Problems in booting from Firewire disk

I had an iMac 400 G3 until recently, just got a mini Core Duo 1.66.
My Firewire 120 GB disk was always the main disk, but now I cannot install the Tiger disk that came with the Mac mini on it (it says my Mac cannot boot from this volume), even though it recognizes the disk just fine when I boot from the Mini's HD.
Maybe it's the system in it, since it has the 10.4.8. with PPC updates? Should I erase the system from my disk and try to install OS X on it?
Thanks a lot.

The simplest way to do this is to connect your external drive to the mini and copy all your data from it to the mini's internal drive. Don't copy applications or MacOS, just the documents and files, video, music etc. Then use Disk Utilities (in Applications/utilities) to reformat the external.
Download and install a copy of CarbonCopyCloner (from www.versiontracker.com) and use it to copy the internal drive to the external.
Then open System Preferences/Startup Disk and set the external as the startup volume. Reboot and the system should then boot to the external which has a fully compatible copy of MacOS, complete with your documents, files, music etc.
The startup Disk preference pane can then be used to switch back to the internal if you should need to do so.

Similar Messages

How to boot from FireWire disk?

I have made a copy of my main disk with CarbonCopy, using an external FireWire 800 disk. According to CC it should be bootable, but pressing Option during boot does not show the that disk as boot option. When I boot from the main disk and try to change the boot disk in Preferences, I get this message "You can't change the startup disk to your selected disk, the bless tool was unable to set the current disk".
Why am I doing this? I bought a 500GB disk to replace the 200GB internal disk. Wanted to restore the original content from the FireWire disk after swapping out the old disk. I could also restore from a TimeMachine backup I have on a USB disk, but that will take much longer and I have had issues with complete restores from TimeMachine backups in the past.
All recommendations are welcome

It sounds like that you didn't format the hard drive properly. If you want a bootable hard drive with an Intel powered Mac, you must choose the "GUID" partition scheme.
Use Disk Utility to verify whether your external hard drive is partitioned with GUID scheme or the Apple partition scheme. If the later, you'll need to reformat with the GUID scheme.

Booted from firewire external disk, internet slow

Hi,
My iMac is currently being booted from external disk via Firewire 800. I have to do this until I receive new install disks from apple to resore my machine.
The computer is usable, however internet is very slow... I have other devides, windows machine, ipad, iphone and they all run okay.
It seems that because I have booted via the external disk..... internet is slow. Could this be as the OS is needed to refer to the external disk?
Any suggestions to correct this please?
thanks
Mark

I need to restore from a time machine backup - full system restore, only possible from orignial install disks supplied with my imac apparently.
The bootable external disk , is actually the orignial boot disk, however has disk problems - SMART warning, and when trying to restore this disk to the new installed disk, it fails.
I can only boot from it, and run some of the apps on it.
I know that it seems strange that I have slow internet, but it seems to be the case.
Internet seems to pause lots of times, I wonder if its something to do with tmp files on the external disk.
I have tried downloading Lion to upgrade and use this as a method of getting a bootable system, but Lion has been downloading for 3 days, and I have had to abort a couple of times.
It does seem odd, but cant think of anything else.

Boot from FireWire External Drive WITHOUT mounting internal Hard Drive

Is it possible too boot a PowerBook G4 over FireWire (this part works) WITHOUT mounting the internal hard drive at boot time - i.e. never mount the internal hard drive when booting from FireWire?
There is an Oreilly article at http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/h/341 which discusses using "niutil" but it is not clear how to indicate the internal hard drive should not be mounted.
The boot from FireWire works fine but how do you tell Mac OS X to ignore and never mount the internal hard drive? There used to be an /etc/fstab file where you could specify drives to mount. The /etc/fstab.hd file comments now say "IGNORE THIS FILE.
This file does nothing, contains no useful data, and might go away in
future releases. Do not depend on this file or its contents."
Thanks,

That is not the problem - I have been using the startup manager by holding down the option key during boot-up. I am having no problem getting the PowerBook to boot from the FireWire Drive.
*The Problem* is that after the PowerBook has booted from the exernal FireWire drive, I still see the internal hard drive of the PowerBook on the desktop. I do not want this. Some key points to note:
[1] I can unmount the interal hard drive and remove from the desktop only by using the Disk Utility in the Applications/Utilities folder. There is a button there to "unmount selected volume"
[2] The finder does not have an icon next to the internal hard drive icon to allow the internal hard drive to be unmounted when booted from a FireWire drive
[3] I want the MacOS X kernel to be configured to not automount any hard drive volumes at bootup - this used to be possible by editing the /etc/fstab.hd file but that file does not appear to be used any more per the commennts in the file.
**Remaining Question** How do you configure the MacOS X kernel to prevent it from mounting any other hard drive at boot time? I do not want to use methods [1] or [2]
Thanks

Booting from new disk drive

After copying all of my old drive onto a newer one I want to have all the computers that previously used the old drive boot into the new one. I can see the drive on my main server desktop but cannot boot from it. Any suggestions or readings you can suggest?

Several questions.
What application did you use to copy the files? SuperDuper! (full disk cloning is free; a very good app by the way). Carbon Copy Cloner? Both of these apps will clone a disk and make it bootable.
Were you able to boot from this disk before?
Is this disk an external firewire or USB? As far as I know all Mac with a firewire port can boot from a firewire bootable disk. I think only more recent Macs can boot from a USB disk.
You mentioned server. Are you by any chance trying to do a NetBoot? After all this is the *Networking and Web* forum. If so then the Mac OS X Server forum might be a better place to ask about NetBooting.

Boot from USB disk fails

goal:
I would like to boot from a USB pendrive
specs:
MSI K8N neo platinum (bios 1.4/1.56)
Transcend jetflash 256MB
problem:
The system does not boot from the disk
what i tried:
i made the usb stick bootable in 2 differend ways:
- i used the included software to make it bootable
- i used mkbt.exe to make a bootrecord
i updated the bios from 1.4 to 1.56
i did try to boot with the F11 option
i did set the primary boot order to USB-ZIP and i also tryed USB-FDD and USB-HDD
i also enabled the USB storage device in the bios
i tried to get the USB stick as a disk drive while booting from a disk, which also failed
is there anyone who have a idea how-to make it bootable?
i'm kinda out of idea's

what more specs do you want?
specs:
MSI K8N neo platinum (bios 1.4/1.56)
Transcend jetflash 256MB
AMD 64 3200+
Zalman cooler
2 512 Kingston memory
2 Maxtor HD
2 CD/DVD drives
ATI 9600 VGA card
i would like to boot from a pendrive for various reasons, but mostly because i would like to boot in Dos or Linux.

Equium L300 - Cannot boot from recovery disk or other CDs

Equium L300
bought new used 3 months the left for 9 months. Dead flat battery.
On restart
boot from hard -> disk Bootmgr is corrupt will not boot
boot from Recover disk cd -> The file is possibly corrupt. The file header checksum does not match computed checksum
boot from dvd windows install -> same as above
Tried numerours disks but will not boot.
No will it boot from USB stick. Pulled hard disk tried elsewhere seems ok.
Bios looks ok and sees hard disk and dvd etc
Any ideas otherwise a pretty dear machine for two monthe use.
Was just out of guarantee before fault appeared
Thanks chris

Hi buddy,
> But still think bios is corrupted
If you think so, then contact your authorized service provider. The technicians can check your notebook and try to reflash the BIOS. The technicians are really experts and so this shouldnt be a problem for them.
Here you can search for one:
http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.com > Support & Downloads > Find an authorized service provider

Booting from FireWire Drive

I have a LaCie 160MB (F A Porsche style) external firewire drive.
I have been able to create a bootable clone of my iBook HD using Disk Utility and the Restore function.
I have been able to create a bootable partition by installing the System Software onto it.
But I have not had success using SilverKeeper or SuperDuper! Does anybody know why? I would really like to use the features of one (or another if available) of these applications.
Thanks.
-Ted

Below is LaCie's Tech Support Reply. What is interesting is that they suggest Carbon Copy Cloner (instead of Silverkeeper). Also interesting is that it worked. I hope this helps some of you.
Ted
Hi Ted--
Thanks for contacting LaCie Technical Support. All of our firewire
drives can be used as boot volumes. Due to differences in operating
systems and Macs, we are unable to provide support for booting from
firewire drives other than the following information:
1. Make sure the Mac is bootable via firewire. All Macs with built-in
firewire can be booted from an external drive except:
-Blue and White G3s
-PCI-Graphics G4s. This can be determined by looking in the Apple
System Profiler. The PCI Graphics G4s use the same motherboard as the
B&W, except with a G4 processor shoehorned in.
2. The drive must be connected to a native port. It will not work if
the drive is connected to an add-on card.
3. The Mac must have the latest firmware installed. The proper updater
can be found and downloaded from here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117
Download and read the instructions carefully. It is possible to kill a
Mac if the update is interrupted. Then, perform the update. If the
firmware is already current, the updater will report this.
4. Format the drive fresh using either Apple's Disk Utility in OS X or
Silverlining in OS 9. Use the Mac OS Extended (HFS+) format only.
(Journaling may be enabled on OS 10.3.)
5. If making an OS 9 boot drive, you can just copy the System Folder
over to the root of the boot volume. To be bootable, the System Folder
must be blessed, i.e. has a happy Mac face on it. If it does not, you
can try to force it to bless by removing the Finder from the folder and
moving it to the root. Then, move the Finder back. The folder should
now be blessed. If not, then there is probably an issue with the System
Folder.
6. In making an OS X boot drive, the ONLY two recommended solutions
are:
--install from the OS X install disk, preferably the one which came with
the Mac. You will not be able to make a successful boot drive using an
older disk set. A newer disk set should also be fine.
--use a utility, such as Carbon Copy Cloner, to perform a copy of an
existing OS X install. It is not possible to do this manually. There
are issues with permissions, hidden files, and files in use that cannot
be manually overridden. If you are using a disk image, you will still
need to use a utility, such as Carbon Copy Cloner, to copy the files out
from the image to the root of the new boot volume. A simple drag and
drop will not include the necessary hidden files, such as the boot
loader and the kernel.
If the volume does not appear as a Start Up Disk, try booting with the
Option key held down and see if the drive shows in the boot drive
selection screen.
If the volume does not show, or the kernel panics on boot, chances are
the OS install was not performed properly.
In general, CD/DVD drives are not bootable via firewire, but will work
under certain circumstances, usually booting from OS X to OS X. They
should not be relied upon as such. To boot from one, hold down the
Option key while booting. If the boot CD shows on the screen, you may
select it and continue the boot.

My iMac (late 2006) no longer boots from FireWire drives, although they contain all the system files.

My iMac (late 2006) no longer starts (boots) from Firewire drives, although they all contain a current system (Mac OS X 10.6.7). If the drives are connected with USB 2, they boot normally. The FireWire drives appear in the Start Volume program, but they do not boot. If I press and hold the Alt key while booting, only the internal drives and the USB drives appear as options. What can I do in order to boot from FireWire drives as I always could in the past?

I'd first recommend doing a SMC reset and if that doesn't work refer to:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10333969-263.html
and
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/firewiretroubleshooting.html
SMC RESET
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Release the power button.
Attach the computers power cable.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
PRAM RESET
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Roger

IMac crashed! Only get partial boot from OSX disk one

Booting from OSX disk 1, goes as far as a blue screen with no icons or menu. Boot with D key for hardware test. Test ok.
At a loss what to do next.
David

Does Seem so, or the Internal Drive is so messed up it's interfering, try this...
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Can't boot from hard disk or from windows 7 recovery dvd

I have a 970A-G46 motherboard.
I can't boot from hard disk or from a windows 7 recovery dvd.
If I move the hard drive to another PC, it boots fine.
If I put the DVD in another PC's dvd drive, it can be accessed.
This machine will boot from an Ubuntu dvd and I can then access the HD directories and the recovery dvd.
What do I need to do?
Help and thanks

"I can't boot from hard disk or from a windows 7 recovery dvd."
What is that DVD from? Is it from a previous computer of some kind? Same question for HDD and the OS on it.

Though the root disk is mirrored, server is unable to boot from alternate disk (mirror disk)

Hi PPl,
It happened second time in a row. Though the root disk is mirrored, server is unable to boot from alternate disk (mirror disk)
When the disk was found faulty, still unable to boot the OS from alternate disk, it says it still probe/look for other disk
Here are the console log when I tried to boot the OS
sc> console
Enter #. to return to ALOM.
WARNING: /pci@0/pci@0/pci@2/scsi@0 (mpt0):
Disconnected command timeout for Target 1
WARNING: /pci@0/pci@0/pci@2/scsi@0 (mpt0):
Disconnected command timeout for Target 1
WARNING: /pci@0/pci@0/pci@2/scsi@0 (mpt0):
Disconnected command timeout for Target 1
In such condition left out with only two options.
1) Remove the faulty disk physically and boot
(or)
2) Replace the faulty disk and boot it
Any way, I can disable the faulty disk in BIOS (or) booting from cd-rom and do something to avoid it?

You can't boot from systems earlier than that shipped with the computer. For example, early 2008 Mac Pros come with 10.5.1 and can't boot 10.5
Also you can't boot with a DVD that was shipped with a different model Mac.

Booting from instll disk taking forever

I am upgrading to Tiger doing an Erase and Install. When I boot from the disk it is sitting there with the apple and spinning wheel for like 15 minutes and still hasn't started up. Any suggestions.
Power Mac G4 Mac OS 9.2.x

Hi Big Brad;
What install media do you have? Is the generic Tiger media or was it issued for another piece of hardware?
Allan

New MacBook won't boot from external disk

I have a new MacBook that I am trying to boot from an external disk that had the system from my first gen MacBook Pro. When I restart holding the Option key, and select my external disk, the system restarts again and won't let me boot from that disk. Is there something different with the OS (10.5.6) that is installed on a newer MacBook that won't allow it to boot from the same OS from an older MacBook Pro?
Thanks

Ian Patterson wrote:
golferx,
Will any other Intel Mac boot from the drive? If not, it's possibly because the drive uses an Apple Partition Map (bootable for PowerPC Macs) instead of a GUID Partition Table (bootable for Intel Macs).
To check: open to Disk Utility, select the hard drive on the left, select the Partition tab and look at the text at the bottom right corner of the window under Partition Map Scheme. If it says anything other than GUID Partition Table, you will need to erase and repartition it as such before it will be bootable.
Just a thought. Hope this helps. Good luck!
-i-
I can boot an prev gen MacBook and also my iMac (current gen). I took it to the Genius Bar and he could not get it to boot a new MacBook either and didn't have a solution.

G5 gets grey screen with logo then goes black, won't boot from any disk

Won't boot from any disk, already changed VRAM battery, no success. tried hardware disk once and ran a full scan, said error with Video, but now won't boot at all with any disk. Screen is choppy also(have pic). Thinking video graphics card? Not sure. Need help!

Hi bribiel, and a warm welcome to the forums!
It certainly sounds like the Video card from the little info we have, & that can certainly cause it to fail to bootup.

Problems in booting from Firewire disk

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