I need an unconventional way of installing OSX

[gozulin]

SOLVED

Basically, OSX on my internal HD (intel X25M) stopped booting.

I have an external HD with an old clone of OSX. On the same HD are also stored Time Machine snapshots. I'm on a trip and I left my Leopard DVD at home.

things I tried that ended in fail:

I tried downloading a copy of snow leopard, trimming it to fit on a single layer DVDR and burning it. Didn't show up as boot option. FAIL!

I formatted my internal HDD, hoping to install a fresh OSX on it from my external HDD boot. The x25-M shows as an install option but it it won't proceed for some reason. FAIL!

I have one blank single layer DVDR left, an iPhone and some string. Should I abandon my efforts?

Thanks for reading my tale of woes in any case.

 

[mkrishnan]

So you have an external drive with you that has both a cloned image of an OS X installation and Time Machine backups....

- Where did the cloned OS X image come from? What version of OS X is it? Is it a version that's at least as new as this Mac that you have with you (otherwise it may not boot or run properly even if you clone it)? How was the clone made?

And how are you trying to re-install it? Are you saying that you try to image it from CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper or whatever you used to make it, or are you trying to do something different?

- Are the time machine backups full drive backups, and did they come from that computer?

If you can't get the image to clone, I would go for going to an Apple store and seeing if you can't get a Genius to help you restore from the TM files.

 

[gozulin]

So you have an external drive with you that has both a cloned image of an OS X installation and Time Machine backups....

Yup

Where did the cloned OS X image come from? What version of OS X is it? Is it a version that's at least as new as this Mac that you have with you (otherwise it may not boot or run properly even if you clone it)? How was the clone made?

From my hard drive, circa 4-5 months ago. It's leopard 10.5.6 . I made the clone with SuperDuper.

And how are you trying to re-install it? Are you saying that you try to image it from CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper or whatever you used to make it, or are you trying to do something different?

Reinstalling leopard on the main HD is not my main objective. I'd ideally want to restore my latest time machine backup. If I can't, well, I figured I'd try snow leopard from my hdd for the next 10 days. At least then I won't have to carry my external hd wherever I go and put up with its slowness in the meantime.

- Are the time machine backups full drive backups, and did they come from that computer?

I imagine so and yes.

If you can't get the image to clone, I would go for going to an Apple store and seeing if you can't get a Genius to help you restore from the TM files.

No Apple Store in Casablanca, Morocco. When my trip is over, I can simply boot from my official leopard DVD and restore. I've done it once since this is my second x-25M crash...

 

[gozulin]

I ended up buying a and burning a dual layer DVD.

Testing snow leopard beta now.

 

[Tallest Skil]

I ended up buying a and burning a dual layer DVD.

Testing snow leopard beta now.

Make sure you do it right. You can't just burn the DMG to a disk; you have to use Disk Utility.

 

[mkrishnan]

No Apple Store in Casablanca, Morocco.

Dude, you should be in a smoky bar, not fecking with your computer.

Best of luck with the DVD option!