Trying to install Tiger on an external USB hard drive

[sethypoo]

I recently purchased a new 160GB hard drive for my MacBook Pro to replace the stock 80GB one inside the computer. With it, I also purchased an external USB 2.0 hard drive enclosure. My plan was to put the new 160GB HDD into the enclosure, install Mac OS X 10.4, transfer all my data over from my old 80GB drive, then open up my MBP and install the 160GB HDD. The 80GB drive would then be installed into the external enclosure.

The problem I'm having is installing Mac OS X from my Tiger install DVD on to the new 160GB drive. I can't open up the install application and target the new drive. Is there something I'm missing? I know that on older Macs, only FireWire drives could boot a computer, but that newer Macs could boot from a USB 2.0 drive.

So, what do I do to install Mac OS X to my new hard drive that is hooked up to my MBP via USB 2.0?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Queso]

You would probably be better off using Carbon Copy Cloner to replicate your internal drive onto the external one, then do the swap.

 

[sethypoo]

You would probably be better off using Carbon Copy Cloner to replicate your internal drive onto the external one, then do the swap.

Thanks. And is this safe for permanent booting, meaning, it won't create a shoddy copy of my current hard drive that will prevent me from using my computer later?

A silly question, I know, but I want to do this right.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Its not showing up because USB will not boot OSX. It has to be FireWire.

I think?

 

[Queso]

Thanks. And is this safe for permanent booting, meaning, it won't create a shoddy copy of my current hard drive that will prevent me from using my computer later?

A silly question, I know, but I want to do this right.

I've used Carbon Copy Cloner in the past to put a standard OSX image onto several PowerPC Macs and they all booted quite happily afterwards. Can't see why it wouldn't also be the same with Intel Macs.

 

[glennp]

The problem I'm having is installing Mac OS X from my Tiger install DVD on to the new 160GB drive. I can't open up the install application and target the new drive. Is there something I'm missing?

Did you format the new drive with a GUID partition table so it can boot intel-based Macs? Previously, Mac drives only used the Apple Partition Map (APM) which can be used with an intel-based Mac but can't be used to boot one (well, you actually can use an APM drive to boot an intel Mac but it's not the official stance).

If you reformat the new drive with a GUID partition table, you should be able to install the OS on it for your MacBook Pro.