External HD?

tobio · Mar 17, 2006, 06:31 AM

I just read through the instructions and am looking forward to trying this out, unfortunately I am away at my parents all weekend so I will have to wait until next week.

However one thing struck me while reading about all the partitioning business.

Couldn't you make your life a lot simpler and install either Windows or OSX (or both) onto external Firewire or USB hard disks?

[Just noticed that someone else raised this point before me, I missed it on my first sweep through the forums]

Mitthrawnuruodo · Mar 17, 2006, 06:35 AM

There has been some other threads mentioning that Windows will not boot from a Firewire disk. And very few Macs (non of the current ones, AFAIK) will boot from USB. So the answer must be: Probably not...

c-Row · Mar 17, 2006, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobio

Couldn't you make your life a lot simpler and install either Windows or OSX (or both) onto external Firewire or USB hard disks?

Apparently FireWire isn't supported by the Windows install routine. USB however might be completely different. The issue has been brought up within several other threads, maybe you want to check those as well.

[edit] Ah, mere seconds too late...

tobio · Mar 17, 2006, 06:39 AM

I had no idea that intel macs didn't boot from firewire anymore (ignoring windows for a second)

My powerbook is perfectly happy to do so, and I always saw it as a really good way to test out things exactly like this. I haven't had my mini long enough to try it, but its a real shame if that function is gone.

Mitthrawnuruodo · Mar 17, 2006, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobio

I had no idea that intel macs didn't boot from firewire anymore (ignoring windows for a second)

I think they will boot into OS X from a Firewire disk... just not Windows...

Liquidity X · Mar 17, 2006, 09:18 AM

Could you please link to the thread mentioned above about booting XP off a USB2 drive?

balamw · Mar 17, 2006, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liquidity X

Could you please link to the thread mentioned above about booting XP off a USB2 drive?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=187245 I presume.

B

mainsolutions · Mar 17, 2006, 11:28 AM

According to Apple Reps at MacWorld, the new Intel Macs support Firewire booting and USB booting through EFI, though I've yet to see someone test it.

Mitthrawnuruodo · Mar 17, 2006, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mainsolutions

According to Apple Reps at MacWorld, the new Intel Macs support Firewire booting and USB booting through EFI, though I've yet to see someone test it.

That would be great... anybody out there with a new Intel Mac and a USB2 disk that would care to try...?

I could boot my Pismo from a USB disk, but not my iBook. It would be great if that was an option again...

LimeiBook86 · Mar 17, 2006, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mitthrawnuruodo

That would be great... anybody out there with a new Intel Mac and a USB2 disk that would care to try...?

I could boot my Pismo from a USB disk, but not my iBook. It would be great if that was an option again...

Yeah I have an intel iMac and a USB to IDE adapter. But, I'd have to install Mac OS X with the discs that came with my iMac to the HD, I don't have enough space on the HD to do so. But, I'll look around to see if I can find a hard drive big enough to install Mac OS X on it, I can probably take out the extra languages etc but, we'll see what happens.

...Now it's off to find a hard drive

JoeTheZombie · 07:23 PM

Windows XP is not capable of booting from USB or FW drives as these interfaces are re-initialized late in the booting sequence, thus cutting the drive off from the boot process.

Edit: Apparently, someone has figured a way around this problem:

http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176

balamw · Mar 17, 2006, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeTheZombie

Edit: Apparently, someone has figured a way around this problem:http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176

Wow, that's wild since it essentially only involves minor edits to some text files and no new binaries. Makes you wonder why Microsoft doesn't just make similar edits.

The ability to boot a full Windows OS off of USB 2.0 or FireWire would be a great boon to system administrators and other troubleshooters.

B

Mar 17, 2006, 06:31 AM	#1
tobio macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: London	External HD? I just read through the instructions and am looking forward to trying this out, unfortunately I am away at my parents all weekend so I will have to wait until next week. However one thing struck me while reading about all the partitioning business. Couldn't you make your life a lot simpler and install either Windows or OSX (or both) onto external Firewire or USB hard disks? [Just noticed that someone else raised this point before me, I missed it on my first sweep through the forums]

Mar 17, 2006, 06:35 AM	#2
Mitthrawnuruodo Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Bergen, Norway	There has been some other threads mentioning that Windows will not boot from a Firewire disk. And very few Macs (non of the current ones, AFAIK) will boot from USB. So the answer must be: Probably not... __________________ Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it; those who fail to learn history correctly... why, they are simply doomed.

Mar 17, 2006, 09:18 AM	#6
Liquidity X macrumors member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Windham, ME	Could you please link to the thread mentioned above about booting XP off a USB2 drive? __________________ li·quid·i·ty·X (li-kwid'i-te X) n. 1. The state of being liquid more than or beyond what is usual, normal, expected, or necessary.

Mar 17, 2006, 11:28 AM	#8
mainsolutions macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2006	Intel Macs EFI support USB booting According to Apple Reps at MacWorld, the new Intel Macs support Firewire booting and USB booting through EFI, though I've yet to see someone test it.

Mar 17, 2006, 07:15 PM	#11
JoeTheZombie macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2006	Windows XP is not capable of booting from USB or FW drives as these interfaces are re-initialized late in the booting sequence, thus cutting the drive off from the boot process. Edit: Apparently, someone has figured a way around this problem: http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176 Last edited by JoeTheZombie : Mar 17, 2006 at 07:23 PM.

Mar 17, 2006, 06:39 AM	#4
tobio Thread Starter macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: London	I had no idea that intel macs didn't boot from firewire anymore (ignoring windows for a second) My powerbook is perfectly happy to do so, and I always saw it as a really good way to test out things exactly like this. I haven't had my mini long enough to try it, but its a real shame if that function is gone.

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