Thinkpads Forum

Hi, I'm a new by here, I just want to know is it possible to install OS X on ThinkPad (mine is X60) without losing the ability to get into R&R system by pressing the blue button when the system starts?

I've installed ubuntu 7.04 on my X60, and since then I've lost the ability to login to R&R by pressing the blue button.

Does any one familiar with that? Thanks.

If you install OSX on a seperate drive and boot into it with a BIOS switch (F12), you can still maintain R&R partition capabilities. For an X60 I'd assume the 2nd drive would be in a dock. For the Ubuntu issue, it sounds like you installed GRUB to the MBR of your primary drive. If you install GRUB to the boot partition and make it primary/active this would not impact the R&R function. Again this would have to be a primary partition and not an extended one. There is a way to fix R&R (MBR Repair Diskette from Lenovo), and you'd also have to reinstall GRUB. This thread belongs in the Linux forum for those details.

MBR Repair Kit

Thank you Harryc.
Unfortunately I don't have a dock or a 2nd hard drive. I've heard of somebody managed to get WinXP & ubuntu dual boot done while leaving the MBR untouched. They seemed like to have used the NT loader to load ubuntu Linux.

Do you think it possible to load OSX using the NT loader (I guess it's harder than it sounds~.~)

Thanks

Yes. You have to install GRUB in Windows and use that to load OS X. The Windows stage 1 bootloader in the MBR loads NTLDR, the stage 2 bootloader. You add an entry in NTLDR to load GRUB, then add an entry in the GRUB menu to boot OS X.