Bootable AirDisk

Is it possible to create a bootable AirDisk with an external hd. I have a USB external hard drive with 10.4.11 PPC on it. I only made 1 partition for the disk. Basically, I want a USB hard drive thats connected to an AirPort Extreme/Time Capsule to be bootable so users that are connected to the network via LAN or an AirPort card can boot up.
Thanks
Message was edited by: macman233

I'm in a sticky situation. I have an office in my house on the second floor with all the computers, routers, and etc. I also have a media center in my basement where all my TV components (Blu-ray, Stereo, DirecTV box) are located. My AirPort Express in my office and I have to keep it there since it has an ethernet port. Is there any way I can connect my express to my stereo system wirelessly? Is there a Bluetooth adapter or some receiver that I can plug into the audio port of my stereo system that will pickup iTunes music from the express?
Thanks

Similar Messages

Using AirDisk for backups

Does anyone know if there is a way to rsync or otherwise do a fast copy (perhaps through scripts) directly to the AirDisk. Ideally I'm thinking would/does AirPort Extreme n support rsync directly or offer an rsync url so that the source Mac doesn't have to do the extra lifting by being forced to do a local rsync when in fact the destination drive is remote (AirPort Extreme n).
Example rsynd I do is,
sudo rsync -WavE /Volumes/localsourcevol/ /Volumes/AirDisk_vol/
but it is incredibly slow and tends to slow down over time. For example, an rsync operation that would take perhaps 30min between a PM G4 (wired) and an iBook G4 (wireless), has taken over 16hrs (without signs of being anywhere near complete so I usually kill the rsync) from the PM G4 to the mounted AirDisk on the extreme that would otherwise be routing the traffic to the iBook.
Something else I've found painfully slow and typically ends up failing as a result of timeout is Backup 3.1 (courtesy of .Mac) to backup my homedir to the attached AirDisk. Generally it seems the drive falls asleep and the AirPort is unable to wake when activity demands it.
I'm using a WD My Book Pro Edition II 1TB (the triple interface model) drive attached to the AirPort Extreme N in RAID1 mode (mirrored so I have ~500GB capacity).

I would love to hear if you ever get this to work. My experience with AEBS has been quite poor.
The most obvious problem is that AEBS does not support owner and permissions. This quite excludes backuping a bootable volume to it.
laavu:/Volumes/User User$ mkdir aFolderOnAAEBS
laavu:/Volumes/User User$ sudo chown root aFolderOnAAEBS/
chown: aFolderOnAAEBS/: Operation not supported
laavu:/Volumes/User User$ ls -ld aFolderOnAAEBS/
drwxrwxrwx 2 User User 264 Jul 19 00:39 aFolderOnAAEBS/
-Pete
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I have lost my imac bootable disks and have erased my hard drive.

I wanted to format my hard drive and put a clean install of Tiger on my iMac so that I could sell it, so I went in to disc utility and erased my hard drive. What I thought were my bootable discs were for my macbook pro with Snow Leopard on, and they wont work on my iMac. I have since gone in to disc utilities from the bootable discs (just after it tells me these discs wont work) and have replaced my hard drive with the DVD (thinking I would be able to boot to that point and mount an image from another DVD to run tiger from there) and now I am totally lost! I know I shouldnt meddle with things I dont know, but I've never managed to break a windows PC by doing this!
Could someone help please as I have no idea what I can do now!
Super thanks
Helen

Replacement disks run about 16.00 per disk. You can buy Mac OS X Tiger from Amazon for anywhere from 79.00-200.00.
If you buy a full retail copy of an OS like Snow Leopard you can install that on any compatible computer. The license for a standard retail copy of the Mac OS entitles you to install it on 1 system. However the retail copy of the Mac OS does not include the iLife Applications which come with the original install disks that came with your computer.
The individual install disks that come with each computer are made just for that computer and include drivers required for that system. As a former Dell owner I can tell you that Dell also uses specialized install disks for the OS. They don't hand you a copy of windows, rather a set of disks that are specific to that model of computer.
Cheers!

Can I purchase Mountain Lion and make a flash drive bootable? I do not want to install it on my Macbook Pro. I have Snow Leopard on my Macbook Pro now, and due to my hard drive needing repair I need to boot off of another source, like my flash drive.

Can I purchase Mountain Lion and make a flash drive bootable? I do not want to install it on my Macbook Pro. I have Snow Leopard on my Macbook Pro now, and due to my hard drive needing repair, I need to boot off of another source, like my flash drive. I am in Paris and my Snow Leopard DVD is in Texas.

Mac OS X has a built-in disk diagnostic and repair program called fsck or file system consistency check. Here’s how to verify and repair your startup disk with fsck. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press and hold Command-S on the keyboard. Keep holding down those keys until you see a black screen with white lettering. This is called “booting into Single User Mode.” As the Mac boots in this mode, the screen reports each step of the process. The line should end in root#. Right after the root# prompt, enter the following: /sbin/fsck -fy
If repairing the disk in single user mode fails, it means one of two things. Either your hard drive itself is failing (a hardware failure), or the directory damage on your hard drive is beyond the capability of the built-in repair procedures in OS X.

Windows 7 wont install ('No Bootable Drive')

This is EXACTLY what I've done:
I've formatted and reformatted and partioned and wiped and formatted my hard drive innumerable times over the years. I have a Macbook Pro 4,1 (15-inch Early 2008).
When I went to install Lion, I wanted a clean install, so I installed OS X 10.6 via USB with my iPod, then immediately upgraded to lion. When I did the 10.6 install, I first completely erased the entire internal HD.
In Lion, I then opened the Bootcamp Assistant, and partitioned my drive. I have attemped to install windows in the following ways:
Via USB, using my iPod and my thumb drive. After holding option at startup, neither of these have appeared as bootable disks. I have used 4 different discs at this point, from friends and neighbors, but none of them appear as bootable using USB devices.
I then asked a friend to lend me his external DVD drive. I then tested each of the installs using the optical drive, and all of them returned the same error:
"No Bootable Device - Insert boot disk and press any key"
I know at least one install installed fine in VMware, and they've all been installed on different computers sucessfully before. The PC I've been using was willing to boot up from every disk. My disks are 64 btw, but I have a 4,1 so I think I should be fine.
Essentially, my question is am I missing any firmware or drivers, or why do I get a DOS prompt, presumably loaded from the disk drive telling me that drive is not a boot disk. Why wont my computer (just completely wiped with 10.6.3 retail + Lion) recognize any legitimate windows CDs, saying they are not bootable?
Like I said, I'm using an external disk drive, as my MBPs internal optical drive refuses to read and spits out most DVDs (it has for a long while, CDs work).
I have tried everything I know of, please provide suggestions.
Thanks

Hello,
There is a "boot camp" forum (you have posted in the wrong forum) you might get a better answer there and there is a KB that answers all your boot camp questions...
https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp
http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
QUOTE: "my MBPs internal optical drive refuses to read and spits out most DVDs"
Have you tried putting the disk in and shutting down the MBP(before it tosses it out), then restart and load from the DVD drive (hold "C") ?
Also, you don't need to flip out on Kappy, We are all mac users trying to help each other out... we are not Apple...
What he means is that depending on your model there are some external drives which do not work with macs. So, you should make sure the drive you use is mac compatible

Installing Windows 7 on iMac via external superdrive resultes in "No bootable device-insert boot disck an dpress any key".

I previously had Windows 7 on my Mac, but removed it after returning from deployment because it had a virus that I could not remove. The only way to remove was to insert a CD/DVD with the anti-virus on, but in my absence, the optical drive was not cleaned and did not work. I had only been using partition for college, so I removed it.
Now, six months later I am trying to re-instal Windows, but after creating the partition and inserting the disk into the external Superdrive, when Bootcamp reboots I get "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key". Nothing happens, I can't even type on the screen. I can reboot to Mac via the alt-option key fine, and I can see the drives, the Windows CD, etcetera, but nothing works. When I go back to Mac, Bootcamp won't work unless I delete the partition over from scratch, but I'm getting the same result.
Is the computer looking for the internal optical drive (which doesn't work, and can only be repaired by sending the whole thing back to Apple)? Is there a way to default to the external optical drive?
Thanks.

Bob, thanks. I misread the PDF (font on phones is difficult to see). Got it fixed now.

Do I need to partition my external hard drive for a bootable backup

Hi - First, I apologize for asking a question that's already been discussed so much. I did try to read everything I could, but I remain confused. Here is my precise situation:
I have an iMac, and I purchased a year's worth of Carbonite's online backup and breathed a sigh of relief. Then I read some people have problems with Carbonite, and the best advice was to buy an external hard drive, which I did. It just arrived, I plugged it in, and Time Machine backed up my computer on it...so I breathed another sigh of relief.
Then I read that my wonderful new 2T external hard drive isn't good enough, that I should partition it so as to have one backup, and one "bootable backup." Is this really necessary? And what is the difference between a backup, and a bootable backup? If it is necessary, how do I do it? Is it a problem that I've already used it to create a backup on Time Machine?
I use my computer for things like email, Facebook, pictures, eBay, stuff like that. I have no unusual needs. My computer is an iMac OS X 10.6.8.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer!

I prefer a clone/bootable backup ovver Time Machine myself.
For TM you need a running OS, then time to restore, with a clone you can boot from that & keep working while doing the other when time is better. And you can test a clone before you need it.
Get carbon copy cloner to make an exact copy of your old HD to the New one...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
You would need to Partition your drive though.
How to format your disks...
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html
(To Install OSX on an IntelMac the Drive it needs the GUID Partitioning scheme mentioned at the bottom.)
Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...
http://Pondini.org/OSX/DU.html

1 AirDisk, 1 Computer, 2 Users Backup to Disk... 1 Problem

I have an iMac with 802.11n and an AirPort Extreme (N) with a USB harddrive plugged into the back. My iMac has two users, myself and my wife. I have .Mac Backup doing daily backups to the AirDisk for both users. (I just backup small stuff like documents, addressbook, mail, and calendar stuff. Nothing too heavy.) Well, the Backup plan for my wife's user is no longer working. My side works still. On my wife's side, Backup is giving me this error message:
An internal application error has occurred. The destination directory /Volumes/AirDisk/Backups/test - 2007.08.09-21.04.53.017.backXX/Contents/Contents could not be created.
End backup at 2007-08-09 21:04:54.263 -0500
Lovely. The AirDisk is formatted in OS X Extended, we can both still access and edit other files which we keep there. All software is up to date. It's just a matter of Backup apparently not wanting to save my wife's stuff. The weird thing is that everything on my user account is all fine and dandy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
~rick

I'm having this issue too. It has to do with fast user switching. When you log in, an alias to the AirDisk is placed in /Volumes. When your wife logs in via fast user switching, a second alias is created, named something like "AirDisk-1". This altered alias name causes confusion for Backup. I wish it didn't.
If you log out of your account, and then your wife logs in to hers, her backup should work. Sometimes I have to reboot to clear out all the various aliases. Plus, after time the AEBS stops sharing the AirDisk and I have to reboot it, but that's a separate issue (I think).

How do I Install Windows 7 on Mac Book Pro via a Bootable USB Drive

Hi Guys,
I have a Mac Book Pro 13 inch, Early 2011 Processor 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (I initially had OS 10.5.8 which I upgraded to OSX 10.9.4 a few months ago).
When purchased it, I installed Windows via Super Drive (that being the only time i ever used the super drive). My Windows got corrupted for some reason 2 months ago. Hence, I removed the windows via Bootcamp to perform a fresh install. I discovered my Super Drive was no longer working.
Thereon I have been trying to install Windows via a bootable USB Drive but am failing to do so. After going through several forums, I have reached the following stage.
1. Created Bootable Windows USB Drive using Windows USB (http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Bootable-Windows-7-or-Vista-USB-Drive). Have used this USB drive to install windows on a DELL Computer
2. Bootcamp wasnt creating a partition for windows since no Windows Installation disc was being detected in super drive. (Solved it by downloading Toast Titanium and loading the .iso file on a virtual drive).
3. Boot menu was initially not detecting external drive, so installed rEFIt - An EFI Boot Menu and Toolkit. Now it is detecting the USB Drive.
Now when I boot from this device, it get a black screen with the message "No bootable device - Insert Boot Disk"
Request someone to please help me install windows as some softwares which I work with are windows based.

smartestidiot wrote:
So my understanding is that my Boot Camp Assistant (BCA), since it does not allow USB installer, it sets NVRAM to boot from Optical Drive. Right?
Yes.
So can I change it or update it to another BCA version which supports the same??
All BCA versions drive the logic based on the Mac Model Identifier. Unfortunately there is no real workaround. .
Please see https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Optical+Driv e+Replacement/5122
and https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/Unibody-8x-SATA-SuperDrive-Post-Early-2009/IF16 1-073-2.

How EFI shell can help you backup a non-bootable Mac

I hope this post will help someone in my situation who need an emergency method to backup a non-bootable Mac.
Last week, I have to deal with a MacMini (Mid 2010 with Snow Leopard installed) which worked only 5 months until it froze and gave the following error at startup:
panic (cpu 0 caller0x55a1eb): Unable to find driver for this platform: “ACPI”
“You need to restart your computer…”
The same black screen with “You need to restart your computer…” text appeared when I tried to boot from the Snow Leopard DVD holding the C key. Also, error appeared when I tried to boot by holding the Shift key for Safe Boot mode or Cmd+S for Single-User mode.
So I decided to extract all valuable data and send it to an Apple service. Since, I was unable to boot even from a DVD, I tried r-Studio Emergency CD Demo, which worked fine, but the demo allows only files less than 64K to be recovered.
Then I found rEFIt site and created a bootable CD. It started fine and by using the shell I found that there is a copy command that may help me save some data on an USB flash memory. Unfortunately, rEFIt site lacks any information how to use EFI shell, but finally on other sites related to Intel EFI, I found that this shell is just a DOS box. So here are some useful commands that you may use in order to backup your data from a non-bootable Mac:
1. You have to create a bootable rEFIt CD. Follow the instructions here:
http://refit.sourceforge.net/
2. Insert the CD and boot you Mac by holding the C key.
3. When the rEFIt boot menu appears select EFI Shell icon.
4. In the shell:
Use "map" command to list all devices. I didn't find how to list them page by page, so you will see only the end of the listing:
map
Use "map -r" to remap all devices and assign them a letter. For example if you want to connect a USB flash drive:
map -r
Now, you are ready to backup your files. Begin by typing "fs0:" to enter in the first drive:
fs0:
Then "ls -b" to list files page pay page:
ls -b
fs0 is most probably your CD. Try with "fs1:", "fs2:" until you see your internal drive as well as USB drive. You will recognize internal drive by existence of folders like "Library", "System", "Users", etc. Finally, you are ready to copy your valuable data by "cp" or "cp -r" (for folders) command. Let's suppose your internal drive is fs1 and USB drive is fs3:
fs1:cd Userscd <your user>cd Desktopmkdir fs3:\Backupls -bcp somefile.zip fs3:\Backup\
This is DOS, so use "\" for paths. Of course, you will lose Mac OS X attributes such as owner, user rights, attached system information (such as Spotlight comment) and resource forks. But unless your files use resource forks (used mostly in Mac OS 9) you can safely backup using the cp command. If you need full list of EFI shell commands you can type "help" in the shell or "help cp", "help map", etc. or search for "EFI Shell commands" in Google.
Don't copy anything from your internal drive back to it. It may be damaged. Always copy from the internal drive to your external USB drive.

Thanks for posting this, I've used rEFIt in the past for my multi-boot Mac (4 operating systems) however never explored the EFI enviroment.
So Mac's are running DOS? Who would have guessed that?
Too bad rEFIt hasn't seen any updates of as late, don't know how well it's going to agree with the new Lion and firmware updates.

What is the difference between "bootable" and "restorable?"

I am using Carbon Copy Cloner to backup my iMac hard drive.
I realize that I don't really know what "bootable" means and how it differs from "restorable" - - can you please clarify?
1. If a backup on an external drive is bootable, does that mean your iMac should be able to see the backup once the external drive is connected, and you should be able to access the docs on it and move some or all of them back to your iMac, but you can't use it to start up your iMac in case the iMac crashes?
2. If you do a backup to an external drive and the backup is supposed to be restorable, does that mean you can use it to restore your whole operating system and all the apps and docs back onto your iMac in case it crashes? But you can't just cherry pick and copy one document on it to move back to your iMac?
Or something else?
Thanks.

If you are using Carbon Copy Cloner to back up to a disk image (e.g., sparse bundle), that disk image itself is not bootable, as CCC will warn you. However, CCC can use the image to restore a bootable system to a hard drive. If you clone your current system to a volume or partition on another drive, rather than to an image, the volume or partition will be bootable.

Get "no bootable device- insert boot disc and hit any key" error

Hp G72 Laptop, Windows 7 64 bit,
"no bootable device-insert boot disc and hit any key" (I have no boot disc.)
I was in the process of replacing the hard drive and the computer was starting the final phase after copying all files. When it restarted the first time, I got the message. I was getting this message randomly prior to replacing the hard drive and if I turned it off for 2 or 3 hours and turned back on I would not get the message. The reason for replacing the hard drive was a "Smart Disc " imminent failure error message.

Yes and yes. The final recovery disc had completed and it was moving to the next phase. It said the computer would restart several times during this phase and when it went to the first restart, the error message came up and I could proceed no further. I ctrl/alt/del and restarted, pressed escape to get the start-up menu but was lost at all the options. The information screen looked like the old hard drive info.

HPE Desktop New Hard Drive/No Bootable Drive

After receiving a "Hard Drive Failure Imminent" message, I saved files, made recovery disks, and installed a new hard drive. All specs for new HD meet requirements. I couldn't get my recovery disks to work and ordered a set from HP. When attempting to boot with Disk 1, process goes normally until "Insert Disk One" message appears while it's still in the drive. I inserted Disk 2 just for giggles but "Insert Disk 1" message still appears.
I found a fix for "recovery disks from HP won't work" and downloaded the cyberlink software to dvd (on laptop) but booting with that only results in Reboot error message.
HP Diagnostics passed tests for both the new HD and DVD drives. The "boot path" fails with BIOHD-3 error and the message "no bootable path".
In setup, HD appears in drive 1 and DVD in drive 2--both enabled.
Any help on recovery would be greatly appreciated. I'm at my wits end.

Hi,
Do you have the boot order in the BIOS set to boot to the DVD drive first?
To open the BIOS Setup utility, turn on the computer and immediately press the F10 key repeatedly, about once every second, until the BIOS setup utility screen opens.
Choose menu screens by pressing the left or right arrow keys. Use the up or down arrow keys to move up or down through the list of items on a menu screen. Press the Enter key to select an item for modification. For certain items, pressing the Enter key opens a submenu. After you have selected a menu item, use the arrow keys to modify the settings. Press the Esc key to exit from a submenu. Help is shown on the right side of the screen.
Jaco
Errare humanum est.

Creating a bootable USB with diskutil and dd

I am trying to create a bootable usb drive using diskutil and dd. I have had some success but not exactly what I wanted or expected. I am creating a bootable usb for MemTest86. I have an img file provided by PassMark. I first partitioned the drive using:
diskutil partitionDisk /dev/disk4 1 GPT "HFS+" "MemTest86" 100%
output:
TYPE NAME
SIZE
IDENTIFIER
   0:
GUID_partition_scheme
*3.9 GB
disk3
   1:
EFI EFI
209.7 MB
disk3s1
   2:
Apple_HFS MemTest86
3.6 GB
disk3s2
This gives me what I would expect, the first partition is an EFI partition of size 209.7MB and the remaining 3.6GB, on a 4GB drive, being allocated to the second partition, /dev/disk3s2, MemTest86.
To copy the img to the disk i first unmount the partitions on disk3
diskutil unmountdisk /dev/disk3
I then run dd
sudo dd if='//Volumes/Mac Mini Backup/Archives/MemTest86 Pro/memtest86-pro-usb/memtest86-pro-usb.img' of=/dev/disk3 bs=1m
Now, the file does end up on the usb drive but..... The data is written to the first partition which used to be the EFI partition. It is now named Untitled and it is a FAT16 partition.
diskutil list /dev/disk3
output:
TYPE NAME
SIZE
IDENTIFIER
   0:
GUID_partition_scheme
*3.9 GB
disk3
   1:
Microsoft Basic Data
51.4 MB
disk3s1
   2:
EFI
103.8 MB
disk3s2
Now, although, this isn't what I expected it does sort of work. When I boot the system into the Startup Manager there are 2 extra drives to boot from, both named "efi boot", all lower case. Both boot into the MemTest86 utility which is my goal but I first didn't expect the partition layout that I got and I can't figure out why I get 2 boot icons to select from. I am guessing that the format of the img file is causing the partition to be a FAT16 partition but I am waiting to hear back from PassMark regarding that.
So if anyone cares to shed a little light on what is happening I would appreciate it.

The only known way to make it work on an external drive is by first installing Windows onto an internal drive, then cloning the install to an external Thunderbolt drive. Thunderbolt is seen as an extension of the internal bus, so Windows doesn't see it as an external device.

Creating a bootable Lion install disc/disk and using it

Hi all,
Below is a copy of a method ds store posted for creating a bootable Lion install disc. Some questions:
1. Is this a polished final version of the process, or are there other steps which could/should be added?
2. Are there any disadvantages to going this route instead of installing directly onto a Mac?
3. After creating a Lion install disc/disk via this method and using this saved dmg to install Lion on a Mac, will it set up the Mac exactly the same way it would by downloading/installing directly from the Apple Store (sounds like a "duh" question, but nothing would surprise me with Lion)?
4. Exact size of this dmg (in case I want to use a flash drive instead)?
I have been avoiding Lion, hoping it would shape up. I'm still not satisfied and will not run it on my main machines. (Of course ymmv; I'm not looking to be talked into or out of using Lion.) However, I am ******* (hmmm, I guess l-u-s-t-i-n-g is a bad word!) over a new Mac Mini, which will have Lion installed, with no chance of running SL on it due to the new hardware revision. Thus, I'm either going to have to make peace with Lion or forget about a new Mini. I guess I'll have to give Lion a try, but I still don't want to actually run it on any of my machines; thus, I want to run it from an external drive, playing with it as I have time/desire, leading to more questions.
5. Using the install disc/disk created above, will it set up Lion on a DVD, flash drive, or external HD exactly as it would on a Mac (Recovery Disk, etc.)?
6. How much space is needed on a destination disc/disk to install Lion?
7. Is it possible to boot from a different volume, mount this dmg, and install Lion from it?
8. Any advantages/disadvantages doing it this way (#7) as opposed to booting from the Lion install disc/disk created above?
9. Another method I'm thinking of using is to (after cloning my SL installation) actually install Lion on my MBP over my current SL installation (shudders violently ), clone it to an external HD, then erase/zero the MBP's HD and clone my SL install back to my MBP. Has anyone done this? Again, I'm concerned that Lion will do something goofy and leave some kind of footprint behind, like maybe messing with firmware; cloning my SL installation back to my internal HD would not reverse a firmware change.
10. Any constructive suggestions on anything related to any of these steps is welcome!
Yes, I've searched and read a number of responses, but I'm hoping much of the "discovery" phase is over, and there are some "solid"/refined answers by now. My bottom line is to be able to play with Lion without having to depend on it.
Thanks!
Backup Lion Bootable 10.7 Disk
Purchase and download Lion from the Mac App Store on any Lion compatible Mac running Snow Leopard.
Right click on “Mac OS X     Lion”     installer and choose the option to     “Show Package Contents.”
Inside the Contents folder     that     appears you will find a SharedSupport     folder and inside the     SharedSupport folder     you will find the “InstallESD.dmg.” This is         the Lion boot disc image we have all been waiting for.
Copy “InstallESD.dmg” to         another folder like the Desktop.
Launch Disk Utility and click     the     burn button.
Select the copied “InstallESD.dmg” as the image to     burn,     insert a standard sized 4.7 GB DVD,     and wait for your new Lion Boot     Disc to come     out toasty hot.
With this disc you can boot any Lion compatible Mac, andinstall10.7 just like you installed previous version of Mac OS X. Youcan even use Disk Utility's Restore function to image your Lion bootdisc image onto a external drive suitable for performing a cleaninstall on a optical-drive-less MacBook Air, or Mac mini server.

tjk wrote:
5. Using the install disc/disk created above, will it set up Lion on a DVD, flash drive, or external HD exactly as it would on a Mac (Recovery Disk, etc.)?
DVD: no, flash drive: if it's large enough, external hard drive: yes
6. How much space is needed on a destination disc/disk to install Lion?
Whatever Apple minimum requirements are.
7. Is it possible to boot from a different volume, mount this dmg, and install Lion from it?
possibly, never tried it, it is a dmg so it's a volume all to itself, except it can't install to the same media it's on and can only install to something formatted with GUID and a OS X extended format, like a flash drive or hard drive large enough.
DVD's can't be formatted with a GUID EFI partiton
8. Any advantages/disadvantages doing it this way (#7) as opposed to booting from the Lion install disc/disk created above?
Speed limitation of the media and bus your using, USB 1 is a slower than a hard drive with 7,200 RPM on a Firewire 800 port
9. Another method I'm thinking of using is to (after cloning my SL installation) actually install Lion on my MBP over my current SL installation (shudders violently ), clone it to an external HD, then erase/zero the MBP's HD and clone my SL install back to my MBP.
The problems come from installing Lion over a existing Snow Leopard setup that isn't quite pristine enough for Lions quirkyness, has tweaks or other software installed that breaks 10.7, requiring you to fix it.
You can try it, you've got the 10.6 clone to option boot off of and restore from.
Cloning back and forth is a performance enhancer, not a problem solver.
Ideally it's best to clone 10.6, disconnect, zero and install 10.6, same user name, then up to 10.6.8, then to 10.7, then install programs from fresh sources/copies and then files returned last from backup off the clone (no migration assistant or it brings trouble back)
This will ensure the best possible performance possible with the least trouble as everything is wiped and installed fresh. Only problem being your files it there is something wrong with them, which is easy to remedy to the cause as it's the only thing not pristine.
Once you've got a pristine system, then clone that twice, once for a immediate update other for falling back a week, two weeks or even a month back.
Has anyone done this? Again, I'm concerned that Lion will do something goofy and leave some kind of footprint behind, like maybe messing with firmware; cloning my SL installation back to my internal HD would not reverse a firmware change.
Firmware is hardware specific not OS specific, of course it's possible a old version of a OS won't work with newer firmware, like 10.5 for instance perhaps because Apple has dropped all work on PPC code.
10.6 and 10.7 are just fine with most all present firmware, however there will be a time where a new firmware update could disallow 10.6, likely when iOS X 10.8 Bobcat arrives.
10. Any constructive suggestions on anything related to any of these steps is welcome!
Yes, I've searched and read a number of responses, but I'm hoping much of the "discovery" phase is over, and there are some "solid"/refined answers by now. My bottom line is to be able to play with Lion without having to depend on it.
Cloning only clones the Lion OS X Partition, not the Lion Recovery Partition.
A comptuer that is Lion capable will boot off a media with no Lion Recovery Partition.
You need to create a Lion Disk Assistant USB which copies your Lion Recovery Partition.
It's in my post.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

Bootable AirDisk

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