Installing from an external usb cdrom drive

I am able to boot an external usb cdrom drive but I cannot figure out how to mount that usb cdrom drive to complete the install.
My boot command is:
arch-scsi NEEDUSB=auto
I cannot run loaddisk, as it does not find the usb cdrom, so I cannot load the addon utilities (thus I cannot modprobe usb-storage).
I can run /arch/setup but when it gets to package selection, I am unable to select the CDROM source. This machine is not on the net, so I cannot do a ftp install.
Has anyone else installed ARCH using an external USB cdrom drive ?
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you Xentac for you help. I looked up the bug report and understand the problem. Now how do I proceed from here?
Any suggestions on a work around? Should I rebuild the 0.7 beta disk with additions to the initrd? Eventually, I will need to install Arch on about twenty standalone systems. They do not have cdrom's in them, and are not on a network. Sounds like I may have to open up the units and plug a cdrom in for the install
I was thinking of cloning the disk (i.e. open up unit, take hard drive out, put in another system and clone), but it has been pointed out that doing a basic install is a good way of testing the hardware. It doesn't take very long and we have to do testing of our software anyways.
I open to suggestions!

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CD/DVD Install from an external usb drive

Is there any version of Solaris 10 (x86) or a download tool or driver that would enable me to install the OS from an external usb CD/DVD drive?
My internal CD/DVD drive on my older SONY laptop has gone bad and SONY support has been less than helpful in providing me any support for a replacement.
-verO

Not (yet?) with Solaris 10 x86, but it might work with current Solaris Express x86
releases.
But I've never tested this.

Can I install a retail os10.5.6 from an external usb dvd drive?

Since the internal dvd combo drive does not read double layer dvd, I tried to install the new version from an external usb dvd. The installation starts but when I have to restart the computer goes back to the first screen.

Apple does not require any particular type of dvd Just says "an external dvd"
What document are you referring to? The fact that you can read/write with a particular DVD drive does not necessarily mean you can boot from it.
If you have another Mac available, you can probably "borrow" its DVD drive for your OS installation by using FireWire Target Disk mode.

Problems Installing Win7 using External, USB DVD Drive

I have a mid 2010 15" i7 MBP which I upgraded to from 4GB to 8GB RAM courtesy of OWC. I recently upgraded the 500GB 7200RPM HD with a 240GB OCZ Vertex 3 and using an OWC Data Doubler, I replaced the DVD SuperDrive with the 500GB Hard Drive.
I used an External USB DVD Drive to install OS X SL On the SSD without issues. Also, I got all my updates and software installed and working without any problems.
I've been running great for about 2 weeks now, so I decided to install Windows 7 64bit Ultimate. I ran Boot Camp Assistant and partitioned the 240GB SSD in half 120/120. Everything went fine with creating the partition. I selected to Install from the Win 7 DVD media in the USB DVD drive and rebooted. I got a grey screen. I turned the computer off and turned it back on. Holding down Option, I selected the Install DVD from the Boot Menu. I then got a screen with the Apple Logo flashing intermittently with a Circle/Cross Hatch. So I can't get the Windows Install to start to save my life. I know the External, USB DVD works since I used it to install OS X and I have no problems using it in OS X. I Know the media works because I tried a test install, without activation in a VMWare Fusion VM.
Any suggestions are appreciated?

So here is the answer. The Firmware on the MacBook Pro only supports installation of OS X from External Media and will not install operating systems from 3rd Parties. I tried to install Windows XP, Win7 Ultimate 32 & 64bit, and Ubuntu 11.04 but no success.
Supposedly, the MacBook Air does support installation of 3rd party operating systems from external media, but I have no way to confirm this.
I ended up reinstalling the internal DVD drive installing Win 7 and Ubuntu on the SSD. Using rEFI, I'm able to triple boot all 3 operating systems. Then removed the drive again and reinstalled the 2nd HD. Everything seems to be working fine.
I'm looking for someone who has experience in Mac EFI Hacking to see if there is a way to enable booting 3rd Party OSes from external media. I'm guessing someone could examine the MBA firmware and figure out how to hack that capability into the MBP.

Can I install Leopard from an external USB DVD drive?

I am trying to install Leopard onto an older PB G4 whose internal drive is shot. I have an external Pioneer USB 2 drive attached, but when the Leopard Installer prompts me to restart, the installer doesn't kick in and the computer restarts into basic OSX. I've tried to choose the Installer DVD via System Preferences "Start-up Disk" pane, but it doesn't show up. The DVD drive does have its own AC power source.
Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Mac OS X will only boot PowerPCs with Firewire, not with USB. That's the reason it doesn't work.

Can you install leopard from an external usb disc drive?

I don't know if the disc drive is fast enough for leopard or something. It's taking forever to open the installer, and when I restarted into the installer it just booted back to my desktop. I have an external disc drive I want to try. Can you install leopard from and external disc drive?

****, I just tried it and when I restarted it didn't go into the installer. I think my disc drive in my old mac mini might be too slow. It takes forever to recognize the disc and just to double click on it and it up. And when I tried to install it the first time from the internal drive it just booted right into my desktop again.

Installing SL from an external USB DVD drive

Hi, folks.
The DVD drive in my MBP suddenly stopped working awhile back after I updated to 10.5.7 (won't read any disks at all), and I would like to install SL on it using an external Samsung Writemaster TS-H552U with a USB connection (Firewire is not an option with this unit, as the drive casing only offers a USB connection).
Is this possible, and if so, what I need are step by step instructions on how to do this. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Thanks, Kappy. I'll give that a try, but have one more question before I do:
Do I have to watch out for any reboots during the upgrade? If so, at what point(s) do they occur, and will I need to use the OPTION key again if it does, or does it just do the upgrade in one shot and reboot normally afterwards?
Oh, and I've already installed the latest updates for 10.5.8, and will do a disk and permission repair before I start, just to be on the safe side.
Here's the specs for the Samsung Writemaster TS-H552U:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/gadgets/samsung-writemaster-tsh552u-dvd- burner.asp
Thanks again.
EDIT: Sorry, but I forgot to ask, how long should the upgrade take?
Message was edited by: Maddoktor2

T430s: boot from an external USB DVD drive

I wanted to change boot sequence to boot from external DVD drive to install Win8. To access the BIOS I hit Enter (empty password I guess) but in the BIOS everything is greyed out: I can't make any changes. What is going on?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

@kaja69...
As Rich has stated, you have a supervisor password set, and as Jin Li has stated, there is no default password.
For information on the various BIOS-level passwords, please see your T430s Hardware Maintenance Manual (manual pages 36-38).
Per the Community Rules, discussion of passwords is sensitive territory and may risk a thread lock, so please keep that in mind if/as this discussion progresses.
Regards.
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Can you boot from an external USB hard drive? (Neo2 Platinum)

As I'm tempted to get a 160Gb drive for Linux and AMD64 XP installations. But obviously it needs to beable to boot from it.
Thanks

I read a post recently about booting from a usb memory stick - I assume the principal is the same. You need to make the usb drive bootable, in the same way that you would make a cd or a diskette bootable. In the example given about a usb memory stick, they suggested copying the contents of a win98 startup disk onto the memory stick. Then, run 'sys.com' on the drive letter of the usb stick from the startup disk. Then, enable usb legacy support in the bios, and access the boot order to tell it to boot from the usb or legacy, I'm not sure which.
What you're in essence wanting to do is to copy the xpcd to the usb drive, so the format and files, etc., are the same. Then, follow with the usb legacy stuff, etc....

Does arch support booting from an external firewire cdrom drive?

as above?

If the mobo provides that function through bios provisions the arch system should boot.
EDIT: There may be issues with udev and mkinitcpio to ensure the boot sequence is not terminated by the udev detection.
Last edited by lilsirecho (2008-05-14 15:18:04)

How do install Tiger from an external USB drive?

I'm trying to upgrade from 10.2.8 to Tiger. How do I install Tiger from my external USB DVD drive? Tiger only comes on DVD and my G4 only has a CD ROM as an internal drive. Is there a way to boot from an external USB DVD drive?

bamim2,
you obviously just cracked some known hardware restrictions that not even Apple knew how to do: Don't start up from an external USB device.
The procedure you described is the standard procedure for the startup manager. However, as Apple's article explains this does NOT work with USB-devices on PowerPC (G3, G4, G5) based Macs.

Installing Solaris 10 11/06 from an external USB CD-ROM drive

Hello. I recently purchased a new SunFire V245 SPARC server and would like to re-install Solairs 10 on it. However, the internal DVD-ROM is on back order from the vendor and will not arrive for a few days. I have an exteranl USB CD-ROM drive and the server sees it and the media when I access it from the Java desktop. However, I cannot boot from this device or see it in OpenBoot using any of the probe command. I've searched several forums and have seen that Solaris 10 can be installed from an external USB device on the x86/x64 platform. But I cannot find any information or steps on how to implement this procedure on the SPARC platform. Is this functionality possible? Or do I have to update my OpenBoot version? Please advise if possible. Thanks.

Hello Alex,
no, you can't use USB devices on SPARC as boot device.
The OBP (even updated ones) contains only support for the USB keyboard, but none for USB mass storage (which requires a device driver). The integrated USB ports are for slow devices like keyboard and mouse.
Using an external SCSI DVD-ROM works. Another choice is an installation via network.
Michael

Can't Import From External USB Optical Drive

I have an External USB cdrom drive that I want to use to rip my music collection to my iTunes library. When I put in a CD, iTunes looks up the information and offers to import it to the library. I click okay and it goes ahead. It takes a whooping 5 seconds to rip the whole cd . The files are only 51Kb or 80kb in size and are unplayable. The built in DVD Burner in my laptop works fine for ripping cds but I don't want to put the un-needed wear on it because portable drives don't last long. The drive inside the enclosure is brand new and has previously worked fine at everything else. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Any solutions?

hmmmm. do you have "Error correction" switched on in your Importing preferences? if so, does switching that off help with the importing issues?
if no joy there, perhaps some of the other usual suspects from the following document are worth checking on:
You can't import or play music from an audio CD in iTunes for Windows
... and these resources might be helpful with that:
Using CD Diagnostics in iTunes for Windows to troubleshoot CD/DVD drive issues
iTunes for Windows: Updating the firmware on your CD or DVD drive
Updating the drivers on your Windows PC
Where to find firmware for your CD/DVD drive

Cannot boot to Windows disc from external USB DVD drive.

I have a MacBook Pro 17" Early 2011 8,3. I have tried to use bootcamp to install Windows 7 from a external USB DVD drive. All I get, like many people, is a black screen with a blinking cursor, as if it never makes it to boot. I tried restarting to the OS selection for holding alt, and tried the DVD again, did not work.
I saw a few posts claiming that this didn't work on some models of Mac because of a EFI problem that would not allow booting from a external USB, which is really stupid because it would seems some models can... And MacBook airs can... Can someone please confirm this for me? Has anyone found a resolution?
If not, APPLE PLEASE FIX THIS.

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. Yes the MBP is currently running Tiger, I want to flatten this with a fresh install of Leopard. I can view the install DVD when in Tiger currently.
I haven't tried what you have suggested, but I have seen various posts suggesting this approach. I've also seen several posts explain how to create a partition on an external firewire Harddrive and this seems to have worked for various people.
This would however mean that I didn't really need the external Lacie drive at all, as I've got access to my G5s DVD drive over the network. The more I search on this, the more convinced I am the USB drive was a bad idea.
Once again thank for the response.

Booting up from an external USB drive

Can I boot up from an external USB hard drive with OS X installed? The Imac G5 manual says you can boot from an external Firewire HD but says nothing about booting from an external USB HD

Yes, because OS X cannot be started from a USB drive.
To make a clone of your hard drive you must use the proper software, you cannot simply use drag and drop. You can use Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, LaCie SilverKeeper, Retrospect, Synchronize! Pro X, Tri-Backup, or any of a number of such utilities. You can also use the Restore option of Disk Utility. This latter option only does full backups (no syncs or incremental backups) but it's free, part of the OS, and reliable. Follow these instructions:
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder unless it's already open.
2. Select the startup volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Drag the startup volume to the Source entry field.
5. Select the backup volume from the leftside list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Check the box to Erase Destination. Skip this step if you've already formatted the drive or if you cannot format it.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Installing from an external usb cdrom drive

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