MacBook fails to start from external drive

My Photoshop CS3 would not launch. After many other things, I installed the Mac OS (10.4.11) freshly on an external volume, and now PS launched, if I selected that volume as the startup volume.
This emergency solution worked briefly.
Since the Adobe support at some point suggested that a defect font might be the culprit, I trashed all fonts from the main volume and replaced them by those of the fresh install. But then, I could not install PS onto the main volume.
And now, I can no longer make the Mac start from the external volume. The volume shows up in System Preferences/Start disk, I can select it, it is highlighted, everything looks like it should, but the Mac starts from the main volume.
So now, I can neither use PS, nor activate/de-activate/un-install it and thus not re-install it anywhere else. Adobe support has dropped out in silence.
One strange observation: the fresh OS install contained 2 custom fonts, that must have come from my original system -- how did they come to the new one??
2 other observations that might give a hint to the knowledgeable:
1-Before the system starts, the quotation mark flashes up briefly
2-Whenever I need to authenticate as the admin, I need to do it twice.
The main volume is a MacBook Pro 15", 2 GHz Intel Core Duo, 2 GB RAM, from about 2007, serial number W86***VWW. <Edited by Host> The external volume is a WD MyBook connected via USB.
I have repaired the external disk and its permissions using Disk Utility from the System CD.
Can anybody help? Hopeful - Hening

Hi there, I asked for the Serial# to be removed, so don't be shocked.
Before the system starts, the quotation mark flashes up briefly
That means it can't find a booter on the drive selected to start from.
Have you done a PRAM reset...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Resetting MacBook and MacBook Pro System Management Controller (SMC)...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319
If all the above fails, then it appears to be time for a relatively painless Archive & Install to your +External drive+, which gives you a new/old OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space and no Disk corruption, and is relatively quick & painless...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
Just be sure to select Preserve Users & Settings.

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My macbook pro only boot from external drive

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Did you run fsck while booted into single user/verbose mode?
Run Repair Disk:
First check the S.M.A.R.T.status on your HD: Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility > in thepanel at left, select the first item in the list/your HD mechanism > look atthe bottom of the main window next to S.M.A.R.T. status and see if it says“Verified” or something more ominous like “Failing.”
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(5) Enter my password
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Just so you know I've done some homework:
I've scoured other Logic forums and found these relevant threads that in the end did not solve the issue. They mostly seem to refer to Logic 8 which does not have this issue.
@ LUG
Thread 1
@ Logic Pro Help
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3 this fellow seems to have a similar problem as I. He drags folders into the loop browser but nothing happens.
@ Apple Discussions
Thread 1
Thread 2

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Not all external devices are bootable. First stop would be involve whoever handles the 4-bay Thunderbolt. Seeing how it has a bridge most likely in order to support RAID mode that may not have the correct frmware or other reasons.
https://bombich.com/kb/ccc4
https://bombich.com/kb/ccc4/search/bootable%20volume
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Unfortunately I cannot speak to the NewerTech enclosure, but in principle it appears to be possible to have SMART information displayed even for external drives if the enclosure's bridge controller chip allows it.
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I've used two MacPower Pleiades FW800/400/USB/eSATA enclosures for several years and I've now supplemented them with two additional inXtron enclosures. They all work as expected daisy-chained to the iMac.
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This widget is complete garbage, though – it is a nauseating nightmare of extreme over-design at the expense of even basic usability:
http://www.inxtron.com/information-center/smart-ap-for-external-hard-drives
To make matters even worse, it can only display the above information for the first external drive connected.
BUT: This Widget internally calls a command line utility which does the actual parameter retrieval, and that one can be called from the terminal as well.
So after installing the software from CD and effectively discarding the Widget, I checked out the command line utility in the Terminal and found that this utility actually reported data about ALL my enclosures, both the inXtron and the MacPower ones (there seems to be firmware compatibility across these):
(The '$' is supposed to be Terminal's bash prompt – type in only the rest of the respective line.)
$ /Applications/MacpowerAP/GetSMART 1
29 50 13 8
53 67 645 15829
52 53 90 7105
51 52 18 13
Each line reports the following for one connected enclosure:
[temp] [maxtemp] [cycles] [hours]
The drives are reported first USB, then FireWire drives, each in the order of first connection / mounting.
$ /Applications/MacpowerAP/GetSMART 2
WD-WCA**************
WDC WD30EZRX-00MMMB0
5TE09***************
ST31000333AS-00MMMB0
5TE09***************
ST31000333AS-00MMMB0
WD-WMA**************
WDC WD30EZRS-00J99B0
Each drive gets two lines reported, first the drive's serial number ("***" blocking out my exact ones), then the drive model.
$ /Applications/MacpowerAP/GetSMART 3
29 50 13 8
WD-WCA**************
WDC WD30EZRX-00MMMB0
53 67 645 15829
5TE09***************
ST31000333AS-00MMMB0
52 53 90 7105
5TE09***************
ST31000333AS-00MMMB0
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WD-WMA**************
WDC WD30EZRS-00J99B0
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$ /Applications/MacpowerAP/GetSMART 5
disk4
disk1
disk2
disk3
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$ /Applications/MacpowerAP/GetSMART 6
USB
1394
1394
1394
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$ /Applications/MacpowerAP/GetSMART 7
MPT934DS1.20.0104.00
MPT934DS1.20.0104.00
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These are the commands I know about, and they apply only to the "Smart AP" software supplied with current inXtron enclosures, but it may be possible that other brands use it as well.
I have not been able to identify information about the self-test (early(?) failure warning), but it might be contained as well in the data reported above.
As always, your mileage may vary and you should never do such experiments without FIRST making sure you've got backups of your data and that such backup is not connected during experimentation!
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Good luck!

Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.

Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.
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kauribill wrote:
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cornelius

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I'm using Time Machine now with
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pitou wrote:
P.S. Stupid question: If my computer crashes, and I reboot from Time Machine
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