OSX on External Drive

[Macmadant]

I Recently Brought a Core 2 Duo iMac, i came to install the Intel OSX on to a USB 2.0 Drive, however it told me i couldn't but i was under the impression that you could install OSX on USB 2.0 on the new Intel macs, Obviously not

 

[72930]

I'm not certain, but I think that its firewire only

 

[Macmadant]

I'm not certain, but I think that its firewire only

For powerPC it is but take a look at this, maybe because i was using the USB 2.0 Drive with a powerPC mac before and now and intel
http://www.tuaw.com/2006/02/08/intel-macs-can-boot-from-usb-drives/

 

[xUKHCx]

What you have to do is open Disk Utility, Select the drive, select partion, select options, change it to GUID partion table. Then you can install OSX on it, definately works from USB 2. Currently booted from an external myself as a kernal panic compelety destroyed my internal drive.

EDit: Incase you just read this, partioning the drive will wipe your data. You do not need to make 2 partitions, it is just a case of getting the drive in the correct format for intel macs

 

[Macmadant]

What you have to do is open Disk Utility, Select the drive, select partion, select options, change it to GUID partion table. Then you can install OSX on it, definately works from USB 2. Currently booted from an external myself as a kernal panic compelety destroyed my internal drive.

Thanks, by the way does partitioning a drive wipe any data you have on it, and i have to partition it into two drives and install OSX on one of them ?

 

[xUKHCx]

Thanks, by the way does partitioning a drive wipe any data you have on it, and i have to partition it into two drives and install OSX on one of them ?

Good question, should have mentioned it before. I think it will destroy all data on the drive. You can partion it as one drive.

 

[Macmadant]

Yeah, i went on that thing changed it to GUID, but then it just changes itself back, so i guess i have to partition it as a GUID

 

[crees!]

But with BootCamp you can resize your partitions without erasing the entire drive correct? I guess this will be put in the 10.5 version of Disk Utility.

 

[Macmadant]

But with BootCamp you can resize your partitions without erasing the entire drive correct? I guess this will be put in the 10.5 version of Disk Utility.

Hopefully

 

[xUKHCx]

I did this myself though, definately works. Change the option to GUID then hit the partition button. As long as you have the partition scheme set to one partition it will remain as one drive.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

To answer the original question, yes, Intel Macs can boot from a USB drive, as long as it is repartitioned with the GUID Partition Table (GPT) system.

 

[beatsme]

Good question, should have mentioned it before. I think it will destroy all data on the drive. You can partion it as one drive.

DiskUtility will destroy all data, though iPartition will allow you to create/resize/delete volumes dynamically i.e. without erasing the whole thing. A bit pricey, though

 

[plinden]

gparted is free and can shrink HFS+ partitions (allowing you to reformat the free space)

Well, in theory. I have personally used it for Linux and NTFS partitions but not HFS+

And my wife ran her MacBook off a USB 2 drive for the week we were waiting for the Apple Store to get a replacement HD.