iPod what does this review mean by booting (nano)?

[orijinal]

http://playlistmag.com/reviews/2005/09/nanoreview/index.php

"Unlike with full-sized iPods, you can’t install Mac OS X on the nano and boot from it—the Mac OS Installer recognizes the nano but refuses to install to it. (The iPod mini shared this same limitation.)"

what does that mean?

 

[mkrishnan]

http://playlistmag.com/reviews/2005/09/nanoreview/index.php

"Unlike with full-sized iPods, you can’t install Mac OS X on the nano and boot from it—the Mac OS Installer recognizes the nano but refuses to install to it. (The iPod mini shared this same limitation.)"

what does that mean?

It is possible, with the full size iPod at least, to connect it to the computer with Firewire and use it as a disk drive only (the computer doesn't really treat it as if it's an iPod). This is called target disk mode. If you install OS X on the iPod and reboot the computer with the iPod in target disk mode, you can use it as a master or boot drive (AFAIK, Macs can boot off FW devices but not USB devices, at present).

This allows you, for instance, to carry around a copy of OS X and your files, so that every computer you boot off of it would look almost the same (which may not be a good idea because of driver issues on different hardware, and also because the iPod sized drives have a much shorter lifetime than 2.5" drives) and it can also allow you to use another version of OS X than the main one you run by installing it to your iPod and booting from it when the mood takes you.

Does that help?

EDIT: I was not aware that iPod Minis could not be used for this purpose... but I don't own one and have never done this anyway....

EDIT2: Here is a guide to the process, if you are curious.

 

[orijinal]

hmm that's interesting. i don't think i would ever do that though.

i would use it in target disk mode though, because i sometimes use my ipod mini like a jump drive.

thanks for clarifying.

 

[kugino]

hmm that's interesting. i don't think i would ever do that though.

i would use it in target disk mode though, because i sometimes use my ipod mini like a jump drive.

thanks for clarifying.

you can use your ipod as a "jump drive" without target disk mode. in the ipod preferences of the itunes preferences, you can enable your ipod to be used as a hard drive. then it will show up on your desktop like any other firewire hard drive.