Re iMac and external booting: why is it-?

iMac 27", bought about April, 2014.
STILL waiting for Alsoft to be given the code for an external bootable DVD with Diskwarrior.
But if an external DVD can (1) boot it and (2) drive the inbuilt iMac display...
... that Apple Support (Ireland) told me that I can't boot from a Mac Mini, and run Diskwarrior from that?
(I was thinking of getting a Mac Mini for the sole purpose of emergency use if the iMac crashes).

Install OS X onto a 16 GB USB flash drive then install DW on it. I've been using that for years.

Similar Messages

Transferring files from original imac AND external CD for old imac

I have an original iMac that has tons of files on it I would like to save. I created a LOT of materials when I was teaching and they are all on the old iMac. It also has two games I bought on floppy discs that I would really like to keep. I tried to load files on a Passport, but the iMac won't recognize it. I have two other old iMacs (not quite originals) as well, but they won't take the Passport either. They will both take a flash drive. I can take word processing files (I can't even remember the application at the moment) off the older one and convert them to Apple Works on the other one, then take the converted files to our iMac 9.1 and convert them to Pages. Then I put them on the Passport. It is a pain, but at least it works. I can also save the documents as pdfs and put them directly on the newer iMac and copy and paste in a Pages document.
The original iMac does not lend itself to any of this. What is the best way to transfer files? It seems like a very long time ago I tried to connect it to my newer iMac with an Ethernet cable but it wouldn't accept the cable. If I am remembering correctly I called Apple Support and they said it lacked something that would allow it to connect. I do not remember if I have tried a flash drive on it or not. I believe I did and it would not recognize it.
Also, does anyone know how I can manage to save a copy of the games? Since I bought them on floppies I can't reinstall them if something happens, but I believe it is within the law to make a backup copy. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I do have an external floppy reader for the original iMac, but it only works on user created floppies, not commercial ones. If I can manage to hook up to a flash drive or another computer and I simply save the game application, will that be enough? Or is it not possible to know until I try? Will saving the application get all the necessary files?
My second question concerns the newer (but still really old) iMacs. My daughter would love to play some of the games she used to play on them, but the CD drives do not work. Does anyone know where I can get an external CD drive that we can attach to these old iMacs so she can enjoy her games? The computers work fine; she just can't insert the CDs, because it's next to impossible to get them out again.
I believe on the "newer" two we are running OS 9, at least on one of them. I do not recall the OS on the original, but it is whatever it came with. OS 8, perhaps? It has been probably half a year since we fired it up.
I appreciate any advice and help anyone can give me. We really like these old iMacs, which is why we still have three of them. If we can save the files off the original iMac, we would still keep it so we could play our two old games from time to time. :-) I would part with one of the other old iMacs, but I really need to get the files first, and since it won't take a Passport I'm wondering if I'm stuck putting files a few at a time on a flash drive. Do you think it would take an ethernet cable? It seems like I tried to connect to my newer iMac but I couldn't get the computers to recognize each other. I followed all the steps for sharing, but I still couldn't get it to work.
Thank you so much.

Have you formatted the Western Digital Passport drive as a Mac OS Extended (HFS+) volume, or is it factory-formatted for PCs? If the oldest iMac is only running OS 8, it can't recognize HFS+ volumes. It was OS 8.1 that introduced that feature. Additionally, the version of the USB support files (which is somewhat OS-dependent) on the iMacs hard drives affects what will or will not be recognized by those older computers. With each successive release of the USB Adapter Support, the database of supported devices was broadened. The easiest way to transfer the contents of the iMac's hard drive is to physically remove it from the computer and connect a USB-to-IDE adapter directly to it. These adapters come with an external power supply to provide the 12 & 5 volts needed to power the drive. The data connection block is designed to fit either a 3.5" hard drive or the smaller 2.5" laptop drive, as well as newer drives that connect via SATA. It has an included USB cable that connects to a standard USB port, enabling direct reading/writing/file transfers from the hard drive to the computer to which it's connected. These adapters are not Mac-specific in terms of design, so you can buy one at a PC store and use it. For the purpose of identifying such an adapter, here's one that's often recommended in these Forums, carried by Other World Computing. As I mentioned, this adapter is not platform-specific, so you can buy/use a less expensive one sold by PCs stores. I bought one for $15 from Micro Center (PC store), and it has worked with Macs and PCs. As for removing the hard drive from the old iMac - and I assume that it's one of the original models with a tray-loading optical drive (as opposed to the slightly newer ones that have a slot-loading optical drive), you can find directions for accomplishing that if you do a web search. The link that I had for one site (that was good for years) is no longer valid. The iMacs that have a problem ejecting disks are undoubtedly slot-loading models. There are two wide rubber rollers inside those optical drives that grip the disk to pull it in or feed it out. Over time, the rubber dries out, causing the rollers to lose their natural gripping capabilities. If those iMacs have a FireWire port on the side, I'd suggest an external FireWire optical drive. Today, the only type you'll find is a DVD±RW drive, which is more than you need for your intended purpose. A basic CD-ROM drive isn't manufactured/sold anymore. Other World Computing has a few FireWire optical drives, but their least expensive model sells for about $100. Obviously, that costs more than the value of the entire iMac at this point, but the drive will also have USB connectivity as well. You may find other uses for it with your other computers (Macs & PCs), especially if they don't have a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, or DVD±RW drive. As for transferring a program itself, there could be other associated files. You'd want to check the Extensions and Control Panels folders for any that are named to likely indicate being a part of the program's installed files. The Preferences folder will probably have a file that has saved game settings, but a new one would be created when you run the program in another supported computer. Depending on the age of the program - and you indicated that it was on floppy disks - its compatibility with newer, pre-OS X releases might be limited. The external USB floppy drive that you use with the older iMac should read commercial floppy disks, but it will not recognize the older 800K (Double-Density) Mac-formatted floppy disks. They're disks that typically format as 720K floppies in a PC, but the variable-speed FDD in older Power Macs was able to fit an extra 80K of data onto those disks. A standard 720K "PC" floppy disk should be read by that drive, but it can't recognize an 800K "Mac" disk. A 720K/800K Double-Density floppy disk only has the slide-lock hole at one corner, while a High-Density (1.44 MB) floppy disk has an additional hole at the opposite corner to differentiate it from the older type.

Imac retina external boot disk

Anyone have an iMac retina and using an external boot disk? Worked fine on my iMac from last year, but the new iMac won't boot from the several i tried - thunderbolt, usb drive. Oddly the only thing that seems to work is a USB stick.
The others just give the circle-with-a-line-through-it icon showing no boot environment found.
Thanks for any ideas.

The current Mac Mini (mid-2011) can be retrofitted to have Snow Leopard work on it. There is a very comprehensive thread here on this site.
Look for the work of Newfoundglory:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19463681?ac_cid=tw123456#19463681

20" iMac and external Dell 24" : doesn't work with Mini DVI to DV adapter!

Help! My lovely Dell HP LP2475w 24" Monitor can't be used as an external monitor. The native screen resolution is 1900x1200 60Hz. The Apple site claims the iMac is capable of being able to output this resolution.
When the HP is plugged in via the apple mini to dvi adapter a (tested) DVI lead, it recognises the monitor, but can't bring it to life. Just an occasional flash. In the resolution listing for the HP, the native resolution 1900x1200 isn't listed.
Plugging a cruddy old 20" Samsung with the same DVI leads works with no problems.
I NEED to use the HP for my Photo editing, and phone calls to Apples support have proved fruitless.
Does anyone have a 20" Intel iMac and an HP LP2475w set up that works?
Many thanks for any help.

I'm glad you got it working!
So do you have it working at full 1900x1200? I've noticed a few more oddities about my iMac on this monitor. First off is that initially I could only go as high as 1680x1050, which I think is the native resolution of the iMac. Now I actually see two more options, one of which being 1920x1200. This surprises me since you couldn't get it to a full 1920. Both resolutions produce the same size image on the HP, but the 1680x1050 is fuzzier. It's odd to me, same dimensions just a little less clear. I can stretch that using the HP's settings to full screen, but I cannot adjust the 1920/1200 image even though there is a black border around it.
Can you tell me what color settings you have on the HP? I have really struggled to find something I like. I actually like how things look in my iMac, and my MBP. I can't get things to look the same on the HP. I also feel like text is just a hair fuzzier on the HP than on either the iMac or MBP. I'm tempted to try a used 23" Apple Cinema Display, but I'm not sure I'll have any better luck with that. I mostly concerned about the image quality when I use my laptop, and for some reason I'm not getting great results with the HP or Dell externals that I've tried.

Imac and external hdd

im trying to boot from external hdd and efi bios does not even see the external hard drive!!!!
i work at the educational facility and i just got 40 imacs that have to be cloned!!!
doing every one of those by hand would be a nightmare.
does apple actually provide any tools except netboot and netinstall that would help me with the quest?
any tricks i have to do on the mack to recognize external drive as a boot drive?

A good source for how to do netinstalls is www.bombich.com.
You fail to tell us anything about this external drive, how it's formatted, what's installed on it, etc. The general rundown is:
You need to partition the external drive using the GUID partition scheme. If the external drive has never been formatted before then format the drive Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) This should be done using the OS X Installer Disk One that came with the computers. If the computers are all the exact same model then you only need use one of the installer discs. However, if you have different hardware, then each different model has a different build of OS X. You will need two different external drives or you will have to update the system on the external drive to one that will be common for all the models you have (this would be 10.4.8 (Intel).
Here's the procedure:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disk. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Then select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.)
2. After DU loads select your external drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Click on the Option button and select the GUID partition map and click on OK. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
After formatting is completed quit DU and return to the installer. Now quit the installer. The computer will reboot. After reboot clone the system on the iMac to the external drive:
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
8. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Verify the settings for Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only. If they are not correct then reset them.
For added precaution you can boot into safe mode before doing the clone.
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IMac and External Monitor

I have an early 2006 iMac 20" core duo 2.0ghz 2GB Ram.
I already have an external 17" monitor plugged in with the mini dvi adapter.
I have recently purchased a 32" Samsung TV, which has PC Input. This will be arriving shortly.
Is there any way for me to connect both the TV and the external monitor to the iMac? I would rather mirror the display to the TV and extend the desktop onto the 17" monitor.
If there is a way to output to both, but by a different way - i.e. not mirroring and displaying - this would be great.
I didn't know whether it was possible for me to use some sort of splitter. So a mini dvi to 2 vga's. Then vga to tv and monitor.
Thanks for the help.

Hey Stephen
You might want to check out [DisplayLink|http://www.displaylink.com>
This Google Search: [multiple displays with intel imac|http://www.google.com/custom?q=multiple+displays%20with%20intel%20imac&sa= Search&client=pub-6263300333013957&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT: %23008000;GL:1;DIV:%23336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:000 0FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;&hl=en]
And these from [MacWorld|http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=20862] and [Cambridge|http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/article/default.aspx?objid=43 026]
Dennis

Imac and external hard drive

I'm not sure I'm posting in the right category but here goes anyway. I am hoping someone who has had a similar problem can give me advice.
I bought a Western Digital "My Book" 250 gig external for my imac back in July. It has fail and I am getting nowhere with WD support. It's still early but I have a bad feeling about them. The only communication is through email which I find a bit short of full support.
All of my music and photos are in that drive along with other important data. I'm prepared to write the cost of the drive off as a loss but is there any way to recover the data from the failed drive.
I did backup most of the purchased music and some of the photos but many are not backed up.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me,
Don

You might be able to dismantle the My Book, remove the drive, put the drive in an external FireWire or USB enclosure and copy the files to your iMac. This will work IF the My Book enclosure has failed but not the drive.
If the drive has failed (probably the case) the data would only be recoverable by a data recovery service. Usually these services are expensive.

Imac and external webcam

Hi all,
I have a G5 with an external isight.
I'm getting a new iMac soon.
My questions is...in my business the external cam is handy in that I can move it
anywhere. If I need to show a client a tool I'm working on I can do so.
With an iMac I have to move the whole computer around.
Soo for those times I need the flexibility of an external....
1. Is it possible?
2. How would I go about doing it if it is
3. Since this external iSight is starting to work when it wants to...
whats a good 3rd party web cam to use? I know there are none close to an iSight but...
Thanks in advance

Plenty of folks report using the FireWire external iSights with no real issues. Some have had issues with the microphone, but there is a fix for that, I think in the Mac mini Apple Discussions.
I have also seen folks recommend this one; http://ecamm.com/mac/imagewebcam/
Sometimes with USB webcams on iMacs with built in iSight cams, you have to fool the Mac to use the external cam. The Mac defaults to the internal, so you have to occupy the internal with another app, then open the app you want to use and the external should be available to choose. After choosing you shut down the other app.
Dah•veed

IMAC and external screen--screen flickering and erratic mouse behavior

I have purchased a screen Medion 25.5 inch to connect it to my IMAC 27 inch.
I have noticed two unexpected behaviours:
- from time to time, after the IMAC comes out of the SLEEP mode, the external screen is flickering, I need to put the IMAC to sleep one or several times before the display of the external screen becomes stable.
- since I connected the external screen, the behavior of the mouse is highly erratic, eg when I move the mouse by a fraction of a millimeter, the display of the mouse pointer moves by half a screen, or even disappears completely. I have performed many tests, with several apple mice, a Dell mouse and a Microsoft mouse. As soon as I completely disconnect the screen (not only power the screen down) the mouse works normally again. I have now decided to stop using the external screen until a software update resolves the situation.
Any advice?
Patrick

When my 2008 24" iMac started to die from overheating, two of the symptoms I would see would be white flickering from the bottom going about half way up, like it was going blank and repainting the screen over and over. Also, the mouse pointer would jump erratically to all the edges and corners of the screen. After a few seconds, it might recover or it might freeze. I would use a program like iStat Pro to see what your temps are when you attach that screen. I suspect it may be excess heat due to the GPU now pushing two screens instead of 1?
Also try diags, and all those reset thingies people keep mentioning over and over.
First and foremost, if you have coverage, contact a "genius" and let him belittle you with his expertise.

24" Core Duo iMacs and external Firewire disks

Hi guys,
I'm having a bit of an issue with the new iMac that I picked up yesterday. There seems to be an issue with mounting disk devices connected to the Firewire 400 port. Disk devices mount fine off the Firewire 800 port. The bizarre thing is that I plugged an old iSight camera into the Firewire 400 port and it works fine. This seems to eliminate both the possibility that the Firewire controller is faulty and that the FW 400 port is dead.
Just to remove the possibility that it could be a crappy driver, I installed XP via bootcamp but I get exactly the same issue. (although windows is a little more specific. It actually detects the name of the disk device but says it cannot be started)
I've zapped the PRAM and left the machine dormant and unplugged for 30 mins to no avail. Could someone plug a disk device into their FW400 port and see if they get the same issue i.e. nothing happens? (card reader, laptop in FW target mode, external HDD)
I'll take the machine back if I have to but I really loathe the though of lugging this thing back to the Apple store.
Thanks.
Danny

I also am having trouble.
I cannot mount my eMac in target disk mode. The only way I could get the eMac drive to mount was if I put a firewire disk in line with the eMac. i.e. a firewire cable from the eMac to the disk and another cable from the disk to the iMac. (Same model 24" 2.4GHz aluminum).
I thought the issue was with my eMac, but when I went to connect my Canon CanoScan 9950F scanner the iMac would not see it unless I also went through the firewire drive.
I have since learned that the drive does not have to be on and spun up, but it has to bridge the connection. The drive I'm using is model PHR-100AF Macally 3.5" enclosure.
I have been able to mount this drive without having to chain it through anything else. I've also been able to mount a Macally PHR-250CC 2.5" enclusure and a el cheapo 3.5" enclosure that uses the Prolific PL-3507 chip. Also, my 3rd generation iPod mounts just fine.
I don't have anything for the FW800 port so all my experiences are with the FW400 port.
My question is:
Is there something wrong with my iMac that it cannot mount my eMac in target disk mode without being chained to another external drive?
Is there something wrong with my beautiful, new 24" aluminum 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo imac that it cannot connect to my Canon CanoScan 9950F scanned?
I expect more from Apple. I expect that it should at least work with their own hardware (the eMac).
Should I go back to the Apple Store and complain?
Thanks,
Chris
p.s. I guess I should ask my own question huh?
Message was edited by: ctopher

HT4619 Imac and external speakers....

Well, I just took out iMac which is brand new (Xmas present from year 2008) and not used, together with external speakers-type JBL spot and noticed that there is no sound. The installation is by the book....I was trying to register the speakers - and noticed that the site did not exist..
JBL-the site does not list the product type Spot ? gone out of business? I would be grateful if someone has any idea what went wrong? One would expect that it is plug and play with this kind of combination:)?

Hello, no idea really on the speakers, are they amplified?
Long shot, but...
Open Audio Midi Setup in Applications>Utilities, see the input & output options & KHz setting there.
Also see system Preferences>Sound>Output potions.

Imac and external projector resolution problem!!!!!

hello! I´ve benn using an imac24" for about 4 months. When I attached my projector with a capasity for 1024x768 85Hz while my imac´s is 1920x1200.
My problem is that I want my imac to use it´s highest resolution at 1920x1200 while my projector is using 1024x768. Is that posible, and if, how would I make it happen?
//Wilhelmsson.
Imac 24", core 2 duo Mac OS X (10.4.10)

You can only do this if you have the system set for "extended desktop", where the images on the two screens will be different. If you want to run the system in "mirroring" mode, where the iMac's screen is duplicated on the projector, then the resolutions have to match, so you'll have to reduce the iMac's screen to 1024x768 to match the maximum resolution of your projector.

Help with iMac and external HD..

Hello there, I am not sure if this is in the right forum, and please do tell me if its not. The question I have is that I have an awful lot of music and video files (in-fact 100GBS) that I want to import into my itunes library. I have 3 External firewire Drives which I believe I could make into a Raid Drive, how ever what if my library gets bigger....can I expand on the Raid drive, to make it bigger as my library gets bigger?
Thanks so much for any help...!

Get one 1TB external drive. For use as storage for iTunes, ultra fast data access is not needed, so a less expensive USB 2.0 external drive will work fine, although you can certainly get a FireWire drive if desired. I often see 1TB USB 2.0 external drives on sale. You can check dealmac.com. Note: If you get one that is marketed to the Windows crowd, be sure to reformat it for Mac OS X.
Using separate external drives as a RAID is possible, but I would not do it. I would not trust a RAID that is connected between drives using FireWire cables. Having three separate enclosures with three separate power connections and power supplies is potentially risky as well.
Make sure you are backing up all that data to a separate external drive, using Time Machine.

IMac and External DAC Interface Issues

I have a Musical Fidelity M1DAC. When I connect it to my iMac via USB I'm getting distortion that sounds like tape hiss. Has anyone had similar problems using the iMac with a DAC?

I should also add that this has been happening over both ethernet and wifi, so I don't think it is a specific connection issue.

Why doesn't my iMac boot up? It only keeps re-booting, then shuts down and re-boots

For some reason, since installing Mountain Lion, I have had a lot of problems with the iMac starting...it keeps re-booting and re-booting...
what can I do to get into my iMac?

Srartup disk Full can destroy your Hard Drive installation.
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, or are running 10.7+, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.
If 10.7.0 or later...
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partitiion & use Disk Utility from there.
If it starts in Safe Mode, see if you can empty the trash or free up a few GB by trashing files.

Re iMac and external booting: why is it-?

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