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Booting From External Hard Drive

IMcD23

IMcD23

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 4, 2007
232
0
Iowa, United States, Earth, Milky Way, . . .
A few months ago, I bought a Western Digital 500GB Hard drive and made 2 partitions on it. One for my backup files and one for the clone of my hd made w/ Carbon Copy Cloner. How do I boot off of the clone. It is listed in the startup disk section in sys. prefs, but when I reboot and hold down the Option key, it doesn't show. It's light is on. Oh, by the way, I have a 17 inch Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz iMac. The partition table says it is invalid when I try to edit the partitions. Any Suggestions???
 
Are you connected via firewire to the drive? I heard there are some drives that don't work if you're connected via USB 2.0.
 
OllyW said:
Intel Macs will boot from USB or Firewire hard drives, PowerPC Macs are Firewire only.
Click to expand...

Actually, I believe that there are a few of PPC Macs that can boot from USB. If I remember correctly, I think the last Revision of the PowerBook could. This is partially because Apple dropped FW support on the 5th gen iPod (10/12/05). The latest PB was released a week later. I remember being pissed off at the dropped firewire because of it's ability to be booted from, but I think the PB released that next week remedied it.

http://developer.apple.com/document...tosh_CPUs-G4/PowerBook_G419Dec00/PBG4-45.html

Apple said:
The PowerBook G4 computer can boot from a USB storage device that follows the USB Mass Storage Class specification.

Class drivers are software components that are able to communicate with many USB devices of a particular kind. If the appropriate class driver is present, any number of compliant devices can be plugged in and start working immediately without the need to install additional software. The Mac OS for the PowerBook G4 computer includes USB Mass Storage Support 2.0, a class driver that supports devices that meet the USB Mass Storage Class specification.
Click to expand...

Similar notes can be found for other PPC machines as well.
 
try rEFIt

rEFIt allows you to boot from most volumes, i use it to "quad boot" my MBP:
Internal Mac OS X and Windows
External (USB 2.0) Mac OS X Carbon Copy and Linux
It doesn't explain why it isn't working like it was, but it is a great solution, i think.
 
As it shows up in Systems Preferences / Startup Disks, it is strange that you cannot boot from it.

Have you tried to Repair the Disk and Repair Permissions on the Backup drive using Disk Utility? Also check the disk to make sure that it is formatted as :

Partition Scheme : GUID Partition Table
 
darthmullet: I will try rEFIt. Maybe that will help.

chas0001: Doing that right now. Will edit with more info.

EDIT: No repairs were necessary. It shows a MBR Partition table, not GUID... but to change that, I will have to erase the drive, correct? rEFIt shows the same as the normal one...darn
 
Can I delete the two other partitions on my internal hard disk to put the stuff on there, because I was wanting to do the very same as darthmullet. I wanted to boot off the clone to partition the internal drive and then put the files on the external hd on the internal hd and then put ubuntu linux on the external hd along with the CCC backup...:eek:
 
The USB drive definitely has to be formatted using the GUID Partition table in order to boot from a Intel MAC. If you need to know how to do it just post.

If you are able to loose the backup data, just reformat it and then perform the clone again from your Internal Hard Drive.
 
If you want to repartition your internal drive, whilst retaining the MACOS you have the following options (and possibly others)

1. Reformat the USB drive to GUID. Clone your internal drive to it (as a backup and something to boot from) and then boot from the USB drive. If you use the diskutil application you can only reformat the whole internal disk (loosing eveything on the internal disk), so you would have to clone the USB back to the internal drive after reformatting. It does not let you delete partitions and resize others. If use use DISKUTIL in command mode (via the TERMINAL.app) you can delete partitions and resize them. You really have to know what you are doing. See this http://www.macgeekery.com/tips/cli/nondestructively_resizing_volumes

or

2. Reformat the USB drive to GUID. Clone your internal drive to it (as a backup and something to boot from) and then boot from the USB drive. Download iPartition and use it to delete the partitions you dont want on the internal disk and to resize the main partition. I use this application a lot (I have many disks) and have never had a problem with it. Unfortunately it is not FREE.

*
I know its a lot of peeing about but I would always recommend having a full backup of the system somewhere just in case something goes wrong. This stems from being a Windows user in the past.

Good Luck.
 
jdechko said:
Actually, I believe that there are a few of PPC Macs that can boot from USB. If I remember correctly, I think the last Revision of the PowerBook could. This is partially because Apple dropped FW support on the 5th gen iPod (10/12/05). The latest PB was released a week later. I remember being pissed off at the dropped firewire because of it's ability to be booted from, but I think the PB released that next week remedied it.

http://developer.apple.com/document...tosh_CPUs-G4/PowerBook_G419Dec00/PBG4-45.html



Similar notes can be found for other PPC machines as well.
Click to expand...

You learn something new every day :eek:
 
chas0001 said:
If you want to repartition your internal drive, whilst retaining the MACOS you have the following options (and possibly others)

1. Reformat the USB drive to GUID. Clone your internal drive to it (as a backup and something to boot from) and then boot from the USB drive. If you use the diskutil application you can only reformat the whole internal disk (loosing eveything on the internal disk), so you would have to clone the USB back to the internal drive after reformatting. It does not let you delete partitions and resize others. If use use DISKUTIL in command mode (via the TERMINAL.app) you can delete partitions and resize them. You really have to know what you are doing. See this http://www.macgeekery.com/tips/cli/nondestructively_resizing_volumes

or

2. Reformat the USB drive to GUID. Clone your internal drive to it (as a backup and something to boot from) and then boot from the USB drive. Download iPartition and use it to delete the partitions you dont want on the internal disk and to resize the main partition. I use this application a lot (I have many disks) and have never had a problem with it. Unfortunately it is not FREE.

*
I know its a lot of peeing about but I would always recommend having a full backup of the system somewhere just in case something goes wrong. This stems from being a Windows user in the past.

Good Luck.
Click to expand...

The only thing is that I have 67 gbs of files on the external hd. (including my itunes lib.) I can't repartition or I will lose that.
 
Do you have enough space to backup the USB drive onto the internal drive (i.e. create a folder in the internal drive and copy everything from the usb drive into it). You can then copy it all back when you have finished partitioning the internal drive.

You could use iPartition to partition the USB drive (i.e add a new partition that will contain the clone of your internal hard drive) but then you will not have a backup of the files on it if something was to go wrong.

Without knowing the capacities and free space of all your drives it very hard to advise you.
 
yeah we need to know how much space you have.

but to boot, like others have said, the drive has to have the GUID partition scheme, so you'll have to reformat it to get it in that scheme.
 
chas0001 said:
Without knowing the capacities and free space of all your drives it very hard to advise you.
Click to expand...

Internal Disk:

Partition Scheme: GUID Partition Table
Total Capacity: 149.1 GB
PARTITION 1: "Mac OS X" (System)
Mount Point: /
Capacity: 49.6 GB (53,214,642,176 Bytes)
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Available: 14.8 GB (15,913,975,808 Bytes)
Used: 34.7 GB (37,300,666,368 Bytes)
PARTITION 2:disk0s3 "blank partition"(meant to be deleted) 49.7GB
PARTITION 3:"Untitled" crashed windows partition (meant to be deleted) 49.6GB

External Disk:

Partition Scheme: Master Boot Record
Total Capacity: 465.8 GB
PARTITION 1: "FILES" (My Large Files)
Capacity: 232.9 GB
Mount Point: /Volumes/Files
Format: MS-DOS File System (FAT32)
Available: 164.9 GB
Used: 67.9 GB
PARTITION 2: "OS" (My Carbon Copy Cloner "Clone")
Capacity: 232.9 GB
Mount Point: /Volumes/OS
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Available: 199.2 GB
Used: 33.7 GB


THERE YOU GO
 
IMcD23 said:
Internal Disk:

Partition Scheme: GUID Partition Table
Total Capacity: 149.1 GB
PARTITION 1: "Mac OS X" (System)
Mount Point: /
Capacity: 49.6 GB (53,214,642,176 Bytes)
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Available: 14.8 GB (15,913,975,808 Bytes)
Used: 34.7 GB (37,300,666,368 Bytes)
PARTITION 2:disk0s3 "blank partition"(meant to be deleted) 49.7GB
PARTITION 3:"Untitled" crashed windows partition (meant to be deleted) 49.6GB

External Disk:

Partition Scheme: Master Boot Record
Total Capacity: 465.8 GB
PARTITION 1: "FILES" (My Large Files)
Capacity: 232.9 GB
Mount Point: /Volumes/Files
Format: MS-DOS File System (FAT32)
Available: 164.9 GB
Used: 67.9 GB
PARTITION 2: "OS" (My Carbon Copy Cloner "Clone")
Capacity: 232.9 GB
Mount Point: /Volumes/OS
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Available: 199.2 GB
Used: 33.7 GB


THERE YOU GO
Click to expand...

Thanks.

If you had no data you wanted to keep on the USB drive then it would be much easier. Unfortunately that is not an option, unless you have other storage available. The whole problem is that you do not have enough space to keep a complete backup (including the stuff on the SUB drive) of your system should something go wrong!

OK...

1. Reclone your internal drive to the USB drive so that you have a complete, up to date backup.
2. Run Migration Assistant from your /Applications/Utilities folder.
-- We want to check that the USB drives contents are recognized by this program
  • Click Continue
  • Enter your admin password
  • Click Continue
  • Choose 'from another volume on this mac'
  • Check the next screen to see if the cloned OS appears on the USB drive
  • If it does then thats good and continue. If it does not then your screwed.
3. -- Now we have to reinstall os x on the internal drive - by wiping your internal drive!
  • boot from the OS X Install DVD (press and hold C during startup)
  • After choosing the language select UTILITIES and DISK UTILITY from the main menu.
  • In disk utility select your INTERNAL disk and click on the partition tab. Restore your internal drive to 1 partition and name it eg. Macintosh HD. Remember to click on the options button and ensure that GUID Partition Table is selected. Now click on the Partition button.
4. Now close Disk Utility and continue installing OS X onto your INTERNAL DRIVE.
  • When it completes your computer will reboot.
  • When it has booted the 'Startup' Assistant will run and your will be asked to enter some personal information.
  • It will then ask you if you want to migrate your system from another computer (this is the Migration Assistant).
  • Say yes and tell it that you want to migrate from another volume on your computer.
  • It should now list the backup you created in the USB drive. Select it and then let the migration assistant copy everything back to your internal drive. This may take a while.
  • When it has finished restart the computer and make sure that everything is there that should be.
  • now run Software update and get your computer up to date. There may be quite a few updates to install depending on the version of your OS X Install DVD.

This is the only method I can think of that will always ensure you have a backup of your internal disk should anything go wrong. There may be other options. e.g. buy another external HD.

Good Luck :)
 
IMcD23 said:
What all does Mig. Assist. copy over?
Click to expand...

Migration assistant can copy everything over e.g. Accounts, applications, application preferences, settings. Essentially the internal hard drive will look exactly like the USB image (apart from the fact that Software Updates will need to be applied). This utility is mainly used when people move everything to a new computer. I always use it and have never had a problem. It also allows you do do selective migrations e.g. Just copy over users.

If you choose this option ensure that you check every box when it asks you want to want to copy over.
 
chas0001 said:
Migration assistant can copy everything over e.g. Accounts, applications, application preferences, settings. Essentially the internal hard drive will look exactly like the USB image (apart from the fact that Software Updates will need to be applied). This utility is mainly used when people move everything to a new computer. I always use it and have never had a problem. It also allows you do do selective migrations e.g. Just copy over users.

If you choose this option ensure that you check every box when it asks you want to want to copy over.
Click to expand...

Good
 
IMcD23 said:
What install options? (ex. ilife, x11, etc.) does it matter?
Click to expand...

I usually install everything apart from Languages and printer drivers and any trial software e.g. Microsoft Word

It really depends upon what you want to use. If you choose not to install stuff now you can always install it at a later date.
 
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