Installing ESXi on IBM Lenovo T61 Laptop

Posted on March 1, 2009 by in Linux and Unix OS, Microsoft OS, Operating Systems, Virtual Machine // 7 Comments

Finally, I got ESXi to work on my IBM Lenovo T61 laptop. VMware doesn’t make it easy for unsupported hardware, but I found the file and site with the instruction on how to do it. Check out VM-HELP.

1. You will need to download the ESXi iso and register with them to get a free ESXi license.

2. Click here to download a newer version of the “OEM.TGZ” file.
* Make sure to rename it to “OEM.TGZ”

3. Download and Install “MagicISO” or any other application that allow you to change/edit ISO files.

4. Add/Replace the old “OEM.TGZ” from the ESXi iso with the one that you downloaded

5. Burn the newly created ESXi.iso to CD

6. Download a Linux Live CD – SLAX iso and burn it to a CD too

7. Now, boot the newly created ESXi.iso on the T61 laptop

8. This time you should be able to install the ESXi on the T61 laptop.

9. Once the installation is completed and ESXi needs to be rebooted, insert the LINUX live cd to the laptop instead. This is because we need to add/replace the “OEM.TGZ” to ESXi (This is the second partition of the HD).

10. I connected into my other machine to copy the new “OEM.TGZ” file.

11. Remove the LINUX Live CD and restart the laptop.

12. ESXi should be working now on the T61 laptop.

13. Use another computer and connect into the management IP address to download the VM VI client.

7 Comments on Installing ESXi on IBM Lenovo T61 Laptop

  1. polar // March 24, 2009 at 1:54 am //

    hello, i’m now trying to install ESXi on T61, i can connect to the T61 by VMware Infrsatructure Client but didn’t see the Storage at the client. any ideas? thanks

  2. admin // March 27, 2009 at 7:18 am //

    Hi,

    Have you replaced the OEM.TGZ file in both places? It could be that you forgot to replace the OEM.TGZ file in the dd file.

  3. mattias // October 26, 2010 at 6:30 am //

    Hi

    I’m trying to install ESXi on my T61, But i cant get the installation to find my drive, i was wondering what version of ESXi you were using? I’ve tried with 3.5 and 4.0 but none works.

  4. admin // October 26, 2010 at 7:57 pm //

    You have to add the OEM.TGZ that contain your HD driver. You can go to the VMWare site to find an updated version or a version that works for your HD. When I tested, i installed using 4.0

  5. mattias // October 28, 2010 at 4:33 am //

    whats the best way to find the version specific for my HD driver?

  6. genivTech // October 28, 2010 at 10:56 am //

    Hi Mattias, did you download the OEM.TGZ mentioned on the post?

    Go here http://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/Custom_oem.tgz/CommunityUnifiedDriverPack_v1.0.4_U3-123629.oem.tgz
    to download the oem.tgz file.

  7. mattias // October 29, 2010 at 1:44 am //

    Yes i did, then replaced the OEM in the vmwareinstallation.iso with the new one, but the installation cant find my drive anyways, thats why i asked :/

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