How do I boot from a USB drive with Leopard using a Lion iMac?

I'm looking to wave good bye to my MacBook Pro running Leopard and upgrade.
However, I need to keep a version of Leopard so I can run certain Audio Units that won't run on Snow Leopard or Lion.
I have made a bootable drive with Leopard on it, but I can't get it to boot on my iMac running Lion. It boots fine using the MacBook though.
What am I doing wrong here? Is what I'm looking to do possible any more, or do I need to configure the drive for use with a Lion machine somehow?
Any help would be very much appreciated...

Clearly not supported by Apple but as an Engineer I would like to know what the barriers are.
I believe that pre-installed Lion has extra disk partitions - probably for Utilities and software 'repair'. Having extra disk partitions is not new for Apple - they did it on some Macs long before OS X but these did not stop booting from other OSs or replacement with new single partition disks.
I suspect there are ways of doing it but it would probably invalidate the guarantee and might require removal of Lion, disk format, partition and reinstallation of OSs. Even then the reinstalled Lion may not work. I suspect it is only a matter of time before somebody posts a low risk way of doing this.

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How do I boot from an external drive?

I've just Carbon Cloned my 60GB drive to a firewire external drive. I'm about to replace the 60GB with a 160GB drive and the CCC instructions say boot from the external drive I'd just created once the new disk is installed. Then CCC the cloned drive back to the new hard drive.
So, how do I boot from an external drive? Do I have load anything to the new drive? Will the macbook detect the external drive and boot from that? Or what??????
Thanks
Dick

Thanks DWB. Being the rash impetuous guy I am I didn't wait for replies and just switched on the macbook after installing the new disk (which was so easy it was unbelievable - had to go and buy a a little torx bit though) to see what would happen.
Blow me down with a feather if it didn't just boot off the external drive all by itself :-O It did come up with the disk was unverified and I could see it in FINDER and I was prseented with a screen to ERASE/RESTORE etc.
When I went to CCC the external drive back to the new hard drive it didn't give show me the new hard drive so I guessed I'd have to do something to format (?) the hard drive.
I don't know if I did the right thing but I went to disk utilities and chose ERASE in the vague hope it would maybe format the disk in some way.
Seems to work now and the CCC replaced the system perfectly as far as I can see.
Basically very impressive all round. Piece of proverbial to replace the disk and CCC made life so easy.
Thanks again.
Cheers
Dick

Booting from external USB drive

I was wondering if there is any way to boot from a USB drive that I have? I partitioned the drive, erased it, and its basically ready to go. But I can't install Mac OS X on it because it says that I cannot reboot from the drive.
I know that iBook G4s generally can't boot from a USB devise but is there any way to get around this?

If you're computer is having kernel panics there's a conflict; either software or hardware. 2GB of free space isn't enough but I haven't seen anything that suggests KPs are caused by too little free space. Your computer should start fine with 2GB free. It may have problems after a period of use but it would startup and run.
Try starting in Safe Mode. If successful move some of your files to the external drive and then restart normally. If it KPs again, restart in safe mode and disable all startup items in System Preferences>Accounts>youraccount and restart. If it KPs again go through the linked troubleshooting steps by Dr. Smoke step by step. That's the only way to resole your problem.

How do I boot from a USB flash drive?

I have two different Toshiba laptops. In the BIOS settings I only see the following options.
Laptop 1:
CD/DVD
FDD
LAN
HDD1/SSD1
Laptop 2:
HDD1/SSD1
HDD2/SSD2
eSATA HDD
CD/DVD
FDD
LAN
Is it possible to make either computer boot from a USB flash drive?
Thanks in advance for any help,
yeto

FDD (Floppy Disk Drive) equates to USB in my Toshiba laptops. Seems like it's taking some BIOS designers a long time to catch up with the rest of the computer world!
C.B.
Toshiba Sat. C75D-B7260 Win 8.1 64 Bit--Toshiba Sat. L775D-S7132 Win 7 HP SP1 64 Bit and Win 10 PRO Technical Preview--Toshiba Sat. L305-S5921 Win Vista SP2 32 Bit

T440 - Problem booting from Win7 USB drive

Dear Forum I have a wonderful new T440 here and am wishing to load Windows 7 x64 from a bootable usb memory stick, which I've always used and works fine on other computers (tested again this morning).However when I try to boot my T440 from this drive, I can bring up the temporary boot menu and see the usb drive in the list, but when I select it (press enter) the screen just flashes and comes back to the temporary boot menu. IT will not accept my memory stick! I tried with another stick with Win7 on , but got the same problem. Interestingly I also have a X240 here and this behaves exactly the same. So I don't think it is the USB Drive and its not the T440. What can I do. Just out of interest I was able to boot from a Windows 8 prepared USB drive... which is great but I don't want to load win8, I need to load win7. help! Thanks

Hey, i just bought a new T440p and i have the same issue with booting from a USB.
Thing is, i already prepared the stick (FAT32), and enabled the secure boot. I read onlinde that with Windows 7 (which I try to install) i shouldnt enable the CSM Support, is that right?
Are there any other things i need to change in order to boot from the USB?
thanks in advance
Noel

Booting from a USB drive when the System Volume has FileVault2 turned on

Hi, I need to perform some maintenance on my primary volume. (10.9.1 on a mac Mini 2011).
During installation, I enabled FileVault2 to protect my files.
Now when I attempt to run DriveGenius or similar, the tools will demand to boot from a different volume to access the drive.
However, when I boot the system, no other boot choice shows up, neither my Mavericks install USB stick nor my backup clone (created with SmartBackup 3.5.3, used to work on older versions before 10.9)
When selecting "Start Volume" under systems preferences, no other volume will show as a choice, even when the volumes mentioned are attached.
Please advise
TIA

Okay just clarifying my INTERNAL hard drive is most likely dead, I am looking to install and boot from my external hard drive. According to this AHT article
Before you begin
Important: If your Mac was released after June 2013, you will use Apple Diagnostics rather than Apple Hardware Test (AHT). See Using Apple Diagnostics for instructions.
Consider doing some preliminary troubleshooting to determine if your issue is related to hardware. You can try to determine if the cause of your issue is related to hardware or software by following Isolating issues in Mac OS X. AHT can help determine which hardware component may be causing the issue.
Before starting AHT, be sure to disconnect all external devices except the keyboard, mouse, display, and Ethernet adapter. Also disconnect any external optical drives.
My goal is to find a way to boot from my external drive.
"Won't matter, as long as you have the Disc.
To make it botable, you will need to set the Partition Map Scheme (GUID Partition Table) and Format it (Mac OS Extended Journaled) before installing OS X."
The disc or the drive? I assume you mean the drive but according to the document that should be removed.

Booting from a firewire drive with a bluetooth keyboard

I need to get my computer (iMac G5) to boot from a firewire drive that does have OSX installed on it. I understand from other posts that a bluetooth keyboard will not help seeing as the handshake does not occur until the operating system boots as well. Is there any way to get this to work? I have tried selecting it as the startup disk in System Preferences, but that hasn't seemed to work. I do NOT have a USB keyboard anywhere that I can use (away from home in the boondocks).
Any ideas?

Ikrion wrote:
I need to get my computer (iMac G5) to boot from a firewire drive that does have OSX installed on it. I understand from other posts that a bluetooth keyboard will not help seeing as the handshake does not occur until the operating system boots as well. Is there any way to get this to work? I have tried selecting it as the startup disk in System Preferences, but that hasn't seemed to work. I do NOT have a USB keyboard anywhere that I can use (away from home in the boondocks).
Does System Preferences allow you to select the FW drive as the start up volume? If so, you then press the button to restart, correct? What exactly happens after that?
What version of OS X do you have on the iMac (ii) the FW drive?
Have you booted from the FW before? What kind of drive is it? How did you install OS X on it?
If the FW and iMac have the same version of OS X on, try this:
open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
select the FW drive at the left
choose "repair disk"
choose "repair permissions"
Try again.
- cfr

Can I boot from an external drive with a "Virtual CD"

I just purchased a Hitachi LifeStudio external hard drive for use as my Time Machine backup. When I plugged it in to my MacBook running 10.6.4, I realized that it had one of those "Virtual CDs" that contained the manufacturers crapware, similar to Western Digital's MyWare or whatever its called. It shows up in disk utility as an actual separate disk and not just another partition that can be wiped.
I reformatted the drive using GUID and and created 3 HFS+ Journaled partitions. One was going to be for the 10.6 installer, one for the 10.6 boot, and one for my time machine backup. I restored a 10.6 install dvd disk image I created using disk utility to the 10.6 installer partition (with erase destination checked) then option booted my mac and the partitions did not show up. The only thing I could see was my internal hard drive.
I have done this many times before and it has always worked so Im trying to figure out what Im doing wrong. The only thing I can think of is that the "Virtual CD" that Hitachi put on this external drive is stopping the Mac from seeing the bootable partitions I created. I even went into system preferences>startup disk and blessed the 10.6 install partition. That didn't work either, the computer just booted to my internal drive.
So my questions are. Is it because of this "Virtual CD" that I can't boot from my external drive? If so, is there a way around it? I already searched their web site and emailed their tech support asking for a firmware update to remove the virtual cd.
Thanks in advance.

Yes, it's a known issue. You've already referred to the issue with WD systems. WD has a long list of products that are either not compatible with Macs or won't boot a Mac.
There are practically no problems with bare drives, but once installed in an enclosure there is no guarantee that the package will function as a bootable device. This is especially the case if the manufacturer uses some sort of "virtual" scheme intended for using the device as a sort of one button backup device.
External drives don't have to specifically say anything about being Mac bootable or compatible. It's up to the consumer to verify compatibility and usability.

RS482M4-ILD: How to boot from a USB Drive? Can't find the option in BIOS!!!

Hi!
I have a USB Pen Drive as well as External USB 2.0 HDD. I'd like to know how to enable the Boot from USB Option in my mobo: RS482M4-ILD BIOS.
I have seen everywhere but, still couldn't find the option.
Thanks in Advance.
Regards,
The GodFather

Hi:
I believe you need to to into the BIOS and change it to legacy mode to be able to boot from any other device than the hard drive.

Booting from a USB drive

I have an urgent problem.
As I had a fatal problem with my orignal MBP It's currently getting repaired. However I have my backup with the latest LION on the timemachine drive!
I can now use my brothers MBP but he's running Snow Leopard and not Lion!
Someone gave me the advise to boot from an external USB drive and like this I could use all my saved stuff on my brothers Laptop without bothering his Harddrive at all!
SO I copied all my stuff to this external USB drive and tried to boot pressing "alt" at the start but my external HD wouldn't show up.
How can I get this external drive to act as a bootable drive?
I have the Timemachine Drive and the USB drive connected to the MBP but I can't boot from either the time machine drive nor the USB dirve!
Please help!!

You need to partiton and format the drive properly for OS X. You then need to install OS X on the drive using a version that can boot the computer.
Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select the USB hard 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. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Afte formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Complete the OS X installation.
Once you've installed a working OS X that boots the computer you can then go about the task of restoring your software from your TM backup using the Setup Assistant or using Migration Assistant.

Slow boot from external usb drive

I just upgraded my daughter's macbook to the latest fixes on her internal drive. I reformatted her external LaCie drive to Mac OS Extended(Journaled) and did a restore. I did notice that there are less files on the internal than the external drive when comparing immediately after the restore. When I try to boot from that drive, it takes 10 minutes to boot the system. It takes about 7 minutes before I even hear any drive activity. In the past this system used to take about 2 minutes to boot at most vs 30 seconds from the internal drive. I have repaired permissions without seeing any effect. I did attach another USB drive that had a copy of her old OSC 10.5.8 image and that booted in less than 2 minutes. Any thoughts on what could be causing the long boot time on the external drive? I have seen comments on GUID formatting. Doesn't that come automatically with Mac OS Extended(Journaled) on an Intel machine? Should I have selected an option when doing the format to specify GUID? I did run a verify Disk as well and the extrnal checked out without any problems.

+" ... and did a restore ..."+
How, of what, from where, to where?
+" ... I have seen comments on GUID formatting. Doesn't that come automatically with Mac OS Extended(Journaled) on an Intel machine? ..."+
No, it does not happen automatically when you format the drive. GUID is a partition type, not a format. You specify GUID partition scheme at the time you partition the drive. Formatting is a separate operation, occurring after partitioning. Drives that will be used to boot an Intel Mac must be GUID partition scheme and formatted as Mac OS Extended Journaled.

How can I boot from an external drive?

I am unsuccessful trying to have the external backup drive to boot the Powerbook. I tried first a USB Lacie Mobile Disk, then thinking USB was the problem I got a FireWire Little Disk of the same brand. None will boot even if the disk appears in the startup disk control panel. When I boot with option key, the choice is no longer there. Maybe they require a power supply other than the USB power lead? Any experience?

USB drives are not bootable for PowerBooks. FireWire drive usually needs to be used with the power supply since it consumes more power than the USB
Right! So there is no way to boot from an external without a power source.
Thanks Arnie.

How do you boot from an external drive when internal drive is dead?

The internal drive is dead, but I have a complete dupolicate on my fire-wire external drive. I think I remember reading that there is a combination of keys to press down when starting to allow one to choose which drive to use as a startup volume. As it is, the thing won't start up at all.
So I know it's supposed to run from the external drive, but how do you get it to boot from it without having designated it as the startup when it was last running?

Hold down the Option key when booting the computer.
When I asked the question I was working on my daughter's ibook.
Now I'm back home and I have a firewall external drive, so I tried pressing option when I started and icons for startup drive come up BUT there is only one icon -- that being for my internal drive. I know that the external drive, which has a duplicate of the internal, is capable of starting it up ok, because when I go ahead and , after starting it up on the internal drive, then pick the external drive to start and then restart it, it goes to the external drive ok. But again, if it has been preferrenced to start on the internal drive and I do the thing by pressing with option when I start, it doesn't give me the option to use the external drive. (The external drive is partioned, and the duplicate startup is in one of the volumes, but I don't think this should have anything to do with anything, since it can start up using the appropriate external hard drive volume when I have selected it in my preferences.)
G4 tower Mac OS X (10.3.9)
G4 tower Mac OS X (10.3.9)

How do i boot from an external drive on my imac G4?

ive have tried to press option to boot Leopard from a USB external drive. This does not work, it just takes me back to Tiger..
I have done this on my other mac and it does allow me to boot with this drive.. Is there something i am missing or can i not run Leopard on my iMac G4.
Processor 1.83 GHz Intel Core Dou
Memory 512 MB 667 MHZ RAM
thanks

jamesfromcanogapark wrote:
ive have tried to press option to boot Leopard from a USB external drive. This does not work, it just takes me back to Tiger..
I have done this on my other mac and it does allow me to boot with this drive.. Is there something i am missing or can i not run Leopard on my iMac G4.
Processor 1.83 GHz Intel Core Dou
Memory 512 MB 667 MHZ RAM
thanks
First you say you have an iMac G4. Then at the end of your message you state specs that say Intel Core Duo.
I wish you would get your story straight because if it is an iMac G4 it can' have an Intel processor in it.
Once you get a plausible story, I'll consider answering you then.
Allan

Booting from same USB drive on multiple computers

I would like to use a single USB drive to boot on multiple computers (i.e. I can unplug it and plug it into another computer, and it should work fine).
Right now I have two computers, one with no hard disk (it's an Intel D945GCLF actually) and one with a hard disk as usual. I have set up grub to boot fine from the harddisk-less computer (and that's what I do my work on) but the USB drive cannot boot on the other computer. Grub says it's loading stage 1.5 and then error 2 comes out. I think it's because grub is configured to run from (hd0,0) but, in my other computer, my USB disk is (hd1,0). Does anyone have any ideas, and has anyone successfully used this setup before?
Thanks.

If you're computer is having kernel panics there's a conflict; either software or hardware. 2GB of free space isn't enough but I haven't seen anything that suggests KPs are caused by too little free space. Your computer should start fine with 2GB free. It may have problems after a period of use but it would startup and run.
Try starting in Safe Mode. If successful move some of your files to the external drive and then restart normally. If it KPs again, restart in safe mode and disable all startup items in System Preferences>Accounts>youraccount and restart. If it KPs again go through the linked troubleshooting steps by Dr. Smoke step by step. That's the only way to resole your problem.

How do I boot from a USB drive with Leopard using a Lion iMac?

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