Apple OS X.5 two boot drives on MacPro

I a Powermac G5 computer burnout and had to temporarily put my hard drives in a Mac Pro. I now have two boot drives internally in a Mac Pro. My wife and I are sharing the computer for now. I can boot into each system and it's great. Now I would like more convenience because I'm going back and forth a lot between the two systems, because we are sharing.
Is there a way switch back and forth between the two users on these two boot disks without having to restart and boot into the other disk? Can I virtually boot into the other disk, or can I utilize the users from different systems? Both systems are running the same version of OS X.5.5

you can't switch between two systems without rebooting. the best you can do is use fast user switching between two users on the same system. You can try the following (but I don't promise how well it will work). create the same user on the drive 1 as the one you are switching to on the drive 2. use the same name, short name and password. then go to system preferences->accounts. unlock the lock, select the newly created user, control-click on it and select "advanced options". in the resulting popup set the home directory to pint to the home directory for that user user on drive 2. restart. now you can always boot from drive 1 and use fast user switching to go between users without rebooting. when you are logged in as the user mentioned above, you'll be booted from drive 1 but using its home directory on drive 2. I hope this makes sense. try it out and see if it works.

Similar Messages

Leopard Prep: Setting up two boot drives

I actually think I'm going to do a complet system wipe. I've been having enough issues with my system to warrant it. So I'd like to set up a second bootdrive for Leopard. I know some of you guys do this specifically with Logic in mind, so I was hoping someone might walk me through it.

Sorry for kicking in so late. I am in the habit of using CCC, almost religiously. I think you've seen me previously on the forum talk about using CCC on a second partition or drive on your machine, booting up from it, and then doing the apple system patches or plugin updates or what ever, and running like that for a bit to make sure everything is OK. Once I've identified that there are no new anomalies, then I boot into my primary partition and do the same updates the way I did them on the cloned partition.
Further, what I've been doing while testing Leopard is to simply use that second partition or drive and use it to install Leopard. This way I can boot between my 2 operating systems without a hitch, and if Leopard gives me a hard time, I can park it until the next update.
Having that luxury will allow me to install Leopard when I get it Friday, and run all my software with the gold master and see what sticks and what falls and it will allow me to decide if I want to use it full time or not. I suspect at this point that because of the Apogee drivers I won't be using Leopard full time. In fact the Apogee site now officially says to not use any of their drivers with OS 10.5... yeah no kidding it kernel panics the box. So until Apogee gets their driver out, and I hope that's soon along with Leopard itself, I am going to keep both Tiger and Leopard running, and when I want to do my music, I just boot up in Tiger, when I want to do everything else I work in Leopard.
Another idea I am toying with is that once I get Leopard going with everything I need, I may just rebuild the Tiger drive and make it a music only drive. Meaning that boot drive will only have Logic and its needed components. Everything else will be on Leopard. I would probably split that drive in 2 partitions so I can still do my upgrade tests. Is it time consuming? yes to setup it seems time consuming, but the end result is that you will always have a running system that is always clean and free of any issues, and it will allow you to quickly test the updates so that you can take advantage of what ever changes apple and 3rd parties are making... or decide that they fumbled the ball and you don't want to make a change.
Living in fear and sticking on an old OS version is simply not a good thing.
Here is an interesting article on Leopard security if you're interested:
http://db.tidbits.com/article/9251
R

Two Boot Drives possible?

Hello. I want to know if I can buy a small second hard drive and install windows on it and boot from that drive as well? I only want it for a video game.

Can't tell by your signature but it looks like you have a Mac-BOOK-Pro and this is the Mac_Pro___ forums so the answers vary accordingly.
From what I understand, Windows will NOT install on an external disk. So you would have to install it via Boot Camp onto another partition on your Mac boot drive. OR, you can replace the DVD drive and install another drive there and do it that way also. Search the forums for the different ways and which ones to use, HD or SSD.
Suggestion:
Replace your internal HD with a 1T HD or larger then partition the Windows part for 100gig and buy a cheap external housing for the old HD and use it as your backup ddrive?
There are instructions on different ways to install it on an external drive on Yahoo/Google but it's not supported by Microsoft.

Upgrade Boot Drive on MacPro (early 2008)

The existing drive is a 500 GB drive and I want to upgrade to a new 1.5 TB drive.
How do I clone the OS and apps, data from the existing drive to a new bigger HD?

SuperDuper. The pdf guide is worth the download and is only $29 for smart backing up clones. There is also Carbon Copy Cloner from Bombich.com
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
Amazon WD Green 1.5 $75
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZCXJZE/
Most go with WD Black Caviar. The 2TB is one of the fastest drives outside SSD
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Desktop-WD2001FASS/dp/B002MD05SA/
I'd rather see 3 WD Black smaller models unless for backup and TimeMachine, not for system which I like to see small lean and OS and applications and keep everything else on other drives like data, media and library files. And separate drive for scratch also.

If I want to install Lions on a 2nd hard drive in my MacPro Desktop, will it allow me to do so if I have Leopard installed on the boot drive?

I have a blank 2nd hard drive that I am going to install in my MacPro desktop. The boot drive already contains the Leopard operating system. I want to install Lions on the blank hard drive. Will setup in Lions when it comes out, allow me to install Lions onto the 2nd hard drive since it should detect that I have a valid Apple operating system on the boot drive?

You can first install Snow Leopard then re-download Lion. Or you saved the original installer application then created a bootable Lion installer on a USB flash drive or DVD. Or you buy Apple's $69.00 USB flash installer.
You haven't told us what hindrances you've encountered, so you should post your own separate topic related to your problem and not threadjack another person's topic.

Two Macs, one external boot drive (not at same time)

I'm in a weird situation where I travel b/t two cities during the week and am looking to have a computer in each. Have been doing the laptop thing, but it's too heavy to drag everyday and too slow for the video editing (I'm a filmmaker) I need to do now. So, I have a 1TB SSD and am looking to make it a boot drive (via USB 3 or Thunderbolt) for two different Macs. Right now I'm looking at two iMacs, but I might want to make one of them something else, possibly a new or older Mac Pro.
So, would I be able to run both Macs with one external drive? Also, would I have any issues if I go with two different kinds of Macs? Thought maybe there would be an advantage to having the same with connection issues of some sort.
Thanks for any help!

Let me ask: how are you getting your two OS's on the external drive?
For one thing, if I understand you correctly, you want one OS on the external and use it on both Macs? That, according to the licensing agreement, is not allowed (see excerpt below); you're allowed one backup copy officially. And, secondly, you cannot boot a Mac with an OS version earlier than what it came with, so it would depend on the build of your Macs (and the exact build version it came with). My initial thought was that you clone your internal hard drives to the two partitions on the external and run them separately.
For now, just a guess on your Q #1 - not sure, depends on where it originated (see above for not booting with an earlier version) and, I prefer cloning FROM the internal system TO the external (again, because of build versions/firmware).
Q #2: see above re. software licensing agreement.
Q #3: not sure at this point
As for the SLA - if the OS is preinstalled, the license is for that computer only:
Here is a link to the SLA:
http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/
And, FWIW: no, once you mark an answer, it cannot be undone - hopefully, that won't matter and someone else will pop in with a brilliant idea.....

Editing from Boot Drive?? Apple says yes.

In dealing with Final Cut Pro X's Pro Apps team I was told something by TWO different Pro Apps people I find troubling. They each stated that you should ALWAYS edit fotage (meaning keep your projects and events) on the INTERNAL BOOT DRIVE. This would provide the best performance and is how FCP X is designed to work. I am not kidding or misunderstanding. I even clarified this to make sure we are clear between a second internal drive and the actual boot drive handling the OS. I was told "in the new 64 bit architecture, FCP X is designed to edit from the same drive the OS is on, the only issue is storage space". It was then reiterated that this is the best way to use FCP X. I even explained that if I was using some kind of consumer level format, I could see doing this, and explained I shoot in AVCCAM 1080p. Apparently what format you use does not matter either, it is designed to handle anything I was assured. So, my 3 year old MacBook Pro will edit RAW 4K footage from the boot drive? I am amazed!
Sadly, the solution provided to my FCP X issue is "wipe the hard drive completely and start over." This after paying $99.00 for the Pro Apps support and talking to no less than 8 people. I am certain none of the Pro Apps folks I talked to really understood what I am even dealing with.
Their Pro Care is not what it used to be, although the person who told me this said he has been doing this for 7 years. Unbelievable.
Comments?

I wish I could get to one of those engineers, I had an issue when FCP X first came out and eventually talked to one over the phone. All I dealt with back then seemed on their game. I just thought Apple was better than that.
I have another genius bar appt. today. Should I let them do the long hardware test? They say it could be a day or two and is much more extensive.
I would likely try to buy a new iMac before paying hundreds for a better card and trying to install myself. It seems they would not do it at the Apple store, only replace the same card.
here is the full system report on the ram, when I paid for the upgrade, they put two 2GB cards in instead of one 4GB, see anything of interest here?:
One card slot says: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
the other:   NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M:
Chipset Model:          NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Type:          GPU
Bus:          PCI
VRAM (Total):          256 MB
Vendor:          NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID:          0x0863
Revision ID:          0x00b1
ROM Revision:          3448
gMux Version:          1.8.8
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT:
Chipset Model:          NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Type:          GPU
Bus:          PCIe
PCIe Lane Width:          x16
VRAM (Total):          512 MB
Vendor:          NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID:          0x0647
Revision ID:          0x00a1
ROM Revision:          3448
gMux Version:          1.8.8
Displays:
Color LCD:
Display Type:          LCD
Resolution:          1440 x 900
Pixel Depth:          32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display:          Yes
Mirror:          Off
Online:          Yes
Built-In:          Yes

HT4314 I have 4 iPads and one apple Id. Two the devices record clash of clans and dragonvale individually and the other two are tied to the other two. Drives my kids nuts. How do I fix this?

I have 4 iPads and one apple Id. Two the devices record clash of clans and dragonvale individually and the other two are tied to the other two. Drives my kids nuts. How do I fix this?

Also, I'd prefer to keep the same ID on both so I will keep access to my calendar/contacts/etc on both devices. Would I be able to share reminders and voice memos and the like as well? And how often would they update each other? If I edit a contact on the 5, and the 4 is in wifi, assuming they're both on my same ID, will the contact update on the 4?

Dual boot setup with two hard drives

Hi all, I've searched through the forums but haven't been able to find an answer to what I figure is a couple pretty easy questions.
My wife has an older G4(circa 2000) with OS 9.2.x on it now. What I would like to do is put a new, larger HD in the box and install Tiger on it. I've found write-ups talking about installing Tiger and OS 9.x.x on different drives or on the same drive in different partitions. My problem is I still am not sure how you switch between Tiger/OS9 with two different drives. Is Tiger able to recognize the OS9 on a different drive and allow you to easily switch back and forth like it does when they are installed on the same drive?
My second question is hopefully even easier. Can I head on over to my local computer supply store and pick up any old ATA HD like I would for a *Nix/Windows box or am I forced to get one directly from apple like I had to with a bad power supply?
Thanks in advance for the help all.

OK, here's mine for comparison:
ibook:~ michaelc$ bless --info /Volumes/*
finderinfo[0]: 3040 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/OS9.2/System Folder
finderinfo[1]: 0 => No Startup App folder (ignored anyway)
finderinfo[2]: 0 => Open-folder linked list empty
finderinfo[3]: 3040 => OS 9 blessed folder is /Volumes/OS9.2/System Folder
finderinfo[4]: 0 => Unused field unset
finderinfo[5]: 0 => No OS 9 + X blessed X folder
64-bit VSDB volume id: 0x233F23EAA912CD05So it would appear this might be the problem, since you don't have a "OS 9 blessed folder".
Now, I have never had to do this, but have seen it work for others. The bless command has a lot of options, many of which we don't want here. But let's give this a try. Remember, copy and paste this command into a text editor (TextEdit will do). Then edit the command to put your volume name in it (in place of <yourvolumename>, without the angle brackets), and copy and paste again into Terminal.
You will need to be logged in to an 'admin' account:
sudo bless -folder9 /Volumes/<yourvolumename>/System\ Folder/Press return and you will be prompted for your password. This is not echoed for security reasons: just type it and press return.
Then, if you get no complaints, I would issue a
rebootcommand. Your OS 9 System Folder should now be available to you in your Classic preferences screen.
Let us know how this goes!

My Macbook air flash had gone for a month and I saw Apple's Macbook air flash storage drive replacement program. I'm not sure whether that program is still available for the broken device or not. Now, I'm booting from the external hard drive. Thank you.

My Macbook air flash had gone for a month and I saw Apple's Macbook air flash storage drive replacement program. I'm not sure whether that program is still available for the broken device or not. Now, I'm booting from the external hard drive. Warranty has gone in October 2013..
I want to send back my macbook air back to apple store. The problem is that I bought it from US and now, I'm using it in Myanmar. If the program is free of charge for my device, it's worth trying to send back to US. Since mine is broken, I'm afraid Apple will take charges for reparing.
So, if anyone having the same problem as me, I would like to get suggestion....
Thank you!!

I have no idea about how to handle the international aspect of your question.
But here is the Apple writeup about the problem and the remedy. Maybe that will help you.
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair-flashdrive/

Installing 10.5.1 and other Apple Software makes my Boot Drive Invisible !

Hi There,
I need help,
after installing the leopard Update 10.5.1 my System booted just fine but after logging in I noticed that my boot drive WAS NOT visible in the finder sidebar or desktop...
I opened Tinkertool System and looked at my hard drive. And it had mysteriously been set to "INVISIBLE" in the HFS and Finder Attibutes.... After setting it to "Visible" again I could see it in the finder....
Can someone PLEASE explain this.....
Leopard is great but one has to do a BUNCH Of trouble shooting to get it to purr

SteveDjokes wrote:
I did NOT have any 3rd pty. enhancements active as I did the Install...
Thanks 4 posting anyway
The installation instructions state "installed" not "active'
I don't believe Apple makes Tinkertool. You should have uninstalled it before upgrading.
I believe Tinkertool qualifies as a system modification.
The install instructions cleary say
Important: Read before installing
You may experience unexpected results if you have third-party system software modifications installed, or if you've modified the operating system through other means. (This does not apply to normal application software installation.)

Usb flash boot drive with mavericks is damaged cannot get another download from apple

Hello
I successfully downloaded Mavericks 10.9 onto my Macbook Pro and clean installed, when I went to carry out the same procedure on the Mac Mini the USB flash boot drive with the downloaded Mavericks was damaged. I cannot get another copy of Mavericks as Apple do not have downloads available. I do no wish to upgrade to Yosemite just yet. How can I get a copy of Mavericks, I did looked at my account and Mavericks is there any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you

If it is in the Purchases tab of the App Store, you should be able to download it.

Using two hard drives with Boot Camp?

Hi,
I have two hard drives in my mac pro. They both show up on the mac side but when I use windows only the one shows up. Is there a way to have access to the second hard drive using windows?

You need to install a product like MacDrive. This will enable Mac OS Extended format support for Windows. Be aware that if you do something like this all of your Mac files and OS will be vulnerable to Windows "issues" such as viruses and spyware etc. It is NOT recommended.

System set-up with two drives (and one used as a boot drive)

Apologies if this has been asked before; I have searched a little for this info, but couldn't really find it.
I'm looking ahead to the glorious day when I eventually get my dream killer system, i.e. a Powermac (or whatever it's called when it goes Intel) with all the trimmings.
I like the idea of having something like a WD Raptor as a boot drive, with a large second drive mainly for storage plus the obligatory external FW drive for back-up.
I know from using Windows that a using a boot drive (or partition) with everything else on another volume is ok, but I had read/heard (perhaps incorrectly) that OS X likes/needs (particularly for iLife) to keep Apps in the Applications folder, music in the music folder etc.
So what would be the best way of achieving this type of set-up on the Mac?
Thanks in advance.

iTunes doesn't care where the music is stored. Just make sure it's NOT set to "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" in the iTunes preferences (under the advanced tab.
iPhoto 5 and earlier is a bit more picky. iPhoto 6 has an option very similar to iTunes that allows you to store your music wherever you want, without it automatically copying to the iPhoto folder. If you get a new PowerMac, it will contain the latest version of iPhoto, so you don't have to worry about it.
I never use the other iLife apps, so I don't have an answer for those.

Two hard drives, two operating systems, one MacBook Pro

Dear community,
     I have a MacBook Pro (mid-2010) with Mac OS Lion. I plan on having this computer all through the rest of college (another two and a half years, hopefully) so I want to upgrade it just a bit. What I would like to do is take out my optical drive, install a second hard drive mount, and put an SSD in that spot. Now, this would be pretty simple if it were just Mac OS Lion that I wanted on it, but here's the catch - I'd like to put my copy of Windows 7 on that drive as well. I currently use one hard drive for Mac/Windows 7 using boot camp, so I figured it'd be possible to do this with 2 hard drives.
     Basically I'd like to put the OSes and a few programs on the SSD, and the files/remaining programs on my big HDD. Is this even possible? Any suggestions?
     In summary: Mac OS Lion and Windows 7 + a few Mac/Windows apps on the SSD; Mac OS and Windows data files and programs on the HDD. Can it be done?
Thanks a lot.
-Grant
*Note- here is the hard drive caddy I'm looking at: http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody-MacBook-SuperDrive-Replacement/dp/B0058AH2US /ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1MJCRJMNCU4QQ&colid=1LV4HAU48M27X

grantmcconnaughey wrote:
Dear community,
     I have a MacBook Pro (mid-2010) with Mac OS Lion. I plan on having this computer all through the rest of college (another two and a half years, hopefully) so I want to upgrade it just a bit. What I would like to do is take out my optical drive, install a second hard drive mount, and put an SSD in that spot. Now, this would be pretty simple if it were just Mac OS Lion that I wanted on it, but here's the catch - I'd like to put my copy of Windows 7 on that drive as well. I currently use one hard drive for Mac/Windows 7 using boot camp, so I figured it'd be possible to do this with 2 hard drives.
     Basically I'd like to put the OSes and a few programs on the SSD, and the files/remaining programs on my big HDD. Is this even possible? Any suggestions?
The SSD should be the boot drive in the present hard drive spot for these reasons.
1: You want the SSD as the boot volume for speed of OS X, Windows and applications (must be on boot drive along with one bare bones user, each OS)
2: You want to inflict as little change to the SSD as possible to make it last longer as they can wear out with a lot of use, thus a boot/app drive is ideal for this.
3: Present hard drive becomes the exFAT formatted drive to use for Windows or Mac file storage use in the optical bay caddy.
Problems:
You can't install Windows from a external optical drive, only the internal one.
You also won't be able to boot off a 10.6 install disk just the same.
However you can option boot off 10.6/10.7 previously installed, or cloned (Carbon Copy Cloner), on a external drive.
Windows in Bootcamp is subject to the same problems requiring reinstall like it is on PC's, which to reinstall would require you to install your internal optical drive each time.
You can't make a bootable clone of Windows on a external drive and use it (because of validation issues with the drive Windows is installed on) or use it to restore Bootcamp (there used to be software that did this for Snow Leopard, but it hasn't been updated anymore)
Also if your 2010 MBP doesn't have SATA 6, your going to be using SATA 3 and not the full speed capability of the SSD.
What you might consider doing instead is getting a 1TB 7,200 RPM boot drive, you get storage size to partition and decent speed, without excessive speed which you might not be able to use it all with your hardware.
Another option, if your using Windows for non-hardware presisng issues (3D games, heavy CPU loads) is to use virtual machine software (VMFusion, Parrallels Desktop etc) and run Windows in a window on OS X. This gives the advantage of Windows running as a file, and you can have earlier "snapshots" in case Windows gets hosed like it does sometimes.
Also Bootcamp restricts you to Windows 7, with virtual machine software you can run any Windows version, even cool Linux distros too (install older versions first then upgrade) Plus you don't have to dual boot or worry about file formatting issues, which both is a pain in the butt.
Lion is a pain to reinstall on a new hard drive directly with older hardware (two steps involved), luckily you've got a older machine and can install 10.6.8 first, then upgrade by holding option key and clicking on Purchases, then apps, then files, then bootcamp or virtual machine software, then Windows.
Should make a copy of that 10.6 disk
http://www.walterjessen.com/make-a-bootable-backup-snow-leopard-install-disc/
So anyway, that's a loadful to think about.
What you should do is join the MacOwnersSupportGroup and ask Bmer how best to go about installing the optical drive kit. I've send all these sort of hardware hacks his way as he has done it himself so he knows.
Apple obviously doesn't support such a thing and nearly none here can offer any support in such a thing.
OtherWorld Computing has a kit as well, gives a enclosure for the Superdrive to use as a external optical drive as well. (just can't boot or install Windows with it.)
As always this is all I know and subjective to change, so ask around further and perhaps you'll find more answers, but likely not here.
See this for fast SSD choices
http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/high_end_drives.html
Good Luck and hope that helps.

Apple OS X.5 two boot drives on MacPro

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