdos. Sorry I'm a little foggy on the details; my Mac is booted into Linux at the moment, so I can't check the options.

As to the directories you've identified (bin, sbin, and so on), these are standard Unix directories. They're present on both Linux and OS X systems. You should not delete them. In a normal Linux/OS X dual-boot configuration, Linux won't write anything to the OS X partition, so it's very unlikely that there are any traces of Linux left on your OS X partition. (The closest thing to an exception is rEFIt, which is a boot manager and so not strictly a part of either OS; however, rEFIt often gets installed on the OS X partition.)

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