MacBook Dual Boot - OSX Locked Out

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Hello.

I'm running Leopard on a MacBook, and used Boot Camp to install Windows XP. It was working fine for several months. I would switch back and forth a couple times a day, using the option key when rebooting to call up the OS option screen. Then this morning I rebooted, holding down the option key, but it went straight to Windows and now I can't get back to OSX.

I have read this thread:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/wi...cant-boot-mac-after-installing-boot-camp.html

I have tried using the install disc, holding "C" down while rebooting, but it still just goes straight to Windows.

Any suggestions?

J.
 

chscag

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Try this from the Apple KB:

Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

Let us know if it works.

Regards.

Thanks for the tip.

I managed to get back into OSX by simply selecting "restart in OSX" in the Boot Camp Assistant on the Windows side (via the black diamond icon in the system tray). Don't know why this wasn't mentioned in previous threads...

But now I can't get back into Windows! Holding down the "option" key while restarting still doesn't call up the boot selection screen. I will try resetting the PRAM and see if that helps.

Thanks,

J.
 
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Okay, so it turns out the problem was my new mac keyboard, which has been injecting unwanted keystrokes on a steadily increasing basis over the past week. It started with a strange little bug where the "shift" key wouldn't work with the letter "p". It worked with every other key, but not "p". Then, search fields in various programs began filling up with multiple "3" characters, causing them to be virtually unusable. Then scrolling problems emerged, and finally I realized that if the keyboard was adding keystrokes where they weren't wanted, then this is likely what was causing the "option" key to go unrecognized when rebooting. So I unplugged the keyboard, and everything is back to normal. Holding "option" down while rebooting once again calls up the disk option screen, and I'm back to being able to toggle between windows and OSX without any trouble.

Gotta take this keyboard back the apple store I guess.

J.
 
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Fascinating, thanks for posting back - it really helps other users later when they see the whole range of things to check. It always amazes me how many "other" things can go wrong that automatically get blamed on Boot Camp, VM, Windows or even OSX when they turn out to be unrelated. Glad you solved it!
 

chscag

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If you purchased a new aluminum Mac keyboard, download and install the latest firmware update for it. That might solve the problem with the "stray" keys. Anyway, glad you resolved it. :D

Regards.
 

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