Safe to Erase External Boot Volume?

Naive question, I guess: I have one partition on my LaCie external FireWire drive currently set up as a boot volume (cloned as a Sandbox with shared users and apps. with SuperDuper from Mac HD).
Is it safe to use DiskUtility to erase this partition, so I can set up the other partition as the external boot volume?
Any assistance greatly appreciated...
Jim
iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3) LaCie 160GB Ext HD

Charles-
Thanks for this. I take your point, but in this instance I'll need to erase the boot volume and copy the stuff over from the other partition to clear space in the latter for the "new" boot volume.
Kind regards
Jim
iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Similar Messages

PRESERVING PERMISSIONS - when making an external boot drive

hi
Someone in a previous thread i posted some time ago mentioned that i need to make sure my premissions are preserved when i come round to creating an external boot volume on my external lacie hd.
1. I think he was refering to the 'ignore permissions' check box in 'info' ? but i
am unsure what to do here re; to check it or leave it unchecked.
2. can anyone explain what this means so i can understand the logic of the
permissions instruction ?
thanks for your time
didier
eMac 800MHz Power PC G4 Superdrive Mac OS X (10.3.8)

Hi
martinR
Thats becoming alot clearer......
A couple of things
1. If i must leave the 'ignore permissions' box unchecked for the bootable volume i create, then what permissions selection should i have selected in the drop down menu box above it ? I am assuming 'read and write.' ?
2. i'm assuming that after answering this...if i set it all up, when i come to booting from the external volume it will ask my for my password and user name , as is common, and that is what you refer to when you mention the os x security.
Just out of interest:
3 what is an administrator - like for if i want to use the terminal there's this thing about needing to be an administrator.........?
4 by the way, since this site has been redesigned i noticed this week that i didn't get any emails telling me that replies had been posted to my questions.
Could you just confirm that i must have in my settings :
Always subscribe to topics I create: set to Yes (this were on default - no)
Always subscribe to topics I reply to: set to Yes (this was on default - no)
Send subscription emails: set to , in my case - immediately.
sorry to bug you, it's just i recognise your name from previous posts i have made so thought you may be a bit of a pro
thanks 4 yr time
d

How to create and use a boot volume clone?

Hello. My name is Cassiano and I'm NOT a system administrator. I'm an architect. I design and build houses, not systems. And the reason I'm telling you that is because I need your help.
The short version of my problem is this: "How do I create a boot volume clone", but I think I need to tell you the whole story.
Here at the office I work we have 18 iMacs and 1 Xserve running OS X Server 10.4.9.
Although I'm an architect I'm responsible to keep the computers up and running.
This is not because I want, but just because I'm the one here that knows a bit more about this stuff and although I'm not an expert, I know quite a lot about this stuff. I did pretty much everything here. Configured the network, firewall, installed the Xserve, etc, but of course that if something breaks we just take the computer to apple store and wait for it to be fixed
The Xserve has 3 HDs inside. 1 at bay1 which is the boot and 2 others on bay2 and bay3. The HDs on bay2 and bay3 are working as one using SoftRAID and we use this volume to store all of our data. That is the reason we chose to mirror them using softRaid. If one fails, the other has everything and we just have to get a new one.
Last week we decided to setup the Xserve to be our mail server as well, so I turned on the Mail Service and after a lot of reading I managed to configure it correctly. In fact we have our MX records pointing to a company that relays the email to our Xserve, so it is not really accessible from the outside world.
But this Mail thing made me loose my sleep. The reason is: before that our Xserve was used only as a file repository. So if it would break or something all we have to do is take the HD out of it, send it to apple store and plug the HD on another computer. All of our files would be safe and everybody would be happy. Of course this is an over simplificated situation, but that is pretty much how it would go.
But now everything is different. Every person here has the email account configured to the Xserve, which means that if it breaks or something goes wrong, no one will be able to send or receive emails. The new messages will not be lost, because the company that relays the emails to us will keep them there, but things will get chaotic here.
When reading this document here: http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSXServer/Conceptual/XServerProgrammingGuide/Articles/abpinstall.html I saw this section that said: "Cloning the Boot Volume"
Where it says: The use of the boot volume clones is entirely to ensure the highest availability possible for your system volume, not your client data.
So, finally, my question is. How do I implement this "boot volume clone"? If I buy a new HD and place it on bay4 will I be able to do that? How?
After doing it if something goes wrong how do I use the "clone volume"?
Thank you for your patience and any help is greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Cassiano Forestier
Specs of the Xserve
Machine Name: Xserve
Machine Model: Xserve1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version: XS11.0080.B00
SMC Version: 1.11f5
LOM Revision: 1.2.1

Yes, your server is becoming central to your business universe. Mine, too.
Boot from DVD, and use Disk Utility to create the clone. Another way of looking at this is as a photocopy or snapshot or block-by-block copy of the state of the disk at the moment the clone is made. You can then either boot from the clone (if needed; assuming the clone is on a bootable device), or boot from the DVD and copy the clone back to the original (or replacement) disk; this restores the disk state to that of the time the clone was made.
Yes, you'll need a disk to clone to. Probably more than one, since you'll probably want to set up a rotating pool, should you need to go back to an older snapshot.
You're undoubtedly also approaching a requirement for either an add-on storage array or storage shelf via one of your PCI-X or PCIe I/O expansion slots, or adding a FC SAN into an open PCI-X or PCIe slot and adding the external FC SAN Xserve RAID configuration that Apple sells.
The external storage can be "just a bunch of disks (JBOD)" in an external disk shelf, or an external RAID via add-in eSATA or add-in SCSI controller, or via Fibre Channel for the Xserve RAID configuration for the FC SAN configuration, or (for lower speeds) FireWire or (lowest) USB.
If your data is worth it and you want to deal centrally with Apple and your budget allows it (qv: "if your data is worth it"), Xserve RAID is the way to go. The external storage shelf is certainly a feasible approach -- but you'll likely end up dealing with a third-party for the configuration, set-up and third-party storage gear.
If you're looking for things that can go wrong here, recognize that RAID only protects against drive failure. RAID does not protect against accidental nor malicious file deletions, fat-fingered operator commands, nor against application or system-level disk corruptions. RAID (only) seeks to protect against disk errors. This gets into tapes, or near-line disk copies, or other such media. External tape, or other such archival media, and particularly media that can be sent off-site on a regular basis.
It's good that you're thinking about this stuff, too.

Cannot repair disk errors for OSX boot volume using Disk Utility while booted from different disk

I have tried three times to repair my boot volume (OSX 10.6.8 Snow Leopard) permissions using Disk Utility while booted up on a different volume (running Snow Leopard 10.6.4). After hours of Disk Utility reporting that it HAD fixed the problems, an immediate click of "Verify permissions" immediately results in the apparently same continuous stream of permission errors.

Then better luck next time around. Here are some ideas for then:
How to Install Lion Successfully - You must have Snow Leopard 10.6.7 or 10.6.8 Installed
A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions:
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.3.) if DW cannot fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall Snow Leopard.
B. Make a Bootable Backup Using Restore Option of Disk Utility:
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the backup volume. Source means the internal startup volume.
C. Important: Please read before installing:
If you have a FireWire hard drive connected, disconnect it before installing the update unless you will boot from this drive and install the update on it. Reconnect it and turn it back on after installation is complete and you've restarted.
You may experience unexpected results if you have installed third-party system software modifications, or if you have modified the operating system through other means. (This does not apply to normal application software installation.)
The installation process should not be interrupted. If a power outage or other interruption occurs during installation, use the standalone installer (see below) from Apple Downloads to update. While the installation is in progress do not use the computer.
D. To upgrade to Lion:
Purchase the Lion Installer from the Mac App Store. The download will start quickly. Lion is nearly 4 GBs so a fast internet connection is essential. Download time could run upwards of 4 hours depending upon network conditions and server demands at the time.
Boot From The Lion Installer which is located in your Applications folder.
Follow instructions for installation.

Selecting Alternate Boot Volume on Startup

I want to select an alternate boot volume on startup.
When I hold down the Options key while booting, I get the following text message on the screen:
"ALL -MEM request too big!
Apple PowerMac3,3 4.2.8f1 BootROM built on 10/11/01 at 14:12:47"
--- copyright and welcome to Open Firmware ---
"To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return.
To shut down, type "shut-down" and press return."
I never get an oppertunity to select the boot volume. If I enter "mac-boot" it starts up normally in the default startup volume.
This seems to be an error message, but I have no idea what caused it. Does anybody know?
1.5 GHz G4 tower Mac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I have just sent an email to tech support at FastMac to see if they have ever heard of this problem before, but of course, I have not yet received an answer.
Unfortunately, after keeping the original CPU around for about a year, I recently decided that there was no way I would ever want to go back to it, so I tossed it out in an effort to get some extra storage space. Therefore, going back to the original is no longer possible. And, the change to the current Apple firmware was a requirement for using the CPU upgrade.
I do have an external FireWire drive for backup --- the one that I had hoped to boot to by using Option key, so I could probably set up the test that you suggested.
If I really did have a default startup disk failure, I could probably boot from a CD, and then use the System Preferences Startup Disk dialog to select the backup disk, and then restart to run from it. I'll conduct a test to be sure that this will work. If so, I can probably live with the problem.
Thanks much for your help in understanding it.

Unmountable Boot Volume, need help. trying to fix the problem via lan if posible?

any information i could recieve from Geek Squad would be appreciated. i have my computer purchased from best buy that i'm happy with, but my cousin's computer died with the unmountable boot volume error. i want to use my computer to fix his, or if possible fix his directly from the internet. any assisstance in this would be nice. thank you.

Hi AngeNeedsHelp!
I hope your cousin got the computer fixed. However,
this Unmountable Boot Volume error is not always fixed by simply reinstalling
the Operating System (OS). In fact, you may need to back up the drive using an
external USB Hard Drive Enclosure. Even
then the drive may not be readable if there are physical errors/damage, and
this is nearly impossible to do over the internet since they likely cannot boot
the computer? If there is important
information on the drive I would recommend taking it to a professional such as Geek
Squad® before attempting anything. Best
of luck!
Matthew|Community Advocate | Best Buy® Corporate
Visit our Channel on
Private Message

HP Pavillion DV9700 - Vista 64bit - "Unmountable Boot Volume"

Hi there,
The problem I have with my DV9700 is it will no longer boot. It was working great, but the other night, I had to do a hard re-boot, and then it failed to start with a blue screen with "Unmountable Boot Volume". This is with the original Vista 64 bit Home Premium version. I chose the option "Self Recovery" but it just finishes up sitting there continually scanning for something?
The hard drive is the original factory installed setup. My question is, how do I get my machine back up and running please? I have a Windows Vista Backup that would run each week to an external 2TB USB drive, but I am guessing that this will not recreate an exact image of my computers state? I would also need to have Vista running to use the backup? Some years ago (2010), I created a complete backup to about 20 DVD's, but I am not sure how to use them as they are for recovery I think?
It looks like I need to buy a new hard drive but how do I go about using the backups I have to install to a new drive? Also, what is the largest hard drive I can use? Should I buy a SSD drive? I wanted at least a 1TB primary drive. Fry's Electronics has a Hybrid drive where the disk cache is solid state making it more affordable. I was thiking of getting one of these?
I would like to use my old original drive as a secondary drive if it is even possible to access its files. I have ordered a SATA caddy so I can mount it into the unused drive bay of the DV9700.
Anyway, I would truly appreciate any help please?
Thanks a million!!!

Hi mtrappett,
Thank you for your inquiry, I will do my best to assist you.
I grasp that after restarting the notebook you got the error" unmountable Boot Volume" and a blue screen. Here is a link to a document on Troubleshooting Error Messages on a Blue Screen that may Occur During Startup or Boot. For your convenience I am also providing the HP Pavilion dv9500, dv9600, and dv9700 Entertainment PCs Maintenance and Service Guide. Please note page 23, item 23 for a list of recommended hard drives. I hope you find these useful.
Sparkles1
I work on behalf of HP
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

IdeaPad U430 unmountable Boot Volume

My Laptop is not working.
When I turn it on, after Lenovo logo I see a msg "Your PC ran in to a problem and need to restart...... search online for this error Unmountable Boot Volume."
Then automatically PC go to Auto Repair but after few seconds that msg dissapears.
I selected recovery option but after LEnovo logo nothing come on the screen.
I boot up with usb recovery media then also I can not see anything on the screen after logo.
What I can do
Thanks

Hi Nalinpr,
Welcome to Lenovo Community!
As per the query we understood that you are facing issue with unmountable boot volume in your Lenovo U430 laptop.
If your BIOS settings are configured to force the faster UDMA modes, this error may occur. In this situation, restart your computer and enter the BIOS and load the "fail-safe" default settings and reboot.
If neither of these issues are the cause for the Unmountable Boot Volume, then the issue most likely is caused by a damaged BOOT.INI file in the root directory of the boot drive or file system corruption.
Follow the steps below to correct these file system issues:
1) Start your computer with your windows 7 or any operating system which you have installed in the system CD-ROM,
2) When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press R to Repair the installation using the Recovery Console
3) If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the Windows installation you want to access
4) Type the administrator password when you are prompted, if no administrator password is set then just press Enter
5) At the command prompt, type CHKDSK /R and then press Enter
6) Once CHKDSK has finished checking and repairing the hard drive, type EXIT and press Enter to restart your computer
If this procedure does not work, repeat it and use the fixboot command in step 5 instead of the chkdsk /r command. FIXBOOT writes a new partition boot sector to the system partition. The fixboot command is only available when you are using the Recovery Console.
As you also mentioned that the system hangs at Lenovo logo please try to remove the hard drive if possible and try to boot to BIOs and check, also try to run the LSC diagnostics.
Hope this helps. Do post back if issue persists!
Best regards,
Ashwin.S
Did someone help you today? Press the star on the left to thank them with a Kudo!
If you find a post helpful and it answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution"! This will help the rest of the Community with similar issues identify the verified solution and benefit from it.
Follow @LenovoForums on Twitter!

Satellite Pro L10 - Unmountable Boot Volume

My Satellite Pro L10 loops at the boot process. After the Windows XP splash screen, the following error messages comes up: .... Unmountable boot volume... Technical Information: Stop: 0x000000ED...
I know this is nothing exceptional and doing a full recovery would solve the problem. But I don't want to loose the data (which of course is not backed up). I tried a Windows XP disc, but it won't boot from the cd/dvd drive pressing F12 or <0> and changing the boot order....
Can anyone help please?

Hi
Hmm the error message unmountable boot volume appears mostly if the HDD cannot be recognized during the booting. Why? Well, possibly the HDD malfunctions or the master boot record is faulty!
If you dont want to recover the notebook you could try to boot from the XP CD (press C button immediately after notebook powering) and to start the repair console.
In the repair console you could use the command chkdsk /p and after this you could fix the master boot record using the command fixboot or/and fixmbr.
If it does not help, the new OS installation is you last resort.
Ps: if you want to backup the data you can try to remove the HDD and try to connect it via external USB HDD controller to another computer.

Unmountable Boot Volume on XP and screen goes blank before repair begins

The XP Windows partition was seemingly working fine until I turned on the laptop this afternoon. Took a minute or so longer to boot than usual and I was prompted when it did load to update Acrobat, which I did and it rebooted. Took longer to boot, perhaps two or three minutes and I received an Unmountable Boot Volume error. I rebooted a few more times, same result. I tried system restore to three previous dates over past ten days and was told after attempted reloading that it had failed and I should try another day. Worried about my data, I went to safe mode to back up C: drive.
The general advice from MS is to use the Windows installation CD to repair the boot sector. With the CD in, Windows will boot and show my normal desktop and files, though will on perhaps the third item to load to memory, the screen goes blank and the loading seems to continue, as I hear sounds though not sure if it is the programs or the repair.
There does seem to be an ability for it to boot, just not maintain it through full load. Any suggestions short of reinstalling windows would be welcomed. Thank you.

I was unistalling some usless programs when my laptop died & when I turned it on I had unmountable boot volume 0x000000ED (the blue screen)
If I hit repair windows it goes to a black screen with the mouse (nothing else)
Now I tried f8 & then did command prompt but after it had gone to the loading files screen it had gone back to the blue screens with unmountable boot volume 0x000000E
I DL windows 7 repair but how do I get it to install when I cant get past the blue screen?
so i decide to repair it my self and then i found this great solution what helps me

Satellite P100-347: Blue screen appears on start up - unable to boot volume

Recently I left my 2 younger brothers playing NFS Carbon on my satellite P100-347, preinstalled with media centre 2005 edition, and now it fails to startup.
During the startup process eventually a blue screen is displayed for about a second and then it shutsdown (I manged to make out the words "unable to boot volume" from the blue screen).
I tried booting with an XP media centre DVD but it only gives me an option of reinstalling the OS with a price of losing all my very important data. Normally I would have recovered the system but I don't want to lose my data.
Is there anything i can do other than taking it to a technician?

Hi
Well, mostly the BSOD appears due to a hardware problem or serious software issue.
In your case the software problem is possible
Unfortunately, I think the new OS installation is the best way to get the notebook running correctly.
Now you want to know how to save the data and files well, I think you should remove the HDD from notebook and should try to connect the 2.5 HDD via external USB controller to another computer. Then you could save the files on the other HDD
I think, now you know that the regular backups are important and necessary!!!!

Satellite A65-S126 - Blue screen of death UNMOUNTABLE-BOOT-VOLUME

Hello,
I am having problems booting into windows. It is stuck in an endless install/boot cycle. Pressing F8 helped me freezeing the blue screen of death, which it says: "A problem has been detected and windows has been shotdown to prevent damage to your computer. UNMOUNTABLE-BOOT-VOLUME." The at the end
Technical information:
Stop: 0x000000ED(0x89B789E0, 0xC000009C, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)
I bought my laptop with the OS XP Home editon already installed.
Thank you and I hope you could help me solving this issue.
Saul
Message was edited by: saviar01

The file system may be corrupted. To fix it, you need to run CHKDSK on C: Drive.
If you cant boot into Safe Mode to run CHKDSK, or if the Recovery Console wont load, you may need to connect the HDD to another PC using a USB Adapter, so you can run CHKDSK on it.
Also test the Hard Disk for errors by using DFT.
DFT Download: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
Download the ISO File and burn it to a CD-R Disc (There is also a Floppy Disk version if that's easier).
If you dont know how to burn an ISO file, read this guide: http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm
Restart your laptop and boot from the DFT Disc.
Choose the "Advanced" Test and let it run (it may take an hour or so).
If you see a red message box, the HDD is faulty.
An error od 0x70 means there are bad sectors and the HDD needs replacing.

Time Machine Backup not only from boot volume

hello
As far as I know, Time Machine, makes a backup from a boot volume to a second volume.
Is their a way to include a second or third volume in this backup. What i want is the following. On the boot volume is a normal OS X, we have a iSCSI-RAID connected with 4 1Tb Harddisk in RAID5. This give us high-speed access over the 1Gb/s Ethernet. We a looking to save this RAID to a external SATA HD using Time Machine, to take this home in case the RAID is lost by fire or theft.
Is this possible with Time Machine?
Who has a solution
Regards
Gérard

time machine will back up all directly attached disks not just the boot one provided they are formatted mac os extended. you have to remove the disks you want to be backed up from the TM exclusion list in TM system preferences. However, TM can only have one backup drive and will back up all the disks to the same disk. if you want different backup disks for different drives you need to use a different backup solution.
see this post for a list of options
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7495315#7495315

Cannot Mount Boot Volume

My iBook G4 stopped booting properly this morning. I was installing the Adobe After Effects CS3 trial when the screensaver came on after a while, but when I moved the mouse to deactivate it, the authentication dialog did not appear as usual, so I force shut down the iBook. However, it subsequently failed to boot properly (i.e. does not boot past the grey/blue screen with the spinner). At the time of malfunction, I had an external hard disk and a disk image mounted.
I booted from the Mac OS X Install CD, but Disk Utility was unable to mount my boot volume (though it could show the volume information and verify the disk) to fix permissions. I also tried booting in single user mode; upon typing the command "mount -uw /", I got the following error messages:
jnl: replay_journal: from: 301568 to: 7035904 (joffset 0x41e000)
disk0s9: I/O error.
jnl: updatefsblock: failed to update block 6026 (ret 5)
jnl: journal_open: Error replaying the journal!
Aug 27 17:54:11 launchd: chown ("/var/launchd/0"): Read-only file system
Aug 27 17:54:11 launchd: chown ("/var/launchd/0"): Read-only file system
mount_hfs: Invalid argument
Hence, I suspect the problem may have something to do with disk journaling, which is enabled on my boot volume. I am quite sure that the volume itself is working fine, since I was able to access my data when it mounted as read-only in single user mode.
Does anyone here know of a possible solution to my problem? I would prefer to avoid a clean install of OS X. I do, however, have a recent back-up (created by Carbon Copy Cloner) on hand. Thanks in advance!
Regards,
Liza

Does anyone know of a possible solution? This tip looked promising, but my iBook G4 only starts up in Mac OS X (i.e. cannot boot OS 9). Neither can an OS 9 computer read the iBook's hard disk, since I did not select the option to install Mac OS 9 Disk Drivers when formatting it. I have also tried DiskWarrior, but to no avail.
Since I have a back-up of the disk on hand, I want to reformat the disk, but I cannot accomplish this using Disk Utility when I boot from the Mac OS X Install CD. Do I need any special software?
Thanks.
Liza

Backing Up An External Boot Drive

I boot from a WD 500GB drive installed in a miniStack and have a second miniStack that I want to use as a Time Macine drive. Apple support tells me that Time Machine will not back up an external boot drive. Has anyone found a work around for this?

Your right and - I think - I'm right. My WD is my boot drive. Time Machine insists on backing up my internal drive and will treat the WD as if it's a additional, external volume. That's not what I want to do. I could care less about backing up the internal drive. Don't use it, could care less what happens to it. It's there strictly as a last ditch safety net. But I want that WD drive to be treated as if it were the internal drive. And I'm hoping that someone has found a way to make that happen. Anyone?

Safe to Erase External Boot Volume?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for