Problems Installing via an External Firewire DVD drive

Hi,
I'm trying to install Leopard from an external LaCie D2 (with LightScribe) DVD/DL drive via a Firewire cable.
I start the iMac (G5 20" SuperDrive is dead) via the "option" key, a screen with a choice between HD and Leopard Install DVD appears.
When I select the second option (install Leopard) I have the Apple Start Up screen (the grey screen with the dark grey Apple) but the spinning flower is missing. And the screen stays that way for minutes... Is it normal? Do I have to wait more? Is my iMac cursed?

Here's the problem:
1- the problem occurs when I boot, so the OS is "innocent"
2- when I load the start up menu (with the option key held down) I see both of the drives (HD and External Firewire DVD drive), so it can't be a "power" problem... (http://youtube.com/watch?v=MQs2n1vxpkw)
3- when I insert a DVD (movie for example), the drive reads it when connected via USB 2.0 and doesn't via Firewire, so the drive is unable to read (or reads slowly)? a Driver problem?
4- when I shutdown the iMac with the external drive connected via the USB port, the drive shuts down too, while it doesn't when it's connected via the FW one...

Similar Messages

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.

Install XP on External FireWire Hard Drive

Can someone help me install Windows XP onto an External, FireWire, Hard Drive? I can format and partition the drive with the XP CD, but it won't install XP onto the drive.
It says something about access rights and BIOS or CMOS. I don't think Macs have either a BIOS or a CMOS. I've tried correcting disk permissions with Disk Utility, but it wouldn't do it. It probably doesn't have access.
So does any body know how to do this?

Hi Megabyte,
sad to say but Windows can not be installed to an external Firewire Harddrive.
And this is not a OSX BootCamp issue, but 'designed' by Microsoft to not be doable.
Only way I know is with an USB connected external harddisk and described here: http://tubeshards.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/install-windows-to-a-macintosh-usb-dr ive/
regards
Stefan

Installing Tiger (dvd) with sony external firewire DVD drive

Helo all,
Can anyone tell me if the B/W G3 can boot up an OS X CD from an external firewire or USB DVD Room.
I want to upgrade my machine to Tiger but not having any luck with getting it to recognize the external DVD Rom on boot up.
It recognizes it with no problem once the OS is installed and logged into a user profile but the entire time during boot up I can't get it to boot from the drive.
I have tried the following key combinations (Don't know if they are supposed to work with the B/W G3):
T - Firewire Target Mode
Command-Option-Shift-Delete - Bypass internal harddrive on boot
System Prefs > Startup Disk > Select DVD Room > Restart
Is there anything else I can try other then trying to find an IDE internal hard drive to plug into this machine?

B&Ws can not boot from Firewire drives.
Most Pioneer drives are bootable if installed internally. Certain other brands are also bootable (internally).
This page has Mac user reviews of different DVD drives in various Mac models.
http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/drivedb/search.drivedb.lasso

Windows 7 installation via an external usb dvd drive

Hello everybody !
So here is my problem :
I have replace my superdrive by a SSD disk and re instal Lion on it I steel got my orginal hard drive and I use it to save all my documents ... From here everythings it's ok but ...
I need to instal windows 7 ultimate 64bits on a partition located on the hard drive, I use the boot camp assistant, download bootcamp 4, create a partition on my hard drive ok ok, and I put my DVD of Win 7 into an usb external DVD drive because I have replace my superdrive by the SSD !
But when the mac reboot, the DVD start to turn and suddently stop and the apple logo alternate with an image of a folder with an exclamation point on it like it seems to not found the DVD to boot on it !
What am I suppose to now ?
Thank you.
And sorry for my english if I made some mistake. I'm french

I saw others posts with the same problem but I dont understand one guys wrote this https://discussions.apple.com/message/15981577#15981577
But in bootcamp I don't have anywhere to create a usb bootable !

Is it possible to install leopard from external USB DVD drive?

Hi all,
I've read through the various posts on the subject and there doesn�t seem to be a definitive answer on this. I've got a Lacie USB2 DL DVD drive which I'm trying to use to install leopard on an earlier MacBook Pro (core duo 2.0ghz). I've tried the various suggestions (hold c on boot, hold option key on boot, set dvd as startup drive), and so far been unsuccessful. The drive is just not recognized.
The DVD media is fine(I've got family edition of Leopard), I've successfully installed it on my G5. The Lacie drive recognizes it fine, when I'm in tiger on MBP and insert the disk it is mounted as I would expect. I did try dbl-clicking the install icon as well (in case you were wondering)
So, does anyone have any other ideas for me to try, or should I go and get a refund on the Lacie drive? The guys in the store (Apple authorized reseller, not Apple Store) assured me it would work, so I don't want to look like a clown if it is possible and I'm just doing it wrong
Anyway, thanks in advance for any replies.

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.

10.0.4 can't read 10.4 install disk from external Lacie DVD drive.

Quicksilver G4, 733.
Only has cd/r built in. Added Lacie d2 external DVD drive. Can read CD disks from this drive, but not the OS 10.4 Install drive. Downloaded drivers from Lacie, in case that would help, but can't open them because DMG images won't mount. (probably because 10.0.4 is too old, again)
Any help is appreciate, except for suggestions to send the DVD in for CDs, which seems very disappointing to me. We have the DVD drive, and it's working. There must be some way to install from this drive in OS 10.0.4, somehow.
Thanks.
G4 733 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.0.x)
G4 733 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.0.x)

Thanks very much for the replies. Unfortunately, the Mac in question is a friend's 2 hours away, and bringing another mac along isn't an option. But, the emac cd, as well as a 10.2 powermac cd, both ran the installer / began the installation process without issues while testing on a lower end G4 at work. I am assuming I can use those to install 10.2.
The real issue is the fact that the firewire drive won't boot with the OS 10.4 dvd. I do get a "firewire" symbol on the screen when forcing to boot from the firewire port, but dvd drive light just "flickers", and doesn't read the disk.
I'm not sure if upgrading to 10.2, getting the drive to work by installing drivers, etc, will solve the issue of booting with the 10.4 disk. Wouldn't the 10.4 disk boot even if the operating system currently on the mac is 10.0 (or 8.5..even..). Makes me wonder if this computer is capable of booting from a firewire port. Have found conflicting information on that soo far.
Another option would be to replace the internal with a dvd/combo. And that would be another set of questions (any recomendations of a dvd internal I can pop into this model?).
(733 Quicksilver model).
Thanks again.
G4 733 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.0.x)
G4 733 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.0.x)

Installation via External CD/DVD Drive

I have tried fruitlessly to install Windows XP and Windows 7 via CD and DVD on my computer via my external CD/DVD drive. It is a LG GE20 Read/Writer. I can however boot the Mac OS X 10.6 Install Disc from it.
rEFIt recognizes the disc as a valid windows disc (both of them), but when I choose it, I am left with a black screen and blinking white cursor. I tried my linux mint disk, and got the same result. (It's only working with the Mac OS X Install Disc)
My Macbook Pro 3.1 (aluminum, pre-unibody, Santa Rosa I believe) currently has a broken superdrive, so I've had to use this external. Unfortunately I need Windows installed natively (please do not tell me to use VMWare, VirtualBox or Parallels, I already have VMWare and VirtualBox).
I also tried to make a bootable USB from my 7 install disc, by formatting as FAT32 in VMWare, and using "convert" on the DOS prompt to make it NTFS. It is shown by NTFS-3g and is completely working. I copied the entire disc's files over as directed by a tutorial, but it does not boot. (It is MBR)
Any advice would be thoroughly appreciated.

OWC (macsales.com) is a good place to shop for Mac-centric accessories. They cater to Mac users. They have FireWire external optical drives.
If you decide to get one later, you may want to send an email to OWC's sales/tech support to ask if their external FireWire drives are bootable. Just because it is FireWire does not necessarily mean you can boot from a particular FireWire optical drive.

Panther to Tiger using LaCie Firewire DVD drive

First, it was suggested I start a new topic, because of using an external Firewire drive. I have the proper Tiger "Retail" install disk. This is for a friends iMac that did not come with a DVD/Combo drive.
Anything anyone can suggest. I'm hoping the following will work:
1. iMac has latest firmware, and is up to date with latest Panther.
2. hook up LaCie external firewire DVD drive, and as long as it is recognized on the desktop of my friends iMac, that I will be able to then insert/load the Tiger Install Disk and double click on it to install Tiger onto the iMac.
3. I additionally have the option of taking over my Intel dual-core MacBook (Leopard installed) and using that in Target Disk Mode with the Tiger disk in the combo drive of the MacBook. Will it then install on the iMac?
4. I appreciate any and all suggestions and help. I read through numerous posts, but all the links for the Applelink article about installing using Target Disk Mode simply take me to the main page of Applelink and I can't seem to find the instructions.
5. I'm just wondering anyone's experience in using an external Firewire DVD drive to use as the install disk for the OSX Tiger installation to an older iMac.
thanks! Patrick.

Hi Patrick, and a warm welcome to the forums!
1. Good.
2. Should work if it's Mac compatable, you'll find out soon enough.
3. Very likely.
4. The iMac should see the MacBook's DVD as bootable when the MB is in Target Mode.
5. It works with many FW Opticals, but a few do not support Mac Booting.
6. Another option possibly, you can clone an image of the DVDs to a FW drive and boot from that for an install too... I've used Toast to do it, but it can be done with Disk Utility.
PS. I doubt you'll have problems with 2 ways to go there, good luck!

Installing Mac OS X on an external firewire hard drive.

No matter what I try, I cannot get my Mac mini to boot from the SuperDrive, in order to install the Mac OS X operating system onto my external firewire hard drive...
The Mac mini always recognises the external firewire HD, each time the system boots-up which is good, however it also boots-up from the internal HD, automatically.
Any suggestions ?
I have also noticed that my external firewire HD does not appear as an option as a Startup Disk, under System Preferences...
Regards,
Howard Pew.

I have used Carbon Copy Cloner to copy the Mini's internal HD to the firewire external HD, and now it appers as a Startup Drive under System Preferences...
I have also noticed that I must first turn-on the ext. firewire HD and then after a few seconds turn-on the Mini.
And, yes, I was using the original DVD-ROM System Install Disk that came with the Mini, when I was trying to install Mac OS X onto the ext. firewire HD...
Now, I still cannot get my Mac Mini to boot from the ext. firewire HD, even with a clone copy of the internal HD. I keep selecting it as my Startup Disk under System Preferences and even lock-it, but this does not seem to work.
Now, I use the 'Alt' key (for Windows PC keyboards) which is the 'Option' key for Mac keyboards, when the Mini is booting up. This gives me a choice as to which HD I want to boot from... However, I cannot seem to change this from the default internal HD. It gives me a large arrow to use, in order to change the HD, but I cannot seem to use this large arrow from the keyboard. And the mouse just stays in the top left-hand corner of the screen. I know, if the mouse curser were free, I would be able to change the large arrow and boot from the ext. firewire HD...
Any suggestions ?
Regards,
Howard Pew.

Mini system installer disc doesn't install on a external firewire drive!

The osx insteller disc came with my mine doesn't allow me to install the system onto a external firewire hard drive. I am wondering if the retail mac osx be any different?
Would the retail version be able to create the GUID partition?
.....Thanks a bunch.
BTW, what is the normal cpu operaton temperature and the max fan speed?
Message was edited by: Cup of Tea

The OSX installer should be able to install on your external, though if you're talking about an external drive connected to an Intel Mac, it MUST be partitioned in the GUID scheme first. Both original install disk and retail Tiger can perform this partitioning using Disk Utility. Simply boot to the install disk or retail Tiger, exit the installer, run Disk Utility, select the external drive (the top entry showing drive name and size), click the partition tab, then the options button, then the top option for GUID Partition Table. Click OK, then the Partition button.

DVD player won't recognize firewire DVD drive and won't install.

I bought a Sony firewire DVD drive so that my wife could watch DVDs on her iBook. I can't get Apple's DVD Player to install on the iBook because it says it doesn't recognize any appropriate hardware.
Does anyone know how to get it to recognize the firewire DVD player and install?
If not, does anyone else know of a good third party DVD player for this iBook. I installed one, I think it is called Xine or something like that. It playes the DVDs but is "glitchy."
Thanks very much,
Ted Vieira

Actually, since posting the question I found an answer in an ealier thread...
I'm still not sure about getting Apple's DVD Player to work with an exernal drive, but you can get a free VLC Medea Player that works great at:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
I was able to download this and install it. It was a little "glitchy" with USB 2.0, but worked fine with FireWire.
Ted Vieira

Installing a Time Machine Backup to an external Firewire Hard Drive

How would I create a bootable duplicate OS on my external Firewire Hard Drive? Allowing me to bring my External Hard Drive to my friends home and booting to it and showing them what I have worked on rather than bringin my entire computer.

Figured it out!

EMac External LACIE DVD Drive not reading.

eMac External LACIE DVD Drive not reading.
eMac 700 MHz running OS X 4.4
Came without DVD or modem internal
Has 256mb memory
Bought a used Lacie 1394 Firewire DVR External.
Was able to burn DVD’s and CD’s with Toast 6 Light.
Cannot find the “DVD Player” on the hard drive.
It will read data DVD.
eMac will not read any movies burnt or bought.
I was told I probably need more memory?
Thought running IDVD would fix the problem.
No Soap.
This machine was giving external modem problems before Tiger was installed.
Before we spend more money or just get ride of the eMac.
What is the DVD problem?
This same Lacie burner reads and writes DVD and CD fine with our iMac 450 DV 320mb memory. Running 9.2 and X.3

OS X 10.3.x / 10.4.x natively support data burning to external DVD drives but video payback requires software such as iDVD which isn't installed by default on models without an internal DVD drive (the installer sees no internal drive and thinks it's unnecessary). Try downloading VLC Player and see if that will let you play movies.

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.

Problems Installing via an External Firewire DVD drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for