{"id":764,"date":"2007-04-04T20:51:06","date_gmt":"2007-04-04T19:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2007\/04\/thinkbook-macpad.htm"},"modified":"2007-04-05T08:43:01","modified_gmt":"2007-04-05T07:43:01","slug":"thinkbook-macpad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2007\/04\/thinkbook-macpad.htm","title":{"rendered":"ThinkBook? MacPad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Firstly, let me point out that I am not publicly condoning software piracy. To run Apple Mac OS X 10.4 on anything other than a properly licensed Macintosh computer would be very, very naughty.<\/p>\n

If, however, you did have a spare copy of OS X and you wanted to install it on a well-built black notebook PC (say, for example, an IBM ThinkPad T40) without shelling out extra cash for a black MacBook, this is how you might do it. I’m not sure if the end result should be known as a ThinkBook or a MacPad…<\/p>\n

Following Profit42’s advice for installing OS X 10.4.x on a “normal” PC<\/a> (and assuming that all data on the target computer’s hard disk can be wiped):<\/p>\n

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  1. Make sure that the target computer supports at least the SSE2 instruction set (if you are running Windows then CPU-Z <\/a>will help).<\/li>\n
  2. Obtain a pre-patched OS X install DVD image (available to Apple developers… although I understand that googling for JaS OSx86 may help out a little…).<\/li>\n
  3. Burn the OS X install image (e.g. 10.4.6.install.dvd.iso) to DVD.<\/li>\n
  4. Boot the target computer from the DVD and press a key when prompted to install OS X.<\/li>\n
  5. After the grey screen with the Apple logo, follow the installer prompts until there is a blue screen and a menu bar at the top. At this point select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.<\/li>\n
  6. Create a single partition on the disk formatted as Mac OS X extended (journaled). Then close Disk Utility.<\/li>\n
  7. Continue with the installer prompts, customising the installation after selecting the target hard disk and ensuring that all appropriate patches are selected (e.g. 10.4.6.Combo.Update, Intel.SSE2 and 10.4.6.Radeon.Mobility.Support).<\/li>\n
  8. Continue until the installation is complete and reboot into OS X.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If presented with a b0 error<\/em> message, then there are a couple of methods to work around this<\/a>. The basic problem is that the partition has not been set active (bootable). Live CDs such as GParted<\/a> (or even an MS-DOS boot disk with FDISK) may help but one method is to boot from the install DVD again but this time don’t press a key. OS X should boot and once set up it should be possible to launch Terminal (from the Utilities folder, under Applications) and set the appropriate partition to be active<\/a>, following the advice from Rammjet at Insanely Mac<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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    1. Type diskutil list<\/code> and verify which disk holds the OS X partition.<\/li>\n
    2. Assuming that the disk is disk0, enter the command sudo fdisk -e \/dev\/rdisk0<\/code> (note the r in rdisk) and enter your password when prompted.<\/li>\n
    3. Ignore the fdisk: could not open MBR file \/usr\/standalone\/i386\/boot0: No such file or directory<\/em> error.<\/li>\n
    4. At the fdisk: 1> prompt, type p<\/code> and verify which partition holds OS X.<\/li>\n
    5. Assuming that it is partition 1, type f 1<\/code> – the response should be Partition 1 marked active<\/em> and the prompt should change to fdisk:*1>.<\/li>\n
    6. Save the changes with write<\/code> then enter y<\/code> to confirm that a restart will be required, followed by exit<\/code>.<\/li>\n
    7. Remove the install DVD and reboot.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Finally:<\/p>\n