One external boot disk for multiple machines

i'm trying to find out if this is possible, but it's quite hard to find information on this
i want to install mountain lion on an external ssd disk (connected via thunderbolt or firewire) and use it as boot disk on a macbook pro (2012), imac (late2009) and a mac pro(not sure about the model).
will this be possible and a safe solution. will be used for music production with logic9 on a dayly basis reliability is key.
hope to find someone that have tried this out and can share some advices..
thanks

i'll be surprised if anyone can give you 100% guarantee that this will work fine.
It will definitely work on the computer you install it from.
Plugging the SSD to other machine - although it may start up -  in my opinion it has "Kernel Panic" written all over it.
Would be probably OK with identical Mac models but you are talking about a range of Macs with different hardware in.
It will be interesting if someone does it and posts on this subject.

Similar Messages

  • External hard disk for Time Machine

    I'm considering baking up my iMac. I have a Lacie external hard disk with a Master Boot Record partition type. On it, there are already some data files from both Windows and Mac machines.
    I understand that, for Time Machine to work, the partition type needs to be changed to GUID (for Intel based Mac). Obviously, I will need to copy these data files to somewhere, then use Disk Utility to change the partition type, partition the hard disk (one partition to be used for Time Machine back-up).
    My question is, will it be safe to copy the data files (previously from Windows and Mac machines) back to another partition of the hard disk which will then has a GUID partition type? Will the files (including those from Windows machines) be usable?

    KenWong wrote:
    I'm considering baking up my iMac. I have a Lacie external hard disk with a Master Boot Record partition type. On it, there are already some data files from both Windows and Mac machines.
    I understand that, for Time Machine to work, the partition type needs to be changed to GUID (for Intel based Mac). Obviously, I will need to copy these data files to somewhere, then use Disk Utility to change the partition type, partition the hard disk (one partition to be used for Time Machine back-up).
    My question is, will it be safe to copy the data files (previously from Windows and Mac machines) back to another partition of the hard disk which will then has a GUID partition type? Will the files (including those from Windows machines) be usable?
    You're slightly mixing terminology.
    The *+Partition Map Scheme+* applies to the whole disk, whether it has one or multiple partitions. That's what needs to be GUID or +Apple Partition Map+.
    The Format applies to each partition, and may be different for each one. Your TM partition needs to be +Mac OS Extended (Journaled),+ the other one can be +MS-DOS (FAT)+ for use with Windoze.
    You can copy those files anywhere temporarily, while re-formattng the disk. It doesn't have to be a separate partition. It could even be CDs/DVDs. As long as you can copy and read back, it doesn't matter. If you put them on your boot drive, Windoze won't be able to read them while they're there, but once you get them back on a +MS-DOS (FAT)+ partition, it will.
    See the instructions in item #5 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
    We usually recommend putting the Time Machine partition first (at the top of the diagram that Disk Utility will show you), so you can more easily expand or contract it later on, if you need to.

  • External 'boot disk' for G5 won't boot

    First attempt was to make an OS 10.5.? boot disk from the installation DVD. The second attempt was to use Carbon Copy Cloner to make an exact duplicate of the internal Boot Macintosh HD disk. Both onto one of a pair of external 4Tb Iomega drives. Connection is Firewire 800 daisychain. The external drive in question is the last in the daisychain. The G5 has twin internal drives already and the G5 will boot happily from either. (One is 10.5.8, the second is 10.4.11/Classic.)
    Both installations attempts on the #2 4Tb drive appeared to "work". The now CCC version is an exact copy of the main internal drive and is OS 10.5.8. 'Startup Disk' appears to recognise it as a system boot disk. I can select it for booting on restart but it fails to do so and eventually finds the main internal drive after some wait.
    Holding down the Option key as you restart the machine brings up just the two choices of the two internal drives to start from - no external drive choice.
    This all used to work just fine in the days of SCSI...
    I'm presuming altering the order of the external drives on the Firewire chain won't make any difference?

    jsd2 wrote:
    Both onto one of a pair of external 4Tb Iomega drives.
    I wonder if such a drive is just too big to boot a PPC Mac.
    Hmm. Interesting thought. You have a good point.
    I just found this technote:
    *Secrets of the GPT*
    http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#technotes/tn2166/_index.html
    It contains the following regarding the Apple Partition Map scheme:
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    In Disk Utility, if you again click on the upper icon as before, and look again at the lower right of the window, what does it say for "Total Capacity?" Does it report the full 4TB?
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    (I do have the hardware option of switching to twin 2Tb on these 4Tb Iomega drives and strictly, that is what is inside the physical housing. It's a matter of throwing some switches. Of course, I don't actually want 2Tb drives. )
    MacBook Pro (10.5.8) Power Mac G5
    It might be of interest regarding the capability of the drive enclosure hardware to connect the drive to your MacBook Pro, repartition it as GUID (which will erase it), install OS X on it or clone the MBP to it, and then see if the MBP will boot from it.
    Hmm. I don't think I want to do that as the MBP is an Intel machine and the G5 isn't. It won't solve the actual problem. (At least I can't see how it will.) Though I see what you are getting at.
    It's probably worth a shot emailing Iomega, I guess.

  • Is it possible to use more than one external hard drive for Time Machine backups?

    I want to use two hard drives for Time Machine backups.
    Bigger one keep at home and be sure it is safe.
    Second one (very small pocket size) keep with me for travels.
    I want to backup to both drives to be sure I can restore everywhere and to be sure if something bad happened with my small travel disk I can restore from home backup.
    Is there any problem with listed schema? Is it normal for Time Machine to handle backups for different drivers and keep everything consistent and smooth?

    I really need some help!  I have been using an Iomega NAS 1TB HD for the past year.  And I received an error message.  I believe I have ran out of memory on this drive.
    Then recently in the last couple of months I got a ReadyNAS Duo 2TB with 2TB RAID.  Should I switch my back ups to this one and delete the other back up file or keep the old back up image file on the Iomega?
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  • Finder hanging and corrupting boot disk on multiple machines

    I encountered a problem on two different machines today with Finder creating aliases. I have done this before without problems and after repairing the damage, things worked. I'm wondering if anyone has seen this an/or know if there is a fix. Here is my OS setup for both machines:
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    Kernel Version: Darwin 10.2.0
    Boot Volume: Macintosh HD
    Boot Mode: Normal
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    64-bit Kernel and Extensions: No
    This is what I did to produce the hang:
    1. Opened the Macintosh HD view and selected a NAS drive running Samba.
    2. Entered that volume and selected 'Create Alias' for a file.
    3. Finder hung until I force quit it.
    4. Finder would not re-start for some reason and reboot hung.
    5. Upon rebooting, the boot disk had to be repaired.
    6. The last files used, which were moved to Lost+Found appeared to be lock files (.lck)
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    i'll be surprised if anyone can give you 100% guarantee that this will work fine.
    It will definitely work on the computer you install it from.
    Plugging the SSD to other machine - although it may start up -  in my opinion it has "Kernel Panic" written all over it.
    Would be probably OK with identical Mac models but you are talking about a range of Macs with different hardware in.
    It will be interesting if someone does it and posts on this subject.

  • How can I use one external hard drive for both Time Machine and iPhoto Library?

    I have been using a 1 TG LaCie external hard drive for Time Machine backups.  My (older) Mac has 160 GB and is almost full.  I would like to move my iPhoto Library to the external hard drive, but I've heard Time Machine doesn't share one space well.  Should I
    1.  create another partition (but will this erase what I've already saved) with Disk Utility?  *I am running Snow Leopard*
    2.  create another volume to use for iPhoto, and if so, should the two volumes be of equal size?
    3.  leave it with one partition and move the iPhoto Library to the same partition with Time Machine back ups?
    I know I don't need the entire 1 TG for back up of 160 GBs.  Please advise the best path to take.  Thank you!

    You are getting incorrect information from your ASP. If you look at drive specifications the heat generated is no different for high vs low capacity drives.
    I have upgraded the internal drive in my iMac 2007 with a 3TB Hitachi drive without any heat issues or other problems.
    Larger hard drives have higher density platters so to access any given amount data the drives travel a shorter distance. Higher capacity drives should therefore run cooler than lower density drives because the drive spends less time spinning to access data.

  • HT201250 if I used external hard disk for backup time machine, is it possible to use that external hard disk to save another else from diffrent computers?

    If I used external hard disk for back up time machine, is it possible to use that external hard disk to save another else from diffrent computers?

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    You can do this, but you should make a new volume on your external disk. Time Machine needs a volume that is only used to store backups, so you can't store other data in the same volume as the one you are using for making backups.
    If you want to create another volume on your external disk, use Disk Utility to do this > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html Anyway, you should get another external disk to store other files, but if you don't want to, you can create another volume in it

  • Security when Using an External Boot Disk

    Hi All.
    I'm about to purchase a new external hard drive for using as a boot disk and was wondering what securities you can now enforce on a partition with OSX 10.6
    The main purpose for the external boot disk is for creating a shared usage resource for running applications. As I will be allowing others to use this drive, I am concerned about the security implications of using it with one of my macs, mainly because of viruses and data corruption.
    I know that partitions/external drives used for booting Windows are secure because the windows partition is set to read only for other partitions/drives, preventing "infections".
    The question is: Can I set the permissions/security for an external boot disk (OSX 10.6) partition so that if I use it with one of my machines, my internal hard drive will be secure from any viruses, corruptions, etc.
    If you can, or if there's anything else I can do to the same ends, please can you tell me how (or post a link to instructions/advice)
    Thanks in advance for your help.

    Thomas A Reed wrote:
    I'm glad you enjoyed reading my [Mac Virus guide|http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus>, but it sounds like it has not adequately impressed on you the extreme rarity of Mac malware at this time, or the low threat level. Also, it sounds like you're still operating under a couple misconceptions. Firstly:
    The external boot drive idea seemed like the perfect solution. As it's the boot drive, when it's used, it's permissions will be enforced on the user. Theoretically this should provide solid protection from trojans, obviously not for that actual boot drive, but for my internal HD.
    Keep in mind that trojans are not viruses... they are not going to spread themselves by attaching to other files. (Though, if they did, I'm not sure why you think they wouldn't be able to affect drives other than the boot drive.) Also, malware today is not a juvenile prank aimed at erasing your files. (Though, again, if it was, I'm not sure why you think it wouldn't be able to affect drives other than the boot drive.) Malware these days is big business, aimed at stealing your personal information or turning your machine into a slave to help send spam or crack other machines.
    You also say:
    The main threat will be from freeware
    For this reason, AV software can actually cause more risk. No AV software catches all malware, so by becoming over-reliant on it, you don't use the filter between your ears. That filter is all that is needed to avoid Mac malware. And keep in mind that Mac malware is extremely rare.
    @Thomas. I know how rare mac malware is, after a decade and a half of using macs I've yet to knowingly come across any.
    The reason for my assumption that a secondary boot drive would afford me more protection is: As with any partition you can set the read/write permissions. Without write permissions, surely a virus cannot copy itself onto another drive.
    The important thing is that this secondary boot drive would not contain any personal details, and would not be used for online purchases/transactions. Thus if malware was downloaded onto the drive, it couldn't access sensitive data.
    Furthermore when I've finished working with someone, I can scrub the drive and restore from a cloned backup, thus eliminating any maleware that might be on it.
    The most common freeware that will be downloaded will be codecs for video. There often is no way to get around this. If the person I'm working with has video in an unsupported format they need this code to use their footage. As you pointed out this is the kind of area that people use to hide trojans (not just for ****!).
    Not at all. Again, trojans are not viruses... they do not show up on your machine attached to other software.
    This has confused me a little. I thought that Trojans are written as a pice of code that can be hidden within another program. eg. A video encoder program can contain malware but still also behave like a normal encoder when you run it?
    Thanks again for your help.

  • External Hard Drive for Time Machine - 2 TB. Can I remove other external drives it was backing up?

    I have an external drive dedicated for Time Machine, it's 2 TB. Last year I started backing up computer (500 GB) and one external hard drive that has 500 GB. IAlso, I have another external drive that is 1 TB connected to my computer. I noticed last week that I was hearing that other external drive sounding funny, so I thought I would add it to Time Machine to back up. Now today my Time Machine failed. I tested the drive or verified the drive and all was well. My thought is because I added this drive to Time Machine it failed because of not enough room? Is there a way to remove that other external hard drive and go back to just the computer and the 500 GB?
    I did btw out of a panic mode buy the GDrive that has Thunderbolt with 3 TB, yet I can't use Thunderbolt because that plug is used for my monitor, bummer. But, maybe using this new external drive I can back up the 500, the computer and the 1TB. Any thoughts?

    aashton wrote:
    Now today my Time Machine failed. I tested the drive or verified the drive and all was well. My thought is because I added this drive to Time Machine it failed because of not enough room? Is there a way to remove that other external hard drive and go back to just the computer and the 500 GB?
    When you say the Time Machine failed, do you mean the drive containing the Time Machine backups failed, or what failed was trying to back up the new drive you added? If Time Machine was able to complete the first full backup of the new drive, then adding Time Machine didn't cause the problem, it was a coincidence. If Time Machine runs out of space it just starts deleting the oldest backup. I suppose it might fail on the first Time Machine run after the initial backup if it didn't have space to delete stuff. When you look at the Time Machine drive in the Finder, is it in fact full? If there's plenty of space left on it, it's not clear what the failure was about.
    Also, testing and verifying with Disk Utility will spot some problems but not all.
    aashton wrote:
    I did btw out of a panic mode buy the GDrive that has Thunderbolt with 3 TB, yet I can't use Thunderbolt because that plug is used for my monitor, bummer. But, maybe using this new external drive I can back up the 500, the computer and the 1TB. Any thoughts?
    Thunderbolt can be daisy-chained, so if it or other Thunderbolt devices have a pass-through port it might be possible to do all that. But it might be better to return the drive and get a USB 3 drive instead. It would be fast enough, cheaper, and more versatile. For a single hard drive (not a RAID or SSD), Thunderbolt is not really much faster than USB 3.

  • Can two macs use same disk for Time Machine backup with Airport Extreme?

    Hi
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    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2038
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html
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    Maybe if Apple says you cannot do this, they just may be right?
    Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

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