How TO BOOT POWERBOOK FROM EXTERNAL DRIVE?

Discussion in 'PowerPC Macs' started by fourthtunz, Jan 24, 2007.

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  1. fourthtunz, Jan 24, 2007

    fourthtunz macrumors 6502a

    fourthtunz

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    #1
    I have a powerbook 12' 867 mghz, I know I would rather have a new one,:mad: but not ready to give up on this old gal yet! Anywhoo I thought the logic board was fried but after letting the powerbook "rest" I came back months later and sometimes it will boot but as soon as I try to do anything it freezes, so maybe the harddrive is fried? How do you get it to ignore the internal drive so it will boot from an external? I guess I could just pull out the internal one?
    ideas? Thanks!:confused:
     
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  2. kainjow, Jan 24, 2007

    kainjow Moderator emeritus

    kainjow

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    #2
    Hold down Option during startup.
     
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  3. fourthtunz, Jan 24, 2007

    fourthtunz thread starter macrumors 6502a

    fourthtunz

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    #3
    Jeez, I used to know this stuff:eek:
    Thanks!
     
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  4. Probe dms, Feb 26, 2009

    Probe dms macrumors newbie

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    #4
    do i need to boot from a firewire drive or will a usb drive work?
     
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  5. iLog.Genius, Feb 26, 2009

    iLog.Genius macrumors 601

    iLog.Genius

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    #5
    USB drive should work.
     
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  6. alphaod, Feb 26, 2009

    alphaod macrumors Core

    alphaod

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    #6
    Only Intel machines can boot off USB, so you need to use Firewire.
     
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  7. Mechcozmo, Feb 26, 2009

    Mechcozmo macrumors 603

    Mechcozmo

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    #7
    You need to boot off of a Firewire drive, formatted in HFS+, with the partition map set to "Apple Partition Map" vs. "GUID" which is for Intel Macs only.

    An old iPod is pretty handy for this sort of a thing....
     
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  8. arthur0929, Oct 22, 2009

    arthur0929 macrumors newbie

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    #8
    Thanks Mechozmo that's helpful. I've been trying to boot my Powerbook from a USB drive and now thanks to you I'm going to use a Firewire drive.

    How do I format my firewire drive so that it's bootable? I have the OS 10.5 install disk. I want to be able to boot from the external drive, then use that drive to reinstall OS 10.5 on the Powerbook hard drive.

    For my external drive I can use a firewire drive or my new Macbook Pro laptop connected with firewire.

    Thanks!!
     
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  9. NC MacGuy, Oct 22, 2009

    NC MacGuy macrumors 603

    NC MacGuy

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    #9
    Not to be silly or anything but why can't you boot from your onboard optical?

    It should still work with a fried HDD.

    Hold down the C key and insert disk when restarting.

    Maybe I missed something?

    EDIT:
    WTF? This thread is ancient...
     
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  10. Tralmek, Oct 23, 2009

    Tralmek macrumors member

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    #10
    My guess is you're seeing evidence of someone new to the forums actually using the search function ;)

    Necro posts are the inherent danger of encouraging searches for problems that have been previously discussed, but not locking threads after a period of inactivity.
     
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