No internal HD showing in iBook. Only boots from Ext HD or CD.

I think my hard drive packed it in. When I boot up I get a folder icon with a flashing ? on the screen.
A number of months ago I made a duplicate of my internal drive on an external HD with carbon cloner. Fortunately it made a useable boot copy which I'm using to boot the computer. I could not previously boot from the external HD so I didn't know if this was going to boot. But it did!
I tried running Techtool Pro but it locks up so I can't check any hardware. Disk util used to allow me to click on verify permissions but would then give an error and refuse to do anything. Now it doesn't even list the internal hard drive. Computer seems to run normally from the ext. HD. Sometimes when booting the computer I will hear a faint moaning sound in the laptop until it starts booting from the Ext HD. So I'm pretty sure the drive is shot. There was no warning to indicate any hard drive problems.
Is there anyway to do any hardware testing to determine if its only the hard drive or something else that's shot? Why would techtool not complete the first step of hardware testing (memory) at the beginning of the test? Is there a way to make it run so I can check the hardware? I've tried deselecting all and trying to run tests other than the hard drive ones but nothing happens once it starts the test. Is it because it had to use the internal hard drive to start the tests?
The computer is still under extended warranty but I can't find the apple web page link to check when I bought the computer. Yesterday I could find the link for my remaining warranty info but today I can't find it. Where is this link hidden?
I have also tried and tried to find a link in support to request a hardware repair but such an options seems to be non-existent. Is this possible?

One thing you can do is to run the Apple Hardware Test, which is on one of the gray CD's that originally came with your computer. It may be a separate disc or on one of the install discs. You should get one or more error codes which will indicate where the problem lies. You can then call Apple Technical Support on the telephone and give them the error code, which they can interpret. If you are under warranty, they will probably want you to send it in for warranty repair. They can also tell you how much time is left on your warranty. If you are at all close to the end of the warranty period, be sure and ask for a case number, which will document that the problem first occurred under warranty. This is important to do, because they will honor the warranty until the problem is fixed as long as you can show that it first occurred under warranty.
Good luck!

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Whats the key command to show which HD to boot from?

Just installed Leopard but I didnt have my external firewire HD's disconnected and now I'm getting that awesome blue screen. I installed Leopard to a 2nd HD in my case.. so.. what is that key command to show what HD to boot from when the machine boots up?

So.. Uh... I see that Apple is saying that these blue screen problems are when there is "incompatible software" on the computer.. Uh. I'm installing this to a 2nd HD as a full install. How can software from the other HD cause problems?

Elitebook 8460p only boots from two specific USB sticks

My Elitebook 8460p boots perfectly normally from HDD but will ONLY boot from two specific USB sticks - 1. A Windows Recovery USB and 2. A Parted Magic USB stick which is a commercial partition recovery/imaging utility - it will NOT boot from ANY OTHER USB stick at all.It'll boot from a CD/DVD. What I would like to know is why it won't boot from any other bootable USB stick at all other than those two?

That is because the other usb sticks you have tried have not been made properly bootable. Check the partition type on the sticks that work. Do they have a uefi partition or are they just MBR partitions that are active? Use Windows own disk management snapin to investigate the usb sticks.

I have a new macbook pro 2,6 Ghz i7, 8GB 1600Mhz internal ram. He will not boot from an external disk with operating system Snow Leopard

I have a new macbook pro 2,6Ghz i7, 8GB 1600 Mhz internal ram, but he will not boot from an external disk with operating system Snow Leopard.

These Macs shipped with 10.7, and will run nothing older than that:
MacBook Pro
Date introduced
Original Mac OS X included
(see Tips 1 and 3)
Later Mac OS X included
(see Tip 1)
Mac OS X Build(s)
(see Tip 2)
MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012)
Jun 2012
10.7.4
11E2068
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)
Jun 2012
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MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
Jun 2012
10.7.4
11E2617
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
Oct 2011
10.7.2
10.7.3
11C74, 11C2002, 11D2001
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)
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10.7.3
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MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011)
Oct 2011
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Imac 27 will only boot from internal and from factory install DVD?

I was trying to create a bootable external source for my iMac 27 and came across a pretty odd scenario. One that Apple iteslef says they have never seen before. Love any feedback on how to create a external bootable source. Below are my notes from the 45 minute conversation I just had with Applecare.
My iMac 27 purchased in December, 2010 Will not boot from:
Apple Factory Install DVD (white printed with Snow Leopard)
TechTool Pro 5.06 DVD
SD Card with Bootlable installation
EXT HDD with previous bootable (Leopard 10.5.9) system on it
eDrive on an EXT HDD
I had a 45 conversation with Applecare and the tech has never heard or seen a situation like this one.
Every source shows up if I hold the "option" key down upon power up.
Every source shows up in the System Prefs Startup window (though there was one oddity that he had not seen before. I have to authenticate each and every time I try to change my startup disk in the Startup Disk Prefs)
Every source other than the internal has the same result if I try to boot into it, gray screen with dark gray Apple logo, no gears running, no optical accessing, just the gray screen forever.
We reset my PRAM and tried again. No change
Then the Applecare tech had to get off the phone in order to do some further research.
He came back and we tried to startup from the DVD that shipped with my iMac, not the white factory Snow Leopard I got from Amazon, but the gray install DVD from Apple.
This one booted.
We repaired permissions and checked the internal disk from the Apple Gray Install DVD.
That is as far as the tech could go. He is sending me out a new copy of Snow Leopard, but is unable to support me in my quest to boot from an external source.
I am going to try and create a bootable external source using the gray install dvd instead of the commercial Now Leopard one and see what happens.
Thanks,
Henry

The point is that V.K. is correct.
You cannot create a bootable disk for your iMac from the factory Snow Leopard DVD because your machine was released after Snow Leopard was and as such relies on operating system changes and drivers that exist solely on the disc that came with your machine.
I'm really surprised if an AppleCare agent didn't know that.
To create a bootable external drive either use your Software Restore disc or create a bootable clone of your internal drive using an app like Carbon Copy Cloner.

Classic will only boot from home folder, tickbox greyed out

in classic preferences using 10.3.9, I have a set up where I cannot take the tick out of the tick box that says boot from home folder (Classic is stopped), why is this, what can i do to change this??

the only way round this was to take all the files from the OS 9 system folder and put them in the trash and then replace them with a clone I had made previously and then restart...wierd

Leopard will only boot from my external HD, Macintosh HD nowhere! Ah!

In order to use Bootcamp, I was told that my HD would have to be formatted to the Mac OS Extended(Journal) format. I transferred everything onto my external HD, formatted it, then transferred it all back to my laptop and reformatted my external HD so I could use it with Time Machine. Now, all of a sudden, the disc image I made of my original HD is gone as well as the icon for Macintosh HD. Not to mention nearly everything I had on my laptop. In place of Macintosh HD there is a folder called "untitled", but has the same picture. Also, the one of my two partitions for my external HD is being recognized as the start disc and my Macbook Pro will not start up without it being plugged in. All this because I wanted XP on my laptop. Any ideas? I've done all of the finder-options type things, as well as Spotlight. The HD as well as the folders containing ALL of my data are missing. I might have deleted the folders off my laptop but they should still be on my external HD. Is there a way to recover trashed files? Thanks!

I used Disk Utility to change it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
That doesn't sound right... to change to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) I would think you'd have to repartition the drive. Which would leave you with an empty disk... But you say you changed your external to MOSE(J) and it still had data on it.
For the future, use Superduper to just make clones of your existing startup disk and keep it close and updated at all times.
Hmm... I'm at bit of a loss here. Your second part Ext. drive is being recognized because it must have an OS on it.
And you've gotten some files back, but not all, and your HD icon is still missing...
Well, short of better advice, and no doubt there will be some coming (if not, post again) I would look into a disk utility like Tech Tool Pro or Data Rescue. But by no means copy anything to your internal HD again until you've recovered your files, or else the data on it will really permanently be gone.
Right now, if I'm not mistaken, all your data is still there but temporarily inaccessible. The file recovery utilities will make them accessible again.
I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you but there's still time for greater minds than mine to check in.
I'm sorry too that you learned the same hard lesson that I did. Makes clones and keep them on a bootable drive, like firewire. Having them now has saved me time and again.
HEY! What about Time Machine? Did you have that set up? You could get your most current back up from there. Just use it to recreate your internal HD on your empty external partition. If it boots from there, you could then clone that partition back over again to your internal using Superduper. Hopefully you've been using TM.
If not, wait for more advice before going further, although I know this limbo must really suck. Either someone will be able to give you better advice or the recovery utilities should set things right again.
In any case, you've come to the right place. If you don't get answers just post again, it's easy for posts to be buried, like yours was about to be. There are a lot of fine people here who I bet know exactly what you should do, it's just a matter timing.
Good luck, Elijahpr. I think you'll make out ok.

Can't get ibook to boot from external harddrive when hitting option key

Hello,
After owning a Pismo Powerbook that had it's hardrive replaced --twice--, i'm all about backing my shtuff up for my ibook.
I picked up a Lacie d2 external harddrive today, and used Disk Utility's Restore function to copy everything from the ibook to the drive. I can boot off the Lacie without a problem when I select it as the startup disk from sys preferences.
But I can't get it to boot from the Lacie when I depress the Option key while rebooting or starting.
any suggestions?
ibook g4 933 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Let's be sure you are doing it correctly:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the desired boot drive (you will have to wait about 20 seconds before you can make the selection) then click on the large right arrow button. If this is what you are doing and it does not work, then you may need to re-prep the external drive and re-clone.
1. Boot from your Tiger DVD. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button, then select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your 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. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
After the above re-clone as follows:
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
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.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Thunderbold boot from ext vs internal 7200

Is if faster to boot from a Thunderbold drive than It would be to boot from a 7200 2.5 internal?
Would you notice a big difference in you performance in logic pro and in general ?

Well, I was able to get down to my vendor and spent the entire morning cloning the Mac mini to the Backup Drive... Phew they haven't start work on the Mac mini yet.
But here's the "mysterious thing":
I mounted the Backup Drive which is supposed to be corrupted or something, use Mac mini's Disk Utility to erase and reformat the backup disk, check again and everything is fine.
Use SuperDuper to clone the drive.
After that, I use Disk Utility to check the Clone Backup Drive and it return some sort of error in red, that the disk cannot be repaired, but this time it is mountable.
This lead me to conclude that either
-the Mac mini itself might have some OS system error corruption something that was cloned to the Backup, hence the error message in Disk Utility, because before the cloning the Backup Disk was perfectly OK, according to DU
and/or
-The Backup disk itself is faulty, easily done as I can just replace a new hard disk
What is your comment, opinion?
Anyway, I've reached my office and just in case, I am copying all the Users' data (not clone) to another disk, back up of a back up.
And when the Mac mini is back I will re-install/re-format etc a fresh new OS, and just copy over the data files; Then check the status of the Backup Drive.
Cheers

Internal disk error and won't boot from DVD

After verifying my HD with Disk Utility, I had a message claiming the volume is corrupted.
I tried to boot from Install DVD, but it won't do : I hear the optical drive
clicking indefinitely.
Mac Book Pro is new (bought in may).
I tried to boot by every possible way, presing C key, selecting DVD from
Disk Preferences, etc.
What gives ?
Message was edited by: Hellstan

I also could not find my original disks, and tried to use the Snow Leopard DVD that I bought for another machine in the house. I also just bought MicroMat's TechTool Pro. It also would not boot. The MicroMat support sent something back stating that Apple has not yet released the boot code for these newer machines.
This *****, I would have expected Apple to know a few months ahead of time (when Snow Leopard was released) that there would be some changes to the boot code.
Oh, bye the way, I have an external DVD drive as well that I tried to boot from. Holding the <option> key down during boot, the MacBook sees the Snow Leopard disk as a choice, but the spin up and search sound is the same as the internal drive.
When I had my Mac at the Apple store on Saturday to replace the hard drive, the tech had to do a network boot and install. He also could not boot up to his SL dvd, or the Disk Warrior disk.

My macbook pro only boot from external drive

Hi, my macbook pro had a problem, some day way extremely slow, and i restarted it, when it was booting the little apple turned into a a circle with a slide cros and then into a folder ... and then into the apple.. and so.. many times... i tried to start in text mode.. and it said fail loading kernel..
and i tried everythin but couldnt make it work... until i extracted my hard drive, and plugged it in the same macbook pro using a usb adapter... and it worked.... does anyone knows what the **** is going on??.. and how can i fix it.. is a middle 20009

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.”
If S.M.A.R.T.status is "Verified," run Repair Disk: Boot from install disc (insertdisc > restart > immediately hold down c key and keep holding it untilyou see “Preparing Installation”) > at first screen select the language andclick Continue > click on the Utilities Menu in the menu bar > open DiskUtility > select your HD in the panel on the left side> click Repair Diskat bottom of main window. Run this at least twice, and keep running it until itsays “appears ok” twice in a row. If that doesn’t happen, you may need astronger utility such as DiskWarrior or if the directory is damaged beyondrepair, you may need to reinstall the OS, or you may have a damaged HD (repairutilities can only repair the directory structure, not the HD itself). Whenthis is finished, quit Disk Utility, quit the installer, and restart. Oncebooted normally, go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility and runRepair Permissions.

IBook G3 Boot from CD problem

Hello.
I have this clamshell iBook. I am trying to upgrade it to X for my son. I', trying to install Panther from a full retail CD.
It runs 9.2.2 just fine. When I put a CD in, it will read it. When I restart, the drive spins, and I can hear it trying to read, but it will not boot from the one CD I want to use. The CD is fine. I have tested in several other machines, including another clamshell, and I even borrowed the exact same CD from work to rule out my CD.
I have already booted from a 9.1 install CD and... erased the HD, updated the firmware, reset PMU, PRAM, and removed the battery.
It just flashes the blue ? folder a few times then continues on to 9.
I tried another test. I dug up my old 10.0 CD and it does boot from that as well. I did complete the install, just to see if that would ahve any effect. It did not. Since I don't have 10.1 or 10.2, there's no point in leaving 10.0.
I doubt the CD drive is bad; this is pretty consistent.
Any ideas? His birthday is next week. :/
thanks in advance

The maximum RAM for an iBook G3 (Clamshell) is 544MB/578MB depending on exactly which model you have. Either way you should install a 256/512MB 144pin PC133 SODIMM module to make OS X happy.
RAM Prices.
Installation Instructions
When you install Panther (link to discs below), click customize and uncheck +Additional Languages+ and +Printer Drivers+. These take up a lot of space on what I'm sure is a small hard disk.
Panther install CDs (link).
cheers
mrtotes

Late 2012 Mini won't boot from ext HDD with 10.8

Having just replaced an early 2009 Mini with a later 2012 mini, I tried booting off an external HDD that is a backup with Mountain Lion 10.8 as the OS. I selected it to be the boot drive after holding down the option key, but the boot process never went beyond the white screen/Apple logo, even after waiting for minutes.
The external drive is in a Newer 3.5" enclosure with a FW800 port connected to the Mini via a FW800 cable. After booting from the internal drive I can view and change items in the 10.8 external drive. This drive previously booted fine from my old Mini.
[Note: This is not related to my earlier "Snow Leo won't boot" question.]
Thanks

The problem is the version on the external drive, if created
on the old Mini (infered from ""This drive previously booted
fine from my old Mini.") won't boot on the new Mini because
it lacks drivers that are not available on the general Mountain Lion
updates. Since the new Mini came out after 10.8.2, only the
version on it contains the proper drivers. Also, if the version
on the external drive is earlier than 10.8.2, it will never boot
as no Mac can boot to an OS older than it was shipped with.
Whenever 10.8.3 comes out, it will likely sync all current models again.

Startup Manager arrows but no drives (trying to boot from ext

Today my old eMac (ppc 10.4.11) that I will replace soon froze up and will boot only to a grey screen. I tried safe-boot and pram reset to no avail. I had earlier made a clone of the eMac drive* and would like to boot from that (via firewire). I option start up I'll get to the blue Startup Manager with the 2 arrows, a spinning wristwatch but no drive icon. Eventually the wristwatch stops spinning.
I also tried to hook up a stand-alone dvd drive** (tried the firewire 1st, then the USB port)port) with the original eMac install dvd but get the same result as the external boot clone. (arrows, a spinning wristwatch but no drive icon.)
Any ideas on what to do to revive this eMac before I toss it out?
Thanks in advance,
Paul
*This clone is old-ish, I think I'm pretty well backed up on recent files but would really like to do another review before I throw the eMac in the garbage.
**Don't know how to force open the dvd tray

Hold Mouse button down at boot to open the tray.
Seems the internal drive is bad & likely preventing recognizing the FW drive, but is the FW drive spinning up? try hitting the 3/4 circle arrow to have it look again for drives.

Incomplete booting from ext FW HD on intel iMac.

I have recently upgraded from my G5 desktop to a new iMac 2.4 model. After transferring the data, etc across I wanted to create a clone by backing up onto an External Firewire Drive, just as I had been regularly doing with the G5. Initially I used the disc utility and later in the >partion> options switched from APM to GPT, proceeded to clone using SuperDuper! In both partion modes the startup disc looked happy to boot from the FW disc and indeed seemed to boot from it.
I thought task done when asked for the login name, HOWEVER, this was followed by the desktop screen and the "Blue Spotlight" in the corner. There it just froze! There is no other info on the menu bar and nothing loads on the desktop. There was also another 10 seconds or so of ext HD activity.
I use "Ice Cube" enclosures, gen 1 & 2, and neither FW800 or FW400 seems to make a difference. This PATA drive has never previously caused me any problems especially with SuperDuper! backup's.
What am I missing? Could somebody please help?

Not perhaps the best forum for your issue. You have posted this in the section specifically for dealing with iMac displays, which does not sound like it is your problem.
Perhaps posting in the 'Using you iMac' section might be better.
Ian

No internal HD showing in iBook. Only boots from Ext HD or CD.

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