Using a Firewire drive to boot Panther / Jaguar

[Studio de' Lara]

Hello,
I am new to Macs. I had heard how you can use an Ipod to load and boot an OS (say Jaguar) for your Mac.
I would like to use one of my Firewire drives to install Panther on (when it comes out) to avoid any issues using this new OS. i would like to test this OS with all my software.
I run audio software (record with Mac and PC) and don't want to ruin the current setup I have (very fast and very stable).
Is there a way to do a "dual / multiple boot" like I can with Windows? At one time I had the choice of booting into four different Windows Operating systems.
I am really liking the Mac experience. OS X 10.2.6 has been very stable.
I really want to learn all the tricks (I know Windows and PCs very well) with OS X / Mac computers.
Any good links for this kind of info?
Regards,
Richard

[whocares]

You should be able to keep Jaguar on your machines drive and install Panther on any external bootable device (HD, iPod, etc). Just choose the desired drive when you install Panther.

Then hold down the "option" key (the one that says "alt") while booting up and you'll get the choice of system you want to load.

Piece of cake!

[rainman::|:|]

yes it's very easy, i keep a jag system on my firewire for maintenance purposes... just install it however you want... you may also clone an existing system, which would be handy here-- just clone the system onto the external, then upgrade the system to Panther. If something doesn't work, you can use the old system, or boot from it if necessary...

tho generally OS updates are good about keeping functionality...

pnw

[LimeLite]

Make sure that your external firewire drive is a bootable one. You can't boot from all drives.

[Studio de' Lara]

Thanks for the responses.
What is the best way to clone an OS? is there a third party utility (like Norton Ghost, which I use regularly with Windows).
How would I know if my firewire drive is bootable?
I better start reading more.....
Regards,
Rich

[whocares]

Originally posted by Studio de' Lara
Thanks for the responses.
What is the best way to clone an OS? is there a third party utility (like Norton Ghost, which I use regularly with Windows).
How would I know if my firewire drive is bootable?
I better start reading more.....
Regards,
Rich

Try Carbon Copy Cloner. You should find in on http://www.versiontracker.com

The documentation that came w/ your FW drive should say if it's bootable or not.

[crazzyeddie]

Im almost 100% sure that any firewire drive you get should be bootable.

[LimeLite]

Originally posted by crazzyeddie
Im almost 100% sure that any firewire drive you get should be bootable.
They are not all bootable. Most, perhaps, but not all.