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Joshua Nelson2

Q: PPC iMac - 10.4.11 Booting from USB Drive

Hi,

I've seen some conflicting info on the net and in this forum. What is the bottom line?

Can I boot from my USB 2.0 drive ( not flash ), or have I just wasted 7 hours doing a full clone to this drive?

Any work arounds, or bottom line do I need a FW drive for bootable backup?

Thanks

Message was edited by: Joshua Nelson2

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2.5G RAM

Posted on Aug 6, 2010 3:11 PM

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Q: PPC iMac - 10.4.11 Booting from USB Drive

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  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Aug 6, 2010 3:35 PM in response to Joshua Nelson2
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Aug 6, 2010 3:35 PM in response to Joshua Nelson2
    I've had exactly one of dozens of PPC Macs boot OSX from USB, that's my eMac 1.42 GHz.

    Mine that would not...

    iMac G3/400
    iMac G3/500
    iMac G3/600
    eMac G4/800
    eMac G4/1GHz
    G4 DA
    G4 AGP
    G4 QS2001
    G4 Qs2002
    MDD 1.25GHz
    MDD 1.42 GHz
    Mini G4 1.42 GHz
    PM G5 Quad 2.5

    I've read of maybe one model of iBook & one of PB that would.

    I've tried all the hacks to to try to get them to boot OSX off of USB.

    Won't hurt you to try though, boot holding the Option key down & try selecting it.
  • by Joshua Nelson2,

    Joshua Nelson2 Joshua Nelson2 Aug 6, 2010 4:22 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 2 (475 points)
    Aug 6, 2010 4:22 PM in response to BDAqua
    Yeah, I think, based on the aggregate of info, I'm going to forgo PRAM, VRAM, Firmware resets et al. Ok, back to the store for a FW Drive, lol.
  • by Bruce Bathurst,

    Bruce Bathurst Bruce Bathurst Aug 6, 2010 4:25 PM in response to Joshua Nelson2
    Level 2 (330 points)
    Aug 6, 2010 4:25 PM in response to Joshua Nelson2
    You can always buy a new case with Firewire, if it's an internal drive; or you can clone it again to one.

    Bruce

    Is your external drive eSATA? Will a PPC Mac boot from an eSATA bus?
  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Aug 6, 2010 5:04 PM in response to Bruce Bathurst
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Aug 6, 2010 5:04 PM in response to Bruce Bathurst
    Is your external drive eSATA? Will a PPC Mac boot from an eSATA bus?


    An iMac G5 could not, unless you hacked into the case & did something like this...

    http://blog.macsales.com/6374-owc-offers-first-ever-esata-interface-for-imac

    PPC Towers can boot from eSATA if they have a bootable eSATA card, like the Firmtek/Seritek ones.
  • by Bruce Bathurst,

    Bruce Bathurst Bruce Bathurst Aug 6, 2010 6:18 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 2 (330 points)
    Aug 6, 2010 6:18 PM in response to BDAqua
    BG,

    Hi. So, yes. But, hey: I never leave my home; I didn't know iMacs didn't have expansion ports! That OWL one appears very nice, though I'm unfamiliar with its plug. I asked because eSATA external drives are common. Though not that much faster than Firewire 800, it would prove a substitute: the earliest iMac G5 had optional SATA, so I thought the newer ones might have eSATA ports built in.

    Guess Firewire 800 replaces it,

    Bruce